Thumbprint Timeline -
Art Show
My art show project was a class mural, a thumbprint
timeline! I enjoyed doing the project
with my class. It was my first
experience with a Montessori type lesson.
I really liked the system. First
I gave a whole class lesson where I demonstrated the technique and provided the
context for the project. I then set up a
centre where I had groups of students coming and going and finishing one part
of the lesson at a time. I had a
checklist to make observations about students’ understanding of the science
content and to monitor that each have met all the criteria. Because I was only working with five students
at a time, I was able to conference with each student individually for each section
of the lesson. It was fascinating to
watch which students carefully followed instructions, which made realistic
looking creatures, which wanted to only make the creatures in the samples, and
which wanted to create their own creatures.
I instructed each student to create some and follow the instructions for
some so that I could assess their abilities in each area. Integrating art with science was also a
fabulous way to learn the content because after they created, sorted (with realia
and pictures), and glued their creatures onto the proper evolutionary eras,
most students could easily tell me which plants and animals belonged in which
sections. The students applied their
learning in kinesthetic and tactile ways and used higher order thinking skills
while creating and sorting their creatures.
Each class learns the same lesson each year (called the Second Great
Lesson, on the Coming of Life), where the teachers use realia and pictures to
provide a hook, overview lesson of the earth’s entire evolution. I painted each section of the mural the same
colours as the cloth one that the school uses.
My CT has done the thumbprint creatures for the lesson in the past, but
never the entire timeline. The school is
going to try to laminate the mural and use it in future years. It was exciting to contribute a resource to
the school.
The Montessori strategies are valuable in any setting. It was interesting to hear about how you were able to assess individually and look at both the ability to reproduce an image and the ability to create. I'm glad that your success, symbolized in the finished mural - was recognized by your CT to give you such a positive teaching memory and the satisfaction of making a lasting contribution.
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