Line Up for Art.

Line Up for Art. Making the Most of Those Teachable Moments Lining up students for the purpose of moving from place to place isusually considered a non-instructional task. If the time presentsitself, however, it can be the perfect opportunity to review studentknowledge of art terms and techniques. The way in which students enter and leave the art room can affecttheir learning as well as the art teacher's preparation forclasses. The amount of preparation time between classes in an art roomat the elementary school elementary school:see school. level is usually 10 minutes to no minutes atall. Therefore, the art teacher must have an efficient plan forclassroom management. Depending on the lessons and materials used in aspecific class, more time is often needed for clean up. Moving students away from the tables will decrease the touching ofmaterials that may need to be placed on the tables for the incomingclass. This can be especially helpful, for example, if you aretransitioning from teaching a kindergarten kindergarten[Ger.,=garden of children], system of preschool education. Friedrich Froebel designed (1837) the kindergarten to provide an educational situation less formal than that of the elementary school but one in which children's creative play instincts would be class to a fifth-grade class. In my experiences in teaching, certain factors can cause theclassroom teacher to be late even though students are lined up at thetime their art period ends. For example, classroom clocks are not alwayssynchronized syn��chro��nize?v. syn��chro��nized, syn��chro��niz��ing, syn��chro��niz��esv.intr.1. To occur at the same time; be simultaneous.2. To operate in unison.v.tr.1. . If this happens, it is essential to have some art-learningstrategies in mind that can be used to keep students focused and on taskwhile they are waiting for their classroom teacher. Learningdoesn't have to cease because students are standing in line. Allowing time for students to be off task will greatly increasetheir chances of behaving inappropriately. Standing in line can be theperfect opportunity for students to misbehave--touching or hitting oneanother and talking excessively or loudly, due to close proximity toother students. Teachers can utilize a variety of educational strategiesto keep students on task as they wait for their classroom teacher topick them up from the art room. The list of suggestions found in the sidebar below--oftenintroduced in a game-like format--have been used in my classes duringthe time that students are standing in line. The strategies describedserve multiple purposes, are educationally sound and subsequently, arean excellent way to review information learned in class. Remember thatwe as art teachers value the classroom teachers who deliver theirstudents to the art room door in a timely and orderly fashion. Hence, itis just as important for the art teacher to have students cleaned up andprepared to leave in an orderly fashion. In the end, efficient methods for clean-up will decrease the artteacher's level of stress and the classroom teacher will walk awaywith a group of well-organized, calm students who are ready to continuelearning when they return to their classrooms. EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES PASSWORD: Students must repeat an art vocabulary word introduced atsome point during the lesson. (Examples include artists' names,historical/contextual information or titles of artworks.) This exerciseincreases student vocabulary and allows practice in the correctpronunciation pronunciation:see phonetics; phonology. Pronunciation - In this dictionary slashes (/../) bracket phonetic pronunciations of words not found in a standard English dictionary. of words. ASK THE ARTIST: What would you ask the artist if you had theopportunity? (This provides students with an opportunity for reflectionand to formulate formulate/for��mu��late/ (for��mu-lat)1. to state in the form of a formula.2. to prepare in accordance with a prescribed or specified method. questions related to the overall lesson content.) TELEPHONE: Have students whisper See WISPr. a word from person to person andthe last person must be able to recite the word aloud. The teacher caninitiate this activity by selecting an art vocabulary word andwhispering it to the first or the last student in line. TAKE A LOOK AROUND: If studying the elements and principles ofdesign, have students identify examples seen in the classroomenvironment. (The teacher can determine if students understand thespecified element or principle by the choices that they make.) Example:Have students locate examples of repeated lines seen in the classroom. IDENTIFICATION GAME: The teacher selects a student and thendescribes what that student is wearing to the rest of the class. Whendescribing, make sure descriptive art words are used such as thicklines, warm colors, etc. The teacher will say, "I'm looking atsomeone who is wearing...." Have the students raise their handswhen they have identified the student you are describing. Make sure thatlimited eye contact is made with the person you are describing. Thisincreases the curiosity of the students as they search for the personbeing described. A LOCAL ART NEWS BOARD: A bulletin board, conveniently placed nearthe classroom entrance or exit, displaying local arts news has proven tobe a practical way to have students practice their reading skills whilethey are standing in line. Possible items to display on the boardinclude: newspaper articles pertaining per��tain?intr.v. per��tained, per��tain��ing, per��tains1. To have reference; relate: evidence that pertains to the accident.2. to artists, artworks, galleryexhibitions, drawings given to the art teacher by the students, acalendar with artists' birth dates listed, etc. In this instance,you may prefer to have students make two lines rather than one. Studentslike reading about their classmates Classmates can refer to either: Classmates.com, a social networking website. Classmates (film), a 2006 Malayalam blockbuster directed by Lal Jose, starring Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Indragith, Sunil, Jagathy, Kavya Madhavan, Balachandra Menon, ... and seeing their artworks displayedon the bulletin board. Minuette B. Floyd, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of arteducation at the University of South Carolina ''This article is about the University of South Carolina in Columbia. You may be looking for a University of South Carolina satellite campus.••, Columbia.