Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan
Sem I-ECED372
Jennifer Hunt
Heather Crawford, 1st grade, River Bend Elementary
October 20, 2016 at 11:30 am
Lesson Plan submitted to cooperating teacher on October 2, 2016
TITLE OF LESSON
Creative Art: Autumn Leaf Self-Portraits
The students will reflect on their previous art project, the Lego Self-Portrait. After brainstorming the important
features of a self-portrait the students will make another self-portrait out of leaves found outside the school.
CONTEXT OF LESSON
This past visit I had to the classroom I saw how proud the students were of their Lego self-portraits. When we
were walking down the hallway to art class many students pointed out their self-portrait to me as it was hanging
on the wall outside the art classroom. In the classroom when there were a few extra minutes in the day at least
three students were drawing another Lego self-portrait because they had the time and more ideas. With fall
coming and the changing of leaves I wanted to give my students the opportunity to use the leaves for a creative
art project. Seeing as the students are still proud of their last self-portraits, which they made I believe four weeks
ago, I wanted to show the students other ways of making self-portraits. The challenge of using the leaves for a
self-portrait is the added level of abstract creativity. I saw last class, during my read aloud activity, that the
students were creating all different kinds of patterns and colors for their bad case of stripes. I wanted to add
another layer to the activity of color and patters by using physical leaves that the students can sort and analyze
before even starting their self-portrait. I believe that all the students have the fine motor skills required to handle
the glue bottle and if not than this activity is good practice. With the leaf self-portrait the students can also take it
home to show their families.
OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENT
Developmental Objectives
1. The students will sort their individual
leaves three different times into categories
based on color, shape, and size.
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appropriate circles on the Venn Diagram. The students will write down
any similarities and differences seen. When the pair is finished they will
turn in their Venn Diagram, which will be their form of assessment data.
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Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic: 1.1. The student will conduct investigations in which
a. Differences in physical properties are observed using the
senses
c. Objects or events are classifies and arranged according
to attributes or properties
History and Social Science
Civics: 1.10. The student will apply the traits of a good citizen by:
a. Focusing on fair play, exhibiting good sportsmanship, helping others, and treating others with
respect
Family Life Education
1.1. The student will experience continuing success and positive feelings about self
Health
Essential Health Concepts: 1.1. The student will identify the basic components and functions of human body
systems
and the importance of safe practices, positive interpersonal relationships, and
environmental health.
a. Identify body structures (abdomen, chest, head) and organs.
MATERIALS NEEDED
PROCEDURE
PREPARATION OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
When the students come in in the morning they will each have a Ziploc bag on their desks. After the
students pick their lunch choice, unpack their bag, and grab their books have them write their names on the
Ziploc bag with the sharpie. Tell the students to practice their good handwriting to ensure that everyone
can clearly read the name and knows whose bag is whose. The students will most likely ask what the
Ziploc bags are for, so tell them they are for an activity later in the day that will be explained later. Once
the students leave for specials put a piece of paper and the empty Ziploc bag on each students desk for
when they return.
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When there is five to ten minutes left before recess call the students over to the carpet to go over the
creative art activity. If the students are really focused on their Venn Diagrams or portraits then wait a few
more minutes before ending the activity. Gage the time frame on the students themselves. At the carpet ask
the students what they enjoyed about this activity most. How did it compare to making the Lego selfportraits? What was the same or different when making the two self-portraits? At the very end of the day,
if the leaf self-portraits are finished drying, take a picture of each student with their self-portrait. If the
self-portraits are not dry then the picture will be taken the next morning. The students whose self-portraits
are dried can take them home to show their families what they did in school.
CLEAN-UP
When the students are finished with their leaf self-portraits they will place them in the hallway to dry. Any
extra leaves that were not used will be returned to the students individual Ziploc bag to either take home
or thrown back outside. All the glue will be put back into the students individual desks and pencils will
also be put away. Once the students desks are clear they will be allowed to go to recess.
DIFFERENTIATION
Students that finish both the self-portrait and the Venn diagram can read a book until the class is
ready for the closing discussion.
There is one student who will need more reminders of time and assurance that there will be other
times to finish the project if they do not finish in the allotted time. Remind the student that the end
product is not as important in this project as is the process in making the self-portrait.
If some students are struggling with categorizing their leaves in the beginning have them ask their
table buddies before asking the teachers. Encourage the class to help each other instead of asking
the teacher straight away.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
One thing that could go wrong is the weather. Having the students collect their own leaves is
highly dependent on the weather. If the weather is raining that day then the leaves will be wet and
harder to glue to the paper. The leaves may also be hard to use if it was raining the day before. In
the case of the weather I will keep an eye on the forecast the weekend before. If I believe there is a
chance of rain or inclement weather then I will go to a craft store and purchase fake leaves for the
students to use.
Another thing pertaining to the leaves that might go wrong is the availability of the leaves. The
leaves may have not fallen from the trees yet, or someone already picked up all the leaves. There
may also not be a large variety of trees and leaves outside the school. I will need to look around
during recess the next time I go to the school to see if there will be enough variety available at the
school. In that case I would still allow the students to go outside and find their own leaves, but I
will also bring store bought leaves to allow more creative leaf self-portraits.
Something may come up in the schedule and the students may not have as much time to pick their
leaves as I had originally thought and planned for. In that case the students would return outside
for a few more minutes after lunch to grab the rest of their leaves. This may take away one or to
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minutes of the time allotted for actually creating the self-portrait but I want to ensure that the
students are happy with the amount of leaves they have to use. This also allows the students to
spend a little more time outside and have a small brain break before going back to work.
If students are unable to finish their leaf self-portraits remind them that they can always come
back and finish the portrait later. If there is extra time at the end of the day then the student can try
to finish their creative art then, if not the students can finish their self-portrait the next morning
during individual reading time.
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