Character Mindmap Book Review Project (& "When Stars Are Scattered" Activity)

This amazing lesson came from a book given to me by a co-worker called "100% Engagement" (Grades 6-12) by Brian Sztabnik and Susan Barber. This project is called a "character mindmap", where students chose a character from our class book ("When Stars Are Scattered" by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed), draw them, then identify and label the following to show they truly read the book and understood the character: 

-A thought bubble. What would this character be thinking about?

-A belief under their feet. What beliefs do they hold?

-Something in their hands to represent what they give, their responsibilities, and/or burdens they carry. 

-A challenge they overcame or way they grew in the story written by their leg to represent the difficulties they walked through. 

-A heart labeled with their deepest desires. What do they most want?

Below is a checklist I used as the rubric from the book mentioned above. This assignment aligns with the high school ESOL WIDA standards, though I did not include the standards it meets. 

I loved the result of this assignment. I was so proud of my students' creativity and hard work! I hope if you are an educator you find this helpful to implement in some form in your classroom. I also highly recommend both of those books. Thank you for visiting! 

Blessings,

Lauryn

Peace Pets Sculptures Art Class Lesson Idea (Middle School)

 Hello! I'm very excited to share a lesson I felt was very satisfactory that was part of my unit on peace last semester. The unit was inspired by Romanesque art and historical psalters. The elements we focused on were texture and form, I think, for this lesson. I did this lesson with my middle school students grades 5th-7th, but this could easily be adapted for any grade level. The challenge was for students to sculpt an animal of choice out of Polymer clay, paint them with tempera paints (and optionally add Sharpie designs), then to make an accompanying card to encourage somebody or give somebody peace by sharing uplifting words of life. Some students did encouraging messages, others used Bible verses. One student made a creative acronym. I did mine alliterate because of course I am obsessed with alliteration, but I did not expect anyone else to. I was so very thrilled when a lot of students came up with amazing alliterate names, like the "Turtle of Truth", "Worm of Wisdom", "Elephant of Encouragement", "Owl of Optimism", etc. I was so proud of their works and creative ideas. Here are some examples of student works below: 

Hopefully I can find the rest of the photos to share eventually. I think my 5th-7th grade students quite enjoyed this lesson, so I hope fellow art teachers out there find this inspiring! 

-Lauryn 

10 Day Art Challenge for Quarentine (Free Printable)

Hey everyone! Today I would like to share a fun, quick 10 day art challenge that will hopefully help you grow as an artist which I created the other day. At the very least, maybe you can try out some new techniques or media. If you are like me, you have plenty to do so you aren't really 'bored' but you lack the motivation to do what needs to be done. If that is the case, maybe this will get you excited and spark some energy. I can't speak from experience since I will be trying it out with you for the first time, starting today. If you are bored, then here's a cure for your boredom! Below is the free printable challenge checklist. Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting!
-Lauryn