Final Reflection

Alissa King

When planning my visual arts lesson, I wanted to allow students to incorporate something

they all hold very close to their hearts: family. Family is something that all of the explorers are

passionate about. Fortunately, their stories are full of genuine time spent with their parents and

siblings. Based on the standards I chose, my activity aligned because it incorporated personal

experiences, knowledge, ability, as well as fine motor work. Many of the students engaged in

conversations regarding their favorite places and things to do with those they love, which guided

my final lesson and activity. Another factor I wanted to incorporate in this lesson was culture;

some students have different traditions, and I wanted to emphasize the importance of opening

conversations about differences and building community within the classroom. Beginning my

lesson, I had each student come over to my table, where I had various art materials along with

paper. Before giving students the freedom to create their final pieces, we dove into a

conversation about what traditions were and about students' favorite places and activities to

do/go with their families. Throughout these conversations, it sparked students' interest as they

told me about their special moments with family, from birthdays to Christmas, to easter

traditions, to Ramadan, etc. I asked students, "What is your favorite thing to do with your

family? Do you have any family traditions? What is your favorite memory?".

The first standard I chose was Strand 1. which expresses ideas and feelings through

visual art. Students demonstrated this by talking about family memories, traditions, and the

emotions that came with those moments. Then, they had the opportunity to paint or draw one of

the memories or traditions they talked about. The second standard I chose was more fine
motor-based, surrounding Physical development and wellness, where students are asked to

accomplish various tasks or actions with the coordinated use of hands, arms, and fingers. This

standard was demonstrated by how students held their paintbrushes, their position when painting

and using art materials, and how their brush strokes aligned on the page.

I formatted this activity with the goal that students could personalize their experience

through their art piece along with their conversation with me; I tried to format this lesson,

allowing students the freedom to create whatever moment they wanted to. Therefore, I did not

have to make any modifications outside of what I had already planned. What I did have to alter

was the conversations I had with each student individually before they completed their painting.

I was pleased to hear that every student had their own "favorite" tradition and memories with

their family because I find that when one student states an idea, many students tend to domino

off of it in very similar or exact ways. For some students, I did have to explain more because, as I

expected, some students knew more about what traditions were generally, and some needed more

guidance and examples to grasp the concept.

Below, I have attached the notes I took during this activity with the responses from the

students after asking them guiding questions. I found it crucial to have these notes because they

showed me how thorough the students were when completing their pieces. Not only did these

notes help me understand the student's thought process, but they also allowed me to write

students' quotes on the back of their pieces so they could bring their art home to show their

parents. If I were to change anything I would have read students a story specifically about family

traditions, that way students who did not quite understand the concept would have had a better

understanding. It is essential to integrate art into the classroom because art allows us to tell

stories no matter how old you are or what your background is. For younger ages art is an
interactive hands-on way to keep students engaged especially if you tie in their own personal

experiences too. All of the students who participated were interested and excited to listen, learn,

and interact with materials creating pieces they were proud to show their parents when they got

picked up!

Names Quotes/ conversation throughout

investigation

R My family has a tradition of watching movies

and decorating for christmas, when everyone
is done we go to bed to wait for santa.
During art-
I have cousins that come over for christmas
too, i am drawing santa and his reindeer

S “I like to play with my family, especially

outside. Most of all I like to bake, mom makes
strawberry cake.
During drawing-
This is my mom, this is her body, this cake is
like a circle but stretched out, my mom is the
one who makes strawberry cake, now i am
going to make me

A A tradition we have is celebrating our holiday

called eid, it's the end of ramadan
During drawing- This is me and this is my
mom and my dad and my sister, our favorite
thing to do is cook food together, we eat a lot.
of meat. This right here is our meat.

J My favorite thing to do with my family is go to

waffle house, when i do i get waffle and syrup
During drawing- these yellow dots are the
lights, the light yellow is the juice, brown is
the floor and black is the power that makes
the lights turn on, the rest of the yellow is
waffles,

C When I am with my family I like to play

games. The game we like to play is roblox so
that is what i am going to draw. This creation
 of the city is for the roblox characters.

G I have an easter tradition and also a summer

one, in the summer we always go to the pool
but I would not call that a tradition, for easter
we do the same thing every year which is
more of a tradition I think.”
During painting- “ I am using yellow for the
easter bunny but first i am going to draw a
brown egg. The bunny has two legs which I
know for sure, I also want to paint a green
egg”.

Lesson plan-
Early Childhood Education Learning Experience Template Name: Alissa King Lesson Title: Date:
2/29 Grade Level:PreschoolCircle one:
ECE PKSN

Standard(s)/Guideline(s):
Domain- Creative development
Strand 1.a expresses ideas and feelings through visual art
Indicator: plans and creates content using personal experiences in a work of art using personal
experiences, knowledge and ability through a variety of skills, techniques, and materials

Standard(s)/Guideline(s):
Domain- Physical level and wellness
Strand 1b. demonstrates developing control of fundamental fine motor skills including hand eye
coordination. 5. accomplishes a variety of tasks or actions with the coordinated use of hands, arms
and fingers

Pre-assessment of current knowledge: discussion responses over free art activity and fine motor
skills Instructional Objectives (1-2) Assessment of Student Learning

Learning Experience
 One/Two Assessed
Instructional Objective(s):
The student will be able to...
- The student will be able to
create a piece of artwork that
reflects a personal
experience. - The student will
be able to properly grasp
paint brushes and scissors
One Assessed
Developmental Skill:
- Fine motor skills –
cutting paper, holding
paint brushes, brush •
stroke based off of grip
Safety Considerations:
••
Identify Evidence: (What will you
collect or record as data to
• - Texture
••
- Checklist
Program Monitoring: (How will you
aggregate or compile your evidence
into a class or group view?) • -
Observational data tracking progress
in artistic expression and use of fine
motor skill Differentiation:
- Larger paint brushes
- Adaptive scissors
- Standing and sitting easels
demonstrate students have met your
objective(s) and skill?) • - Their artwork
based on the • prompt along with their
engagement in discussion varieties of
families.
•
•
Academic Language:
- Color
- Shape
- Manipulate
- Precise
Procedural steps:
- First I will gather the
students in whole group and
we will read a book about
family including culture
focused family traditions and
households
- After reading the story I will
ask a guiding question “what
are some special things
about your families” and we
will openly talk about all
students responses
- I will then ask students to
think in their head about a
favorite memory or favorite
place with their family

Rev. 1/2024

Resources & References:

Reflection: (What have you learned about your students? How will this inform future instruction?)

I have learned that the students value family and relationships as well as quality experiences. I think it is
important for students to have conversations about culture and traditions because not only are they
interested in those conversations they enjoy speaking about their prior knowledge. I have also learned
that my students participate better with hands-on materials which is why I tailored my lesson to fit their
needs. In regards to how this will inform my future instruction it allowed me to see how important it is to
understand your students interest and create lessons that not only they will learn from, but lessons that
they will be interested to engage in.

Rev. 1/2024
PICTURES:

Fine motor work, how students

grab, hold, and manipulate materials