Stonehenge in Kindergarten

The Neolithic/Bronze Age, perfect start for  the year in Kindergarten Art, right?
If you said yes, you totally get the power of Stonehenge, rocks, building, and sculpture for five year olds.
This lesson was broken up into two 35 minute periods. In the first lesson  large boxes and drawings were the materials we used. The second lesson's materials included small rocks and blocks.
Our vocabulary included; post and lintel, Great Britain, rocks, horseshoe, arrange, and Stonehenge.

In our first lesson, we looked at the Stonehenge structure on the Pinterest board I made.

My Stonehenge Pinterest Board.

I showed them the formation of the large prehistoric sculpture, along with the tools they probably used to build it with, a post and lintel, and what a horseshoe looks like

We looked at our inflatable globe to find Great Britain. On our globe, it is a little pink island. They never forgot the pink part.

"What country is Stonehenge in?" I ask.

"The Pink One!" they shout.

We then practiced building Stonehenge by acting out using the tools we saw on Pinterest.  When I want them to repeat something, I just point at them and pause and they repeat whatever I say or do. I had them repeat and act out hammer, chisel, dig, and pulling rocks up with ropes.

Transitioning to arranging blocks as a group was something I really thought out. I know how kindergarten works, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN FOR EACH LITTLE TRANSITION (learned the hard way).  I had several cardboard boxes rescued from the recycling at school, and I had the students make themselves into a circle with the boxes around us. They took turns adding the boxes and they were all excited about their turn to build. We started by asking questions like, "Does Stonehenge have a post and lintel? How would we build that? How would a horseshoe look with boxes? How would a circle on the outside look?"

They also had time this year to draw Stonehenge. It is very interesting to see what they have retained. Their perspectives were all different, some were drawing it as if they were looking straight at it, some from a bird's eye view. I find that interesting.

In the second lesson, the students used rocks(Dollar Tree) and blocks to build their own mini Stonehenge. I also had some leftover pieces of some kinds of little sculptural materials I found in an old art closet. This is the their favorite thing to do! Every year, I have excited little people working hard to form mini Stonehenge and other sculptures that happen along the way. Their classroom teacher adds the rocks and a picture of Stonehenge to their centers for more work in the classroom.

To get students to remember vocabulary, I often have them repeat words with me at the end of class while they are standing in line. To make it memorable, we use different voices. Daddy voices, mommy voices, baby voices, puppy voices, they are all fair game. When a student came up with "Meowhenge" I was thinking, "This kid is brilliant!"

I script lessons. if I just write down "Stonehenge”  in my lesson planner, I will never remember exactly what I want to teach. So I script for myself. It's always great because I can go back in and change it if something doesn't work great. Then it will be ready for the next year. Here is the shortened version of the lesson and how a script works for  me.

Stonehenge, Lesson 1

vocabulary: Stonehenge, stones, arrange, post and lintel, Great Britain,

Visuals: Pinterest pictures, Globe, rocks

Supplies: CARDBOARD BOXES, PAPERS, PENCILS

Take a look at Stonehenge!!! (I am very dramatic with Kindergarten-this is where I turned the TV on-of course the board was already on the computer and showed a photo of Stonehenge)

The stones are arranged in a circle with horseshoe inside. Arrange means putting things in place. Like I put these rocks in a circle. The rocks on the side are posts and the top are called lintels(insert call back  here with practice saying words)

Some rocks weigh as much as a dump truck(of course, that is huge to them)

Act out making Stonehenge(I said the words below while we acted it out)

"They made them with hammers and chisels and split the cracks of the stones

They dug a huge ditch for them to sit in so they wouldn't tip over

They worked together and pulled the stones up with ropes"

Let's make a giant Stonehenge today and next time we meet, we will make our own small Stonehenge. We have to work together!

Use boxes to make a post and lintel, add the rest to make a circle, horseshoe

When we are done, I will say  5,4,3,2,1 and we will sit down where we are at.

At your tables, draw Stonehenge on your papers, a horseshoe in the middle, and a circle around.(this is where we transition to the tables, like NINJAS)

Stonehenge, Lesson 2

Vocabulary, Texture, Post and Lintel

Materials: rocks, blocks, photocopies of Stonehenge

Let's look at Stonehenge again. How much do these rocks weigh? dump truck

How did they make them?(hammers and chisels and wood)

How did they put them in the ground(they dug a big ditch)

How did they pull those big rocks up(with ropes)

Where is Stonehenge at? Great Britain

What is this piece on top of the stones called(a lintel)

Take a look at the bumpy texture of the rocks

Today we are going to feel rocks and arrange rocks.

What does it mean to arrange something? put in place

Each stone we handle  is special because of its size, shape, texture, color,

How could we sort these?

Look at your stones and decide how you want to arrange them

Can you put them on top of each other?

Can they be side by side?

A piece of paper is on your table to help you remember what Stonehenge looks like

As they work, take pictures of their Stonehenge. Share with the class when you see a student arranging a horseshoe, circle, stacking blocks on top, or putting blocks beside each other.

 

 

Summer Challenge

Connecting with kids in the summer...a great thought but tricky in our rural area.

But if I do say so myself, I was struck with a GENIUS idea. I think...

This summer, I started an Art Challenge on my school's awesome Facebook page.

Each week, an artist focus will capture attention with an exciting art challenge for them to do if they wish to earn a BIG PRIZE.

On Wednesdays, I post a new art challenge. Student artists will have until the next Wednesday to post or have parents post photos of their work in the comments section of the challenge.  Each week they post a photo, I enter their name into a drawing for a set of gel pens.

I can just see myself now at the Fall Open House with a large audience of people waiting, waiting, waiting to hear the two names I draw for the BIG PRIZE.



Social Anxiety

  The starter challenge I will post today speaks to the fairy garden in all of my students. In the 80's, while visiting the Chicago Art Institute, I fell in love with Charles Simond's Little World in the cafe of the institute. His work became the impetus for the first ever PC Summer Art Challenge. Create a little world! 

Below: The challenge I posted

"Artist Charles Simonds created Little Worlds. You can see one of those Little Worlds at the Chicago Art Institute in a brick wall in the cafe. The Des Moines Art Center also has a Charles Simonds little world in their collection made of sand, brick, and sticks. Little worlds are places Charles Simonds has seen or imagined. He then took his ideas and  made them into tiny 3-D worlds. Think of his little worlds like a fairy garden, or a copy of a place you have been, but made really tiny. You can see how tiny the worlds he created are when you look at the pictures and especially the one with his hand in it. Your first challenge is to be like Charles Simonds and.....Make a tiny place of your own! You could create a little world in your sandbox using little people, twigs, leaves, or cars. Other ideas are to create the little world in your house, pool, backyard, the park- anywhere! Use natural or man- made materials( or both together). Anything goes, the only requirement of the challenge is to create a tiny place of your own. Pictures of your work should be posted in the comments below by next Wednesday when I'll have a new challenge for you."

A few pictures of what kids sent in!

Tent and campfire-Sixth Grade Student

 



The Eiffel Tower-First Grade Student

Ball Field- Third Grade Student

#socialmediaisgoodforsomethingeducationalandandartistic

Happy Summer!