Dinosaur Skeleton Lesson
March was dinosaur month in the kindergarten classroom at St. Bernadette school. As part of my Field 100 placement, I planned and taught an art lesson focusing on dinosaurs and their skeleton structure, to enhance what had previously been taught.
This lesson met the following Arts Education K Outcome and Indicators:
Outcome: CPK.4
Indicators
(a) Identify different lines, colours, textures, shapes, forms, and patterns in surroundings and art works, and apply this understanding in own work.
(b) Use diverse sources such as stories, poems, observations, visual images, music, sounds, or objects as inspiration for art making.
(c) Discuss how artists and scientists use their senses to observe and record characteristics of plants, animals, and humans in the environment (e.g., observing nature, sounds, movement, and visual details).
(e) Ask questions about own environment to contribute to inquiry through visual art (e.g., Why do birds have different coloured feathers? How can we use these art materials to make interesting birds? Do some birds have special meaning in some cultures? How can we use feathers in our art? Are there some feathers that we cannot use, and why?).
(f) Select from a variety of art materials, tools, and paper size when creating a visual art expression (e.g., found objects, digital cameras, household items, wire).
(g) Observe and identify details of the physical appearance of plants, animals, people, and objects, and create visual representations.
(h) Demonstrate co-ordination and development of skills in the use of simple visual art tools and materials.
(i) Discuss choices made in creating art works.
To begin the lesson I read the book The Magic School Bus In The Time Of The Dinosaurs. While reading the book I asked questions in order to emphasize and build on what the children had previously learned (ie. herbivore/carnivore dinosaurs, fossils, etc. I created the example in the above first picture.
We pretended that we were time travelling like Ms. Frizzle’s class in the book and that our dinosaurs were alive so we were looking at the structure of the dinosaur. We talked about the skeletal structure of the dinosaur and what type of dinosaur it might be. We compared the cutout skeleton to the book to determine what kind of dinosaur it was. We decided that it was a Saurapod because of the long neck, rounded head and tiny teeth. We learned that Saurapod dinosaurs are herbivores and compared the similarities and differences to the carnivores later in the book.
We discussed what things they could draw in their background that would be a suitable environment for a herbivore dinosaur. I wanted them to be creative and not just copy the example. I asked questions like: What will they drink? Will they all eat from tall trees or will they eat from small bushes, ferns, etc.? We talked about the different types of noodles and what bones that could represent in the dinosaur skeleton. Again I reminded them their picture did not have to look exactly like mine.
The children loved this lesson and the teacher asked to keep copies of everything in order to use the idea in following years. She also featured the lesson and activities on her classroom blog.
https://mrsjacksonskinders16.blogspot.ca/2017/03/dinosaur-landscape.html
During the lesson my supervising teacher observed and wrote down the following notes:
Wow! Great job!
I liked how you asked questions while reading your book. Well done!
You used student names when asking questions.
Responded well to interruptions (short answer and kept going).
Examples are important! I liked that you had an example to show!
Rotated the room during activity.
Positive comments: "Good work Jarrett!" "It might help if you put the glue here!" "Yours looks good!"
So organized! Wow!
Spoke clearly and slowly.