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Focus on a Kaleidoscope of Kids

Judith Feola
Lakewood Elementary School, Rockville, Maryland

Subject: Art Education
Grade: K-6

"Lakewood students and teachers have been 'turned on' to the use of cameras in all phases of the curriculum."

Purpose and Description of Project

Judith Feola's overall project was designed to document and disseminate information on the interrelated arts program at her school. It resulted in a slide/tape presentation that combined pictures of numerous activities used to infuse the arts (music, drama, the visual arts, and dance/movement) into the curriculum at specific grade levels. Lakewood Elementary School used an interdisciplinary approach to incorporate the arts into the curriculum and to develop basic skills and meet individual needs in a creative and expressive way.

Activities

The classroom teacher and the art specialist planned lesson activities that would relate an art form to a specific curriculum area. Each lesson involved using the camera, either for creative expression or for documentation. Students received instructions on using and handling the particular camera available for that lesson.

Many individual activities contributed to the outcomes of the overall project. It would be difficult to describe all of them in detail here. Following are summaries of two representative lessons.

Now We Are Six. A kindergarten class listened to "Now We Are Six" by Milne. Then they talked about changes in skills as a child "gets big." With the help of the classroom teacher and the dance/movement specialist, students practiced different movements to the beat of a drum. They showed a progression of movements from creeping and toddling to walking, jumping, skipping, and hopping. The "movement" words were written on 5 x 7 cards. As a card was selected, each group practiced the movement to the beat of the drum. Finally, each group practiced the entire set of movements with the drum. Two sixth-grade photographers took candid shots during practice as well as posed shots, with the students "frozen" during their movement. The kindergartners learned to use their bodies to interpret a poem and the word cards reinforced reading skills. The photographers learned to capture pure movement on film.

V.I.P. (Very Important Professional) Visit. This lesson utilized photography to provide documentation and to create instructional materials. As an introduction to the history of photography, fifth and sixth graders looked at everything from Civil War and frontier photos to modern color photos used in advertising. A professional photographer held an informal session to discuss his background, education, and current work. Then he carried out a "hands-on" demonstration of his cameras, tripods, lenses, and light meters. After he explained the photographic process, students had a chance to ask questions.

As a follow-up lesson, students used photos to make a type of collage called cubic photos. They cut photos and construction paper in identical puzzle pieces and then intermixed the pieces as they mounted them on a sheet of paper.

This particular lesson made the students aware of photography as a profession in both historical and contemporary contexts.

Materials, Resources, and Expenses

The materials and equipment varied from lesson to lesson, as did the people involved. Generally 35 mm cameras were used for photos. Resource materials and supplies related to the specific curriculum areas.

Outcomes and Adaptability

Once the slides were assembled from all the lessons, Lakewood created its slide/tape presentation for school and community use. Feedback from teachers and students indicated enthusiasm; the introduction of photography as a means of creative expression was successful in integrating the arts with the curriculum. "The success...was most evident in the children's ability to master the tasks of operating the equipment and in their realization that photography can be a means of satisfying personal expression."
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