Practicum: Fraction Fish

By: Janessa Pope

Context Edith Bowen Laboratory School Mrs. Kyriopoulos’s 5th grade class Classroom was set up in six groups of about 4-

5 desks each. Strong art school – STEAM Have art mentors, art teachers, movement

teachers, P.E. specialists and media specialists. They are affiliated with the USU Caine College

of the Arts Mrs. K does buy-in to the visual arts. She was

excited to have me come teach and even asked for my lesson plan.

Objectives The objectives for this lesson were:

During preparation for this activity, students will learn how to cut a whole circle in order to visually represent different fractions.

Before beginning their art, students will listen to instructions carefully in order to complete their creatures correctly.

While creating their fish, students will understand that they are creating abstract, geometric creatures.

After completing this activity, students will be able to multiply fractions of different denominators to create a single fraction.

I chose to teach this art lesson with these objectives because they correlated with Mrs. K’s current curriculum.

Fraction Fish Directions:

Must make at least two creatures with at least three different colors in common.

Try to fill the whole page with art.

Have your math checked by either Mrs. Pope or one of the other teachers.

Be creative! Since our creatures are geometric, they will not look exactly like a fish you could see everyday.

Mrs. K’s direction: neatness counts.

Theory Vs. Practice Theory:

Nervous but prepared Take about 15-20 minutes to explain the

assignment Student’s will follow along and cut the circles

with me Project: 25-30 minutes Student’s would fly through the math: 5 minutes Clean up work stations: 5 minutes Finish with awesome and creative creatures! It would be extremely hard to distinguish

between high, middle and low art work.

Theory Vs. Practice Practice:

Nervous and mostly prepared Explanation of assignment: 15 minutes While cutting circles, some students followed along,

others quickly flew through cutting and started working.

Project: 10-40 minutes The math for some was very easy while others

struggled Student’s cleaned as they went so we didn’t need to

take cleaning time, however, many students still weren’t done with the projects after the hour.

Finished with awesome and creative artwork! Easier than I thought to grade.

Student Work: Low

Student Work: Medium

Student Work: High

Art Exhibit

Mrs. K only has one bulletin board for her class to display work, so I was only able to use one side of the board.

I used push pins to hang up the art. If I had a chance, I would probably change to double sided tape or something similar.

Reflection What I Learned:

It was a lot of fun and I connected well with the students.

It can be hard to hold students attention.

Art brings out creativity and joy in each student.

I really enjoy teaching.

What I would change: I would bring paper for

the table and nameplates.

I would have attention grabbers ready to focus the students.

I would attempt to keep things to a tighter schedule – stopping 5-10 minutes before the hour for finishing touches and clean-up if needed.

QUESTIONS?COMMENTS?