Teaching Science Through Art: 3 Art Integrated Lesson Plans That Hit

Posted on by

One thing I’m proud of this year is teaching art-integrated lessons. It’s been fun for me and it’s been fun for my learners. You’ll see.

In this post, I will share three of my favorite middle school arts-integrated science lessons from the 22-23 school year. All lesson plans, slides and rubrics are links to make a copy in your google drive. Clicking the link *should* ask you if you want to open as a copy in google docs.

Plant Reproduction – Observational Drawing

This was my first official AI lesson and it went so great! It was also my first time with a co-teacher and I learned a lot from seeing another teacher do her thang.

Standards

Visual Arts: Cr.2.3.8.a: Select, organize, and design images and words to make visually clear and compelling presentations.

NGSS MS-LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms: Plants reproduce in a variety of ways, sometimes depending on animal behavior and specialized features for reproduction. (MS-LS1-4) Rubric

Resources

Lesson Plan

Slides

Additional Resources: Plant Reproduction Guided Notes

Punnett Square/ Ratios

I worried about the glue aspect of this activity, but with my arts integration co-teacher, it was only a problem in one class! There’s an opportunity to collaborate with Math to help students develop a deeper understanding of ratios.

Standards

Visual Arts: VA Re 8.1.8a: Interpret art by analyzing how the interaction of subject matter, characteristics of form and structure, use of media, artmaking approaches, and relevant contextual information contributes to understanding messages or ideas and mood conveyed.

NGSS: MS-LS3-1: Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.

Resources

Lesson Plan

Slides

Earth Day Poster Project

I always go big for Earth Day, and this year was no exception. Several students chose the digital option, and each one of them said it was to reduce waste. My teacher heart just about melted. I tied this into ELA as well.

Standards

Visual Arts: Cr2.E:6-8:2 Explain the environmental, social, and ethical implications of using various tools, materials, equipment, and images to create works of art and design. Rubric

NGSS: MS-ESS3-3: Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment. Rubric

ELA Rubric

Resources

3-Rs-projectDownload

Exit Ticket

Arts Integration is a great strategy for differentiating instruction. I hope you find these resources helpful and if you test any out, please let me know how it goes.

5 Tech-based Teacher Tools for School and Life

Posted on by
photo of code projected over woman

This post highlights 5 tech-based teacher tools proven to be useful both in and out of the classroom.

1. remove.bg

Sometimes you need to remove the background from an image. Fast. Like when you take a lovely photo with your nieces in front of a trash can.

I heard about remove.bg quite some time ago and understood it to be a fast and free tool that could remove the background from any photo. I’m delighted to share that it’s so much more than that. It also provides options for alternate backgrounds, and I had a lot of fun with that feature.

Now that’s what I call fading into the sunset.

2. Google Lens

Privacy concerns aside, I was excited to learn that Google Lens can be used to identify plants, animals, and bugs. I use Lens through the Google Photos app since I already have it on my phone.

It’s easy – once you have an image of something to identify, open it in Google Photos and click the lens icon on the bottom of the screen (3rd icon from the left in the image below).

Before you know it, some possible results pop up and with a little clicking, you’ve got yourself the knowledge that you almost stepped on a Fowler’s toad. Almost.

While I’ve only used this to satisfy personal curiosity so far, I’m looking forward to testing this tech-based teacher tool with students in the fall.

3. Vocaroo

Vocaroo is a free online tool that allows users to record, send, and download voice messages. Teachers and learners can use Vocaroo in different activities, such as podcasting, digital storytelling, broadcasting, and giving feedback. Recordings can be downloaded, sent, or even scanned with a QR code reader.

Here’s a rough tutorial I made for how to record and share an audio file using Vocaroo. No one can judge me harder for this than my students did when I played it for them, but it worked – a handful of students used this tool to demonstrate knowledge whenever I offered it as an option.

This tech-based teacher tool is a must-have for differentiation.

4. Wheel of Names

Maybe it’s my love of Wheel of Fortune that sold me on this tool, but regardless of the reason, Wheel of Names is a free and easy-to-use website you can use to pick a random name (or item) from a list.

Simply enter names, and spin the wheel to pick a random winner. You can customize the look and feel, and save and share your wheels with others.

5. Kahoot!

Learners young and old enjoy the sense of competition and excitement that accompanies every round of Kahoot! I used this tool as a review activity, which usually looked like 8 – 10 questions at the end of class on Friday.

Fellow science teachers, here is my teacher page. Feel free to reuse or repurpose any of my stuff. Let me know if you do and how it goes!

I also created a Kahoot! that covers some community and school history. My idea is to play it at a community-based event or school assembly, but I’m not there yet. If you’re interested in Bay Brook Elementary Middle School #124 or the Brooklyn, Curtis Bay, or Masonville Cove neighborhoods of Baltimore City, here’s what I have so far. I’d love your input

An Open Letter To My 7th Grade Students

Posted on by

Before the school year started, I wrote an open letter to my students. It’s full of broken promises and buzzwords and honestly, is a little embarrassing, but represents a moment in time that I want to document.

Dear Students,

I want you to know that I’m looking forward to getting to know you in the weeks, months and years ahead. I think of you as more than students. I believe that before anything else, you are people first, and are entitled to the respect and attention that all people deserve. I also think that you’re going to teach me just as much as I plan to teach you. 

As I begin designing lesson plans and testing out lab activities for our time together, it’s easy to come up with a list of all the high expectations I have for you. But I want you to know that it’s ok for you to have high expectations for me. In fact, I hope you do because you deserve the best teachers the City of Baltimore has to offer, and I promise to show up each and every day to try to give you just that.

At first, it may seem like we are very different, and in many ways, we are different. But in a lot of ways, we are very much alike. For example, first and foremost, I am a person, and unfortunately, all people have biases. This is something I will devote time to every week so I can be sure whatever biases I might have are not impacting you. Like you, I must also continue to learn and grow to be my best self. To be the best teacher I can be, I will be doing a lot of reading, listening to podcasts, taking professional development courses and collaborating with other educators to be sure I’m evolving, growing and improving. 

When I think about our first few weeks together, I’m most excited about getting to know you. You should also know that I plan on establishing a relationship with your parent/guardian. I know that I will have to work to build your trust. I’m looking forward to that, I really am. 

Besides getting to know you, I’m also excited to teach you Biology. I think of it more of facilitating learning than teaching, but we can talk about that later. For now, just know that you can plan on being an active participant during our time together. I want you to play a role in your learning journey. This might take the form of discussions, group work or working with lab partners. I will work tirelessly to ensure that each of you has the support and access you need to be successful in reaching your learning goals.  

As you will soon find out, I’m an open and honest person and am far from perfect. It has only been in the past few years that I’ve discovered the power of setting goals for myself. Goal setting has dramatically improved my life and is something I wish I had discovered when I was your age. We will spend some time together in the first few weeks developing your goals. I used to spend a lot of time feeling like a failure because I never took the time to define what success looks like. I won’t let you make that mistake. 

What I can let you do is thrive in the classroom. Together, we’ll figure out what works for you to be your best self during our time together. I know what works for me, and that is sticking to a routine and having a clean and tidy space. I am sensitive to my surroundings, so if my space is messy, I find my mind is messy, too. Because of this, keeping our shared space neat, tidy and orderly is critical. You can always expect structure and a predictable routine in my class because I need to stick to a routine to be my best self. 

In the virtual space, I hope you are open to some surveys and icebreakers to get the process started. When we are able to meet in person, I’d like to work together to decorate our shared space. I’ve got some ideas, but since it’s your space too, I want to be sure we can create a safe and welcoming atmosphere that reflects who we are as a classroom community. I’m really excited about this.

In closing, I want you to thank you for being a part of this truly special moment of my life. The year ahead is full of many unknowns, but for me, I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be. Teaching is a lifelong dream of mine and I’ve worked very hard for the privilege of teaching you. Whether we’re in a virtual or in-person classroom, you are my very first students and will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you for the opportunity!

Ms. Vail

Teachers Log: 01.23.2021

In the style of Jean-Luc Picard

Transcript: Stardate 2021. After gaining teaching experience and having a close read fail just today, this letter looks long af and is uncomfortably well-intentioned. A supplemental log will be added to update the status of the current situation.