Tuesday, November 25, 2014

20 Minute Classes

If your school is like mine there are a few times a year when your schedule is re-arranged for early outs. At NMS we have a few times when we have an 11:30 dismissal.  All the classes are still held but we only have 20 minutes per class period.  That isn't much time to get anything out, let alone accomplished.

Rob to the Rescue....

Rob from Art for Kids has a lot of really great "draw along" videos.  I love that he draws along with at least one of his own kids so it is super kid friendly.  He also has lessons broke down into different age groups and mediums.

Our last 11:30 dismissal was earlier this fall.  My 5th graders drew along to create an awesome owl.


recreated on the computer... how cool!

My 6th graders drew along to create a tough looking football player.

recreated with an entire football field


While these work great for as a time filler I have struggled with how I could make this into a creative activity.  I solved this dilemma by turning the project into a contest.  Each class drew along with Rob in during class time and then were given the following week (until I saw them again) to finish it in the coolest way possible.  Each grade level had the top 3 projects selected for a prize...
5th grade 1st. 2nd and 3rd place
6th grade 3rd, 2nd and 1st place






3 comments:

  1. I also have used his site with my classes. Your idea about the contest is a good one that I'll use sometime! Thanks!!

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  2. Jen, I never heard of Rob's site. That is cool, thanks for sharing. Do you have trouble showing them at school? Are they ever blocked?

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    1. I have never run into a problem at school. If you do, you can try saving them to a playlist first or you can imbed them into a website (with proper credit given) and play them that way.

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