African American Artists and Classifying Hardware

Works4Me presents weekly practical classroom tips from real experts -- your colleagues!

1. African American Artists

From an anonymous reader:

"For two weeks in February, Black History Month, I teach about Black artists becoming successful artists because of their bold themes, vibrant colors/textures, and understandable simplicity. I take three artists from the Harlem Renaissance -- painters William Johnson and Jacob Lawrence, and the collage artist Romare Bearden -- and let the kids choose whether they want to paint or collage. They draw a human figure in familiar poses that reflect their own lives, much as these three artists captured their own lives. They add color to these drawings by filling in with watercolor, oil pastels or cut paper from magazines. So many cross-curricular lessons are available through this single art lesson, and since none of the three artists were strict realists, there are few stressors for the students in trying to achieve success."
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2. Hardwaria

From Michael Konecky, a high school biology teacher in Arizona:

"I did a taxonomy activity in which I had my students devise a classification system for a box of nuts, bolts, screws, nails and other hardware in the Kingdom 'Hardwaria.' They had to divide them into phyla, classes, orders, families, genera and species based on some system they could explain. The final requirement was to devise a descriptive binomial for each piece using a list of Latin and Greek roots. A small brass hex nut might end up with the binomial Microhex aureum and a washer "Platiformus centrostoma."
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3. Question of the Week: Quieting the Class

From the Works4Me Worker Bees:

"From clapping to silent hand signals and flashing off the lights, teachers have many different techniques for quieting their classes and getting students' attention. What innovative, effective solutions have you discovered for "getting their attention"?
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4. Reading First

Heard Last Week in the Works4Me Lounge:

"Any teachers out there working in a Reading First school? What are your feelings on this program, and do you think it is working in your school? I work in a Read First School and the work load is outrageous, and the benefits are not that much higher than with other programs I have used. I am ready to jump ship and am surprised that somebody hasn't complained about the demands being placed on teachers due to this program."
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