Aesthetic

Aren’t They Beautiful? (For Children of All Ages)

Goal: Show awareness of beauty in nature.
Materials needed: Any natural object. (real flowers, real shells, real plant, real leaves, real animal, real rocks, etc.)

Procedure: Bring in something natural that you, the teacher, think is beautiful. Bring the students to the rug and talk about the object. Boys and girls, I want you to look at this object. Do you think this object is beautiful? Why/Why not? How does this object make you feel? How does it add to your life? What do you like about the object? What do you dislike about the object? Why? Be enthusiastic about the object and its beauty.

Extension: Give children the option to pick their own object and ponder its beauty for several days. Then gather them together to discuss their experience or feelings about the beautiful object. Have them draw about it.

Adaptation: Talk to the children one on one about the object. If they are not sure about their feelings toward the object or its beauty, talk about what they do know about the object and work from there. Have you seen this before? Have you touched it, played with it, or used it?

Oh-Up! Oh-Down! (For Children of All Ages)

Goal: Use a variety of materials, tools, techniques, and processes in the arts (drama).

Materials needed: None

Procedure: After reading or hearing a story that the children enjoyed, gather the students in a circle so they are standing and facing one another. Explain that they will be using their bodies to become the people, animals, or objects in the story. Use your own signal to indicate when the students should start and stop their dramatic interpretations. “Oh-up” means to stand up and begin while “Oh-Down” means to stop and crouch down. Start by having all of the students down in a crouch. Boys and girls, when we come up, we’re going to act like the big bad wolf. Ready? “Oh-up!” (Do it with them) “Oh-down!” Remember to use your own thinking to develop actions for that object, animal, or character. Repeat this procedure using other ideas. Encourage the children to participate but don’t force them. If they insist on watching, allow them to do so nearby. They may want to join in after watching a few rounds. Let them know that they are able to join whenever they feel comfortable to do so.

Extension: Select some ideas that are less concrete. Be the chair that breaks when Goldilocks sits down. Be the door that opens when she knocks. You may also allow students to suggest ideas.

Adaptation: Select ideas that are concrete and easy to visualize. Be the baby bear crying over his broken chair. Be Goldilocks going to sleep in the bed. Do this for a short time until they start to grasp the concept.

My Own Song (For Children of All Ages)

Goal: Recognize themselves as artists

Materials: none

Procedure: Model and encourage children to select familiar tunes and sing their own words to them. For example, to the tune of “Frere Jacques,” or Are You Sleeping?” sing, “Going home now, going home now, going home, going home, going going home, going going home, going home, going home.”

To simplify: Suggest that children sing their name using the melody of a familiar, simple song. Encourage them to only use one word in their songs.

To Extend: Encourage children to use more extensive personal descriptions with the melody. “Frere Jacques” can sound like “My name’s Sandy, my name’s Sandy, how are you, how are you, I live in a yellow house with a dog named Patches, I like school, I like school.” Have students think of words that go along with a content area you are studying rather than just themselves.

Pitch Play (For older or More Experienced Children)

Goal: Recognize and respond to basic elements of music (pitch)

Materials: Pitched instruments (such as a xylophone or recorder)

Procedure: Show children how sounds can be high or low by playing one of each on the xylophone. Then sing the same sounds, “Da-da” (high-low), matching the pitches. Teach children how to have musical “conversations” using matching pitches, with one person leading and the others responding like an echo. Tell the children to listen to what you sing, then echo back what they heard, using the same sounds (matching pitches). Begin with one word that has two syllables, like hello. Sing the first syllable high; sing the second low. The leader sings, “Hel-lo” (high and low). Response: “Hel-lo” (high-low) Practice this using various words, like “el-bow,” “fing-er,” “tooth-paste,” “meat-ball,” or phrases like “play-ball,” “slide-down,” go-slow,” and so on. Change the pitches for variety; use low-high sometimes. Then, use phrases with three words or sounds, such as “go-out-side” (High-high-low) or “eat-ice-cream” (low-low-high), until it becomes easy. Next, have the child lead, and you reply with different words but matched pitches. The leader sings, “Hel-lo,” Response: “Hi-there” or Hi-Carl.” Finally, switch roles again and have the student make up his or her response to your lead, still matching you pitches.

To Simplify: Start simple, using one-pitch conversations. Practice until the student feels comfortable with it. Provide plenty of examples with instruments and in conversations.

To extend: Use two sets of pitched instruments, such as bells or xylophones, using the same procedure: One leads, the other echoes using the instruments instead of singing voices or in addition to singing voices. Be sure to start with two pitches that are very different (high-low) and gradually use those that are more difficult to distinguish (high-middle or middle-low).

Artist in Our Town (For Children of All Ages)

Goal: Experience various art forms (music, dance, drama, and visual art).

Materials: Varies depending on what kind of artist visits.

Procedure: Have a local artist to come to class. Have the person bring samples of his or her work, tools needed to create the art. Then have the guest demonstrate how to create the art. Explain what interested them and what inspires them.

To Simplify: Keep the presentation short. Have the presenter at a center.

To Extend: Send a note home to parents asking if they or someone they know who is an artist. Have the students learn about the art and report it back to the class. They could also invite the artist to present.