The Final Project: Engaging 1st Graders Through the Visual Arts

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About the Final Project

Due to my interest in visual arts my final project consists of me designing and drawing English Vocabulary worksheet cards for the students in 1st grade of primary school to complete.

TOPIC

English

SUBJECT AREA

Primary 1st

GRADE LEVEL

Usefulness and Adaptability of the Final Project

My final project is useful for the students because they get to use their creativity when it comes to filling out the English Vocabulary worksheet. It also helps the teachers and parents see if their kids are understanding the vocabulary. It is nice to see how different each worksheet turns out with the colours that the students decide to use to fill them in.

THE USEFULNESS OF THE PROJECT

The worksheets that I have developed can easily be adapted to other subjects and not just English by writing in the vocabulary words needed to be reviewed and illustrating an appropriate image to enhance that vocabulary word. This can also be used to develop the worksheets for other grade levels.

ADAPTABILITY OF THE FINAL PROJECT

Final Project Outline

  • What topic are you teaching?
    • English
  • What are your ojectives?
    • To prepare the students for their upcoming English Vocabulary Exam by helping them memorize the vocabulary with visual help.
  • What materials are you going to use?
    • pencil
    • paper
    • coloured pencils
    • pen
    • copy machine
  • What is the timing for the lessons?
    • Start planning and designing the worksheets for the upcoming chapter when the test for the previous chapter is completed. This way the worksheets can be finished and you can present it to the students along with a review session the day before their English exam. When they are done with the worksheet they can take it home and review it.
  • The is the teacher’s role?
    • To work with the students and introduce them to the vocabulary in the chapter that they are going to be tested on.
  • What is your role as a Language Assistant?
    • To assist the teacher in helping the students be exposed to and learn the vocabulary that they will be tested on, also to design the worksheet for the students to review the English vocabulary. Before the students get the worksheet cards they will have a review session with me with pictures and songs.
  • What activities are the students going to do?
    • The students will fill in the blanks on the vocabulary words, trace and colour the words and images in order to review for their English exams.
  • How will you be evaluating the activities?
    • They will be evaluated by completing the worksheet correctly
  • How will you know they have achieved the learning objectives?
    • Their grade on their exam will reflect if they have learned the vocabulary.
  • How will you be responding to diverse learning styles and levels of achievement among your students?
    • If the students need a bit more help I will guide them on how to fill out the worksheet.

Worksheet Designs for English Vocabulary Review


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The Portfolio

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About me

I am a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico, was most recently residing in Texas, United States. I love listening to music and making art. The 1975 is my favorite band and Vincent Van Gogh is my favorite artist. I love to thrift and have an extensive collection of types of vinyl from bands that I like. I majored in speech communication and have two minors, one in art and one in visual communication design (graphic design) from St.Mary’s University. I am currently pursing a masters in Global Higher Education.

ABOUT ME

Final Project and Expectations from the Program

Due to my interest in visual arts my final project consists of me designing and drawing worksheet cards for the students in 1st grade of primary school to complete. They will fill in the blanks on the vocabulary words, trace and colour them in order to review for their English exams. Before the students get their worksheets I will review the vocabulary words with them and involve them the review.

FINAL PROJECT

For the Language Assistant program I expect to gain an insight on the Spanish educational system and to be of great help to the teachers I work with. Not only do I hope to do this, but I also hope to make a positive impact on the students’ lives by helping their teachers and leave them with long-lasting English skills that they will use for many years to come.

EXPECTATIONS FROM THE PROGAM

School Placement

My school is in the Comunidad de Madrid, in a town called Alcala de Henares. It is a primary school and I work primarily with the 1st graders, although I do have some other levels sprinkled in my schedule here and there. It is a primary school located next to an infantil school so there is always something going on. The energy and attentiveness of the kids is great. They enjoy colouring and interacting with me, it is great to see how they become more confident in their English skills as time goes on.

SCHOOL PLACEMENT

Teaching Experience

In the primary school that I am assigned to I work mostly with the 1st graders. With the 1st graders I am helping out with English, Natural Science, Social Science and Arts. I also have other levels where I assist as well, a 6th grade class with Natural Science, a 2nd grade class with English, a 4th grade class with Arts, a 3rd grade class with Social Science and a 5th grade class with English.

ASSIGNED GRADES AND SUBJECTS

My main goal teaching is to see my students get more comfortable with their English speaking skills. I also hope to learn more about classroom management.

GOALS FOR SELF AND LEARNERS

The main activities that I have developed as a Language Assistant are worksheet cards to help the 1st graders memorize their English vocabulary before their tests. Not only do I do that but I also develop the oral portion of the English exam for the 1st graders and give them that part of the exam. With the other levels I help prepare the students for the exams that they have coming up and make sure that they understand the vocabulary that is being taught to them.

MAIN ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED AS A LANGUAGE ASSISTANT

Contributions to the Language Assistant Program

In my school I hope that they see how useful a Language Assistant can be in the devlopment of English skills with the students. I hope to have shown that to them with the good grades that the students have been getting in their English Vocabulary exams. The students also got to experience Halloween and Christmas activities designed by the Language Assistants at our primary school. Seeing holiday traditions like that helped them expand their worldview and appreciate the holidays.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LANGUAGE ASSISTANT PROGRAM

Highlights of my Experience as a Language Assistant

The main highlight so far as a Language Assistant has been seeing how excited the students get whenever they get to do one of the activities that I have designed for them. It is also so nice to see how they develop their English Skills and get more comfortable talking to me as the days go on. Walking into the primary school is always the best part of my day because all of my 1st grade students greet me and chant my name as I walk in, there is nothing as special as that.

HIGHLIGHTS OF MY EXPERIENCE AS A LAGUAGE ASSISTANT


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Scene on Campus: JTV Does it All

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josepianoopt.jpgJose Tapia, a sophomore at St.Mary’s University is majoring in communication and minoring in music. In his spare time he enjoys singing, playing instruments, like the piano, dancing, composing choreography, managing his Youtube Channel ‘JTV Productions’ and making covers of songs.

 

 

 

In the link below Jose is seen in “Scene on Campus: JTV Does it All.”

 

Check out JTV Productions YouTube Channel Here!

Final Thoughts For the Semester

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My communication skills have greatly improved because I had to actually talk to people and get the confidence to take pictures and videos of them. Technologically I learned a lot, at first it was frustrating because it was new to me but as soon as I got how to work on Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and on WordPress it was a breeze. I didn’t think that I would be able to work on something so smoothly and efficiently. Visually I learned what works best, I found my aesthetic. I was able to experiment in this class and I gained a great amount of insight from taking pictures and videos from different angles so that I could tell a story that is visually pleasing to others and myself. Interpersonally I found myself. I was able to learn what I like to do and what I don’t like. I love editing audio…video not so much. Most importantly I love talking to people and hearing their stories and getting to document what they say makes it very special because I get to share their story with others. I got to learn a lot about myself as well. I was able to develop amazing organization skills since I had specific deadlines that I had to meet. I couldn’t turn anything in late so I made sure to write everything down in my planner and on my to-do lists. This class helped me not procrastinate since I couldn’t leave everything for the last minute. Most importantly this class paved the way to many opportunities and opened a lot of doors for me. Thanks to everything that I learned throughout the semester I was able to talk to the main person from the Helotes Humane Society and I was given the opportunity to help them make their social media presence and photograph their pets at their adoption events. People will know who I am and I get to help out animals. It’s a win win situation and I am glad that I took this class and was able to gain knowledge.

Almond Bread

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https://youtu.be/WTHpsv2TjTQ

Almond Bread by Maximiliano Lerma

Videography and Production by Claudia Arredondo

Maximiliano Lerma, a sophomore at St.Mary’s University shares a part of his holiday tradition by showing us how to make almond bread. He demonstrates how to prepare the almond bread that he typically gives out between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season.

Ingredients:

  • 6 eggs
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon almond extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and beat for 2 minutes Heavily grease 2 8×4.5 pans. Coat the greased pans with sugar. Evenly distribute the batter into the greased and sugared pans. If there is extra batter grease and sugar 1 8 mini loaf pan, then evenly pour the extra batter into 4 of the loafs. If you would like to add an extra crunch, take some fresh almonds, crush them, lightly dust with flour and then sprinkle the crushed almonds on top of the batter. Bake mini loafs for 20-23 minutes and the big loafs for 1 hour. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes then remove bread from pans.