CHDV 210 Curriculum Activities Self Evaluation Form Creative Art Activity Sugar Cube Fun Why did

d you choose this particular activity? I chose this activity because I wanted the children in the center to experiment and with something that they dont usually have a chance to. Sugar cubes are not something that children are typically allowed to play with. What were the strong points of this activity? What I believed to be the strong points of my activity would be that the children were very curious about the sugar cubes. I gave them a couple of materials and allowed their imaginations to run wild. They were allowed to make decisions, take actions and monitor the effects (Epstein, 2011, p. 107). I didnt tell the children they couldnt do something or that they had to do something a certain way. According to the text, in order for young Americans to succeed they need an education that develops imaginative, flexible, and tough-minded thinking (Epstein, 2011, p. 108). In my activity I tried to give the children two of those factors. What were the weak areas? The weak areas in my activity were that the sugar cubes started to melt when the children used too much glue. For some children, this made them a little frustrated and they would stop trying to build with the cubes. Other children just kept building. This didnt happen to all children. Some used the right amount of glue and they had no problems stacking the cubes. Another weak point would be that I wasnt sure how to ask the right questions. I didnt want to ask the wrong ones so I tried hard to think about what I was going to ask. I know I need to practice on reinforcing the children without praise. I asked one child what are you making? she looked at me blankly and replied I dont know. This is an example of spontaneous representation (Epstein, 2011, p. 109). Now I understand that by asking a question that she didnt know the answer to, I made her second guess what she was making, which is not something that should happen while making art. What specific changes did you try out when you present the activity the second time? The second time I presented my activity, I removed the feathers out of the activity because during the first activity, the children didnt really experiment with them. They put them aside, the only time I saw them do something with them was while a little girl said they tickle me. I also removed the glue (only to see if they would ask for it.) Another thing I tried out was setting out some water and paper towels so that the children were allowed to clean up their own space. Evaluate the success of these revisions. How might you improve next time? During the second day, the children didnt even seem to notice that the feathers were gone. However, there was one child that saw them sitting on the

counter and asked I want to use these. Maybe next time I will put the materials that I removed out of sight so they are not tempted to ask for them. The last change I made was to have them clean up their own area. This change semi worked. Some of the children listened to my directions and others didnt. But Ms. Peggy told me that what I was doing wrong was asking them to clean it up. Instead I had to tell them. Did your curriculum activity meet your stated objective? The book states that when adults work next to the children without directing on how to use their materials, the children stay in the engaged longer. (Epstein, 2011, p. 111). The children definitely stayed in engaged in my activity for almost the entire work time. This met and surpassed my first objective: To enhance the childs creativity by providing them a wide ranged of materials and allow them to let their imagination run wild. The second objective: Child will be able to experiment with different materials, textures, and paints. The activity also met this objective, while using the feathers; one child said this tickles me. Another example would be during the second activity, some of the children started to break up the cubes and feeling them in between their hands. A child said Im rolling it into a ball. Lastly, I only gave the children two colors of paint (to see if they would make different colors with them). Of course, they started making purple with the pink and blue. The first child to say anything was a girl, she said look teacher Im making purple! soon after that, most made purple. The third objective was met in the sense that when one child asked for glue, another would say you can use my glue. Also, one child ran out of glitter and another said you can have a little of mine. I think they demonstrated good sharing skills. Based upon your informal assessment of the children during this activity, how would you build upon this activity? What would be the next curriculum activity you plan in this area to enhance the childrens learning and why would you choose this next activity? Another activity that could be followed up after this one could be a science one. Maybe why the sugar cubes melted with the glue. Along with glue we can use different liquids to melt the sugar cubes with like oil, warm water or cold water. Maybe we can also compare them to ice cubes. I would choose this activity so that they can grasp the concept of dissolving or melting. Why things dissolve or melt.