Professional Documents
Culture Documents
get to get their hands on the materials and figure out ways to put them together. Young children
often build without any goal in mind, discovering the properties of the material and learning the
mechanics (Beal, 2001). Beal (2001) says, It is really the material here thats teaching the child
(p.163). I also identified with Beals (2001) description of the teachers role within construction,
as it clearly matched the way we engaged with the construction materials in our in-class
exploration. She noted, I see my job as teaching the children how to use the materials, but not
what to do with them. I want them to come up with their own ideas. And invariably they do
(Beal, 2001, p.173). Construction allows children to become excited about and connect with their
artwork, to work together, and ultimately, to discover and learn about how what things can
become when joined together.
Curriculum Ideas
Exploring construction this week, with my groups story show in mind, once again
brought forth a strong connection between narrative and art. My group members and I began
building elements of our storythe setting, the characters, and props to show the details and
events of our stories. As we explored construction in this way, I thought about what a great
activity this would be for children, to create a story and work together to construct it, choosing
shapes and materials to express story elements and ideas. The objective of the activity would be
that through construction, paper mache and other materials of choice, students will learn how to
select and construct shapes to create the story elements of setting, characters, details and events,
to tell a story.
Reference:
Beal, N. (2001). The Art of Teaching Art to Children in School and at Home. New York: Farrar,
Straus and Giroux.