Teaching elementary-aged children is a rewarding experience, but as educators and parents, finding the time and resources to create engaging lessons can be a challenge. That's where this podcast comes in. Welcome to Naturally Teaching Elementary.

I'm Victoria Zablocki, a certified elementary teacher turned outdoor educator. With over a decade of experience coaching teachers on effective teaching methods, I'm passionate about teaching the whole child with authentic and place-based experiences in school and home settings. Join me as we explore our strategies for teaching with practical teaching tips, insightful interviews, picture book reviews, and more.

So let's grow together. Hey everybody, welcome back to the Naturally Teaching Elementary podcast. My name is Victoria Zablocki and I'm your host.

So the last couple of episodes have been focused on learning about vernal pools and their link with frogs and the frog life cycle. If you've missed them, episode 46 was about a citizen science project called Vernal Pool Patrol, Episode 47 was about six activities for learning about vernal pools and frogs all aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, and episode 48 was about nine vernal pool and frog books for elementary age learners.

So I'd like to talk one more time about vernal pools and frogs by focusing on fine arts examples for vernal pool and frog projects for elementary age learners. But before we talk art projects that I want to share with you today, let's get into today's teaching tip.

[1:22]

So my teaching tip today is about what fine arts are and why they're beneficial to use with your elementary-aged learners. So after checking in with multiple references, it's mostly agreed that the fine arts are classified as art that's made to be beautiful or as creative expression. This means that it doesn't serve a functional purpose.

It's simply to be enjoyed. The historical categories of fine arts were painting, sculpting, architecture, music and poetry. But more recently, other categories have been added, including theater, dance, cinematography, photography, studio pottery and studio glass.

There are many benefits to providing your learners fine arts opportunities. Children of all ages are very creative and benefit greatly from opportunities to express that creativity. Fine arts projects can build confidence in your learners both through the creation process and the sharing process.

It can also provide our learners a great way to show what they've learned in a fun and engaging way, and it will feel less like a test, letting all of your learners have opportunities to demonstrate their understanding. These are just a few of the ways that the fine arts can help with your elementary age learners, and you can find more online if you wanted to dive more into it. My goal with this episode is to give you fine arts examples for vernal pool and frog projects that you can do with your learners this spring.

I'm going to share with you a description of each project that I have for you today, materials you would need to make the project happen, preparation steps if they're needed, and how to present the project to your learners. So let's get into these vernal pool and frog project ideas. So I'm going to start with projects that could be created inside the classroom.

[2:57]

And my first project is making a frog call instrument. So this would fall into the music category of fine art. And music has long been considered a fine art.

It was one of the original categories that I mentioned. And spring is a great time to experience nature's music in the form of frog choruses, which could also inspire your learners. So materials to make a frog call could include clean recyclables, loose parts like dried peas or beans, and craft materials like construction paper, popsicle sticks, masking tape, rubber bands, etc.

So to prepare, all you'll need to do is gather your materials. Make sure that your recyclables are washed and dried, as some of your learners may decide to try to make a wind instrument, meaning they will put their mouth on these things. If you don't feel like you can save enough recyclables from your own home, you can always ask your learners’ caregivers to donate, as well as your family and coworkers.

Just make sure you wash and dry them before giving them to your learners. So to make this project happen, if you wanted to give your learners a chance to pre-plan what they're going to build, place all of the materials on a table and provide them with paper to draw their idea. Make sure to show them how much masking tape or yarn they'll be allowed to use.

That way, you don't end up with a student using a whole roll of masking tape, because that can happen. In my experience, children will use as much tape as possible, so being upfront about how much masking tape each child has available to them will make this build go smoother. Then, when you're ready for your learners to get their instrument making on, put the materials out on a table and have your learners collect what they think they'll need to construct an instrument that sounds like a frog call.

If you want to give them inspiration for their sounds, you could play frog calls in the background, so they know what they're trying to mimic. Once everyone has built their frog call instruments, spend some time playing them altogether to create a chorus of frogs in your classroom or learning space.

[4:51]

Project number two is creating a skit to retell a story of a vernal pool or a frog life cycle. Theater is considered a fine art. It can be a really fun way for your learners to retell a story. If you listened to last week's episode, 9 Vernal Pool and Frog Books for Elementary Teachers and Homeschool Parents, you may have heard about a book that would fit your curricular goals.

So get your hands on that book or more than one of those books and give your learners the chance to act out what happened in the story as a form of fine art in your learning space. So materials you'll need for this part would be story books about vernal pools and frogs. So what I would suggest is to start by reading aloud a picture book or two about vernal pools or frogs.

And while you're reading, ask questions like, where does this story take place? Who are the characters in this story? What is happening on this page? What is the problem in this story? Reminding your students to pay attention to the story elements will help them to be able to come up with a good retelling for their skit. After they've heard at least one picture book, let them break up into groups of two or three and create their own retelling of the story that they act out with their bodies and possibly props and costumes (see project 3). If you let them have more than three children, you may end up with too many people and not enough roles for everyone to participate with, so it's best to keep to like two or three in a group. Let them have time to practice and then save time for them to share.

Early childhood learners, so your kindergarten through second grade, will probably need to perform the same day they create their skits, whereas older students will probably be able to practice one day and perform on a different day. This is a creative and engaging way to see how well your learners can retell a story. Plus, it's a collaborative effort.

So if you have a child that struggles with this skill, they have support from peers to be able to work on it. And then celebrate with a performance day and give each group a chance to share their retelling through their art.

[6:45]

Project number three is another portion of theater - making props and costumes. So you can enrich your retelling skits by giving your learners the opportunity to create props and costumes. Theater has multiple elements that are considered fine arts examples. So not only is the acting a form of fine art, but the props and costumes are considered to be visual arts as well.

So materials that you'll need for this would be dramatic play dress up elements, clean recyclables, craft materials such as construction paper, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, markers and more. So to get ready for this project, gather and clean recyclables for your learners to use for props. If you don't have dress up pieces at your disposal, you could print out mask templates on cardstock paper and have your learners create masks for their costumes.

So to be able to put this project into motion, you're going to let your learners script out their retelling skits, and then have them think about what would enhance their retelling. Would it be helpful to have a frog mask, a salamander mask and a fairy shrimp mask to designate the different characters? Were there any items that the characters use that were really important to the storyline?

They should design and create different costume elements and props to help make their story come to life. Share these works of art at the same time as they're performing their retelling skits, and then put them on display either on a classroom bulletin board or on a counter in the classroom.

[8:08]

Project number four is cinematography, and what I suggest for this one would be adding on to those retelling skits where you have them actually record their performances and then they can add effects on top.

So cinematography is a newer form of fine art, and it's like the techie version of theater. You could give your learners a chance to enhance their retelling skits further by recording their performance and then adding in cinema elements like music and transitions, or you could have your learners record themselves dipping in like a vernal pool and then adding cinematic elements to their journey. So materials for this project would include like an iPad, Chromebooks, a digital camera, etc.

And then if you're planning on having your learners work with their retelling skits, provide a device with a camera for a learner to record the skit for editing. So teach your learners the basics for an editing software like iMovie or Stop Motion Studio and give them time to edit their recording once it's done. If you plan to provide your learners a different prompt or have them record themselves dipping in a vernal pool, you may have to go over some guidelines for keeping the tech safe near water.

After recording, the group should work collaboratively to make creative decisions, which will not only be an exercise in fine arts, but also in teamwork, which is nice. And then celebrate their creations by having a viewing party or putting them on your class website for everyone to see.

[9:33]

Project number five is sculpting. So you could have your learners use clay to sculpt the frog life cycle. So we're starting to veer away from the retelling skit, which did inspire a fair number of fine arts examples. And now I'm throwing out sculpting as an example of fine art that you can use to enhance your science studies.

If you're working on animal life cycles, you can provide your learners the opportunity to sculpt the different stages of a frog's life cycle. So materials that could be beneficial for this project would include some form of sculpting material, like air-drying clay, modeling clay, Play-Doh, air-drying salt dough, soap with plastic knives, and even craft materials like pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, pom-poms, and more.

So to have this project go smoothly, you're going to spend time introducing the frog life cycle ahead of time, either through exploration in a vernal pool, one of the picture books from last week's episode or another way.

Then have your learners use the materials you've collected to create four small sculptures, one for each life stage - egg, tadpole, froglet, and adult. If you provide them with air-drying clay, you could let their creation sit out overnight or all weekend depending on how thick the clay is, and then give them a chance to paint their work after it's dry. To show off their frog life cycle representations, you could take pictures and share them with the caregivers, or you could ask the librarian if you could put them on display in the library for other learners to see.

[10:59]

Project number six is poetry. You can have your learners write a poem about a vernal pool in or near your green space. Poems have long been considered a fine art.

The use of imagery and inclusion of senses make poetry a great way to celebrate vernal pools and frogs. Materials for this project would include notebook paper, pencils, and clipboards. You can decide if you want to have your learners work towards a particular kind of poem or if you want to let your learners have free reign.

This project could be completed inside or outside, depending on if you have a vernal pool in your green space or not. If you don't have a vernal pool in your green space, you could search YouTube for a video about one, or you could focus on frogs and their life cycles. If you do have a vernal pool in your green space, take your learners out to the edge of it and give them a clipboard, a few pieces of paper, and a pencil.

Have them use their senses and write words to describe what they experience. Then on another piece of paper, they can use their descriptive words to create a poem. Consider haikus, acrostics, couplets, and more.

You could also let them create their own style as well. Celebrate their creativity with a reading in front of their classmates and or caregivers. Projects one through six could be completed inside, and the last three are outside projects, so ones that you would take your students outside for.

[12:17]

Project number seven is photography. Taking a picture of a vernal pool near your green space. Photography is one of those newer categories of fine arts, but can really speak to a lot of people's emotions and provide wonderful visual aesthetics, much like the other fine arts examples.

Photography of all kinds can be appreciated by what people find beautiful. So have your learners spend time looking at a vernal pool near your school or your yard at different angles and different light, looking for a good shot that captures what they find unique about the ecosystem. So materials for this project could include small frames made from cardstock, cardboard or popsicle sticks, and an iPad, a phone or a digital camera.

To prepare, you're going to create a list of photograph numbers in order on a clipboard for you to keep track of whose picture was whose after they've taken the pictures. And I'll explain that a little bit more as I talk about the method. So this project sounds pretty straightforward, but it actually has a few different steps to provide your learners with an appreciation of photography as an art form.

If you want to cultivate photography as a form of creative expression, you'll want to visit your vernal pool multiple times before getting out the tech. So provide each learner a small frame that will act as their camera window to provide them perspective while they search for a good shot. You'll want to visit your vernal pool in the morning to see how the lower sunlight affects the space, and then you'll also want to visit around noon to see how the lack of shadows transforms the space, and you'll also want to visit in the afternoon to see the changes then as well.

Light is going to make a huge difference in what they see. You'll also likely notice that different animals are active during different times, so if your learner really wants to capture a frog, maybe they'll have better luck during the afternoon when the temperatures are warmer and the light is lower. While visiting, have your learner use their small frame to focus in on different parts of the vernal pool.

Encourage them to look at a distance and capture the entire pool in their field of view, but then also get really close to a small section of water and then also in between. Have them use their frame to focus from a spot in the pool, and then have them get low to the ground and look at the same spot from a side angle. This exercise will give them practice in perspective and angles.

When your learners have figured out what they like about the vernal pool and how they want to capture its uniqueness, head out with your technology and allow your learners to take two or three pictures each. And this is where that clipboard comes into play. So if you know what the first picture number is going to be with your digital camera, you're going to keep track of that first number and then just list a whole bunch of numbers afterwards.

So that way when your learners take pictures, they can write their name next to those numbers. So that way you know whose is whose. After they've all gotten a chance to take their pictures, you can print off those pictures and create an exhibit on a bulletin board or your classroom door or in a public space that shows off their creativity as well as the beauty of the vernal pool.

[15:17]

Project number eight is painting. So in particular, I'm talking watercolor painting. So painting has long been respected as a form of fine arts, but watercolor has a special connection to vernal pools and frogs as they both require water to come to life.

They're also one of the easiest forms of painting to be able to take outside with your learners. So materials for this project would be watercolor palettes, paint brushes, water in containers with lids, paper towels, cardstock or watercolor paper, clipboard, and if you wanted, you could include sit-upons. After gathering your materials, you take your learners outside to the edge of the vernal pool, provide them each a paint palette, paint brushes, some paper towels, some paper, a clipboard, water, and a sit-upon if you want them to be able to use those.

Have them sit around the vernal pool and paint whatever they're inspired by. They could paint the entire vernal pool or they can focus in on algae on the surface of the water, a frog in the water, what have you. Something to note, even though you're using non-toxic paint, you do not want to dump your waste water in the vernal pool.

There's a lot of sensitive species in the vernal pool, and that paint can still affect them. So that's why I suggested bringing water in containers with lids, because then you can bring your waste water back inside and dump it down the sink where it will be treated before it spreads further. And after they've finished their paintings, you can display them on a bulletin board in the hallway or as an exhibit in the library to celebrate their work.

[16:46]

Project number nine is drawing, and drawing is another classic fine arts example, but has a fantastic connection to science. Science notebooking is a fantastic opportunity to blend fine arts and science. So materials for this project will include blank paper, pencils, erasers, clipboards, and again, if you have sit-upons and you want to use those, that's great.

So after gathering the materials, take your learners outside to the edge of the vernal pool, provide them each a clipboard, a blank piece of paper, a pencil, an eraser, and again, a sit-upon if you have them and want to use them, and have them draw something that grabs their attention and they think they can give good detail to. Zoning in on something smaller will allow them to focus on details, not rush, and be able to take advantage of a shorter amount of time because you don't have hours to sit there. After they've finished their drawings, you could display them on a bulletin board in the hallway as an exhibit in the library or put them in their science notebook.

[17:43]

So, in a nutshell, today we talked about nine fine arts examples of vernal pool and frog projects to try this spring. We talked through creating a frog call instrument, developing a skit to retell a story, creating props and costumes to go along with the skit, potentially recording the skit and adding cinematography elements, sculpting a frog life cycle, writing a vernal pool or frog poem, taking photographs of vernal pools or animals that use them, painting a watercolor painting next to a vernal pool, and drawing an organism collected from a vernal pool. So thanks for taking time to listen today.

I know you're busy and I truly appreciate the time you take to tune in. If you have any questions, wonderings, or fine arts examples that you use with your learners, get a hold of me on Instagram at Naturally.Teaching, or you can email me at victoria@naturallyteaching.com. Don't forget to check out the show notes for this episode at naturallyteaching.com/episode49, where I'll have all the links that I've mentioned today.

So thanks again for joining me today, and until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and keep naturally teaching. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of the Naturally Teaching Elementary Podcast. I hope you found it informative, inspiring, and full of actionable insights to enhance your teaching journey.

Connect with me on social media for more updates, science tidbits, and additional resources. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook at naturally.teaching. Let's continue the conversation and share our passion for teaching elementary-age children together.

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Thank you again for listening, and until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and keep naturally teaching.