Arts Infused Activity File 1
Name: Lauren Dowling
Date: 9/5/2014
Topic: Simple Machines
Grade Level/SOL: 3/3.2
Art Involved: Cutting, pasting, drawing, and coloring
Big Ideas: Students will see that simple machines are all around us and that we use them almost
every day. They will understand the six different types of simple machines, how common they
are in everyday life and their usefulness in day to day activities. By understanding the shapes and
functionality of the machines students will be able to easily recognize them in their daily lives
and understand how they work and why they are useful.
How arts are infused in to this lesson: I will have to students find examples of each machine
in the classroom, around the school and I will have them think about examples they have at
home. They will then make a poster of all the machines they find and explain what machine it is,
where they found it and what it does. The students will use their artistic abilities to draw the
machines, create them with construction paper, or get pictures of them to create their poster.
They will be graded on the creativeness as well as the accuracy and effort put in to the
assignment.
Materials: Poster board, crayons, markers, colored pencils, construction paper, glue, tape,
scissors, magazines
Teaching steps: To begin the lesson I will review the simple machines and go over what they
are called and what their function is, I will then open the discussion up to the class and ask them
examples they have seen in the real world of these machines, I will ask them where they saw
them and what the functions of the machine was. The middle part of the lesson will be the
activity; the students will create posters of machines they have seen in the real world, they will
explain what they are and where they saw them, what they’re called and what their function was
in the real world. To end the lesson, we will review the machines one more time and have
students share their posters and explain what their machines are, where they have seen them and
what their function was. The posters will be hung in the classroom to show off the students work
and serve as a reminder of simple machines.
Assessment of student learning: I will assess the student’s work by making sure they labeled
each example as the correct machine, I will make sure they fully understand what each machine
is called, what it looks like and it’s function. By having the students explain their posters I will
be able to see if they fully understand each machine and its function and I will be able to praise
them or gently correct and lead them to a more complete understanding if they are unclear on the
lesson.
How I will manage the class: To manage the class I will tell them that this in independent work,
I will explain that while they can run ideas by their neighbors they need to stay in their seats and
use their quiet, indoor voices. I will explain that they will be using scissors and that it would be
extremely dangerous if they were to be up and wondering around with them or if they were
distracted by talking and moving around while they were using the shape scissors. I will
encourage the students to be creative and ask questions, either to me or their classmates but I will
reinforce that they need to do so in a respectful way and they do not need to act crazy and be a
distraction to others. I will also tell them that there is a time constraint and that their work needs
to be completed by the time the lesson is over in hopes that it will encourage them to spend more
time and energy focusing on their work instead of being distracted and distracting other students.
How I will incorporate special need/ESL/ELL students: I will have all students participate in
this activity; I will just make sure that I am available to provide extra help and any more
explanations or clarifications to the students who require it. I will be available to explain the
guidelines and to answer any questions the students might have. I will also make sure they have
help with cutting, drawing or any other aspect of the lesson. I will have them share their posters
as well if they feel confident enough and I will be supportive and help with the explanations if
needed.
Simple Machines