2nd Grade Coral Ecology Co-teaching

This project was a very special arts integration residency co-sponsored by Pomaika'i Elementary School and Maui Arts and Cultural Center.  

Teaching artists and a classroom teachers were partnered together and coached on skills and processes to create a positive co-teaching experience and successful lesson.  I was partnered with 2nd grade teacher Marilyn Yuen, and over an intensive two weeks we lead the students in an arts integrated exploration of the coral reef ecosystem.  

One of the arts integration lessons I learned at Pomaika'i, is that art, and the core subject are rarely split equally in every lesson.  Rather, some lessons may be all art technique, and others may be dealing primarily with the core material.  As the lessons progress the two will combine, eventually adding to a sum larger than the two parts.  In parts of this project that was the case.  However, the extent that we were able to use the art as the process for learning about the coral was quite exhilarating.  

Here, the students are observing and sculpting their own coral pieces out of plasticine.  They each created two.

We used one set of coral sculptures to model the growth of coral.  

We talked about how slowly some coral species grow, and added up the length of growing time as we "grew" the coral.

Then our coral reef model was visited by all sorts of horrible occurrences: pollution, anchors, flippers from snorkelers standing on it.  

It was obvious; this coral, which the students grew themselves, would never be the same.  

Luckily, we still had the students' other beautiful coral sculptures.  

After this experience we started on the larger project, a two-sided mural depicting a healthy ocean and an unhealthy ocean.  

Various painting techniques were used to create the backgrounds.  They drew beautiful fish, and living and dead coral.  

On the unhealthy ocean they used their skills from the proportion project to illustrate people doing things on land that harm the coral reef in the water.   

For the healthy reef side they put their understanding into words by creating signs that said what we should do for the reef.

Along the way we reflected on what were were learning in various ways.  Here the students use tableau.  

Finally, it was all put together, both our positive and negative scenarios.  

We had our own classroom art opening and reflected on the journey.