Week 4 of Peer Teaching

Week 4 of Peer Teaching

  In this weeks project we made a dream catcher after learning the history of a dream catcher we strung them up added the beads and feathers, then tied then up and hung them.  After hanging them we learned of a story that went along with the dream catcher. This was one of the more difficult projects of the semester as the way that you tie on beads was somewhat confusing.  While this project was rather difficult it was one of the most fulfilling projects of the semester.
            I would definitely use this project in my own classroom.  I would use this during a lesson about the history for the native Americans.  The dream catcher was a huge part of their history and culture and i would hammer that point home to the class. Really this project could be used in any class starting at about the 4th grade level.  Not because the project itself is to difficult but because some of the knots that are needed to tie the beads on are somewhat difficult.  This is a project that i will use in my classroom someday, it has to be its a very big part of the native American culture and that culture is a large part of our states history.

During this lesson we learned about Aztec sundials.  In the beginning of this lesson we learned the history of the Aztecs and then we started on the sundial.  We first used a few different forms of media.  The first being a sharpie, the second being crayons, the crayons that I had for some reason were not working, so i had to use my elbow partners crayons to get the bright colors that i wanted.  In my design i drew the sun with sunglasses.  I drew the sun because it is bright and vibrant.  I drew the sunglasses because they are cool and who doesn't like a cool warm sun.
              I would use this project in my school during the history of the Aztecs,  I personally remember learning about the Aztecs in the 6th grade, i would add this sundial to suppliment that learning that happened that year.  I feel like when students can make something that is memorable like a sundial they remember things better.  That is why i would have my classroom build this sundial.  I would tie the sundial into an entire lesson, over the ancient civilizations of central america, and for this part of it the students will make sundials.