Lessons on Value

It's 8:07 p.m. and I just got home from work.  Nobody ever claimed teaching school was easy, but I have to confess, I never fully appreciated the work my kid's teachers put in.   Some days are a bugger, but now and then you get a reward sort of day.  Thank goodness, or nobody in their right mind would take this job on.  

A finished "value" apple, looking pretty good, no?

I've been trying to get my 5th and 6th graders to understand the concept of value.  They're 10-12 years old so, you know, probably not a concept that's uppermost in their minds.  (I'm such an art nerd, I just figured it's a big deal to everyone..)

My classroom is decorated with rows and rows of shaded apples

Earlier this week I had each kid make a value chart with values from 1 to 6, keeping it simple.  They liked how they looked, but still didn't get it.  Then, I remembered paint by number pictures and thought it was worth a try to give them a shade by number project.  I told them to use the value numbers on their scales to fill in the apple shapes.  They got after it and, as the apples began to look 3-D, caught fire!  They were so excited.

They keep looking at their work and commenting how real their apples look and discussing which value number they put where.  Artist talk, see, we're pretty cool in the 5th and 6th grades.  

I love watching them catch hold of an idea and see where it could be useful to them.  So, home late or not, it was one of those good teaching days.  Now to get my shoes off, my bathrobe on and start on my own project.  Or just climb in bed and go into a coma.  

Thanks for stopping by! Alice