I was a multiple subject teacher for nearly twenty years before becoming an elementary art teacher. When I moved to the art room, I decided to do a full year of math and art connected concepts. I was delighted to have additional time to cover symmetry, an abstract concept for many students, and develop concrete opportunities for experimentation. I opened up my supply closet and pulled out painter’s tape for students to use as the line of symmetry and manipulatives of all kinds that I used to create stations.
The concept of symmetry was included in our math standards but was conceptually very difficult for students who would often create a copy of a given shape instead of its reflection. I also felt constrained by time and materials to give this concept the concrete practice it required.
Hands-On Concept Development
When I moved to the art room, I decided to do a full year of math and art connected concepts. I was delighted to have additional time to cover symmetry, an abstract concept for many students, and develop concrete opportunities for experimentation. I opened up my supply closet and pulled out painter’s tape for students to use as the line of symmetry and manipulatives of all kinds that I used to create the following stations:
Light-Up Symmetry Stations
We then created four additional symmetry stations with light-up manipulatives: lightboard pattern blocks, light-up LEGOs, Lite-Brite, and shadow box theater. Manipulatives are motivating because changes and corrections can be made without frustration. This type of highly motivating tactile learning was helpful in approaching a concept that can be challenging.
Symmetry in Quarantine
We were finishing up our study of symmetry and transitioning to using our symmetry knowledge with portraits and masks when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Like educators worldwide, I was jolted into online teaching and left wondering what to do and where to start.
After a period of trying to make sure everyone had a device, access to wi-fi, and the ability to log in to Google Classroom, it was time for content. With all the upheaval and uncertainty, I needed to reach my students with a familiar conversation. Students needed to see my face and hear my voice in some kind of predictable way. I decided we needed to talk symmetry.
We engaged in a variety of symmetry projects online, from sidewalk symmetry and domino setups to portraits and more. I know that the work we put in to build confidence in our understanding of reflectional symmetry in the art room helped us to get through the precarious new circumstances of distance learning.
Nica Operchuck Rumion is an art teacher at Stevenson Elementary School in Long Beach, California. NRumion@LBSchools.net
National Standard
Connecting: Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.
Resource
Benefits of Manipulatives
Art teachers share lessons that focus on student choice and Teaching for Artistic Behavior. Students use an everyday material to express their ideas in 2D and 3D form, experiment with digital drawing apps to alter self-portrait images through collage, engage in discussions about race and identity during a color-mixing exploration, participate in hands-on learning stations to investigate symmetry, and more.
Browse This Issue