Maura's teaching portfolio

Seventh Grade Language Arts:

During my work as a paraprofessional in the 2011-2012 school year, I was given the opportunity to take charge of a Multiple Intelligences project, in which students investigated which category they would fit into in regards to their learning style and interests. Following are some of the materials I used in facilitating this project.

Seventh Grade Social Studies:

In my long term substitute teaching position from January through May of 2011, I taught five sections of seventh grade Social Studies about introductory geography and Latin America. Three of the most valuable assignments I developed were the Mexican Mural Activity, the Culture Box project, and the Latin America travel brochure project. These assignments allowed students to use their creativity to demonstrate their understanding of the curriculum. Examples of the Culture Box and the travel brochure are given in my paper portfolio; pictures of the mural are featured in the photo gallery page of this site. 

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Mexican Mural Activity

March 8-14, 2011

A mural is a large piece of artwork that is usually painted directly on the surface of a wall. Artists like Diego Rivera painted murals to show the pride and determination of ordinary people. Many of his works can be found in both Mexico and America. During this week, we will work as a class to create a mural which displays aspects of Mexican culture. After each group has planned and sketched their contribution to the mural, we will draw the mural with colored chalk on the blackboard in the back of the room.

The Process:

·      To begin this activity, we will assign each class a theme. The five themes are landscape, celebrations, clothing, architecture, and work & play activities.

·      We will then break each class into groups of three or four people. Using your textbooks and /or other resources in the room, each group will brainstorm a few images they would like to sketch out that could represent their given theme. Individual group members should each produce one sketch or idea for the group to consider.

·       Each group will then review all ideas and sketches, and decide on one to include in their whole class section’s part of the mural. The whole class will then work together to plan how their sketches will fit together on their section of the blackboard.

·       On Monday, March 14, each class will complete their section of the mural. Please make sure to stop by the room at the end of the school day to view the finished product!

Name: ___________________________  Period: _________  Date: _______________

Creating a Culture Box

The assignment: You will create a culture box (on paper) filled with items that represent key elements of American culture. You will write a paragraph for each item, explaining its significance in your culture box.

Materials: Drawn or printed pictures of 10 items that represent your culture.

Instructions: Paste or draw pictures of your 10 items on your paper to represent the following factors of culture. One item for each element is required.

Elements of culture: Take notes below of ideas you can use for each category.

·                     Government

·                     Language

·                     Religion

·                     Economy (such as ways to make a living)

·                     Holidays

·                     Technology

·                     Entertainment (sports, etc.)

·                     Food

·                     Way of Dress

·                     The arts: (music, literature)

Scoring Rubric for Culture Box project:

 Below is a copy of the travel brochure assignment.