ADST and Experiential Learning

Going into PRAC 491 I wasn’t quite sure how to teach ADST. This subject, for some reason was hard for me to wrap my head around. Maybe because we didn’t have that subject growing up? (yes…I’m old!!) For my first ADST class, I had no idea what I was going to teach in this lesson and I didn’t quite understand what to do but in Art class I knew that I wanted to teach the students about creating Pebble Art and this is where it all clicked together…

I reread the curriculum over and over trying to connect my pebble art to an ADST lesson and I had figured it out. I created a template where the students had to draw out their picture that they were going to create into a 3D art piece. With different materials such as pebbles, moss, branches, dried flowers and melted marble…the students had to answer questions such as: what color will your background be? How many rocks will you be using? What other material will you use? How many branches? etc. The students had to create their picture on a template first then adjust and figure out what materials they would need to finish their canvas. It aligned with the curriculum perfectly! After they created their canvas, each student was given a piece of paper where they could self-assess their work individually.

ADST pebble art class

Another awesome ADST lesson we did were the Pompom catapults where the students were given a bag of material (bulldog clip, 2 popcicle sticks, a bottle cap and a pompom. They had access to glue guns and were allowed to adjust, change, add, take away any of their material except for the pompom. We ended up spending 3 days on them and on the 3rd day, the class and I were able to have a pompom catapult competition in the gym where the principal, secretary and other teachers came down to watch. Some students didn’t want to be a part of the competition piece but I adapted where they still had to show me a pompom launch. The students worked together as I gave specific students jobs such as “the measurer” and “the recorder” as well as one student was in charge of the measuring tape. I had FULL engagement and it was AWESOME!!

Notice how there is an elastic behind the catapult, this was an add-on that
helped create a better model.
This student took the bulldog clip apart and only used the angle of the clip.
This was the pompom launch competition in the gym where teachers, principal and
secretary came down to watch the students compete.