Previewing a Center Activity on the Interactive Whiteboard

I just posted the Animated Step-by-Step Craft activity, Spin Art!

Spin art is a great way to introduce the concept of abstract art and to explore basic color theory (primary and secondary colors). The process produces spectacular results with minimal effort. Spin art is full of surprises and is surprisingly simple to do. You can even use a PowerLink 2 or 3 Unit from Ablenet (http://www.ablenetinc.com/Assistive-Technology/Environmental-Control-Units-ECU/PowerLink) to make the machine switch-accessible!

Spin Art is an activity that lends itself well to an initial large group exposure on the interactive whiteboard, followed by a more intimate ‘hands on’ experience at an adult-supervised activity center.  The initial exposure on the interactive whiteboard allows students to get familiar with the task before they rotate through the Spin Art activity center.  

When introducing the activity at the Interactive Whiteboard, many teachers read and animate a step, then demonstrate that step using the real materials. Your spin art machine may look very different than the machine illustrated in the Animated Step-by-Step. The initial large group exposure is an ideal time to encourage students to discuss the similarities and differences between the two machines … to make sure that everyone knows the location of the on-off button on their machine and … to ensure all students know the protocol for using the machine safely (no hands in the circle well when the paper is spinning). 

You may wish to make the iPad version available at the Spin Art activity center to provide further scaffolding for the task.  See the 01-20-15 post entitled, Animated Step-by-Steps on an iPad, for further information.

... ’til the next post …

© 2015  Carol Goossens’, Ph.D.

canadiangoosse@gmail.com