Last week was my second time teaching. And this time, I remembered the pictures.
Lesson Connections and Applications
For these lessons, I am focusing on projects that can help teach students about different cultures and ways of thinking. This first week the focus was on Sand Mandalas and Tibetan Buddhism.
This lesson was really fun (but also kind of hard) to create because there are so many ideas that I could talk about in this lesson. It was important that I teach the kids about a new culture, Tibet, and religion, Buddhism. It seems to me like Eastern traditions and cultures aren't emphasized as much as Western ones. So I try to introduce them when I can. Particularly Buddhism, because it is the 4th largest religion in the world.
This lesson was also a chance to discuss what art is and why it is made. Sand mandalas are swept away once they are completed, which goes against more traditional understandings of art. Sand mandalas expose students to art as meditation and art as an action or process.
My favorite part of this lesson is that it lets the kids go outside and run wild, while still doing something productive.
Besides those, there are many other ideas to tie into this lesson, depending on the student’s grade level, including radial symmetry, living and non-living matter, natural processes like wind and rain, the damage of littering, how to cooperate and communicate, etc.
Teaching the Lesson
The kids were definitely surprised when I told them that monks spend days making beautiful art but then they just sweep it away when done. But they picked up on it really quickly. We had a great discussion about art.
They loved going outside and making the mandalas. They did a great job!
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