Illustrating Fruit with Multiplying Decimals

42, 5th Grade | Math & Visual Art
Ms. Winchester & LaVonna Varnado Brown

This was a lesson where Mrs. Winchester and I worked together, co-teaching in such an organic, impactful way. This session's objective was regarding decimals and multiplying them to solve for product. The students were given a classic math problem to work on. Then Mrs. Winchester, using the visuals and worksheets, gave the students an example as she chose two fruits and calculated the total for both the sum of each fruit and the product per pound. I supported after we understood how to complete the graph with the directions on the illustration of a fruit basket. Using the knowledge we already had from previous lessons on 4 line types, I reviewed those lines and spoke about the difference between realist and abstract art. Then we had free work time. I was engaged in creating a visual example on the digital board, and Mrs. Winchester was also focused on creating her fruit salad on a big note. The students were so quiet and intently focused.

There were challenging moments when they didn't think they could create something they liked. I took a moment to remind them,” Where a line bends, a shape begins.” And drew some examples of how fruits can look, and they were willing to continue trying. It was a beautiful moment to support such a great educator like Mrs. Winchester and see her completely engaged in the visual art and have her focus inspire the students. This is why I call the lesson impactful. I saw the students' attitude shift as our work progressed, and we worked together through the challenge of what fruit can look like.