Mandalas

This week's activity was my best creation yet.

The lesson planning gods have me in their favor. This idea just popped right into my head last week, and I just knew it would be a hit in my classes.

I've reached a point where I know what works for my students, and what doesn't. This idea was brilliant, and I was right it's been a hit so far this week.

This is how it goes:

1. The class is separated in two groups. Each group is given 1 of the 2 mandalas seen below. Neither group can see the mandala that the other group has. They can only see their own. They are instructed to teach their partner how to draw the mandala, without showing their partner, and by speaking in English.

2. I write the vocabulary for various shapes on the board. The first group begins to teach their partners how to draw the first shape. Once their partner has completed the mandala, they switch, and the person who was drawing is now the instructor on how to draw the second mandala.

3. In the end, we put them on a table and each student voted on their favorite one. It was fun to compare them, laugh at the crazy abstract ones, and coo at the perfect ones (however I KNOW they cheated when they were so good.)

here's a few examples:

aren't they great?

Afterwards, I explained that many different cultures and religions regard mandalas to be sacred geometry. They were less interested in my mini-lecture at the end of class because they were so wound up from group work and the giggles and politics that goes on with voting (and cheating!) for your favorite mandala.

*cheating- I told each student to draw a star on the paper of the favorite mandala. only ONE STAR EACH. Even though I repeated myself about this rule, when I counted the stars at the end, I would get 40-55 stars total for a class of 28 students. Those cheaters! When I admonished them, they just laughed, got embarrassed and cheated again on the second round.

All in all, a great lesson.