Benchmark Videos
Straw Painting
Video & Background
Lucille, the young girl in this video clip, is painting outdoors on a sheet of white paper on a table. Instead of using a brush to move the paint and mix the colors, she aims a drinking straw at tiny puddles of the wet paint and blows through the straw to move the paint. The teacher is to Lucille’s left, providing paint, commenting on what she’s doing, and asking her questions.The video begins with Lucille looking intently down at her paper as she exclaims, “In the purple!” She and the teacher exchange a few words. Lucille places one end of a pink drinking straw into her mouth and blows through it. The other end of the straw is touching a tiny puddle of purplish paint on the white paper, on which are several other tiny paint puddles in different colors. Very little paint moves when she blows through the straw. The teacher seems to notice this and makes a suggestion. Lucille moves the straw to the puddle suggested by the teacher and blows. She is able to move more paint and this gets an enthusiastic response from the teacher. Lucille and the teacher interact about placement of additional paint puddles, and Lucille then blows through the straw onto the new paint puddles.
Throughout the activity, Lucille holds the straw with both hands to move it and to keep it in place. She seems to be carefully positioning the straw, watching where she puts it before she bends her head to blow through it. Occasionally she moves her head up and back and looks briefly at the paper.
The teacher facilitates Lucille’s exploration of the materials and technology. She does so by placing small amounts of paint on the paper at the child’s request and by suggesting one place to position the straw. The teacher checks Lucille’s knowledge of color names once by asking “Which color is that?” The teacher’s words and actions are synchronized with the child’s actions and requests.
Transcript
Click arrow to play video.
Lucille: In the purple!
Teacher: In the middle of the purple? Okay pick up your straw [inaudible]. (Puts paint on the paper) There you go. All right! Do it! (Child blows through straw on a relatively dry spot of paint.)
Teacher: Do you see where it’s wet right here?
Lucille: Mh Hm.
Teacher: Try blowing on that. That might make it move around a little bit. (Child repositions straw, blows through it.)
Teacher: Excellent!
Lucille: Now let’s do the blue in the middle of that!
Teacher: Blue in the middle of what? Which color is that?
Lucille: Red.
Teacher: Red. Okay, blue in the middle of red. See if it makes a different color. (Child positions the straw and blows through it.)
Teacher: Neat!
Lucille: Blue in this one now!
Teacher: Blue in—blue where? Right over there?
Lucille: (Nods.)
Teacher: All right (puts paint on paper). There’s—
Lucille: No—
Teacher: Oh, I’m sorry, the wrong spot. You’ll have two blue spots now. Right there?
Lucille: Mm-hm.
Teacher: Okay. (Child blows intermittently through the straw, focusing on one paint puddle.)
Teacher: (Whispering) Wow!
Benchmarks
Benchmark |
Benchmark Description |
How Benchmark Was Met |
|---|---|---|
Language Arts |
Listen with understanding and respond to directions and conversations. |
The child followed the teacher’s suggestions and answered her questions. |
Language Arts |
Communicate needs, ideas and thoughts. |
The child told the teacher that she wanted her to put paint in specific spots. She answered the teacher’s question about color. |
Science |
Use senses to explore and observe materials and natural phenomena. |
The child used her sense of sight to attend to what happened when she blew through the straw onto the paint. She used her sight and her sense of touch to position the straw. |
Science |
Become familiar with the use of devices incorporating technology. |
The child used the straw as a tool that concentrated the force of moving air. |
Physical Development and Health |
Coordinate movements to perform complex tasks. |
The child placed the straw on her paper carefully, before putting her mouth to the straw to blow through it. She puffed into the straw, and she took it from her mouth after each breath while keeping it focused on specific spots. She did not suck air through the straw. She moved the straw with both hands. She positioned it by watching and moving it at the same time. |
Fine Arts |
Visual Arts: Investigate the elements of visual arts. |
The child worked with paint, a commonly used visual arts medium. |
Social/Emotional Development |
Exhibit eagerness and curiosity as a learner. |
The child focused intently on what she was doing. She made choices about what to do next (i.e., what color to use and where she wanted the teacher to put the paint). |
Social/Emotional Development |
Develop relationships with children and adults. |
The child and the teacher collaborated throughout the activity using verbal and nonverbal communication to engage each other. |
This section of the Illinois Early Learning Web site links to activities related to the Benchmarks in the Illinois Early Learning Standards. We expect that early childhood professionals and parents will use these ideas in ways appropriate to their children and their setting. We are sure that you will find many ways to adapt these activities into themes, projects, and units in your program or at home.
An Illinois Early Learning link to a Web site does not imply an endorsement by the Illinois Early Learning Project or the Illinois State Board of Education of any product, resource, or service on that Web site.
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Spanish: Pintar con una pajita
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