Volunteer Guide

The Routine

1. Meet with your co-classroom volunteers and choose the lead point of contact for Art Awareness for your class. Have this person the classroom teacher as soon as possible. Introduce yourself as the Art Awareness representative (s). Discuss the following:

• Dates: Some teachers prefer to set all the dates for the year’s lessons at the onset; others prefer to schedule one at a time. Find out from the teacher how many lessons he/she is willing to do (we require a minimum of 3, but prefer 5). You may suggest lessons in October, December, February, April, and May, since testing and/or vacation is less in these months.
• You can offer to tie a lesson in with a unit of study for that grade. Some teachers will love this option, and others may leave it up to you to decide which work you present. If a teacher is familiar with the lessons from previous years he/she usually has a feel for some lessons that may work well at certain times of year.
• Length of Time: find out how much time the teacher will allow for the presentation. The recommended minimum time is 20 minutes, which many teachers allow, but some do allow more time, especially when the presentation ties in with a unit of study.
• Activity: Ask the teacher how he/she feels about a project or craft related to the discussion and if you can use supplies the children already have. Most teachers are also willing to provide blank paper for your projects.

2. If you have more than one volunteer for your classroom, decide who will be doing each piece and when.

3. When planning your presentation, start by familiarizing yourself with the work of art. You can start with our website or you can stop in at the LMC to familiarize yourself with the print and USE THE BINDERS - these are great resources made just for you. Please do not take the print home! All prints must stay in the school. Look at the work of art through the eyes of the age group to whom you will be presenting. What would that age group want to learn and know? If you are planning a hands on activity let the teacher ok it first and try to keep it simple.

4. Prepare your discussion, questions and ideas before your presentation. The lesson we provide is to serve as a guide. Many people supplement their presentations with information from the internet and books from the library. Further information on preparing and presenting can be found on our Presentation Information page.

5. Prepare your craft or project. Teachers often assist organizing craft supplies and setting up the table spots for a craft. Kids are very enthusiastic about the hands- on projects. Check with the teacher if your project idea is acceptable to him/her

6. After your presentation, send a note home with the students via backpack mail or email letting the parents know you have visited the classroom and what you talked about.

7. Be sure to return the print to the drawer in the LMC. If you have some helpful ideas to pass on to future volunteers please email the suggestions to omsartawareness@gmail.com .