Crafts can bring events from ages ago into the now for kindergartners.
Teaching students about Joan of Arc can show them that women play an important role in history and also that they should stand up for what they think is right. Using activities to demonstrate the basic parts of her story can help kindergarten students understand her importance. Some of her life's story might be inappropriate for young students, though, so emphasize parts that they will enjoy and understand.
Instructions
Center Activities
1. Prepare your classroom for the Joan of Arc lesson plan. Kindergarten students often spend a lot of the day exploring and using their bodies to learn new topics. One way to do this is to plan centers that focus on different aspects of Joan of Arc and her life.
2. Put together a dress-up area, and stock it with peasant girl clothing and body armor to signify war. Give the students court robes or wigs and let them pretend they are putting Joan of Arc on trial.
3. Set up another area with craft supplies for children to make the French flag. They can use blue, red and white construction paper along with glue sticks to make the flags.
4. Teach the basics of Joan of Arc's life with a children's story that talks about her life. Most children's books about Joan of Arc are designed for older students, so use an online resource and create your own story transparencies for an overhead projector. That way, you can find an age-appropriate source for her story, and you can also keep it short and include the details you want. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, and this could be hard for some kindergarten students to understand or deal with, so use your judgment when including information about her death.
5. Plan a Joan of Arc storybook as a craft for students. Focus on four or five basic parts of the Joan of Arc story you want students to understand and remember. For instance, the four parts could cover the role of the church in Joan of Arc's life, her leadership with the French army, her trial and her death.
6. Have children draw a picture of each part of the story on separate pieces of paper. Use a three-hole punch to punch three holes in each paper and bind students' storybooks with thread. .
