Recognize the accomplishments of friends, family members, or people in your community.

• 1.

  List ways in which human accomplishments are honored, such as a Pulitzer Prize, Purple Heart, or Olympic Medal, or in the community. Think of people in families, at school, or the community who are brave, volunteer, or do other considerate deeds.

• 2.

  Choose one person to honor with a medal. Think of a way to represent accomplishments with a simple design.

• 3.

  Fashion a medal base of Crayola® Model Magic® about 1/4-inch (8 mm) thick. Embed a paper clip into the side of the medal, leaving one end protruding.

• 4.

  Experiment with ways to mix Model Magic colors.<li>Blend white and colored compound to create tints, or mix colors and black to make shades. <li>Blend two primary colors (red, yellow, blue) together to produce a secondary hue (orange, green, violet). <li>Create a marble effect by incompletely blending different colors. <li>For multi-colored layers, flatten two or more pieces by hand or with a rolling pin or dowel stick. Stack the pieces flat on top of each other and roll tightly like a cinnamon roll. Cut segments with Crayola Scissors. Connect pieces to make forms.

• 5.

  With fingers or simple modeling tools, such as plastic dinnerware or straws, design the medal. Make textured surfaces by pressing objects into slightly stiffened compound.

• 6.

  Add other craft items, perhaps beads or feathers, to enhance the medal's meaning and appearance.

• 7.

  Run a 30-inch (70 cm) ribbon through the paperclip. Hang the medal around the honoree's neck, perhaps at a special Honors Day.

Standards

• LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• LA: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
• LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
• VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of experiences and ideas.
• VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of ideas.
• VA: Integrate visual, spatial, and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in their artworks.

Adaptations

• Students work in groups to create their medals. To accompany their medals, students will design a paper certificate to give to the honoree along with the medal. The certificate should describe the purpose for the awarding of the medal.
• Students investigate medal award recipients. Design posters advertising the award. Also create an electronic presentation that summarizes research about the recipient's accomplishments.
• Invite the school librarian to speak with the class about awards for children's books, including the Caldecott and Newbery Medals. Encourage students to read some of the award-winning books. Why were these books selected for the awards? Have students review the list of criteria for the awards and discover these components in the writing or illustrations.