Unit Topic and Rational
Introduction
We focused on story telling though art for these lessons. We gave each student their own polished agate stones to use as inspiration throughout this class. Using these stones students were able to comprehend, reflect, create and transfer during the creative story we are creating though this semester. Students gained a better understanding of art thought group reflections, the ideation process and the physical act of making art.
through out lesson ideas the students were able to take a stone and transfer its qualities into the creature of their wildness imagination. They then drew sketches as to what it may look like then discovered a new material. paint. They added more color and little texture to their original idea. We then took it one step further. The students used clay and turned their 2-d creation into a 3-d masterpiece. During this final stage we instructed that they focus on adding qualities to their create that may help showcase its personality. Students were ale to make connection to the art world by being shown contemporary examples relevant to their own art making.
Lesson Description
During the first lesson we read the book Agate: What Good is a Moose as a way to start the ideation process. In this book the author created animals using the characteristics of the 12 birthstones. The creations in the book each had a personality that matched the stone. This gave the idea to give our students their own agate stones to create their own creature. We didn't limit them to just animals we let them create whatever reminded them of their stone. After they made some sketches we gave them large canvas and they were able to paint their creature. Using paint the students could add more color or texture to their creations. It also gave them a new medium to learn and place in their artistic arsenal. Some of the students even changed qualities of their creation when they discovered painting has different effects then simply drawing.
The second lesson built off of the first. The students sill used their stones as inspiration while they kept the book in mind. The twist was they were given a new material to work with. Each student started out with a block of clay. The process of taking the 2D creation they have been working with so far and stretching their minds around transferring it to 3D. Some students made even more changed after they saw examples from contemporary artist Eva Funderburgh. Keeping the story aspect in mind we asked the students what qualities they could add to their creature to help showcase its personality even more. Some students gave sharp teeth because their creature was mean and another gave its creature little friends because it was friendly.
Towards the end of the classes as some students were finishing we gave them some extra activities to enhance their original creation. The students were able to draw or paint an environment in which their creature would live. They also had the option to write a story about their creature to give the viewer of their work even more detail and background. The students engagement was high the whole time and they were very proud of their finished piece and loved sharing with their classmates.
Prepared Graduate Statments
The PGS's we used in these lesson were created especially for 2nd and 3rd graders. They help teach students about the art work but they are also lessons that can be transferred to many parts of life. Create, transfer, reflect, and comprehend all work together. Throughout the lesson we touched on each one and hope that the students will carry on these lesson and be able to transfer them into other part of their lives.
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See oneself as a participant in visual art and design by experiencing, viewing or making.
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Visually and/or verbally articulate how visual art and design are a means for communication.
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Practice critical and analytical skills by using academic language to discuss works of art and visual culture.
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Critique connections between visual art and historic and contemporary philosophies.
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Interpret works of art and design in the contexts of varied traditions, histories and cultures.
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Create works of visual art and design that demonstrate increasing levels of mastery in skills and techniques.