Concept Attainment: "Screaming Creativity"
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: The instructional method for this lesson is concept attainment, as the students must master the use of Paper Mache to create their creature that represents them. Not only would students have to attain adequate use of the materials and methods, which are required by the art standards, but they must also attain who they are and be able to describe it in a creative way. This also helps students attain the full artistic process.
2. Topic and Rationale: I chose the topic of designing and constructing their “screamer” creatures by use of Paper Mache to not only meet the standards, but give the students more experience at depicting abstract ideas and thoughts in a creative and artistic way. By focusing the project on designing a screamer that represents themselves they are more likely to fully understand and be able to express such abstract ideas in new and creative ways with the hope that no screamer will ever be a like.
3. Features and Purposes: The main principle of this lesson is to get my students to begin to see the artistic process as one flowing process and begin to depict abstract ideas in creative ways. At the center of this lesson is the attempt to inspire their imagination and creative thought to reach new heights. We must nurture a students’ imagination, as this is where new creative ideas, inventions, and philosophies come from. There is also the principle of problem solving as students are guaranteed to run into problems during their artistic process that they will have to work out and solve in order to make their piece successful. Two other examples of lessons to be taught with this method is teaching students how to throw pots on the wheel or about how to see and apply value to drawings.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages of this project are the ability to let students creativity loose and truly get the students engaged with a by product of getting to know who they are even more than they did before the project through problem solving issues that come up during the process. Two disadvantages are if students have had little experience with the artistic process in sculpture they will have difficulty when they run into problems that need to be solved and some students may not like the materials they are require to use.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 3.2) SWBAT create a “screamer” of their own design to depict their personality and/or interests, which they will introduce in presentation to the class. Students will include in their presentation a short introduction of their creature explaining where their inspiration came from and their reasoning behind their design.
2. Materials: Plaster, fabric, wire hangers, newspaper, clay, sketchbooks, drawing utensils, and paint.
3. Model and why you chose it: I chose the concept attainment model for the screamer activity because it asks students to be entirely creative in designing a creature that doesn’t exist in order to portray abstract ideas and thoughts about themselves. This requires them to completely know themselves while mastering the application of sculpture through Paper Mache. I want to let their imagination fly with no inhibitions on it except for the materials and techniques they must master. The creation of art is a wonderful experience and should be given parameters only when absolutely required.
4. Key Terms or concepts: screamer, Paper Mache, acrylic paint, design/creation, depiction of imagination
5. Background knowledge needed: Students must only have a background in themselves, knowing who they are at this time and their own interests. A background in sculpture or Paper Mache is helpful, but not needed.
6. The assessment: The assessment is the completion of their screamer using Paper Mache and the reasoning for the design choices they made provided in their presentation and journal entry in their sketchbooks.
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: The instructional method for this lesson is concept attainment, as the students must master the use of Paper Mache to create their creature that represents them. Not only would students have to attain adequate use of the materials and methods, which are required by the art standards, but they must also attain who they are and be able to describe it in a creative way. This also helps students attain the full artistic process.
2. Topic and Rationale: I chose the topic of designing and constructing their “screamer” creatures by use of Paper Mache to not only meet the standards, but give the students more experience at depicting abstract ideas and thoughts in a creative and artistic way. By focusing the project on designing a screamer that represents themselves they are more likely to fully understand and be able to express such abstract ideas in new and creative ways with the hope that no screamer will ever be a like.
3. Features and Purposes: The main principle of this lesson is to get my students to begin to see the artistic process as one flowing process and begin to depict abstract ideas in creative ways. At the center of this lesson is the attempt to inspire their imagination and creative thought to reach new heights. We must nurture a students’ imagination, as this is where new creative ideas, inventions, and philosophies come from. There is also the principle of problem solving as students are guaranteed to run into problems during their artistic process that they will have to work out and solve in order to make their piece successful. Two other examples of lessons to be taught with this method is teaching students how to throw pots on the wheel or about how to see and apply value to drawings.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages of this project are the ability to let students creativity loose and truly get the students engaged with a by product of getting to know who they are even more than they did before the project through problem solving issues that come up during the process. Two disadvantages are if students have had little experience with the artistic process in sculpture they will have difficulty when they run into problems that need to be solved and some students may not like the materials they are require to use.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 3.2) SWBAT create a “screamer” of their own design to depict their personality and/or interests, which they will introduce in presentation to the class. Students will include in their presentation a short introduction of their creature explaining where their inspiration came from and their reasoning behind their design.
2. Materials: Plaster, fabric, wire hangers, newspaper, clay, sketchbooks, drawing utensils, and paint.
3. Model and why you chose it: I chose the concept attainment model for the screamer activity because it asks students to be entirely creative in designing a creature that doesn’t exist in order to portray abstract ideas and thoughts about themselves. This requires them to completely know themselves while mastering the application of sculpture through Paper Mache. I want to let their imagination fly with no inhibitions on it except for the materials and techniques they must master. The creation of art is a wonderful experience and should be given parameters only when absolutely required.
4. Key Terms or concepts: screamer, Paper Mache, acrylic paint, design/creation, depiction of imagination
5. Background knowledge needed: Students must only have a background in themselves, knowing who they are at this time and their own interests. A background in sculpture or Paper Mache is helpful, but not needed.
6. The assessment: The assessment is the completion of their screamer using Paper Mache and the reasoning for the design choices they made provided in their presentation and journal entry in their sketchbooks.
Collaborative Learning: "Welcoming Sculpture"
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: I chose the cooperative learning method to better implement the artistic process for a large installation piece as part of a team, which is common in the art industry as well as team environments across numerous industries. Art has also made a move to large installation work as being a large venue of revenue and public attention.
2. Topic and Rationale: The topic I chose is to design a welcome sculpture to be place outside the front entrance of the school. This is to be done in a group of art students working collaboratively as a team. Each team is to come up with two to three ideas for a design and then decipher which is the best to present as a final design. Each team will create a small-scale model, whether this model is rendered digitally or in a sculptural representation is up to the team of students, and proper use of their resources within the group. Many large installations are a team effort of artists working collaboratively so providing the chance for my students to experience this type of collaboration in a real life scenario is most beneficial to them. Although I will grade on their final presentation, my hope is that the school board or principle will chose one to actually be built and installed by the art students. Two other examples to use with this method are working together to learn about ceramic artists that can lead to inspiration for new projects and ideas. The second example is to divide the class into several groups and give each group an art historic era in which they are to become experts and then teach the rest of the class as a team.
3. Features and Purposes: The principle purpose of this lesson is to provide a real life experience of collaborative work that they will encounter after high school. This also provides my students with real application of what a client might approach them with. For example, Fossil Ridge High School as a client would approach with the concept of presenting school pride, culture, and/or the school mascot in a large-scale sculpture in front of the school. The artist or artists involved would then have to render several designs that the client would then chose from for full scale construction and installation.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages are that the students will have a direct correlation to life application and a rich learning experience. Two disadvantages are that if a sculpture was selected out of the presentations to actually be made and installed students may feel a sense of failure or lose. However, this in itself is a learning experience as it is a difficult industry and there will always be rejections or lack of success in seeing a project all the way through in any industry. The second disadvantage is that students may struggle with group work, as many group experiences tend to have uneven workloads.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 3.1) SWBAT design a welcome sculpture for Fossil Ridge High School in small teams of 3 to 4 students and present their final renderings to the class and school administration guest judges as the stand in clients. After the final presentation is done students will reflect on their experience and process in a journal entry in their sketchbooks.
2. Materials: Sculpture materials of what the students’ request, presentation supplies (drawing materials, presentation programs), laptops.
3. Model and why you chose it: I chose the collaborative learning method because the best way to experience collaborative work in the artistic world is to get teams together with the goal of designing one piece. I experienced this in high school, although a slightly different scenario, and it was an incredible experience and the sculpture is still installed in front of my high school today. This has become something to be proud of years later and I want to provide that for all of my students not just the six of us who developed and installed the sculpture.
4. Key Terms or concepts: installation, sculpture, theme, artistic design process, final rendering, collaborative team designs and effort.
5. Background knowledge needed: A background knowledge of their school and the culture it is built upon is needed or research will have to be done. If they need more background knowledge they will have to do research or seek out interviews to get a better understanding of the culture of the school.
6. The assessment: The students will be assessed on their final presentation where all students must have a part in the presentation and a journal entry or reflection after the project and presentation are done. The sculpture itself will be judged on thoughtfulness, and how well it was presented along with the quality of the work.
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: I chose the cooperative learning method to better implement the artistic process for a large installation piece as part of a team, which is common in the art industry as well as team environments across numerous industries. Art has also made a move to large installation work as being a large venue of revenue and public attention.
2. Topic and Rationale: The topic I chose is to design a welcome sculpture to be place outside the front entrance of the school. This is to be done in a group of art students working collaboratively as a team. Each team is to come up with two to three ideas for a design and then decipher which is the best to present as a final design. Each team will create a small-scale model, whether this model is rendered digitally or in a sculptural representation is up to the team of students, and proper use of their resources within the group. Many large installations are a team effort of artists working collaboratively so providing the chance for my students to experience this type of collaboration in a real life scenario is most beneficial to them. Although I will grade on their final presentation, my hope is that the school board or principle will chose one to actually be built and installed by the art students. Two other examples to use with this method are working together to learn about ceramic artists that can lead to inspiration for new projects and ideas. The second example is to divide the class into several groups and give each group an art historic era in which they are to become experts and then teach the rest of the class as a team.
3. Features and Purposes: The principle purpose of this lesson is to provide a real life experience of collaborative work that they will encounter after high school. This also provides my students with real application of what a client might approach them with. For example, Fossil Ridge High School as a client would approach with the concept of presenting school pride, culture, and/or the school mascot in a large-scale sculpture in front of the school. The artist or artists involved would then have to render several designs that the client would then chose from for full scale construction and installation.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages are that the students will have a direct correlation to life application and a rich learning experience. Two disadvantages are that if a sculpture was selected out of the presentations to actually be made and installed students may feel a sense of failure or lose. However, this in itself is a learning experience as it is a difficult industry and there will always be rejections or lack of success in seeing a project all the way through in any industry. The second disadvantage is that students may struggle with group work, as many group experiences tend to have uneven workloads.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 3.1) SWBAT design a welcome sculpture for Fossil Ridge High School in small teams of 3 to 4 students and present their final renderings to the class and school administration guest judges as the stand in clients. After the final presentation is done students will reflect on their experience and process in a journal entry in their sketchbooks.
2. Materials: Sculpture materials of what the students’ request, presentation supplies (drawing materials, presentation programs), laptops.
3. Model and why you chose it: I chose the collaborative learning method because the best way to experience collaborative work in the artistic world is to get teams together with the goal of designing one piece. I experienced this in high school, although a slightly different scenario, and it was an incredible experience and the sculpture is still installed in front of my high school today. This has become something to be proud of years later and I want to provide that for all of my students not just the six of us who developed and installed the sculpture.
4. Key Terms or concepts: installation, sculpture, theme, artistic design process, final rendering, collaborative team designs and effort.
5. Background knowledge needed: A background knowledge of their school and the culture it is built upon is needed or research will have to be done. If they need more background knowledge they will have to do research or seek out interviews to get a better understanding of the culture of the school.
6. The assessment: The students will be assessed on their final presentation where all students must have a part in the presentation and a journal entry or reflection after the project and presentation are done. The sculpture itself will be judged on thoughtfulness, and how well it was presented along with the quality of the work.
Lecture/Direct Instruction: "Art & Religion"
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: I chose this method for this lesson because it touches on a touchy subject and I want to keep the focus on how religions of different cultures influence the artwork from that culture through much of history. This will most likely need more guidance from me allowing for fewer instances of aggressive arguments to occur. It isn’t until more modern art that you start to see more subject matter being depicted or abstract ideas that are completely absent of religious influence.
2. Topic and Rationale: The topic is to look at art as an historical record of culture including the influence of religion on artistic subjects. It is important to outline that the artwork is not diminished or looked down upon for contain a religious influence or not. This topic is just looking into how art is influenced through history for the purpose of better understanding diverse and different worldly cultures. This is a way in which to better understand cultures by diving deeper into the influences on a culture past the physical environment. Lecture and direct instruction seems to be the best way to approach this topic with small discussions or input from students on defining the meaning behind symbols and choices in depiction of an artwork. Two other examples are to give a short lecture on how to produce a pot on the wheel or the best techniques to draw an accurate depiction of a self-portrait.
3. Features and Purposes: The principle purpose of this lesson and topic is to explore the cultural difference in order to develop an understanding and hopefully an acceptance of different viewpoints. There is also the hope that curiosity of my students will be peaked and will want to further explore a culture or artist.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages of this technique are a better control on intense conversations and less likely occurrence of ugly arguments or chastising of different cultures or religions. Two disadvantages are less input from students to get their thoughts and opinions and possible loss of engagement from students who are not auditory learners.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 1.2) SWBAT participate in an exploratory analysis of historical artworks that show religious context and cultural differences from different cultures and viewpoints. Students will participate in class analysis and journal entries throughout the lesson.
2. Materials: PowerPoint presentation, worksheets and notebooks. Maybe reference material for students to look at for more information or have each table given a specific culture/religion reference so they can be the experts on that culture and share with the rest of the class.
3. Model and why you chose it: I chose the lecture and direct instruction model to help limit nasty comments or discussions that tend to come with such touchy subjects as religion. Although this lesson focuses on the historical art work and the evidence they poses, there will still be a basic knowledge gained or required of the students on the culture or religion being depicted.
4. Key Terms or concepts: Aesthetics, culturally sensitive issues, religion
5. Background knowledge needed: Students will need an understanding of aesthetics and how to critique or analyze a piece of artwork with a respect and understanding for the culture that it comes from. By the end of this lesson the students should be able to do this successfully.
6. The assessment: The assessment of this lecture is to participate in class analysis and the journal entries along the way depicting their viewpoints. The students will also write down the meanings they gather that are deeper than what they originally knew about the piece or the culture/religion before we analyzed the piece in class.
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: I chose this method for this lesson because it touches on a touchy subject and I want to keep the focus on how religions of different cultures influence the artwork from that culture through much of history. This will most likely need more guidance from me allowing for fewer instances of aggressive arguments to occur. It isn’t until more modern art that you start to see more subject matter being depicted or abstract ideas that are completely absent of religious influence.
2. Topic and Rationale: The topic is to look at art as an historical record of culture including the influence of religion on artistic subjects. It is important to outline that the artwork is not diminished or looked down upon for contain a religious influence or not. This topic is just looking into how art is influenced through history for the purpose of better understanding diverse and different worldly cultures. This is a way in which to better understand cultures by diving deeper into the influences on a culture past the physical environment. Lecture and direct instruction seems to be the best way to approach this topic with small discussions or input from students on defining the meaning behind symbols and choices in depiction of an artwork. Two other examples are to give a short lecture on how to produce a pot on the wheel or the best techniques to draw an accurate depiction of a self-portrait.
3. Features and Purposes: The principle purpose of this lesson and topic is to explore the cultural difference in order to develop an understanding and hopefully an acceptance of different viewpoints. There is also the hope that curiosity of my students will be peaked and will want to further explore a culture or artist.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages of this technique are a better control on intense conversations and less likely occurrence of ugly arguments or chastising of different cultures or religions. Two disadvantages are less input from students to get their thoughts and opinions and possible loss of engagement from students who are not auditory learners.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 1.2) SWBAT participate in an exploratory analysis of historical artworks that show religious context and cultural differences from different cultures and viewpoints. Students will participate in class analysis and journal entries throughout the lesson.
2. Materials: PowerPoint presentation, worksheets and notebooks. Maybe reference material for students to look at for more information or have each table given a specific culture/religion reference so they can be the experts on that culture and share with the rest of the class.
3. Model and why you chose it: I chose the lecture and direct instruction model to help limit nasty comments or discussions that tend to come with such touchy subjects as religion. Although this lesson focuses on the historical art work and the evidence they poses, there will still be a basic knowledge gained or required of the students on the culture or religion being depicted.
4. Key Terms or concepts: Aesthetics, culturally sensitive issues, religion
5. Background knowledge needed: Students will need an understanding of aesthetics and how to critique or analyze a piece of artwork with a respect and understanding for the culture that it comes from. By the end of this lesson the students should be able to do this successfully.
6. The assessment: The assessment of this lecture is to participate in class analysis and the journal entries along the way depicting their viewpoints. The students will also write down the meanings they gather that are deeper than what they originally knew about the piece or the culture/religion before we analyzed the piece in class.
Presentations/Advanced Organizers: "Night & Day"
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: I would use presentations and advance organizers when allowing the students to teach each other instead of being lectured the entire class. The subjects for the presentations are to be picked by the student to encourage more engagement from the student and hopefully peak the interest of their fellow classmates. I would also use this when implementing a class critique where the artist will present their work first with a short statement about the piece before the class gives feedback on what worked and what could be improved.
2. Topic and Rationale: Students will be introduced to the Chihuly exhibit at the Denver Botanical Gardens viewing pieces both during the day and at night. During this short lecture they will be expose to more aesthetic vocabulary and techniques including the use of a van diagram to compare and contrast the same piece of artwork viewed in day and at night. Students will pick their piece of artwork that they want to analyze and create a presentation of their analysis using a van diagram, which they will present to the rest of the class. This can be done individually or as a small group of up to four students. This topic is a great candidate for presentations/advance organizers as the students could put these presentations together in a short time after discussing as a class the importance of the surroundings/setting of an art piece, especially installation works. Other examples of topics that would be great are to compare and contrast two artists in the same era or presentations on art proposals for large installation work for the school as a team of artists.
3. Features and Purposes: The principle purpose of this method is to get students familiar and adequate in organizing their thoughts and evidence in an intriguing way while also becoming comfortable with public speaking. It also helps develop their aesthetic skills.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages are that students become more engaged in something that inspires them and allows the students to take charge and teach their fellow classmates something, which helps builds confidence. Two disadvantages are that this is very difficult for students who struggle to voice their thoughts and if students misinterpret information they could teach their fellow students incorrectly.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 1.2) SWBAT analyze and form opinions that are supported with evidence of differences in the meaning and emotional context of Chihuly’s exhibit at the Denver Botanical Gardens. Students will analyze and present a piece of artwork observed both at night and during the day providing specific evidence about how the piece changes using a van diagram.
2. Materials: Photos of Chihuly’s works in the Botanical Gardens in different times of day, laptops, and a presentation program…. Prezi or PowerPoint.
3. Model and why you chose it: I chose to use presentations and advanced organizers to allow the students to teach each other in a team which allows them to discover the different interpretations that are in store for them and provides a means to help organize there thoughts.
4. Key Terms or concepts: interpretations, aesthetics, installation work, color theory.
5. Background knowledge needed: basic knowledge in color theory, aesthetic vocabulary and techniques
6. The assessment: The assessment is the analysis of a piece of installation work that is seen in two different lights through using a van diagram.
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: I would use presentations and advance organizers when allowing the students to teach each other instead of being lectured the entire class. The subjects for the presentations are to be picked by the student to encourage more engagement from the student and hopefully peak the interest of their fellow classmates. I would also use this when implementing a class critique where the artist will present their work first with a short statement about the piece before the class gives feedback on what worked and what could be improved.
2. Topic and Rationale: Students will be introduced to the Chihuly exhibit at the Denver Botanical Gardens viewing pieces both during the day and at night. During this short lecture they will be expose to more aesthetic vocabulary and techniques including the use of a van diagram to compare and contrast the same piece of artwork viewed in day and at night. Students will pick their piece of artwork that they want to analyze and create a presentation of their analysis using a van diagram, which they will present to the rest of the class. This can be done individually or as a small group of up to four students. This topic is a great candidate for presentations/advance organizers as the students could put these presentations together in a short time after discussing as a class the importance of the surroundings/setting of an art piece, especially installation works. Other examples of topics that would be great are to compare and contrast two artists in the same era or presentations on art proposals for large installation work for the school as a team of artists.
3. Features and Purposes: The principle purpose of this method is to get students familiar and adequate in organizing their thoughts and evidence in an intriguing way while also becoming comfortable with public speaking. It also helps develop their aesthetic skills.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages are that students become more engaged in something that inspires them and allows the students to take charge and teach their fellow classmates something, which helps builds confidence. Two disadvantages are that this is very difficult for students who struggle to voice their thoughts and if students misinterpret information they could teach their fellow students incorrectly.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 1.2) SWBAT analyze and form opinions that are supported with evidence of differences in the meaning and emotional context of Chihuly’s exhibit at the Denver Botanical Gardens. Students will analyze and present a piece of artwork observed both at night and during the day providing specific evidence about how the piece changes using a van diagram.
2. Materials: Photos of Chihuly’s works in the Botanical Gardens in different times of day, laptops, and a presentation program…. Prezi or PowerPoint.
3. Model and why you chose it: I chose to use presentations and advanced organizers to allow the students to teach each other in a team which allows them to discover the different interpretations that are in store for them and provides a means to help organize there thoughts.
4. Key Terms or concepts: interpretations, aesthetics, installation work, color theory.
5. Background knowledge needed: basic knowledge in color theory, aesthetic vocabulary and techniques
6. The assessment: The assessment is the analysis of a piece of installation work that is seen in two different lights through using a van diagram.
Thinking and Inquiry: "The Stars Align"
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: The method of Thinking and Inquiry is great to use for topics in which students can immerse themselves and explore on their own to discovers truths on their own. This provides students with a sense of accomplishment and creates knowledge to become their idea to learn it or at least becomes their choice, which helps increase engagement.
2. Topic and Rationale: I chose to look at art in an historical light by means of looking at how humanity has used the night sky to navigate. Students will look at depictions of the night sky and star charts that were drawn as records. Students can also look at pieces of art that depict the stars in some fashion and then use these images to create an interpretation of their own including two cultural views from research they gather. I chose this topic to help students connect how humanity interprets and records the world around them by means of expression through art. It also shows students the importance of art as historical record to help connect cultures from around the world. Two other examples are an exploration of a specific culture of their choice through an exploring the cultural artwork or a final class project of their choice where they will chose a current issue, explore it, and then create a piece depicting the issue and how they feel about it.
3. Features and Purposes: The purpose of this method is to get students more engaged into what they are exploring. Making their learning a journey of discovery rather than mere lecture and filling an empty jar. This method strives for an exploration in historical contents that comes alive rather than just mere dates and timelines for students to remember.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages are that students will be more likely to be engaged and allow students to have more control and ownership in their education. Two disadvantages are that you may have some students who are just not inspired or care about the stars and the effect they have on humanity, while other students may struggle with the writing portion of the assignment as they may have lower levels of reading and writing.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 4.1) SWBAT compare and contrast the use of tracking the night sky. Students will write a creative story depicting two different characters from two different cultures using the two works of art they chose as inspiration.
Tip: use specific evidence in your stories from your research and works of art you chose.
2. Materials: laptops/computers with access to the Internet for research, Art History books, Books on astronomy who reference artwork that is used as evidence.
3. Model and why you chose it: The model I chose was thinking and inquiry. I chose this model, as I wanted my students to explore the stars influence on art and try to experience something similar to that of the artists and historical figures first started exploring the stars and charting them. I also chose this model to allow students to explore different cultures they chose to help them come to terms with understandings of different viewpoints on their own.
4. Key Terms or concepts: Students will need to know a basic knowledge of creative writing and have the creativity to imagine two characters in two different cultures. This will take some research on their part.
5. Background knowledge needed: They will need some background knowledge of creative writing, basic knowledge of the stars (apply what they are learning from their other classes) and a basic knowledge in research.
6. The assessment: The assessment will be their creative story, which does not have to be very long, but must show a basic comparison of two cultures and how their interpretations of the stars differ and shows similarities if there are any. With this students must supply the evidence in their story that can be seen in their art pieces or research they chose that depict the night sky.
Section I: Description of the Method
1. Instructional Method: The method of Thinking and Inquiry is great to use for topics in which students can immerse themselves and explore on their own to discovers truths on their own. This provides students with a sense of accomplishment and creates knowledge to become their idea to learn it or at least becomes their choice, which helps increase engagement.
2. Topic and Rationale: I chose to look at art in an historical light by means of looking at how humanity has used the night sky to navigate. Students will look at depictions of the night sky and star charts that were drawn as records. Students can also look at pieces of art that depict the stars in some fashion and then use these images to create an interpretation of their own including two cultural views from research they gather. I chose this topic to help students connect how humanity interprets and records the world around them by means of expression through art. It also shows students the importance of art as historical record to help connect cultures from around the world. Two other examples are an exploration of a specific culture of their choice through an exploring the cultural artwork or a final class project of their choice where they will chose a current issue, explore it, and then create a piece depicting the issue and how they feel about it.
3. Features and Purposes: The purpose of this method is to get students more engaged into what they are exploring. Making their learning a journey of discovery rather than mere lecture and filling an empty jar. This method strives for an exploration in historical contents that comes alive rather than just mere dates and timelines for students to remember.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: Two advantages are that students will be more likely to be engaged and allow students to have more control and ownership in their education. Two disadvantages are that you may have some students who are just not inspired or care about the stars and the effect they have on humanity, while other students may struggle with the writing portion of the assignment as they may have lower levels of reading and writing.
Section II: Implementation of the Method
1. Learning Objective: (Art Standard 4.1) SWBAT compare and contrast the use of tracking the night sky. Students will write a creative story depicting two different characters from two different cultures using the two works of art they chose as inspiration.
Tip: use specific evidence in your stories from your research and works of art you chose.
2. Materials: laptops/computers with access to the Internet for research, Art History books, Books on astronomy who reference artwork that is used as evidence.
3. Model and why you chose it: The model I chose was thinking and inquiry. I chose this model, as I wanted my students to explore the stars influence on art and try to experience something similar to that of the artists and historical figures first started exploring the stars and charting them. I also chose this model to allow students to explore different cultures they chose to help them come to terms with understandings of different viewpoints on their own.
4. Key Terms or concepts: Students will need to know a basic knowledge of creative writing and have the creativity to imagine two characters in two different cultures. This will take some research on their part.
5. Background knowledge needed: They will need some background knowledge of creative writing, basic knowledge of the stars (apply what they are learning from their other classes) and a basic knowledge in research.
6. The assessment: The assessment will be their creative story, which does not have to be very long, but must show a basic comparison of two cultures and how their interpretations of the stars differ and shows similarities if there are any. With this students must supply the evidence in their story that can be seen in their art pieces or research they chose that depict the night sky.