In addendum

As an afterthought and as is part and parcel to the implementation of technology in the classroom, this course has provided my with an increased knowledge and appreciation of the ways in which we as educators can bridge the digital divide and reach out to our students with a more effective nuanced approach.  Provided the essential hurdles to my own comfort level with technology ( although I am getting better at it), I believe this to be essential to connecting with the modern student and providing some instant schema vies a vie technology.  I have tried to assimilate myself to this process of scaffolding with full faith that these new modes of education are in fact necessary and valid.

I was raised in the generation of in-betweens, that is to say we had computers but the impact of technology was yet to be harnessed and the scope of its productivity at my high school was little more than typing class and some odd word processing programs.  This was pre-internet stuff, mostly Iron Age technology at best.  I didn’t even know email existed until late 2001.  And I bought my first cell phone in 2007.  I had a set of Encyclopedia Britannica’s in my basement and a Library card.  I had a C.D. collection and made mix tapes.  I played an 8 bit Nintendo.  When I was talking about a scene from a movie or a painting or something someone said, I had to tell an actual story describe an actual painting or remember the actual quote.   So you can imagine I’ve had some catching up to do. 

As an art educator sites like The Google art project, Wikipedia, Art Blogs and even You Tube can be used to supplement my lesson plans and help me deliver content that develops a student’s overall appreciation and immersion in the art’s while aiding in the creation of their own work.  During my Undergrad I took a course in art tech and my professor Naomi Brown told me something that stay’s with me as I work towards educating myself with these new technological tools.  As point of fact, he said “Computers are just fancy pencils.”  Now I know he said it to alleviate the obvious anxiety many of us formally trained artists had about using computers to help generate new work.  However, I also believe that he meant it.  And as I grow older I see that to the newer generations, a computer is their pencil and their portal to self- discovery.  My Job as an educator will hopefully forever be about the process of helping to encourage my students learning, giving them the skills they need to be successful and using every means at my disposal to reach their individual goals. 

Wordle

Desired results

Established Goals:

25B — Students who meet the standard understand the similarities, distinctions, and connections in and among the arts.

1. Explain how elements, principles, and tools are combined to express an idea in a work of art.

Explain why specific elements, principles, and tools were used in a work of art created by the student or another artist.

 

Understandings:

Students will understand that…

Artists use different terms to express the content of their artwork

Artists use different art techniques to create a work of art

 

 

Essential Questions:

 

Students will know…

How do artists articulate the process of creating a work of art

Why do artists use different terms in describing their artwork

 

Students will be able to…

Analyze their artwork

Write about their creative process

 

Assessment Evidence

Performance Task:

·         Review a list of 200 vocabulary words and art terms that are used in the creation of artwork

·         Choose 50 words that they would create a wordle with

·         Select 20 of the chosen words to define that are relevant to their artwork (how do these words help to articulate their creative process?)

·         Write a brief writing sample (100 words) discussing their artwork and including their defined art vocabulary words

 

Other Evidence:

 

Learning Plan

Learning Activities:

Blabberize

Desired results

Established Goals:

27B — Students who meet the standard understand how the arts shape and reflect history, society and everyday life.

Identify the images, objects, sounds, and movements from a work of art and describe what they tell about people, time, places, and everyday life.

 

Understandings:

Students will understand that…

·         Figurative painting often times tell stories about the subject of the painting

·         Artists use different compositional devices to tell the story

·         Figurative painting try’s to tell complicated allegorical or historical events visually

 

 

Essential Questions:

·         What are some of the things figurative paintings try and convey

·         Why do artists use figures in paintings

·         How do figurative paintings reflect attitudes about history or messages about historical figures.

 

Students will know…

·         How artists arrange information in figurative paintings

·         What types of figurative painting artists use

 

Students will be able to…

·         Tell the viewer about the historical information of a painting

·         Give the time period of when the painting was completed

·         Talk about the meaning /theme of a painting or it’s subject matter.

 

Assessment Evidence

Performance Task:

·         Select a figurative painting

·         Research information about the painting, including artist, time period of completion, concept and theme

·         Use blabberize to animate a figure in the painting and give a report about the information that was gathered about the painting.

 

Other Evidence:

·         Oral and/or written response to one of the essential questions

·         Explanation of the paintings meaning

 

 

Learning Plan

Learning Activities:

Use K-W-L to assess students prior knowledge and identify learning goals for the unit.

Review worksheet on figurative painting

 

Glogster

Desired results

Established Goals:

25A — Students who meet the standard understand the sensory elements, organizational principles, and expressive qualities of the arts.

1.  Describe a variety of lines (e.g., create a drawing using spiral, jagged, zigzag, wavy).

2.  Distinguish between organic (free-form, natural) and inorganic (geometric) forms/shapes.

3.  Identify primary, secondary, and analogous colors in an art work.

4.  Identify a variety of textures from organic and person-made objects (e.g., use the technique of rubbing).

5.  Show size progression (e.g., organize small, medium, large).

6.  Identify in an art work elements (e.g., jagged lines, curved shapes, bright colors) that convey emotions (e.g., scary, mad).

Tell the story an art work shows.

27B — Students who meet the standard understand how the arts shape and reflect history, society and everyday life.

7.  Identify the images, objects, sounds, and movements from a work of art and describe what they tell about people, time, places, and everyday life.

 

Understandings:

Students will understand that…

·         Artists work in different styles

·         An artist’s style will often times change or leads to new work

 

 

Essential Questions:

 

Students will know…

·         Historical information about an artist

·         What are the different ways in which artists create their artwork

·         How aritsts are influenced by each others artwork

 

Students will be able to…

·         Identify an artists work

·         List the major pieces of an artists career

·         Provide information about the aritsts paintings that educate the viewer about the artists work

 

Assessment Evidence

Performance Task:

·         Research an artist on the internet, collecting biographical information about the artist and information about his artwork (what were the major styles and pieces that the artist worked in?)

·         Create a glogster poster, including biographical information, pictures of the artists work, links to museums and relevant artwork information that depicts a historical record of the artists life (Try and lead the viewer through the poster informing them of the artists work).  Then present your poster to the class explaining your poster timeline and talking a bit about the artist and chosen artwork. 

 

Other Evidence:

·         Oral and/or written response to one of the essential questions.

·         Create a list of the facts used in the creation of artist glogster

·         Explanation of the links used to supplement pictures or information in glogster.

 

Learning Plan

Learning Activities:

Investigate the life and work of Pablo Picasso(e.g.  Blue period, Rose Period, Cubism, Neo classicism, etc.)

Investigate the major works of Picasso’s life.

Tech Tac Toe

Glogster

Students create an art survey poster, researching an art style with pictures of different artists who worked in a particular style or movement.  Students would also include a brief record about what they learned about the artwork produced in this style.  

Wordle

This assignment could be used as a reference sheet during the completion of their projects.  The students would be asked to review a list of 200 vocabulary words and art terms that are used in the creation of artwork.  First they would create a Wordle with a list of 50 vocabulary words that they choose to define.  Then the students would need to pick 20 of those words to define that are relevant to their artwork.  Afterwards students would be asked to write a brief writing sample discussing their artwork while including some of their defined terms.

Blabberize

Students would select a figurative artwork and use blabberize to animate one of the figures in the painting (ex. The Mona Lisa) narrating from a first person perspective of the actual painting.  Students would tell the viewers about the time it was produced the artist who made the work and include a little about the concept and subject matter of the painting.

Webquest

I decided to design a webquest using The Google Art Project.  Working in groups students would be asked to act as curators of an Art Mueseum.  Their prospective museum would be opening a new wing dedicated to an art movement, style or time-period of their choosing.  After deciding on what type of art to dedicate to the new wing of the museum, students would be asked to research different artist’s and works that would be appropriate for display.  The new wing of their museum would have 3 rooms holding a maximum of 14 pieces per room (3 of which would be from a lesser known artist or artists) with 2 larger scale works and 1 large scale work in the entrance way.  Using The google art project as a reference to organize their collection, students would explore art museums from around the world with similar collections to the one they would like to have.  Gathering information about each work students could review the curator’s notes from the museums they are housed in and include the information attached to each work to enhance the viewer’s experience.  Lastly, after organizing the artwork in their collection, students could display their collection in a presentation to the class and discuss their rationale for including the artists and works they chose.

Desired Results

Established Goals:

25A — Students who meet the standard understand the sensory elements, organizational principles, and expressive qualities of the arts.

1.  Describe a variety of lines (e.g., create a drawing using spiral, jagged, zigzag, wavy).

2.  Distinguish between organic (free-form, natural) and inorganic (geometric) forms/shapes.

3.  Identify primary, secondary, and analogous colors in an art work.

4.  Identify a variety of textures from organic and person-made objects (e.g., use the technique of rubbing).

5.  Show size progression (e.g., organize small, medium, large).

6.  Identify in an art work elements (e.g., jagged lines, curved shapes, bright colors) that convey emotions (e.g., scary, mad).

Tell the story an art work shows.

25B — Students who meet the standard understand the similarities, distinctions, and connections in and among the arts.

7.  Name one way each art form is different from the others (e.g., music and drama use voice; dance and visual arts do not).

8.  Describe the theme, idea, feeling, or story within an art work (e.g., mood in "Starry Night", Peer Gynt Suite).

27B — Students who meet the standard understand how the arts shape and reflect history, society and everyday life.

9.  Identify the images, objects, sounds, and movements from a work of art and describe what they tell about people, time, places, and everyday life.

 

Understandings:

Students will understand that…

·         Art Museums organize their collections by style or time periods

·         Artist’s work in different styles

·         An artists style is determined by the time period in which they lived

 

 

Essential Questions:

·         What are the things that determine an artists style

·         Why do Artists collaborate or explore similar themes

·         How do external events influence artists work

 

 

Students will know…

·         How museums organize artwork

·         What type of information museums use to educate viewers

 

Students will be able to…

·         Create a gallery of works by artists that represent a certain style

·         Provide information that makes the different work relate to each other

 

Assessment Evidence

Performance Task:

·         Create a collection of artwork for display in a museum; including art, pictures, and information about the artwork (what type of information do museums use to educate the viewer?) information should help connect the different artists or their works.

·         Organize the artwork in the collection to create a new wing of a museum.  The wing has 3 rooms holding a maximum of 14 pieces per room (4 of which should be from a lesser known artist or artists) with 2 larger pieces and 1 large-scale work in the entranceway.

 

 

 

Other Evidence:

·         Oral and/or written response to one of the essential questions.

·         Drawing of the new wing (schematic) of where the artwork will be located.

·         Explanation of the lesser-known artists included in the collection.

 

 

 

Learning Plan

Learning Activities:

K-W-L to assess students prior knowledge and identify learning goals for the unit

Create a timeline map for the groups selected art movement or style

Review rubric for google art project webquest

PLN

One of the resources I found through my PLN was The Google Art Project.  The Google Art Project is a database of virtual art collections.  In it, students can explore museums from around the world and discover tens of thousands of artworks, as well as create their own galleries of masterpieces.  As an art educator the Google art project provides a unique opportunity for researching artists, museums and art movements.  Likewise, the Google art project is an exemplary tool for increasing student’s knowledge of artists subject matter, historical timelines, materials, techniques and styles of creating art.  I believe this resource could be an invaluable assesst in the classroom for assignments designed to expand student’s interest in art and help assist them in generating new ideas for their own work.