A literacy connected lesson for art students
They say a picture is worth 1000 words, but is 1000 words enough for a picture?
Schools across America are struggling with falling literacy rates. Approximately 40% of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level according to the National Literacy Institute. Because of this, schools are looking for ways to incorporate more literacy across the curriculum. My National Board Certification focus was on literacy, and since then every exploration I do in art has a literacy component, and I even wrote The Art & Literacy Workbook to help other art teachers incorporate more literacy.
For this lesson, I selected examples of famous works of art that students might not be able to name. For example, I didn’t include the Mona Lisa or Starry Night, because, if students inadvertently mentioned it, they would have an unfair advantage. I also avoided work that was too difficult to describe, like Kandinsky’s geometric abstract expressionist stuff and conversely, I didn’t select work that would be too easy, like a two-colored Rothko painting.
Once I found enough images for each student to have their own, (and a few extras to swap in,) I numbered the images, removed names, and put them in envelopes. I separated students so they could not peek at each other’s selection, and they put a detailed description into a Google doc that was shared with me to be printed. I created a blank Google Doc with the following information that they copied:
I selected Artwork # ___
Consider Subject, elements (line, shape, color, value, texture…), principles (contrast, unity, balance, emphasis…), mood, style, composition, orientation (vertical, horizontal)… half-page minimum, no more than 1 page @ 12 pt. https://bit.ly/WriteArtwork
Once printed and shared with a random partner, students begin a simple sketch on copy paper. I have them add questions to the written statement if they need clarifications. This is an opportunity for the original author to add details to edit their writing for clarity. They should only be allowed to do this once though, if at all. Though this can be done in any media, I wanted my students to experience oil pastels as we had not yet tried them. After a brief tutorial, they worked independently on their drawings. Once complete, we displayed the writing, edits, original images and final drawings in a display. Administration was blown away by the lesson and English teachers felt like this was something they wanted to try in their own classes.
For more art & literacy resources visit Firehouse Publications.
Schools across America are struggling with falling literacy rates. Approximately 40% of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level according to the National Literacy Institute. Because of this, schools are looking for ways to incorporate more literacy across the curriculum. My National Board Certification focus was on literacy, and since then every exploration I do in art has a literacy component, and I even wrote The Art & Literacy Workbook to help other art teachers incorporate more literacy.
For this lesson, I selected examples of famous works of art that students might not be able to name. For example, I didn’t include the Mona Lisa or Starry Night, because, if students inadvertently mentioned it, they would have an unfair advantage. I also avoided work that was too difficult to describe, like Kandinsky’s geometric abstract expressionist stuff and conversely, I didn’t select work that would be too easy, like a two-colored Rothko painting.
Once I found enough images for each student to have their own, (and a few extras to swap in,) I numbered the images, removed names, and put them in envelopes. I separated students so they could not peek at each other’s selection, and they put a detailed description into a Google doc that was shared with me to be printed. I created a blank Google Doc with the following information that they copied:
I selected Artwork # ___
Consider Subject, elements (line, shape, color, value, texture…), principles (contrast, unity, balance, emphasis…), mood, style, composition, orientation (vertical, horizontal)… half-page minimum, no more than 1 page @ 12 pt. https://bit.ly/WriteArtwork
Once printed and shared with a random partner, students begin a simple sketch on copy paper. I have them add questions to the written statement if they need clarifications. This is an opportunity for the original author to add details to edit their writing for clarity. They should only be allowed to do this once though, if at all. Though this can be done in any media, I wanted my students to experience oil pastels as we had not yet tried them. After a brief tutorial, they worked independently on their drawings. Once complete, we displayed the writing, edits, original images and final drawings in a display. Administration was blown away by the lesson and English teachers felt like this was something they wanted to try in their own classes.
For more art & literacy resources visit Firehouse Publications.
RSS Feed