Hunter College
School of Education
Curriculum & Teaching
Prof. John Toth, Ph.D. / jtoth@hunter.cuny.edu		 THE ARTS
Lesson Plan Considerations
TIME MIN THE ARTS AS COMMUNICATION...
for the post modern educator		 syllabus
1:30 15 CONCEPT: LESSON PLAN CONSIDERATIONS

Aim: The aim of this Planning Session Paper document is to help you understand the Aesthetic Education method of engaging students with the arts.

OBJECTIVE: Students will create an age appropriate arts lesson plan that uses works of art as a starting point for inquiry and experimentation using the attached template.
Frequent Questions:
What kind of co considerations should I make before completing the Lesson Planning Assignment.

 ART STANDARDS:
The Arts Standards for NY

The Arts Standard 3

Visual Arts - Reflect on, interpret, and evaluate works of art, using the language of art criticism. Students will analyze the visual characteristics of the natural and built environment and explain the social, cultural, psychological, and environmental dimensions of the visual arts. Students will compare the ways in which a variety of ideas, themes, and concepts are expressed through the visual arts with the ways they are expressed in other disciplines.

1:45

15

 This FINAL PLANNING SESSION PAPER should consider the Aesthetic Education method of using the arts in the classroom. Choose one of the art works that we viewed this semester and create an art lesson plan with the grade level of your classroom in mind. (Or choose an age, if youÕre not in the classroom).  Identify the age and learning capacity: gifted, average, learning disabilities. Use the Planning Session worksheet as a template for your lesson plan.

Your lesson should highlight at least one prime artwork under study and at least one comparison artwork that reveals variations on a similar theme, such as van GoghÕs ÒStarry NightÓ and WytheÕs ÒChristinaÕs WorldÓ. Please label the numbered categories from the planning session worksheet and the sub categories on the portfolio Lesson Plan pages.  You should consider the following questions as you are getting started:
2:00 15 1.     BRAINSTORMING
Ideas:
What kind of artwork is age appropriate?
What kinds of ideas are appropriate for the age of your students?
What kinds of ideas are fun for your students to explore?

Themes:
What kind of themes are age appropriate?
How do the themes relate the curriculum?
What artworks can you show your students that will create connections to your curriculum?

Visual Elements:
How can you relate the visual element to something relevant to the age of the student? That is, Exploring color with pre-school-ers (finger painting, mixing, blending, pouring colored water, mixing color clay, sand, photons) will be different than exploring color with high school students (symbolic color, painting with oils, watercolor, collage)

If your visual element is ÔcolorÕ, how can you translate the visual element ÔcolorÕ to another medium other than (van Gogh) oil paint?  PROBLEM> I would NOT ask preschoolers to paint with oil paints, but could use craypas, tempera or watercolors to translate the concept of color, to a different but empathetic medium. You could also explore ÔcolorÕ by observing light coming from Red Green Blue flashlights or study prisms or OPEN Photoshop and digitally transform Van GoghÕs ÔStarry NightÕ using IMAGE/ ADJUSTMENTS/HUE/SATURATION

2.     INQUIRY:
Artistic Line of Inquiry:
Ask a question that addresses the way in which visual elements are used to effect how we perceive and understand a specific work of art.

Can you identify the visual element in the work of art that is being used in a way that is an integral part of what makes the artwork significant? An example would be the use of line, movement and color that are significant visual elements in van GoghÕs ÒStarry Night.Ó

Pedagogical line of Inquiry:
How did the questioning of artworks in the classroom help you notice and engage with the artworks?
Do your questions ask students to describe, analyze and interpret something within the artwork under study?
Are your questions grounded in the work of art?

3.     ACTIVITY:
Skills Activity:
What skills do your students need to open the range of choices to complete the artwork?
Which medium did you think best supports the kinds of choices that the artist uses to make the artwork?
What kind of motor skills are required to complete an activity?
How does your activity refine motor skills?

Creative Activity:
Use the skills learned in the Ôskills activityÕ to construct new meaning and expression through directed instructions open or.

Follow-up Activity:
What other kinds of investigation need to be explored after the initial arts experience?
Is there a need to refine skills as a result of the creative activity?
How did the activities prepare you to observe the art works that we saw in the museum?
How did classroom critiques of your own artworks open your understanding of artistic choices?

4.     REFLECTION:
Reflection Activities:
What kinds of questions encourage reflection?
What did you learn about each other though working in the arts?
Draw something you remember a week after the museum visit.
What did you learn about yourself though working in the arts?
Describe an Ah-Ha or Eureka moment that you experienced in the arts

5.     CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION:
What books could inspire further investigation of the work of art, artist, time the artist lived or links to your own life?
How did contextual information support your learning?
How did the articles you read during the course help your understanding of the Arts?How did the articles you read help you understand aesthetic education?
3:15   CONTEXT:
ART EDUCATION THEORY:
READ
ART & LITERACY 		VOCABULARY: brainstorming, theme, ideas, art element, design principle, skill activity, creative activity, reflection, active reflection, medium,
Choose the ART STANDARD that your lesson addresses.
3:30   Please complete this Survey
Survey:

Rubric for Lesson Plan

 

Elements of Standard Unacceptable (0-1) Acceptable (1-2) Target (3)

 

Visual Elements / Ideas / themes Correct use of visual elements (line, shape / form, value, space, color, texture, balance, harmony, variety, emphasis, rhythm/ movement/ repetition, gradation, proportion and unity) and ideas / themes (emotions, concepts, metaphors, etc.) Final Lesson Plan Paper shows no understanding of the visual elements, ideas or themes required to create a good lesson plan. Final Lesson Plan Paper shows a good understanding of the visual elements and translates the elements to a medium that is appropriate to the grade level. Good student centered ideas and themes. Final Lesson Plan Paper shows a deeper understanding of the visual elements and translates the elements to a medium that is appropriate to the grade level that allows for expressive artwork and relates ideas and themes to the studentÕs life.

 

Inquiry / Reflection and Context Inquiry requires good listening skills that draws students into a conversation. Good questions call upon the studentÕs ability to observe, analyze, conjecture, reflect and research.  Good questions have multiple answers and cannot be answered with a yes or no response. Context should encourage deep looking and investigation of the object of study. A good reflection question asks what was learned. Final Lesson Plan Paper shows little or no skills in creating a Line of Inquiry.  Poor questions call for yes or no answers. Poor questions are not focused on observable details within the work of art. Reflection activities and questions are not grounded in the artwork. Context does not relate specifically to the work of art. Final Lesson Plan Paper shows skills in creating questions that are engaging and relate to the students life. Good questions develop a conversation and debate among students. Good reflection questions make connections to what has been learned. Good contextual information confirms the exploration of the artwork and activity. Final Lesson Plan Paper shows great skills in creating questions that are engaging fulfill curriculum mandates and relate to the students life. Great questions develop an ongoing conversation and debate among students. Great reflection questions make connections to what has been learned and instill a desire for further exploration.  Great contextual information confirms the exploration of the artwork and activity and places the art experience within a historical context that relates to the students life and the curriculum.

 

Creativity Activity / Skills Activity The Creative Activity involves self-exploration of themes and ideas using the skills learned in the Skills Activity in unique manner. The Creative Activity exhibits a distinctive, individual style unique to student. The Skills Activity allows students to make a variety of choices that reveal the nuance and variables inherent in a given medium. Final Lesson Plan Paper shows a lack of originality in developing activities that allow creative exploration of themes and ideas. Art activities are very weak, trite, stereotypical, and not student centered. Final Lesson Plan Paper reveals a creative activity with an average degree of originality. The Creative Activity explores the visual elements with some elaboration of the theme or concept under study.  The Skills Activity gives students a good understanding of some of the choices that are present in the work of art under study. Final Lesson Plan Paper shows a superior degree of originality throughout. The Creative Activity explores multiple visual elements with great elaboration of the theme or concept under study.  The Skills Activity gives students a superb understanding of many of the choices that are present in the work of art under study.