Lesson Three
Lesson three will move beyond the concrete and have the students explore perspective in a more abstract and symbolic avenue.Within this unit, the students will create a symbolic map of their own personal life's journey. Using developed symbols, they will create a map that depicts not only important physical locations but also important events in their life up to this point. We will look at the symbolic maps (dot paintings) of the Australian Aboriginals during this unit.
Day One
In my art room, I will have two bulletin boards set up for this lesson. One will have visuals depicting Aboriginal art (specifically dot paintings) and, of course, a map of Australia. The other will have unusual maps that I have collected. These include a Doctors Without Borders map showing areas of the world that they service, a map of the NY subway that displays smells that are reported in the NY subway system, (http://gawker.com/maps/smell/), a map distributed by Hilton Hotels that maps good deeds, and a map of the Corcoran Art School that shows the college located as the center of the universe. I also have several National Geographic maps that show things beyond simple physical location. These include a map showing the annual renewable water in the world, A Nation transformed by Civil War (a map depicted the movements, events and campaigns of the Civil War), Communism to Capitalism (a map showing the economic change in the former Soviet Union), and a map, Voices of the World, depicting the various languages and dialects around the world, as well as several others. I hope that these maps will give the students a starting point to begin to think divergently about what maps can depict.
To begin, I will have the students think about ways maps can show ideas and concepts in addition to specific places. I will have them brainstorm possible ideas that maps could show, including population, weather, migration, income, and even literary maps. I will then show them a slide show of some western maps that depict things besides place. In this, I will include the Moby Dick Literary Map, 1956 http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/1831s.jpg
and The Virginian, A Literary Map, 1962.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/at0183.6s.jpg
I will also show them literary maps in the Library of Congress website, Zoom Into Maps.
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/maps/pictorial.html
Next, I will ask whether they feel a map can be personal: "Can it be created for personal use?," "Can it show a personal journey?" I will ask the students to think of their own life in terms of a journey. On the board, I will write "Events in My Life" and "Important Places in My Life." I will ask them to take out their sketchbooks and write the two headings and then to list at least 10 events and ten locales that are personally important to them, under each heading. When they have accomplished this, I will have them illustrate each of the 20 things and to label each one. One page in their sketchbook will be the illustrations of the events and one page, the locales. I expect this will take the entire class period. For homework, I will ask them to share their work with their parent(s) and ask the parent(s) if they have any important events that the students might want to add (perhaps things that the students were too young to remember such as a move).
Day Two
Since one of the themes in 6th grade is communication, I will ask the students to brainstorm all the ways people can communicate. I will write all of them on the board. When we are done, I will have them vote as to which one they feel is the most effective way to communicate. I expect that talking or writing will be the overwhelming winner. I will then ask them to select one classmate that they feel has good verbal communication skills. Asking the student to come to the front of the class, I will give that student a sheet of paper that has 2 geometric figures drawn on it, a rectangle on an angle and a acute triangle touching it about 2/3 of the way down the rectangle. I will explain that the student's challenge is to communicate, using ONLY words, the message on the paper. Whoever gets the message COMPLETELY correct will get an ice cream at lunch (as will the message communicator). Having done this activity in prior years, I know that they will struggle with it and not be able to do it. I will then give them a second chance, now that they understand that they are drawing figures. Again, they will not be able to do it. We will then reexamine our list on the board of ways to communicate. I will ask them to vote again on which way of communicating is most effective. I predict there will be some who change it to drawing and some who will get the bigger idea, that it really depends on WHAT you are trying to depict. At this point, I will have a discussion on symbols. I will draw several symbols on the board, one at a time, and have them tell me what they mean. For example, I will draw the McDonald's arches, the Nike symbol, the dollar sign, etc. I will elicit from them how they know what these mean, since I did not use any words. I will also touch on what makes a good symbol (simple. graphic, etc). For homework, I will ask them to develop 2 personal symbols, one for an event and one for a locale in their personal journey.
Day Three
I will explain that we will be putting our personal journey maps aside for a few days in order to learn about a different type of map or landscape. I will then introduce Aboriginal art, specifically dot paintings. I will show the Aboriginal Art: Past, Present, and Future video (30 minutes) and I will have the students use a graphic organizer to facilitate their taking notes on the video. I also have a book, Pheasant and Kingfisher that was illustrated by an Aboriginal artist, Arone Raymond Meeks. The book, also available as a big book, tells a myth using illustrations that utilize traditional iconography. These symbols represent physical landmarks, such as mountains, waterholes, hills, animal's tracks, people, plants, campsites, spears, etc. These symbols then are used to tell the story, specifically myths from the Dreamtime; a time during which the Aboriginal people feel the world was created. The Dreamtime can be seen as a time before the current time when the creation myth events occurred but also it also refers to the religion of the Aboriginals.
I will have a handout that has some of the more common Aboriginal symbols and basic meanings (they often have multiple meanings, some of which are sacred and not for the general population). I will have the students write a creation story that they make up, focusing on having some aspect of a journey in the story. I will want the story to be depicted visually using some of the symbols or using symbols that they make up. I will expect that this will take the remaining time in the period. For homework, they will finish their visual depiction and write a verbal explanation of their story.
Day Four
Because I want the students to gain an understanding of Aboriginal culture beyond a simple, superficial overview, I will try to have an exploration of the culture for part of each class period during this lesson. This day I will show an hour-long video, Australia's Aborigines, produced by National Geographic. This video gives a wonderful overview of the culture and focuses on the different regions. I will give the students a map of Australia with places for notes to be taken for each region. This will help them organize the information. After the video, I will explain the project that they will be doing. We will develop a rubric to assess our projects in the same manor as in Lesson Two. I will ask them to take out their sketchbooks and turn to the pages where they illustrated the important events and locales in their lives. I will explain that they will create a symbolic map of the journey of their life. They will need to develop a set of symbols that will enable them to map their personal journey visually. During the rest of the class, the students will work on developing their symbols. I will circulate to make sure that they are keeping their symbols simple and graphic. If they do not finish in class, they will finish for homework.
Day Five
Today, we will be beginning the painting part of the project. I will explain to the students that they will need to paint the background of their map. They will need to consider what colors they want in what sections (i.e. will their journey have two colors, one representing time they lived in New York and the other colors representing time they lived in Virginia? Will there be three organic shapes of different colors, one representing before they entered school, one representing elementary school and one representing middle school? etc.). In addition to thinking about how they want to divide their paper (18" x 24" colored construction paper-I prefer a lighter color since it will not effect the color of the paint), they will need to think about color choices and how the selected colors will symbolize of represent that particular section of their journey. The goal for this day will be for them to divide the paper into the sections and paint in the sections. We will use basic tempera paint. The entire surface of the paper will need to be covered. As they finish, I will have copies of the magazine, Scholastic Art, Aboriginal Art, . . ..2006. Their homework will be to read and highlight the important parts and answer the questions on the articles. It will be due at the end of the week.
Day Six
Using a PowerPoint presentation, we will look closely at three Aboriginal dot paintings. We will look specifically at the use of symbols and most importantly, the composition, how the entire picture plane is used. Then, using small easel brushes, the students will be allowed to begin adding their symbols to their paper. I would imagine that this will take the entire period.
Day Seven and Eight
The students will continue to create their symbols on the page, thinking about color choices and what the colors might symbolize. When they feel they are done and have received my approval, they will begin to added dots to fill in the negative space. I think this will take the entire class period plus approximately half of the next one. When the students are completely finished, they will create a legend to explain their symbols and using expository writing they will share their personal journey. What they do not finish in class, they will finish for homework.
Day Eight
We will begin class by doing a mini-critique of the students' work and then they will self-assess their own work (using the same methods as in Lesson Two). I will then pass back to the students their Venn diagrams from the beginning of the unit. Using those as reference, I will ask them to think about how their perceptions of maps have changed. I will then ask them to tell me things they now know about maps and I will write these items on the board. On the back of their Venn diagram, I will have the students write them new things that they have learned from this unit. For homework, I will ask them to think about whether this unit has changed the way that they see their place in the world and to write a short response to that.
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