Classroom Activities
The main activities students will use within this unit are as follows:
Student Portfolio
During this unit, students will compile a portfolio that includes all of their analyses and essays, as well as their propaganda posters.
Analyzing Art
Each painting has been divided into parts (see above: Analysis 1, Analysis 2, etc.). Each part will be displayed as a separate painting. Students will analyze each part without seeing or knowing what the whole painting looks like. Once all of the parts have been shown, the painting will be put together for a final analysis. Students will compare their piece analysis with the whole to determine if the painting was as they thought or if it was different. They will provide evidence from the painting for their final analysis.
Using the Sentence Starters for Recording Inferences from the text, Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies, by Jennifer Klein and Elizabeth Stuart, students will study each painting to answer the questions: The artist showed…this makes me think…maybe it means…I'm guessing that….
Their analyses will answer the essential questions of the unit section and will be a five-paragraph persuasive essay that will be added to their student portfolio.
Think-Pair-Share
As students are analyzing the paintings, they will have the opportunity to think about their questions and answers. They will be asked to describe what they think each portion of the painting is telling. They may have questions, or they may have their own answers. However, they will have to provide evidence from the painting that backup their analysis. They will then share and compare their questions and answers with a partner in an attempt to reach an agreed upon analysis. It is important to note that sometimes this will not happen, and that is all right. Students should be encouraged to have their own opinions but to also back them up with evidence they are finding within the paintings. Finally, the students will share out what they have determined to the entire class. This is where the evidence is needed. Students should be able to point out parts of the painting to support their claims.
The Think-Pair-Share documents will become a part of their student portfolio. They will use these as references for their final essay for the painting portion of this unit. Their opinions and proofs will help them to persuade their audience of their analyses of the paintings.
Venn Diagram
Students will create Venn Diagrams when we are comparing and contrasting two or more paintings or photographs. They will determine the similarities and the differences found in each or all. Students will be asked to provide concrete examples and to be able to back up their claims.
The Venn Diagrams will be stored in their student portfolios to help them support their opinions and to provide details in their persuasive essays.
A good resource for using Venn Diagrams can be found on the LearnNC website: http://www.learnnc.org/search?phrase=Venn%20diagram
Gallery Walks
For the photographs and propaganda, I suggest using Gallery Walks. Using the Art Ripple Thinking Sheet from Klein and Stuart 15, students will circle the room analyzing collections of photographs and propaganda.
In the photograph section, students will choose a collection to write a narrative using the people and backgrounds. They will analyze the photographs, create characters, and draft stories that demonstrate their ability to analyze characters, support their analyses using evidence from the photographs, and to tell a coherent story that fits the photograph as well as the era, which will become a part of their student portfolio.
In the propaganda section, students will analyze the posters to determine who was the target audience and what was the intended message. Students will use this knowledge to create a message of their own. Their targeted audience will either be the members of the community-at-large or the gang-bangers who are terrorizing their neighborhood. I will allow my students to decide. The underlying message will be the same: Stop the Violence. This poster will become a part of their student portfolio.
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