Immigration and Migration and the Making of a Modern American City

Teaching Standards

Although this unit will be delivered within a Visual Arts context, it will be at the beginning of my district's exploration with the new Common Core Standards and I am very interested in finding ways to integrate these new teaching standards into my practice. As a Studio Thinking Framework Classroom, my students are very familiar with the eight Studio Habits of Mind and incorporate them into their daily studio practice. The Studio Habits of Mind are: Develop Craft, Engage and Persist, Envision, Express, Observe, Reflect, Stretch and Explore, and Understanding the Art World. Much of what the Studio Habits of Mind bring to my classroom is a language for us to communicate about our individual and collaborative learning experiences about art and through art making. The Studio Habits of Mind are a critical part of my classroom structure, however I often struggle to integrate them with the California State Standards for Visual Arts that are very focused on artistic technique. For this unit I am integrating both California Standards for Visual Arts and Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening that integrate well into several of the Studio Habits of Mind.

California Standards for Visual Arts

Through an investigation of artists working with the theme of "immigration", students will interpret and derive meaning from artwork and identify how this work and the issues it raises connects to their own lives. 3.4 Discuss the purposes of art in selected contemporary cultures. While learning about the contemporary artist Mark Bradford, students will deepen their understanding and scope of image and immigration and the impact Jenkins' work has on the public. Students will view the Art21 feature on Bradford, interpret photographs documenting his work in public spaces, and discuss how his work draws viewers in to confront an issue. 1.3 Research and analyze the work of an artist and write about the artist's distinctive style and its contribution to the meaning of the work. Taking inspiration from Bradford's work with text and image, use their sketchbook explorations to create a large mixed media piece that reflects their ideas about immigration and how it relates to their personal journey to California. 2.6 Create a two- or three-dimensional work of art that addresses a social issue. While exploring the work of Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle students will discuss the impact his work has upon the public and how meaning may change if the piece were installed in a different location. 4.1 Articulate how personal beliefs, cultural traditions, and current social, economic, and political contexts influence the interpretation of the meaning or message in a work of art.

Common Core English Language Arts Standards: College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening

Through partner chats, group discussions, and oral presentations, students will engage in a variety of conversations to stimulate their thinking and exchange ideas. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. By examining primary and secondary sources and conducting their own investigations to understand US immigration laws and representations of immigrants, students will expand upon their repertoire of interpretative strategies. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2 Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. While collecting data and information about US immigration laws, students will synthesize text and share their discoveries through partner chats and group discussions. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Studio Habits of Mind

As students learn different image transformation techniques, they will learn to follow steps and use new tools. Develop craft: Learning to use and care for tools (e.g., viewfinders, brushes), materials (e.g., charcoal, paint). Learning artistic conventions (e.g., perspective, color mixing). Students will apply techniques they've learned to new and novel contexts and solve problems regarding techniques as they arise. Engage and Persist: Learning to embrace problems of relevance within the art world and/or of personal importance, to develop focus and other mental states conducive to working and persevering at art tasks. Through out this unit students will need to visualize ideas and terms related to the US immigration laws we're examining. Students will need to use their sketchbook research to experiment and plan for the culminating piece. Envision: Learning to picture mentally what cannot be directly observed and imagine possible next steps in making a piece. When working with found images students will have to develop strategies to change our manipulate meaning using the techniques they've explored. Express: Learning to create works that convey an idea, a feeling, or a personal meaning. As artist researchers, students will consume information through observation of images, video, text, and site visits. By taking in information and looking more carefully that they had before or more thoroughly than others ever will students will noticed things they have never seen before and might very well have missed had they not observed carefully. Observe: Learning to attend to visual contexts more closely than ordinary "looking" requires, and thereby to see things that otherwise might not be seen. The journey of historical investigation and art making begs for personal reflection, through "in progress" critiques, checking for understanding activities, and written reflections students will become mindful of their work process and their personal growth through it. Reflect: Question & Explain: Learning to think and talk with others about an aspect of one's work or working process. Evaluate: Learning to judge one's own work and working process and the work of others in relation to standards of the field. Inevitably the art making process lends it self to experiences of the unknown, when the art making practice leads a student to a place they had never been or never thought existed. This path of exploration often leads one to great discoveries and as a teacher it is important to leave time within the class structure for this habit to thrive and help students embrace and acknowledge these moments. Stretch and Explore: Learning to reach beyond one's capacities, to explore playfully without a preconceived plan, and to embrace the opportunity to learn from mistakes and accidents.