The Illustrated Page: Medieval Manuscripts to New Media

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 17.01.01

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Content Objectives
  3. Demographics
  4. Narrative Art
  5. Murals
  6. Implementing District Standards
  7. Sequence Of Classroom Activities
  8. Suggested Questions To Facilitate Conversation For Each Painting
  9. Assessment
  10. Appendix/teacher Web Resources
  11. Bibliography
  12. Notes

Image as Text: A Bridge to Critical Literary Analysis

Brandon Barr

Published September 2017

Tools for this Unit:

Sequence Of Classroom Activities

The unit will take place over four weeks.  Each week, students will use a graphic organizer that I have developed to support the exploration of a piece of narrative art. The study of each piece will start with a gallery walk. Once the gallery walk is finished, students will do a quadrant analysis in which they do a close viewing of the piece (see the box below titled Art Graphic Organizer), finally students will do some research about each piece after they view it, filling in the graphic organizer.  Then we will engage in a popcorn discussion that I will track for participation points. Each of these activities are explained in greater detail below.

Big Picture Gallery Walk

A gallery walk consists of putting or projecting the painting in the middle of the room. Students are allowed to get out of their seats and move to a position closer to the art. They are given a large sheet of paper to record all of the things that they notice or think. Each child is required to write one thought and respond to the thought of another classmate. This is helpful for sustaining conversations later on; the teacher can ask follow-up questions based on observations that students made.

Research

Students will be provided with curated links to use for research purposes. See the box below for links to sites appropriate for 6th graders to use for research. Their research will be added to the graphic organizer template below.

Links to Research Sites for Each Painting

Guernica

  • http://legomenon.com/guernica-meaning- analysis-of-painting-by-pablo-picasso.html
  • https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities /art-1010/early-abstraction/cubism/a/picasso-guernica
  • https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities /art-1010/early-abstraction/cubism/a/inventing-cubism
  • http://study.com/academy/lesson/picassos -guernica-definition-symbolism-analysis.html

Detroit Industrial

  • https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities /art-1010/art-between-wars/latin-american- modernism1/a/rivera-detroit-industry-murals
  • http://www.npr.org/2009/04/22/103337403 /detroit-industry-the-murals-of-diego-rivera
  • http://www.bluffton.edu/homepages/facstaff /sullivanm/michigan/detroit/riveramurals/intro.html
  • http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/diego- rivera-s-detroit-industry

The Problem We All Have

  • https://www.thoughtco.com/the-problem- we-all-live-with-rockwell-183005
  • https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/The- Problem-We-All-Live-With---Norman- Rockwell-the-truth-about-his-famous-painting
  • https://www.nrm.org/2012/08/new- perspectives-the-problem-we-all-live-with/

Washington Crossing the Delaware

  • https://edsitement.neh.gov/emanuel-leutzes- symbolic-scene-washington-crossing-delaware
  • http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/purduetoday /didyouknow/2014/Q1/did-you-know-washington- crossing-the-delaware-painting.html
  • https://smarthistory.org/leutze-washington- crossing-the-delaware/
  • https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12 /23/a-famous-painting-meets-its-more-factual- match/

Popcorn Discussion

A popcorn discussion consists of using a list of questions that have been generated before a discussion to facilitate a conversation with students. In a popcorn discussion, the teacher puts out a question to the class. The first student who wants to respond raises his or her hand. Next, all other students can share their thinking in response to what has been said, agreeing or disagreeing, or asking follow-up questions of classmates. The teacher acts as a moderator and tracks the conversation for participation. This allows the teacher to watch and listen to student thoughts. It also creates a dynamic that encourages more natural conversation.  

Art Graphic Organizer

Title of the Piece: _____________________________

What do you think the title means?

Break the piece into four sections. Carefully describe what you see in each section.

Section 1 Section 2
Section 3 Section 4

Analyze the piece. What do you think it means? Talk about your observations.

Research the piece. What do others think it means?

Push back. Do you agree or disagree with what other people think?

Comments:

Be the first to comment on this unit!

Add a Comment

Characters Left: 500