Whom the Unit Serves
Fifth grade students who are participating in this unit at Pittsburgh Liberty have notably struggled with peer relations and pressures and the oftentimes awkward parts of maturation. This along with trauma-induced behaviors creates a challenging atmosphere where it is difficult to teach and to manage. Most students love to create and thrive in an environment where they have choices, open-ended assignments, and opportunities to express themselves. Because of this, the arts are an ideal environment to promote identity development through relationship-building activities that encourage self-concepts and self-reflection through creative expression. Self-portraits are the obvious choice for this unit. However, I can envision many other choices, as well. Though this unit is specifically designed for my fifth grade students, the structure of it will benefit all grade levels. Modifications would need to be made not only for developmental levels, but for your specific demographics. One would need to change the poems, the artwork, and alter the activities accordingly.
As with all my units, the biggest barrier is time. Students have art class twice every six day cycle for forty minutes. However, because I (mostly) have the same students every year, I know their prior knowledge in the arts, as well as their maturity through the various stages of development from ages five to ten. I am familiar with their individual social and emotional development, in addition to their fine motor control skills through artistic expression. I have relationships with all my students and know them and their families very well.
Other information relevant to this unit is: my school’s mission and vision revolve around increasing writing proficiency for all students. To join in the efforts of my school, last year I implemented a narrative writing requirement connected to artworks completed in class for fourth graders. One of the many things I learned was that students are resistant to change. They do not like anything that takes them away from a “preferred” activity (creating art). It is important for me to recognize what students expect versus what is intended. However, this upcoming year the students and unit will benefit from prior writing experiences in the art classroom because there will be less resistance.
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