Teaching Strategy
After sharing the scientific aspect of the butterflies through their contribution to our planet’s well-being, the history of butterflies in art, and its comparisons to the migration of people, we will analyze the artworks containing monarchs as well as migration as the subject matter, and thoroughly study its significantly profound connections. Consequently, my students will respond to the lessons by creating artwork of their own both individually and collaboratively.
In order to do so, I will guide my students in learning how to “read” and respond to art. We will focus on a five-level process of digesting various artistic forms:
First Reaction – Students will answer the following questions: What is your first impression of the artwork? What pops into your mind? How does it make you feel? What mood does the artwork create? What do you think the artist wanted you to feel when you look at this artwork, what emotion does it evoke in you? Afterwards, we go a little bit deeper and look in more detail.
Formal Analysis- This contains all the things about the artwork they can see without any further thought. In art, we usually use the elements of art and principles of design to interpret an art piece. Therefore, we look at how the artist applied these elements and principles in their artwork, and students will answers questions such as: What is the line quality, the mark-making techniques this artist used? How did they use color and what mood does that demonstrate?
Note: The elements of art are the tools that artist use to make their work. These are as follows: color, line, shape, value, form, space, and texture.
The principles of design are the way in which they use them. These are the following: balance, unity, repetition/patterns, harmony, emphasis, rhythm/movement, proportion.
Artists use some blend of many or all of these aspects in order to make their work aesthetically pleasing and/or to communicate a message effectively. The objective is draw in the viewer and be thought provoking. Students study these components in order to develop a way to “read” a composition and understand the core idea.
Content-Based Analysis- Students will become investigators at this level and unravel questions such as: What are you actually looking at? Does it tell a story? What is the story/depiction? Who or what is the main subject represented in the artwork? Are they using any specific symbols in the artwork?
Context-Based Analysis- In this type of analysis, students ask questions beginning with words such as why and how, and they will seek answers through research taking into consideration the time period in which the artwork was made. For instance, what was the general feeling, mood, and tension within a country or around the globe at that time? Then students start delving a little bit deeper and look at the artist’s life and what they intended to communicate with this artwork.
Opinions and Beliefs- This level is supported by personal experiences as well as facts.
Additional Strategies to consider:
Learning Logs- Learning logs are used to help students keep track of learning during the class discussion and any in collaboration work. Therefore, after utilizing the visual thinking strategy above to interpret artwork, I will have students jot down the similarities they have discovered from every discussion in their sketchbooks. This will help students reflect on and refer to when they are seeking clarification and inspiration during assignments. Additional notes will also be encouraged.
Collaborative Learning- Collaborative learning is a significant strategy that I will utilize for most of this unit because it helps students to establish a strong team and work together to solve a given problem or reach a common goal. There are several benefits students get when working in a group setting such as: develop social skills, learn from peers, build trust, engage in learning, and gain confidence. This will truly be essential since their final assignment asks that they work together in a communal effort to complete a textile art piece for their school.
Think-Pair-Share: Oftentimes, some students may be too shy or insecure to share their thoughts and ideas with the entire class. Therefore, I utilize this collaborative learning technique. A student will first examine & think about an art piece alone. Afterward, they will have the opportunity to share their insight with another classmate.
Jigsaw Method: The jigsaw strategy is said to improve social interactions in learning and support diversity. It involves separating an assignment into subtasks, where students in groups will investigate and explore an assigned art sample. Subsequently, the group will essentially educate other groups about their assigned butterfly art sample. Confidently, the students would then discuss ideas between groups before coming back together as a whole classroom and sharing their experience.
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