Terra Foundation for American Art Teacher Lab Talman School Team

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Terra Foundation for American ArtTeacher Lab
Talman School Team

• Gina Alicea, Team Leader
• Amy Hassan
• Jeff Horn
• Theresa ORourke
• Baldemar Rodriguez

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Unit Plan

• Theme of the Unit Identity through Art
• Topic of the Lesson How to interpret American
  Art
• Timeframe 5 weeks
• Note Five different teachers will be
  implementing this plan.
• We are using a layered curriculum approach, in
  which some students reach an essential level of
  ability and others reach advanced levels.

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American artwork(s) that relate closely to the
theme or topic

• Title Girl in a Red Dress
• Artist Ammi Phillips
• Dates 1835
• Collection
• Terra Foundation

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LOOK, DESCRIBE, ANALYZE, INTERPRET DO A CLOSE
READ

• Teacher presented a poster, Girl in a Red
  Dress, by Ammi Phillips. Teacher asks students
  a series of questionslisted below.Students
  respond and fill out graphic organizer based on
  the discussion.
• Look/Describe
• Who is in the picture?
• What is she wearing?
• What is she holding in her hands?
• Whos beside her?
• What is she sitting on?
• What is on the floor?
• What is in the background?
• Analyze
• What is the focal point in this picture?
• What is the strongest color in the picture?
• Is there a sense of space in the picture?
• What is the little girls expression?
• What is the dogs expression?
• What is the mood of the painting?

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Guide interpretation with questions..

• Interpret
• What do you think the artist wanted to
  communicate in this painting?
• Why do you think the artist chose to paint a
  little girl?
• What can you tell me about the little girl from
  this picture?
• What do you think she cares about?
• What do you think is the main idea in this
  painting?
• What might some of the elements (i.e. dog, etc.)
  in the portrait represent?
• Evidence (focus on techniques used to convey
  meaning)
• How does the artist communicate mood in this
  painting?
• How does the artist show the focal point in the
  picture?
• How does the artist show the time/place of the
  painting?
• How does the artist represent the girls
  identity?

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American artwork(s) that relate closely to the
theme or topic

• Title American Gothic
• Artist Grant Wood
• Dates 1930
• Collection
• Art Institute of Chicago

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Key Pointsthemes ideas central to lesson and
artwork

• A persons identity usually relates to the
  situation in which the person livesthe context,
  the values, the current and previous events.
• You can interpret a persons identity through how
  they look and what they do.
• A portrait is a way of presenting someones
  identity. Just as a writer uses words to
  communicate what is important to know about the
  person, a painter uses pose, props, clothing,
  and techniques of art to communicate that
  persons identity as the artist wants you to
  understand it.

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Students fully engaged in learning filling in
their graphic organizers.
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Students compared and contrasted two works of
American art.
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Synthesis/Assessment

• How students interpret American art based on
  readings and research
• Students interpret the painting and then identify
  how to interpret a painting. Then they apply
  those same abilities to interpret a poem and
  another portrait.
• How students respond to works of American art
  through their own creative efforts
• Students create their own works of American
  art---their own character portraits.

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CRAFT Your Content

• Your students can use the CRAFT approach to make
  writing interesting to do and interesting to read
  to increase their thinking. (Note This is an
  adaptation of RAFT role, audience, format,
  topic, New Directions in Reading.)

C.R.A.F.T.
C Content Identity through Art
R Role Little girl in the Red Dress
A Audience Her best friend in another town
F Format Letter
T Tell What it was like to have an artist paint your portrait
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Continuation of art lesson..

• Students sketch their portrait.
• Students exchange sketches and identify each
  others use of techniques.
• Students complete portrait.
• Students write exhibit label for their portrait.
• Teacher presents exhibit of portraits with
  labels.

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Exhibit of Student Work
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Students working
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Student work
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Student work
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Student Work