Calla Urban

Unit Topic and Rationale

Topic Taught: Creating characters and environments
Every kid loves fun characters, like they find in stories or in their
imagination. Therefore we wanted to give them the chance to make a
creature come to life. Through these lessons the students made a
unique character and then created an environment that they would live
in.
1- Create a Character
In this lesson the students are creating their characters. They will be
doing multiple sketches of different characters that they come up with.
They will also be doing 3D sketches out of modeling clay to get them
thinking about how to physically build their character. They will then
choose their favorite character to build for real. They will be given clay
and they must build their character out of clay, keeping in mind that
they will be fired so they have to be made with care and consideration
so that they do not explode in the kiln. The creatures will later be
painted placed in their environments that they will create.
2- Paint Your Room
In this lesson the students started designing the habitats where their
creatures would live. They began with sketches. They had to make
the environment match the characteristics of their creature. They then
transferred their ideas onto a canvas. They drew with pencil first and
then went back over their completed plans with paint. They worked to
create a whole environment where their creature would live. They
covered the entire canvas in paint and then we brought in more
materials for the next class. They had a bunch of found objects like
feathers and leaves and puff balls, we also gave them sharpies so that
they could clean up their lines if they wanted to and create an outline
on some of their work.
3- Building Space
In this lesson the students started to create their 3D models of their
environments that their clay creatures will live in. They were given the
corner of a cardboard box and other materials to build their little
creatures home. The first day was spent painting. They covered the
entire box with paint so that you could no longer see any uncovered
part of the cardboard. Theyy spent the second day mainly building with
cardboard. They were shown examples of how to cut and fold their
cardboard to create furniture and elements of their environment. Then

they were given more materials to create with and they added details
and little things to really personalize their environments and they
painted over their cardboard furniture.

2-3
Standards

GLEs

Comprehen 1.
The
d
identification of
characteristics and
expressive features in
works of art and
design help to
determine artistic
intent
2.
Characteristics
and expressive
features of art and
design are used to
identify and discuss
works of art

Reflect

PGCs

Relevance

Analyze,
interpret, and
make meaning
of art and design
critically using
oral and written
discourse.

Each class begins with

an introduction to what
they will be creating and
learning. It includes
PowerPoints,
discussions of previous
art, demonstrations, and
ideas for making
connections. For
example, students
viewed a wide variety of
characters and were
asked questions to
prompt learning. The
questions ranged from,
what do you first
notice? to where will
this character live?
Following that, the
students viewed photos
of environments and
brainstormed characters
that would live there by
making connections.

1.
Artists, viewers, Use specific
and patrons use the criteria to
language of art to
discuss and
respond to their own evaluate works
art and the art of
of art.
others
2.
Artists, viewers,
and patrons make
connections among

Every class there is time

designated to discussing
the previous weeks art
making. Here the
students make
connections between
prior artworks, personal
connections, and
classmate connections.

the characteristics,
expressive features,
and purposes of art
and design

Create

1.
Use familiar
symbols to identify
and demonstrate
characteristics and
expressive features of
art and design
2.
Demonstrate
basic studio skills

Students also generate

questions for each other
about their processes
and finished product.
Doing this allows the
student to think about
and talk about their
decisions, their
techniques, and their
reasoning behind their
process. For example, a
student was explaining
their painted
environment when
another student asked
what is that circle in the
corner? The student
responded that is
Johns world. The
students decided to
connect their worlds with
other students to make a
community.
Develop and
build appropriate
mastery in artmaking skills,
using traditional
and new
technologies
and an
understanding of
the
characteristics
and expressive
features of art
and design.

Every class the students

use a wide variety of
materials to explore new
mediums and play.
These differentiated
choices allow students
with different learning
styles the option to
choose what works best
for them. This also
allows students to
expand and further their
knowledge with familiar
materials. Each class
students are expected to
complete the task
assigned along with
ideation activities. Each
lesson involves personal
expression, exploration
of materials and creative

thinking. For example,

one student added a
found object (a button)
on hit project to show
the viewer what to press
in order to set his
volcano off and explode.
Transfer

1.
Works of art
connect individual
ideas to make
meaning
2.
Visual arts
respond to human
experience by relating
art to the community,
historical, and cultural
events.

Transfer the
value of visual
arts to lifelong
learning and the
human
experience.

Given the knowledge

about environments,
students were able to
make connections
between their created
character and their
personally designed
environment. This
allowed them to include
objects that were
relevant to the inhabitant
and habitat. For
example, one student
created a flower
monster. She decided
that the flower monsters
floor would be soft grass
in order to accommodate
for the trees needs.

Globally: Our unit of creating creatures and environments helped the students to
make connections between a creature, its characteristics, and its environment.
This allows them to create connections among all art and connect that back to
the world. This unit also allows them to learn many basic studio skills. They also
express themselves in multiple media forms and work off of each others ideas
using the language of art to communicate and respond
Personally: I liked this idea because there were multiple ways to make this
personal. The creatures could be representations of themselves or things they
care about. Then they could create them a place to live that matched those
characteristics and became their own.
For this Population: At this age students are very interested in characters and
creatures. Story telling is very important for all ages but especially at this age it
really excites and interests them. We are giving them a chance to make their

own character and a story that goes with them and that is very important for this
age.