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Art & Literacy

Springville Museum of Art

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Art & Literacy


Contents
Artist & Artworks List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Additional Images on the CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Resource Ideas for Two Art Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Georgia OKeefe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calvin Fletcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 PreLiterate LiteratureDictating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Illustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Expository Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Flag Designing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Mesopotamian Cylinder Seal Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Tweaking the Cliche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Dramatic Dialogue Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Related ProjectsMusic, Dance, and Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Dragons: Creatures of Myth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Dance & Literacy: The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Theatre in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Making a Poem Quilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Exploring Poetry and Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Elements of Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Bookmaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Making a Sketchbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Easy Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Bookmaking Ideas for Secondary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Mountains & Valleys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 History of Bookmaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 The Narrative Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Criticism & Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Reading Art Visual Literacy & Propaganda, Secondary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Visual and Verbal Strategies for Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Comic Book Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Be a Visual Poet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Artist Biographies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Appendix Minerva TiechertPainting the West! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minerva1 (page 147) On CD, in addition to images and a pdf of the packet is a PowerPoint PresentationTeaching Music, Teaching Literacy
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Art & Literacy


Artists & Artworks

Brian Kershisnik, Flight Practice with Instructor 2000 Bruce H. Smith, Jacob and Leah 1990

Robert Leroy Marshall, Iridescence 1994

Minerva K. Teichert, Hereford Roundup 1956

Paul Salisbury, Mountain Solitude 1961 v

Sam D. Wilson, A Tension to Detail 1982

Additional Images on the CD

Art & Literacy

James Christensen, Rhinoceros 1961

Calvin Fletcher, Logan Baseball 1936

John Leo Fairbanks, The First Snow of Winter 1910

Calvin Fletcher, Portrait of the Farmer, Leonde H. Kinnard 1929 Louise Richards Farnsworth, Haystacks 1935 vi

John Hafen, Springville Pasture 1887 Calvin Fletcher, Washday in Brigham City 1929

Joseph Ostraff, Albino Trout 1989 Irene Fletcher, Cache Valley Innocence 1937

John Hafen, Springville, My Mountain Home 1907

Hanson Duvall Puthuff, Land of the Morning 1923 vii

David Howell Rosenbaum, Children at Play in Mantua, Utah 1937

Lawrence Squires, First Snowfall, City Creek Canyon 1927

V. Douglas Snow, The Reef 1976

LeConte Stewart, Farmington in Winter 1926

Rod J. Walker, Acicula 1995

Trevor J. Southey, New Bloom: Portrait of Olive Patterson of Alpine 1977 viii

Art & Literacy


Lessons

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Resource Ideas For Two Art Units


Name of Unit #1: A Study of the Artist, Georgia OKeeffe
Content Standards and Objectives Recognize the connections of visual arts to all learning. Discuss how the use of overlapping objects creates depth in significant artworks. Discuss how size may contribute to creating a sense of depth. Use suggested masterworks and artists for second grade. Ranchos Church or flower works by Gerogia OKeeffe available www.geocities.com/ moondarlin/artokeeffe2.html Color or paint a work of art using predominantly warm or cool colors Create an image of a person or object by copying its outline or contour onto a piece of paper Literacy Standards and Objectives San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Make connections between prior knowledge and Taos as seen from the front new information; use new information in writings knittingincolor.blogspot.com/2003_10_01_ and drawings. knittingincolor_archive.html Compare and contrast. Relate new ideas to existing knowledge. Generate questions from the reading. Retell events to confirm meaning. Tell and retell stories and events in logical order. Read a variety of genres (informational book). Use writing to facilitate learning. Build a spelling vocabulary for writing; construct sentences using basic sentence patterns. Write collaboratively. Discuss and revise work in progress. Use legible handwriting or technology to produce final copy. Read Alouds A Childs Book of Art: Discover Great Paintings by Lucy Micklethwait Discover Art by Laura H. Chapman School Arts March l997 pg. 25 Masterpiece Of The Month by Jennifer Thomas Getting To Know the Worlds Greatest Artists, Georgia OKeeffe by Mike Venezia Smart About Art, Henri Matisse Drawing with Scissors by Keesia Johnson and Jane OConnor Winter Eyes, Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian 11

Interactive Writing List facts about a famous artist Hang her work in the classroom and label it with descriptive words Compare and contrast two paintings; tell what is alike and different Write a summary about Georgia OKeeffe Make a Big Book of her works using ideas from Smart About Art Literacy Center Write about Georgia OKeeffe in art portfolio Paint a picture of a flower, mountains, or a skull Paint one using warm colors and the other using cool colors

Red Poppy photo Use Drawing From Masterworks by Mary Ann pixell.wordpress.com/ Wells to create contour drawings from the painting, Yellow Cactus. A good image is available at www.geocities.com/moondarlin/images/ yellowcatcusflowers.jpg Shared Reading Fact chart about Georgia Poem: Winter Hues by Douglas Florian Class Big Book Halibut Bones (any one on color by Mary ONeill Poem: Desert Snow by Steven Jenkins Poem: Noche by Steven Jenkins Internet Sites www.ocaiw.com/okeeffel.htm www.jonimitchell.com/ GeorgiaOKeefe78.html www.geocities.com/moondarlin/artokeeffe2.html From a photo by jonrawlinson at http://flickr.com/photos/94571281@N00/10958378 Retrieved from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Yellow_cactus_flower.jpg

Student example from http://www.google. com/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot. com 12

Name of Unit #2: A study of the Artist, Calvin Fletcher


Calvin Fletcher, Cache Valley Poplars and Wash Day at Brigham City available on the CD, Wash Day as a poster, and from smofa.org Read Alouds A Childs Book of Art: Discover Great Paintings by Lucy Micklethwait Discover Art by Laura H. Chapman Getting to Know the Worlds Greatest Artists by Mike Venezia Calvin Fletcher Poster from the Springville Museum of Art Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Interactive Writing List facts about a famous artist Hang his work in the classroom and label it with descriptive words Compare and contrast two paintings; tell what is alike and different Write a summary about Calvin Fletcher Literacy Center Write about Calvin Fletcher in art portfolio Draw a picture of your neighborhood Color and draw pictures with mountains in background Draw some vertical objects, such as telephone poles, chimneys or trees Discuss Postcards from the art museum; share ideas with a partner Use Drawing From Masterworks by Mary Ann Wells- to create contour drawings from the painting Wash Day in Brigham City Shared Reading Information about Calvin Fletcher (see below and next page) Fuad Rifka, Diary of a Woodcutter

Calvin Fletcher
(1882-1963) Calvin Fletcher was a shy child. He loved art and was very artistic even as a small child. He loved sculpture the most, but could not find a teacher that would teach him. So, his parents arranged lessons for him with a painter named J.B. Fairbanks, who had a studio in Provo. A year later Fletcher entered Brigham Young Academy. There he received a certificate in normal drawing. He then attended Brigham Young University and graduated two years later with a degree in Science and Fine Arts. While he was attending BYU, they allowed him to teach art as an assistant Professor. He loved teaching art so he continued teaching for a year after he graduated. He then went to New York to study at Pratt Institute. 13

Calvin and his wife Sarah spent just one year in New York before returning to Utah. He was offered a job teaching art at Utah State Agricultural College, which is now Utah State University. Fletcher stayed in Logan for a few years and then took a year off and returned to New York alone as his wife Sarah had died. While in New York he studied under two famous artists. Then he moved to London, England, to study with Sir William Rothenstein. After that he studied under another Calvin Fletcher, Cache Valley famous artist and then worked with five artists in Paris, France. These studies gave him great exposure to the world of art. He returned to the United States and was going to take a job in Chicago, but instead, he returned to Logan to teach. For the next 30 years, Fletcher stayed in Utah. His style changed as he got exposure to visiting artists. When a visiting instructor gave a workshop and said that Utah artists did not know what was happening in the art world, Fletcher decided to change this limitation. He created an Artists-in-residence program in Logan, which brought in artists from other areas of the country to teach workshops.

Calvin Fletcher Portrait of a Farmer, Leonde H. Kinnard

Calvin Fletchers work changed from time to time. He never developed his own style because he was always trying to learn about new styles to teach his students. His love of change and new ideas, as well as his natural compassion, made him a marvelous teacher. Calvin Fletcher married his most promising student, a young woman named Irene 14
Calvin Fletcher, Wash Day in Brigham City

Thompson. This was his third wife and they had 6 children. Altogether he had a total of 14 children. Even though Irene was busy raising all these children she herself became a very successful artist. Among the Fletchers children who became artists are Dale T. Fletcher and Elizabeth Fletcher Snow. One son, Robert Fletcher, became a ceramicist. Calvin Fletcher will be remembered as a great person and a great teacher. His students loved to call him Prof, which is short for Professor.

Irene Fletcher, Cache Valley Innocence

An example of a book about another artist, Minerva Teichert, is included in the appendix.

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PRELITERATE LITERATURE: Dictating


Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the issues and qualities used in creating an interesting story by dictating to the teacher (or an older student) an original story and then decorating the border of the page with illustrations or designs. Materials: Computer with word processing or a good old-fashioned typewriter Examples of interesting short stories Paper, pens, pencils, or paint to decorate the border of the story page Process: After sharing a variety of short stories with different literary perspectives and from different genres (or you may want to focus on one type of literary device) with the students and discussing what makes a story successful and interesting (list a few of these ideas on the board for reference), have students think about an interesting story until they can see it in their imagination. For the very young, list and discuss some sources for interesting stories like: storybooks, movies, tape recordings and CDs, family histories, personal experiences, dreams, total imagination, and variations by combining these ideas. Try having your students create a A. D. Shaw, Twice Told Tales story with a moral (a lesson to learn), or funny stories, scary stories, real stories, or made-up stories (fiction and non-fiction). Even the telling of short jokes is a literary form. When students think they have their ideas down, have them start drawing a picture of the story they want to tell. If you want the students to practice telling their stories, it is a good idea to have them spend a show and tell day reciting their story. If the teacher writes down the idea of the story, the students will find it easier to remember what they want to say. While the rest of the class is drawing their pictures have one student at a time dictate to you what they want the story to be. Let the student tell the story in their own words. Ask questions for clarification, but dont give the student your words. The children know immediately if this is your story or theirs. Use your discretion in how much structure and grammar you need to alter. Usually the students idea can be expressed in even a primitive kind of abbreviated structure. This is a great time to spend one on one with the student modeling specific processes and strategies for creating the compelling story and the necessary mechanics for making their idea readable and communicated. This is a good time to model that the meaning of a story 17

can be improved on and enhanced by using good grammar and syntax. Or in other words, there is more purpose to learning technical structure than in assignments. The real reason, the forgotten reason, for teaching technique in literacy is to improve: 1) the substance of the story; 2) the communication and readability of the story. Substance should be the first step in literacy. We dont want to teach our students perfect grammar and vocabulary and perfect spelling and have them not be able to come up with an idea worth saying. Substance and content existed in culture before literacy and so it is with each individual. Make sure the tail does not wag the dog. If you have a computer in your room, use it to write the story as it is narrated to you. Let students choose font and color and title dressing. Try to keep the story the property of the creator the student and not the property of the technology and the teacher. This seems to be a problem with people who dont think they can own their own thoughts because the process of writing the thoughts down steals them away. It is a matter of perception.

Examples:

Dangerous Fire, dictated by Morgan, age 5 One time my uncle Ken lit a match by his behind and he tooted. It caught on fire real bad. It burned all his hairs off his behind. I think it hurt real bad. He was already a grown up. I thought he was smarter but I guess not. This story teaches me to never light a match by my behind or anybody elses.

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The Orphan dictated by Connor, age 6 This is a made up story. It did not really happen. My name is Ryan. I am an orphan. One day when we were playing it got dark. I wandered off. I didnt remember the way back. I was cold and I wanted to get back. I asked some people for a map but they didnt have one. I looked all over and got lost even more. All I had was my baseball, my baseball cap and my baseball bat. I went to some strangers house and asked for a sleeping bag. They gave me a room to sleep in and some dinner. Then I figured out that I was going to be their son. I heard them talking and they were talking about me being their son. I went to sleep and dreamed that they were nice to me and gave me a lot of food and one or two candies. Then it was the next morning and I went down to breakfast and my dream was all true. Now I wasnt an orphan but I had a good family who wanted me. The End. Evaluation and Exhibition: The best place to exhibit this work is in the classroom. Read the story to the class. One or two stories will generate a lot of interest and a lot of ideas. This work can also be exhibited on paper. Let the students choose the font, the color and size of the font. Include borders or other decoration as the student desires. This will help the student own his own work. It can be matted and displayed in the hall. Related Projects: Another way to get students thinking about interesting stories is to start them out with a generalized idea like, When I was a baby..., The last time I saw my Grandma..., We went on a vacation to..., If I could be anywhere.... These stories can also be illustrated and exhibited with the pictures.

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ILLUSTRATION
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of imaginative fiction and the use of illustration by creating an original story which illustrates a photographic image chosen by the student. Materials: A variety of good photo format periodicals like National Geographic, Photodisc, Graphics Illustrated, Smithsonian or Photoplay. They can be any magazines that carry a variety of well-printed photographic prints. Scissors, writing materials and, if available, word processing on a computer with a printer. Process: Students will choose a photograph from a magazine which inspires them to think of an original story. The story can be either long or short but needs to be specifically related to the photo illustration they have chosen. Some students may choose an interesting photo that does not stimulate a story. Get them to think of the story as they choose Most public education is about choosing the right answer or the wrong solution, which generally means, Do you agree with the teacher or are you wrong? In this project there is no correct or incorrect, there is only making the best choice one can think of and that usually implies discriminating between the qualities of choices rather than the rightness or wrongness of a choice.

the illustration rather than pick an interesting photo and then try to come up with a story. Either approach will work but having students create story scenarios while they are choosing rather than after should open their minds to many possibilities. After students have chosen their illustration, they should write a short story which is inspired by the picture. Have a brief discussion on short stories and some of their very basic elements. Perhaps a short childrens story can be read to young students followed by a short discussion of how the illustration relates to the story. Please point out that a brief, to the point, sentence or two is all that is necessary to create an interesting story if the sentences are compelling rather than just short.

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Very young students may not have the necessary skill to actually write the story. The first step in writing is having something to say. The image and idea should drive the story instead of technical writing skills driving the creative idea. To help young students understand that the most important part of a story is the idea behind it, have students tell their story orally. In fact, all of the processes of writing, such as topic sentences, thematic and character development, proof reading and checking if the right word is being used, can be done orally or verbally. This is good practice and focuses on content rather than technique and structure. Have young students dictate to the teacher or to an older or more skilled student. To help young students develop the structure of a short story, point out that this kind of literature has been somewhat formalized and that there are parts or sections in short stories that need to be there so that it will make sense and be interesting to the reader. Writing is for the reader not just the writer. The complicated and somewhat evasive nature of short story can be condensed into workable components such as Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. The Introduction should include introducing the character or characters, setting (place and time), scenario and description of the conflict or problem to be addressed. The Conclusion might include conflict resolution and finale or the big wrap up, or a moral. The conclusion may be simply asking the question, So What? Even very young students can understand this construction if it is outlined simply and specifically and the parts are introduced with examples and a list is left on the board for them to study and refer to. A quiz on the parts of a short story can be an excellent learning window. Examples: Magazine Photo, Cole Colored pencil illustration, by Cole

Going Hiking, written and then dictated by Cole, age 6 My name is John. I am a big man. I like to hike outdoors. I like to hike over mountains. I like to sleep outside at night and go camping. 22

Once when it was night I went outside. It was dark. I heard the owls. They said Whoo, whoo.It sounded a lot like people saying, who?I was scared and I started to shake. Then I heard crickets in the grass. They sounded like horses walking on the dirt. It wasnt so scary. Then I heard a cat scraping a tree. it sounded like a snake making hissing sounds. It was O.K. because I like snakes. But, it was very dark. I ran back into my camping tent. I couldnt hear the sounds anymore so I went back to sleep. In the morning the sun was shining, the birds were going, tweet tweet. It was a nice day. Things always look better in the day time because you can see them.

The Wild Motorcycle Boy, written and dictated by Christian, age 6 Ben is a wild boy. He lives in the desert. He lives with his family. He is 6 years old. He loves to ride the motorcycle with his Dad. One day Ben was sitting on his Dads motorcycle. He was pretending to ride the motorcycle all by himself. He accidentally made the motorcycle start up. He didnt know how to turn it off. He was a little bit scared. He tried to turn it off but he pushed a switch that let the brake go. The motorcycle started to go. It started off slow and started to get faster. He already knew how to ride a two wheeler, so he just held on and kept his balance. Bens Dad saw him going down the hill. Bens Dad started to chase the motorcycle because he was a little bit scared that Ben would get hurt. Then the motorcycle started to go faster and so Bens Dad had to run faster. Then the motorcycle went even faster and Bens Dad got a Christians Photo rope and roped the motorcycle. Bens Dad stood still and the motorcycle went in circles around him just like a wild horse. The circle got smaller and smaller until Bens Dad could jump on the motorcycle with him. Bens Dad was real good on the motorcycle so they went riding off until sunset. Then they came home and ate a good dinner. It was a fun time for wild Ben and his Dad.

Christians Drawing

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Exhibition and Evaluation: This work can be exhibited in the classroom or hall by having the story printed in best handwriting or by printing on a computer and exhibiting next to the mounted, cutout photo. Make sure that each work has enough space to be seen on its own rather than as simply a part of something bigger or more important than the individual students and their original work. Related Projects: An interesting way to exhibit and distribute this project is to have students make handmade books in which several of the stories and illustrations from the class are mounted and bound into a simple book of illustrations and short stories. With the aid of a computer and a scanner or a photocopier the stories and the photo illustrations can be reproduced and exchanged like baseball trading cards so that each book is different. Five short stories and illustrations make a nice 10 page book if the story is one page and the illustration is another. Another variation on this project is to have students choose from several illustrations and then write their own story and then compare with all of the students who chose the same illustration. It is interesting to see how many different unrelated stories can be drawn from the same illustration. These can also be bound together in simple handmade book projects. For Kindergarten, teach the students a song. Preferably, make one up together as a class. Have each student illustrate the song after they have learned it.

The Kindergarten Song for 2002 Little rain drops, falling from the sky Making little muddy puddles Splashing in my eye. Little rain drops, falling all around Just like tears from heaven Splashing on the ground. Chorus: When the sky is turning dark Clouds bump heads and cry Thunder roars and lightening sparks and Sunshine says goodbye.

Rain Drops, by Brady, age 5

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Rainy by Allison, age 5

Lightening Sparks, by Mckenna, age 5

Vocabulary: illustration, scenario, introduction, body and conclusion, setting, character, conflict and conflict resolution.

ExpositoryWriting Writing Expository


Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of Expository Writing by writing an original instruction manual on any of the media or processes found in the art curriculum. Materials: Paper and pencil, camera or art-specific clip art, desk-top computer publishing if possible, but not necessary. For most students, you will need an Arts Program at your school. If you dont have one, then invent one by volunteering to be the arts coordinator for your school. See how easy that was? Process: The hardest part of this project is to choose an art project that is interesting enough to deserve a written exposition but simple enough to break down into fail safe manageable steps. We are going to write up a how-to description of a hands-on-art project. After deciding on the project, the student should try to visualize the process in simple, describable steps. Help the students decide if each step is a separate idea of if some of the steps are actually just parts of the same step. Dont be too aggressive about the right steps because not all artists go 25

through the exact same process. However, young students tend to rush process for the sake of product, so make sure that no important steps are completely left out. Start by writing down a list of the steps. Then flesh out the steps with clear, concise description of each step. Keep it as brief as possible, but clearly explained. Look at the list and decide if any illustrations are necessary. Some people can visualize without the illustration and some people need a picture to fully understand the written instructions. The illustrations and instructional diagrams can be drawn in any medium including computer generated or photographed, but they need to be illustrations of specifics rather than generalities. Watch to make sure that the student is drawing or photographing the actual process described in the writing. Many students think that close is good enough, but specificity is very necessary for expository writing. Most good instructions leave room for personal interpretation, so dont over instruct or try to get everyone to make the same exact thing. The space left for the personal and novel is where creativity is to be found. EXAMPLE: How to make a pinch pot bowl, by Frank age 11 Step 1. First you have to get an idea. You get an idea by thinking. When you have thought a long time and a picture comes into your mind it is not a thought any more. It is an idea. An idea is a thought that you can see in your mind. Step 2. After you get a good idea for a pinch pot bowl draw a picture of it. This will be your plan. If you really want a good one then get four ideas and draw them all then choose the one you like the best. That is how you get your BEST ideas out. Step 3. Now you have some good ideas and you chose the best one. It is time to make your idea in clay. Make a ball of clay about the size of you fist or a tennis ball. Make it round and smooth by squeezing it in your hand. WARNING! Clay will dry really fast in your hand. You have to make your clay ball in less than two minutes. Step 4. Now hold the ball in one hand with the thumb on top and the fingers under- neath. Slowly turn the ball around with your other hand so that the thumb stays in the same spot. Step 5. Keep pressing your thumb down on the top until the dent is big. Step 6. Put you two thumbs together in the dent and keep making the ball go around and around while you press with your thumbs to make a kind of bowl shape. Step 7. What you want by now is a thick bowl shape of clay about as thick as your thumb and smooth on the outside. WARNING! Dont take to long to get here because when the clay dries it starts to crack. If your clay starts to crack you can try to smooth it down but dont use water and it is easier to tell the teacher that you like the crack and they look like dried up mud puddles. Step 8. Put some designs on the outside of the clay. You can draw with a tool. Not the needle. Or you can use something to stamp a shape in the outside of the clay. Step 9. When all the designs are done put your pointy finger inside the bowl and slowly stretch out the shape to make the bowl thinner and bigger all at the same time. Keep the inside of the bowl smooth. Take small strokes with your finger. No grooves.

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Step 10. When you are finished with the bowl it should be as thick as you pinky finger. That is about one quarter of an inch thick. Now it is time to put the foot on. The foot is skinny little worm of clay that is about 2 or 3 inches long then you flatten it out a little and stick the ends together to make a ring or a circle. WARNING! To get two pieces of clay together you have to use milk shake but it is really called slip. It is just liquid clay and you use it like glue. Step 11. When the foot rim is stuck on with the milk shake you are done working with the clay and your bowl is ready to dry, be fired and then glazed and then fired again. Good luck and may the force be with you. Live long and prosper! Second grade example with didactic illustrations: How to make a pinch pot by Daniel age 7 Step 1. Make a ball of clay. Step 2. Poke a hole in it with your finger. Step 3. Pinch it with your fingers until it is hollow and makes a bowl. Step 4. Put whatever designs you want or no designs if you want. Step 5. Fire it in the kiln. Step 6. Glaze it. Step 7. Fire it in the kiln again. Step 8. Put it in the glass show case and show it to everyone. Step 9. Give it to Grandma for Christmas

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Evaluation and Exhibition: After the first tentative writing is done by the student have the class critique the steps and see if it is clear enough. Have students pretend that they have never done this project and see if the instructions are clear enough to actually create the project. Use class input to model a polite and non-adversarial way to evaluate and critique the students own work and the work of the other classmates. The idea of criticism is not necessarily to find fault but to help both the artist and the viewer to better understand and execute the project and materialize the idea that the whole thing was based on. A wonderful way to exhibit this instructional project is to exhibit the instructions with the finished work so the viewer will have a better idea as to how the work was accomplished. This expository, how-to writing can also be bound in handmade book form accompanied by illustrations and bound together in a nice little package that becomes an art form in itself. (see bookmaking directions included in this packet) Related Projects: Try the expository writing without illustrations or diagrams. It is a different approach when the author cant show but has to tell all of the steps. Try to write an instructional process without using any words, only diagrams and pictures of how to do it. Notice that this is even more difficult. Vocabulary: Expository, instructional, illustration, diagram, critique, exhibition. An Expository Song assembled by the Second Grade: First you have to think to get a picture in your head. Then you have to know your shades if you want a deep dark red. Then you have to make a plan if you want to get it right. Then you have to know your tints if you want to make it light. Arts a kind of thinking, You do it with your mind. Pictures in my head are my favorite kind.

FLAG DESIGNING, the description of symbols FLAG DESIGNING, the description of symbols Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of descriptive writing by creating an original flag drawing and writing all of the symbolic meanings of the lines, shapes, colors and symbols used in the flag. Materials: Good drawing paper or watercolor paper, a variety of two-dimensional media like pens, marker pens, pencils, color pencils, watercolor, glue, magazines and scissors.

Peace flag designed by Shawn Mara Lockhart onetreeproductions.org/2.html

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Process: Students should first choose a place or a cause that they want to design a flag or pennant for. Some background in flags and pennants and banners should be discussed. The history and tradition in flags is huge and terribly interesting. Share with the students the nature of the American flag and the symbolism of red white and blue and of the stars and stripes. Look at some other countries like Canada for symbols. There are many kinds of flags besides countries and states. Families and clans frequently have a flag or banner. Ethnic groups, clubs, sports teams, political parties and so on, have pennants and flags. After looking at some kinds of flags and discussing their symbolic meaning and visual art devices used to communicate their symbolism, have students choose a source for their flag. For most students it is better to limit the thinking possibilities. Have students choose between several idea options such as; your local community, your county, your school or your family. Spend some time discussing the symbolic and evocative nature of colors and shapes and lines and textures. Talk about symbols like the beehive, or the American Bald Eagle or what kind of tree or flower represents your family or town. The older the students the more they will understand about symbolism and less they are willing to discuss their ideas because they think that everyone has the same ideas they have. Younger children will spend a lot of time repeating the same idea over and over because they perceive all of their thoughts to be novel and personal, and of course, at a young age they are. Once the idea has been established, have students first lightly draw the idea of their flag in a loose and light manner so they can rearrange the elements and change their minds as they work. The finished work should be done in any medium the teacher chooses. Dont over look mixed medium and letting the students choose their own medium.

fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/Birds/ American%20Bald%20Eagle/bald_eagle_fly.jpg

Have students do the writing by listing colors, shapes, textures and symbols and what they mean.The teacher can introduce a format or let the students invent the format they think will communicate most clearly. Students should write this in their best handwriting and a clear and concise way. Part of this project is to give the flag a name like we have done with Old Glory or The Stars and Stripes. It is true that this is not an exhaustive writing project and that the writing seems secondary to the visual image. In real human life much of our writing is not formal, it is brief and intended

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to convey simple and specific messages that explain specific phenomena. The goal of this project is to see the relationship between the visual symbol and the written symbol. The letters used to write the descriptive and symbolic words are also symbols, except that each individual does not get to invent the alphabet while they do get to invent meaning in this project. Evaluation and Exhibition: An in-class critique is helpful. Frequently new ideas or twists on existing ideas crop up that will impact the students thinking and even the finished project. Teach students how to be constructive but honest and forthright. For exhibition purposes, have students hang their explanations as didactics along with the flags. An interesting game to play with this project is to read the description and have students guess which flag is being described. Related Projects: An obvious alternative to this lesson is to do it backwards. That is, have students write down in complete sentences with accurate grammar and spelling, the colors, shapes and symbols and where on the flag they will be located and why and meaning. This is a great descriptive writing project. Then, have students make the flag they have described. Later, compare the writing with the visual project. Discuss the differences. Heraldry is a natural for this kind of project. Students can design a family shield of symbols or a coat of arms and the writing assignment is to explain and discuss it until it makes some sense. Another project is to have students draw and color a Spirit Mask. A Spirit Mask, is a mask which symbolizes the intangible qualities and quantities of something or the essence of a thing such as a feeling, a holiday, a place, a season, weather, an animal or a sport. The writing project is the same: list the visual elements and describe what they mean. Obviously, these projects can be done with other visual art creations such as: a ceramic clay Spirit Mask, a ceramic clay Spirit Box, a Personal Symbol or any work of art for that matter. Some variations on the writing part of this project might be to change the format. It can be done in outline form, traditional paragraph form or in an abbreviated sentence from. What interests and values does the person who designed this coat of arms have?

Vocabulary: Symbol, spirit, essence, content, outline, paragraph and sentence.

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MESOPOTAMIAN CYLINDER SEAL WRITING


Objective: Student will demonstrate an understanding of the history and nature of written language by engaging in the oldest written language form that we know about, Cuneiform, and producing a ceramic clay pictographic cylinder roller in the manner of the ancient Sumerians. Materials: Ceramic clay, modeling tools, kiln, examples of cuneiform cylinders and cuneiform writing. Process: After discussing the nature and history of cuneiform writing and the Sumerian Cylinder Seal, have students brainstorm on some interesting topics that can be written about with the idea of translating it into a pictographic cylinder roll in the Mesopotamian style. Not all interesting topics can be rendered in a three to five inch long strip of clay. Keep it simple. Here is very short history of Mesopotamia and cuneiform writing and pictographic cylinder seals: Mesopotamia: Scholars call Mesopotamia the cradle of civilization because that is where the first cities were established and grew into great civilizations. Mesopotamia is the name that historians give the land and cultures that developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This is in modern day Iraq. There were three major cultures which developed in this area. They were Sumerian, 3500-2600 B.C.; Babylonian, 1792-539 B.C.; Assyrian, 1115-612 B.C. The Sumerians were an agricultural people who developed irrigation, writing, math, calendars and walled city-states. It is said that history begins at Sumer because history is the written record of events, and around 3000 B.C. the Sumerians invented writing. The earliest writing kept track of business and tax records.

map from commons.wikimedia.org

The Sumerian system of writing was called Cuneiform. Since they had few trees to make paper and the Egyptians had not invented papyrus yet, the Sumerians wrote with double ended stick on soft ceramic clay tablets. The very first author that we know by name was a girl. Her name was Enheduanna and she was the daughter of the Sumerian king, Sargon the Great. We have found 43 hymns and a cycle of poetry to the moon goddess that was written by Enheduanna. 31

Along with the cuneiform writing the Sumerians made pictures carved into stone or clay cylinders and rollers. These cylinders had pictures of parades (processions), religious events, battles, and other important happenings. Frequently, these pictures were accompanied by cuneiform writing which explained in detail what was in the picture and what it means. What we want to do here is have students create a short written idea that can be translated into a small narrative pictorial, relief in clay by building a cylinder roller stamp in the ancient style. We will use ceramic clay and fire it so it will be hard like the stone which most of the cylinders were made of. Cylinder construction: Use any kind of ceramic clay. Stoneware is probably best because it wont dry out as fast and holds its shape better. Earthenware will work. Roll the clay into a cylinder shape. It can either be a short squat cylinder about 1.5 to 2 inches tall and about 5 to 6 inches in diameter or a tall thin one about 3 or 4 inches tall and about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. These cylinders will use about the same amount of clay but one will make tall but narrow print while the other will print short from top to bottom but will a longer format. This is an important decision that needs to be made before the students start carving the image into the cylinder face.
The logo of the Melammu Project (drawn by Rita Berg from a Greco-Persian style seal found on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea (Dominique Collon, First Impressions: Cylinder seals in the Ancient Near East (London: British Museum Publications), no. 432)).en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melammu

When the cylinder shape is determined and For some great examples of seals and their made, they can use a dowel or a large paint prints, go to www.themorgan.org/collecbrush to bore a hole through the cylinder from tions/collectionsList. top to bottom. The hole serves two functions; a space to slip an axle to help in the printing and a place for moisture and air to escape from the clay, which should only be about a quarter of an inch thick to prevent exploding in the kiln. There are a lot of tools to use in drawing and carving the impression on the surface of the cylinder. There are loop tools for carving, needles for drawing, and knives for cutting. The most accessible tools for this project are barbecue skewers. The little wooden sticks for shishkabobs. Pick up sticks work well also or even tooth picks, so do hairpins, but some variety in tools will help students fulfill their expectation. Have students first draw the image on a piece of paper and then lightly draw in on the clay cylinder. A pencil works well, but make sure students clean pencils off well before putting them into a pencil sharpener. Students need to draw lightly at first, so they can erase with their thumbs. Erasing is easy as long as the clay is still soft. As the clay dries and hardens (there is probably only a couple of hours of working time before the clay is too dry to work), more detail can be carved into the surface. The carved out lines and impressions should not be more the a 1/4 inch deep. Remind students to take care to keep the bottom of the grooves

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and shapes from being too rough because they will be the surface of the print. Hint: even though the Sumerians did not do it, the ends of the cylinders make a great place to carve a round stamp. Have students sign the end of the cylinder and set aside to dry for several days. Make inexpensive loop tools by tying hairpins (not bobby pins, use the skinny kind), to a pencil, piece of dowel, or even to a reasonably straight stick. Use waxed dental floss to tie the hairpin to the pencil. Use pliers and make some of the hairpins more pointed, so they make skinny lines

When the cylinders are completely dry, they are ready to be fired. They will need to candled slowly overnight before firing to make sure all of the water is out. Most students tend to make the cylinders as large as possible with only a small hole through the middle. Any clay over 1/4 inch in thickness is in danger of a steam explosion in the kiln. This is not terribly dangerous except the the cylinder will be reduced to gravel. After the cylinders are fired, have students roll out a slab of damp clay about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch thick. The fired cylinders can then be rolled into the clay slab. Students should try to apply even pressure to the cylinder as it rolls over the clay. They must push hard enough to get a good print. The next step is to cut out the printed part of the slab, leaving a little bit of border around the printed part. Trial and error will teach the students all they need to know about this process. Students can put a couple of holes in the end of the printed slab as a hanging device. You have repeated the Sumerian style of Cylinder Seal printing. If you would like to take the lesson a little further, have students write a narrative in clear, concise and brief terms, about the depiction on the cylinder print. This is usually a kind of narrative writing, which explains the picture. Example:

Cylinder Seal by Anthony, age 10

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Ceramic Relief Print by Anthony, age 10

SISTERS She is running like the wind. The wind is blowing in her hair. She is beautiful when she runs. She is running with her sisters. They are not running in the wind they are the wind. Run Wind Sisters, run away! by Anthony age 10 Evaluation and Exhibition: An interesting way to process and evaluate this project is to have students study the print of the cylinder and try to figure out what the story might be. This can also be done by trying to match the stories with their appropriate cylinder print. For exhibition, mount the clay slabs with the writing as a didactic explanation near it. To make a more interesting exhibition take a couple of photographs of the process and mount them along with the work. Related Projects: The cylinder seal can also be carved from plaster. And then printed on clay. Be careful not to get any plaster into the clay. It will blow up. If the clay print is flat enough it can be used for a printing template. Lay it face down on a piece of thin paper. Masking tape it into to place so it wont move. Be careful not to use too much tape as it will print also. Use a dark crayon with the paper removed and so a rubbing on the face of the paper. Black crayon works well and can then be toned with some slight color. If you would like to make a slab of clay that somewhat resembles an actual cuneiform tablet, make a stylus with a wedge shaped dash at one end and a dot at the other. Even if you cant read it-it makes an interesting textural design.

THE WIND

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For example, a damp clay tablet was used as paper by a Sumerian clerk and it still holds the impression of the marking tool he pressed into it around 2100 B.C. A local doctor, recording some of his favorite medicines, dictated this pleasant sounding prescription to be written in cuneiform characters on clay: Pulverize the seed of the carpenter plant, the gum-resin of the markasiplant, and thyme; dissolve it in beer; let the man drink. Another variation on this project is to use the Southwest Native American culture rock art as a model instead of Sumerian Cylinder Seals. The Native Americans never did develop a writing system that we know of. Their use of symbol in story tell is much different and less narrative and more cosmological. Try to draw or paint a story using rock like images. The translate it into well written English. Vocabulary: Mesopotamia, Sumer, cylinder seal, cuneiform, relief sculpture, pictograph, ceramic, kiln. image from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image: Amarna_Akkadian_letter.png

>if you need any help on the technical end of this lesson, like firing or where to purchase supplies, feel free to call joseph germaine, 756-8450 or e-mail at germ242@alpine.k12.ut.us To learn how to write your initials in cuneiform, go to www.museum.upenn.edu/new/Games/ cuneiform.shtml This example is of the initials LCN

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TWEAKING THE CLICHE

This is a quick little writing lesson that is fun and teaches the use of paradox and irony. Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of literary paradox and irony by creating their own based on the idea of: Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. Materials: Paper and Pen. Process: Write the truism on the board. Discuss the idea with the students. Have everyone work quietly and privately on their own. Read the students written responses to the class. Now, as a class try to improve on the ideas. Notice that on some occasions the Group Mind can be brilliant and greater than the sum of its parts. Examples: Everybody wants to get good grades but nobody wants to study. by Zac, age 7 Everybody wants to be rich but nobody wants to work hard. by Lauren, age 7 Everybody wants to smell good but nobody wants to take a bath. by Myra, age 8 Everybody wants lots of friends but nobody wants to be nice. by Auraleigh, age 7 Everybody wants to have everything but nobody wants to do anything. by Jimmy, age 7

Exhibition: This work can be mounted and exhibited with drawn (pen and ink) visual narrations of the joke. Humor is difficult for young students. It doesnt seem to be hard wired in the head but something that is learned by trial and error. This humor might be slightly cynical but funny never the less. Vocabulary: paradox, irony, truism, group-mind. DRAMATIC DIALOGUE WRITING Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of dialogue and dramatic play writing by creating as a group (or individually) an original play with emphasis on the dialogue exchange between characters. Materials: This project can be simply written and them produced in class. The materials depend on if you want to produce the play in costume. It is all right to present this work as a reading. Many plays work equally well as dramatic productions as they do dramatic readings. Process: To help students understand the nature of dialogue, show them examples from writ36

ten literature. Read some dialogue and show what it looks like. Harry Potter books are a great source for interactive dialogue. Show the students what a dramatic play of screenplay looks like. Share the structural devices which separate quoted lines from stage directions. Show how to use parenthesis and colons. To get the big idea a cross, it might be a good idea to show some video of a film with dialogue. This does not have to be exhaustive, just enough to inspire and motivate. There are a variety of ways to write down dialogue. Show at least two. Running dialogue like that in a novel...She said, Bla bla bla, and He said, ..., and the written play style with colons and each player identified with stage directions. Writing as a group focuses on the ideas, the jokes and the meanings rather than the structure and grammar. The structure and grammar are ultimately important but structure can not inspire meaningful content. The teacher or a scribe should write down the ideas and a democratic system should be developed to make sure you are dealing with class consensus. Write an idea on the board, discuss it, put it aside and look at another idea, put all of the good (surviving) ideas together and reorganize. Ask, Does this really belong here or will it work better somewhere else in this play? Example: The Little Girl Has Big Courage! by Brown group, second grade. Big Boy: (standing in the hall with his hands in his pockets, reaches out to stop the girl) slightly whispering, Here, take this. It is drugs. They are free and you will like it. Little Girl: (walking quickly by) looking a little scared, No! I dont do that! Big Boy: (getting mad), Whats the matter? Are you scared? You must be a big fat chicken! Little Girl: (getting tough), Yes I am a chicken and chickens dont do drugs. I guess that some dumb old chicken birds are just smarter than some humans. Big Boy: hangs his head down and walks away with his hands back in his pockets. The stage slowly gets dark. The End This dialogue was written by the Brown Group of Second Graders for Red Ribbon Week. Evaluation and Exhibition: A class reading with critique and rereading and performance is the best way to get constructive feedback and to exhibit this work. If enough students write a play, they can exchange copies with each other and organize them in a book of plays. 37

Related Projects: This is primarily a writing project but obviously it is also a performance project. Drama can be presented as a Play or as a Reading. Most young students are loaded with interactive ideas. They just dont have the technical skill to codify and present their ideas. Vocabulary: dialogue, character, drama, play, reading, scribe.

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Dragons: Monsters of Myth


Elementary Lesson
Objective: Students will learn to listen to an authors description of a dragon and draw an illustration from that description. Possible resource books: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,,J.K. Rowling, pages 326-328 and 348-353. Eragon, Christopher Paolini, p. 38, The Book of Dragons, E. Nesbit, Pages 47 & 75, Dragon and Thief Timothy Zahn, pages 44-45(and perhaps others), Dragonology, Dr. Ernest Drake, The Book of Dragons, Michael Hague, The Discovery of Dragons, Graeme Base. Drawing materials: Drawing paper, pencils, colored pencils, fine point markers or 4B drawing pencils Teacher Preparation: Read through some books about dragons like Dragonology, The Discovery of Dragons, or The Book of Dragons, and possibly investigate dragon legends from various cultures. Decide which dragon description will best be suited to your class.

mysticcreatures.info/dragons.html

Lesson: Discuss with the students what an illustration is. ( A drawing that represents something described by an author. Tell the students that authors use words to describe objects in their story, illustrators create pictures.) Read the description of something ( a character, animal, house, etc.) from a book that the students are reading and discuss what the author has said about the object. See how many details the students have remembered. Perhaps write their comments on the board to see how close they come to getting everything the author has mentioned. If the class hasnt done well repeat the process until they get better at listening. Look at some book illustrations and read the authors description and discuss how well the two match. *You might want to talk about publishing process and some reasons why an illustration doesnt always fit the authors description. Discuss dragons. Have the students look at some dragon illustrations, and what physical characteristics seem to be commonly associated with dragons. Share some legends of dragons from other cultures if you have collected this information or discuss things like the use of dragons in the celebration of the Chinese New Year and/or other cultures. Let the students share their interests or curiosity about dragons. Project: Read the description of the dragon Harry Potter has to fight in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, or whichever dragon description has been chosen, and have the class draw what they think the dragon looks like. (Do not show them any illustrations of the dragon you want them to draw.) Optional: Divide the class into groups and have each group draw one of the four dragons mention in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, according to the description given by the author. Have the class do their drawings in pencil. Then color them with the colored pencils. Outline 39

the dragon shape and fill in details with the fine point markers or dark drawing pencils. (If the students are using the 4B drawing pencils have them keep them sharp or the lines will get thick and sloppy. They may also need a piece of scrap paper to use as a shield on the parts of the drawing that already has the dark pencils on it.) Assessment: Display the illustrations and discuss how many of the details mentioned in the book are shown in the drawings. Discuss the following: 1. What was not mentioned in the book Mia 1st Grade description and what the artist had to add from his/her own imagination. 2. How having some previous knowledge about dragons helped in their ability to do their illustration. 3. Some reasons why each drawing is different even if the artist included everything mentioned about the dragon in the book . 4. Why it was important to learn to listen to the information given by the author. Have students evaluate how well their dragon matches the authors description. Conclusion: Create a book of the illustrations and make it available to other students in the school. Optional: Have the students write an original story to go with their illustration.

Matt 4th Grade

Joelle 6th Grade

Dane, 3rd Grade 40

Dance & Literacy


The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
By Doris Trujillo Objectives: To define and explore energy qualities through visual and verbal images To explore the process of abstraction To create instant choreography through an improvisation structure To respond to performance experiences from three points of view (Participator, observer, critic) To integrate dance and language arts Core Objective: Levels K6: Standard IV, Objective III, Indicator 2Create a dance project that reveals understanding of a concept or idea from literature or poetry Standard II, Objective III, (Level K-1) Indicator 1Show different kinds of energy through movement Level 2, Indicator 1Explore moving heavily and lightly using level, direction, and timing changes Level 3, Indicator 1Order a sequence of improvised movements that demonstrate changes in quality of motion Level 4, Indicators 1&2 Level 6, Indicators 1&2 Warm-up: Walk through the space concentrating on filling the room (open spaces). (Image presented is a forest filled with trees). Students should walk in curved pathways. They should explore over and under. Images presented are dead trees, which block the pathway. Investigating: For fourth grade and younger, the movement is presented and explored in tandem with the book The Little Old Lady Who Wasnt Afraid of Anything. For fifth and sixth grades, the qualities of movement are explored initially and the concept of choreography to share with younger grade levels is introduced. Little Old Ladies: What happens to the body as it ages. (It shrinks, becomes rounded or crooked, develops wrinkles, etc. Create a shape that can walk but which is crooked and smaller than your height. Emphasize the shaping response children give rather than the literal, (pantomime). Have this little old person shape walk through space. Walk around and over and under the trees in the forest, maintaining the shape you designed. 41

Forest: What would the shapes of the forest look like? (Standing trees, leaning trees, trees blocking pathways). Create a standing, leaning or blocking shape in three counts. Divide the class and have half the students create the forest shape and half the class travel through the forest. Two shoes: Define percussive movement. Explore clomping, movements in terms of percussive movement. Explore this William Bliss Baker, Fallen Monarchs movement using BYU MOA different body types (heads clomping, elbows, etc.) Discuss the weight, strength and force of this movement. Clomping movements travel through space. [Pick one quarter of the class to perform this section later on in the process.] Pants: Define the energy of a wiggle (soft, loose, small). Wiggle arms, legs, torso, full body. Perform rhythmically (wiggle/ wiggle). Take the wiggle into the air, change directions, etc. Wiggle stays in place and the focus is on the high to low level change. [Pick one quarter of the class to perform this section later on in the process.] Shirt: Define rebound by asking children to literally shake a salt shaker. Notice the point where the hand rebounds to release the salt. Shake your arm using the concept of rebound. Shake arms and head, arm head and torso, arms head torso and legs. Rhythmically shake. [Pick one quarter of the class to perform this section later on in the process]. Hat & gloves: Clap (percussive) Students explore clapping in different places. reach high to clap, wide, behind themselves, under their legs. The intention is to have Brian Kershisnik, Were Just Doing This students extend their body in space within used by permission of the artist two counts students experience an increase in energy needed to move that quickly and as far as they need to. Nod(staccato) Small stopping movements using body articulation. Nod head (1 count) nod Hip (2nd count). [pick one quarter of the class to perform this section later on in the process]. 42

Head: Define explosive movement. Explode by jumping and turning in the air and freeze in a shape which is large and wide (scary).

Rocking Chair: Define swinging. Rock back and forth on feet. Add arms, head, back, change directions, suspend in air. Scarecrow: Create group shapes.

Creating: Choose instruments, vocal sounds and/or music which reflects the qualities explored. Define who will perform each section of the story as it is read. This is an add-on sequence, therefore, students who perform the shoe movement will perform their section many times. Students should have been chosen during investigating section. Section 1 class class Little Old Men & Ladies Forest Perform together

Section 2 class Shoes class Pants class Shirt class Gloves & Hat everyone Head Group shape Scarecrow Designate a reader (teacher with vocal range)

Add-on sequence

Read the story, leaving time and space for movement sequences to be performed As the students finish their section, they quickly drop into a curved ball shape on the floor. When their section is mentioned, they pop up and perform. The little old men and ladies may move as often as directed in the story or only at the beginning. Any section of this story may be expanded or eliminated. This instant choreography can be performed after a one-hour lesson or be expanded to a longer process. It is delightful either way. Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes have an opportunity to perform and share a literay work with younger students and learn the sbout the concept of energy. HAVE FUN!

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Students Connect to Literature Using Hands-on Theatre Skills


Facilitator: Julia Ashworth Materials: Copy of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Small bean bag ball 8-10 large pieces of flip chart paper (Post-it, preferably, if not, tape may be needed) 4-8 color markers Enough sheets of paper and pens for all in class Aims: To introduce and familiarize the class to The Bluest Eye To explore the concept of themes To expand students view of literature and reading To foster collaborative group work To introduce the idea of frozen images and character To expose students to various means of expression, i.e., verbal and non-verbal communication, creative writing, frozen images, language, presentation, etc. To expose students to various skills, i.e., learning alphabet, cooperation, vocabulary building, team building, observation, summary, narrative, extrapolating, motor skills, spatial awareness, timing, organization, initiative, inference, self-confidence, visualization, etc. Objectives: Students will warm up and focus Students will explore the ideas and definitions of theme Students will identify at least 4 possible themes for the book Students will create a frozen image around a specific theme Students will write short monologues and share them Students will be introduced to The Bluest Eye Workshop Getting to know you/Warm up Name Ball/Literature Ball: Keep the ball in the air, saying first your name, then the persons name you are tossing the ball to. Always keep a steady rhythm. 45

Theatre in Education

Dennis Smith, Girl Reading used by permission of the artist

After youve had a chance to hear everyones name a couple of times, switch to saying your name and one of your favorite books when the ball is tossed to you. For literature ball, throw the ball across the circle saying any word that comes to mind when you hear the word Literature. Shake and Freeze: Students shake their bodies when facilitator says shake and freeze when she or he says freeze. After a few times, the word freeze will be replaced by another word, and the group will freeze in a position suggested by that word. For example, the facilitator might say shake and then happy; the group will shake and then freeze in a happy position. Possible words: o Books o Theme o Beauty o Superiority o Reading o Vocabulary o Poverty o Author Character Activity 1Book on the Floor Relating to the book: First, place book in center of circle, then Ask students to look, but not touch Ask every one to show their reaction or relationship to bookeach person has the opportunity to place their body in relation to the book, thus expressing something about how the feel about it, i.e., if they are completely unfamiliar with the book, they might walk to the opposite side of the room; if its one of their favorites, they might hold it lovingly. Activity 2Brainstorm What comes to mind when you hear the word theme? Discuss as much as needed. Brainstorm a list of possible themes for The Bluest Eye based on what they see on the cover and write these on the board. Which ones interest us the most? Circle or star these ones. Narrow list to four themesplace image from ebay.com students in four equal-sized groups with large paper and markers and have each group narrow the list down to 2-3, then finally to one theme for their group. Students will work in these groups the remainder of the class. 46

Activity 3Theme Investigation Alphabet Relay: With students in their groups, place four large sheets of paper on the wall, for each group, with the alphabet written down the left side. Write each groups chosen theme at the top of the paper. The group will stand in a single line, and using a magic marker as a baton, and one at a time write down one word for each letter of the alphabet (in alphabetical order) that relates to the theme they chose. The first group to complete their alphabet wins. Each section shares their list with the class. o This activity can be done separately in groups, instead of relay style, if necessary for time or classroom management concerns. Frozen Image: Ask each group to choose one word from their alphabet list and create a frozen image inspired by that word. Each member of the group then needs to prepare one line of dialogue for their own character. The group should choose an order and a method for the delivery of the lines. Share these with the class and discuss: what was interesting and why? Activity 4Monologue Free Write: Students will write a short monologue using their prepared line of dialogue as either the first or last line of the monologue. Give students no more than 1-2 minutes. Final Sharing: Ask students to share their frozen image again, this time with the monologues from the free write. The group may alter the image or order if they choose to; allow time to work through this. Share and discuss: were there differences? If so, what? What were the powerful moments? Conclusion/Reflection: Introduce the book: Pass a copy of book out to each student (in this case pass the one copy around for all to take a closer look) Read selected passage(s) from book as a class Themes in the book o How do they relate to what we discussed today? 47

o How are all the themes discussed today important, regardless of their direct relation to this book? Images in the book o Are their similarities to todays images? o Are their differences? Ask students how they feel about beginning to read this book.

48

Making a Poem Quilt


Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to use descriptive language by writing a line for a poem. Students will demonstrate their ability to make connections between art and literature by creating an artwork to go with their line of poetry. State Core: Standard 3: The students will choose, evaluate, and express artistic subject matter, themes, symbols, ideas, meanings, and purposes. Standard 4, Objective 2: The students will recognize the connections of visual arts to all learning (to literature). Materials My Cat Jeoffry by Christopher Smart, included on the next page a real dog or other animal, if possible inexpensive paper and pencils for planning good drawing paper colored media such as colored pencils, pastels, or paints a large sheet of sturdy paper such as the paper that comes on big rolls glue If making collages, images of dogs. Line drawings are especially good because students can color them easily. A few are included at the end of the lesson. Lesson Overview: Students will listen to selected lines from the poem My Cat Jeoffry, by Mahonri Young, Tommy with Outstretched Paw Christopher Smart. Students will observe a real BYU MOA, byu.edu animal such as a dog. Students then will write a line of a poem about the dog and will make an artwork to go with the line of poetry. The drawings will be displayed as a poem quilt. Process: Read selected lines from For My Cat Jeoffry, by Christopher Smart. A shortened version is included here. The complete text can be found at:http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/smart.htm Lead the students in a discussion about the kinds of words Smart uses to describe the cat. Discuss what kinds of words make good descriptions. For example: verbs that portray an image, such as leaps, scampers, purrs, rubs, kicks. (We often forget that verbs are at least as descriptive as adjectives.) Then bring another kind of animal that children are familiar with, such as a dog, to class. Have the children observe the dog, think about their experiences with dogs, and jot down words the dog makes them think of. Talk to the students about how carefully poets choose words and phrases; they use only a few to create the whole ideas in a poem, so the words have to be the best words for their ideas. Poets may change words or phrases over and over again, just so they get the best word. Have the students look again and see if they can think of any better words. 49

FOR MY CAT JEOFFRY For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry. For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him. For first he looks upon his fore-paws to see if they are clean. For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there. For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the fore-paws extended. For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood. For fifthly he washes himself. For Sixthly he rolls upon wash. For Seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat. For Eighthly he rubs himself against a post. For Ninthly he looks up for his instructions. For Tenthly he goes in quest of food. For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness. For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it chance. For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying. For he purrs in thankfulness, when God tells him he's a good Cat. For he is the cleanest in the use of his fore-paws of any quadrupede. For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature. For he is tenacious of his point. For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery. For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest. For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion. For he is docile and can learn certain things. Mahonri Young, Cat Studies BYU MOA For he can set up with gravity which is patience upon approbation. For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment. For he can jump over a stick which is patience upon proof positive. For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command. For he can jump from an eminence into his master's bosom. For he can catch the cork and toss it again. For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business. For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly, For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services. For he killed the Ichneumon-rat very pernicious by land. For his ears are so acute that they sting again. For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention. For by stroaking of him I have found out electricity. For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements. For, though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer. For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadrupede. For he can tread to all the measures upon the musick. For he can swim for life. For he can creep. (Christopher Smart; 1722-1771) 50

You may want to do this part of the activity as a class or in small groups. Discussions often produce good ideas. The class will then make up a poem about a dog, with each child contributing a line. Use a formula based on Christopher Smarts poem.

Lower elementary students may need someone to write their line for them. Or you can write the lines on the board, and students will draw their pictures to go with the lines. (See directions, below) Write the poem on a sheet of paper and make it part of the quilt.

For I will consider my Dog (Choose a name for the dog) For he (or she) . . .
Then pass out paper for planning. Have each student fold the paper in four and make a sketch in each area. Each sketch needs to be slightly different from the last one. Students can use a line to represent where the text will go. Then give the students good paper and a choice of media. They will make a drawing that represents their line of the poem and will also write the line on the drawing, having chosen carefully where the line will go. They may color the drawing, if they wish. When students are finished, have the children help decide what order the lines should go in. Arrange the drawings as a quilt. Read the poem aloud, each child speaking his or her line as you get to it. Since poetry is meant to be shared, practice as a class and then show other classes the poem quilt and recite the poem for the class. Variation: Instead of creating a drawing, have students Sylvia Davis, Guest create a collage. Pass out xeroxed pictures of dogs and have the students manipulate the images to make a collage that goes with their line. (See collage directions that follow) The collage can include the childs line of the poem, or you can write it separately. There are additional dog images on the CD. Or, have .students create their own line about a dog (See two examples on page 53). Extension: When discussing the phrase they want to use, introduce students to the idea of images, if you havent already. Read some examples of effective imagery that suit your students grade level. Ask the students what they see in their minds when you read the imagery. Let several students answer for each image. Then ask the students why each student saw something a little bit different. Have the students spend time working on their line, which should produce an image in the readers mind. You may want them to share their written image with several students to see if what the others envision is close to what the writer intended. Students should be allowed time to rework and perfect their images. Then make the poem quilt, choosing either to make a collage or a drawing quilt. 51

Exhibition: Assemble the poem quilt by gluing the drawings to a large sheet of sturdy paper. Place the quilt where other classes can see it. Evaluation: Have students complete a self-assessment rubric such as the following:

Student Self-assessment
I think my drawing (collage) needs work is pretty good is great!

The line of poetry I wrote is

not great

okay

really good

funny

I didnt clean up the things I used I cleaned up most of my mess. I followed directions mostly exactly

I cleaned up everything

not at all

I liked or did not like this lesson because

For older students, you can use whatever specific criteria fits your class expected performance levels. Note: You will notice the rubric does not have the poor, satisfactory, and excellent descriptors in the same order for each catagory. This structure is an attempt to keep students from just checking off one set of boxes without thinking about their performance. Also, I have included an additional descriptor in the assessment of their line of poetryits funnyyou may be able to think of other descriptors that will work that will provoke students to think about the experience of writing and drawing. 52

For the dog stands by his master with loyal respect, by Lisa, age 11

For the dog has a habit of claiming your food, we all know that is improper and very rude, by Marie, age 8
53

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Directions for Collage Materials: images of dogs, a variety of papers acrylic painting medium to glue papers on (can be bought from art supply storesI used the 40% off coupon that Roberts Crafts always has available) or, use watered down white glue or YES! paste and just glue the images down inexpensive brushes for applying medium (3 for $1 at the dollar store) sturdy paper for the backing of the collage scissors paper for planning collage If you have not made collages yourself, make one so you are familiar with the techniques. Making a couple samples will help you understand the complexity of design possible and the unique characteristics of collage as well as giving you examples to show the class. Give each student a piece of cheap paper and let the students choose several items from the images of dogs and papers available. Students should plan out their collage by placing the individual pieces on the cheap paper, arranging and rearranging them until they have a composition they like. The items can be trimmed to whatever size or shape suits the design. Remind the students to evaluate their designs for overall effect. When students have checked their designs, they can begin gluing. They should start with the undermost layers, and brush an even coating of medium across the backing, place the chosen item on the backing, smooth it carefully, and then brush a coating of medium over the item. (Students can make notes, and they can take the items off the planning paper one by one and place them face down on their desks, so they will be in reverse order.) After the items have been glued to the backing, place waxed paper and a heavy book or stack of magazines over the collages and allow them to dry overnight. Weighting the collages prevents severe buckling. Or, if using white glue, 56

just brush a thin coat on the back of each piece of paper and glue it down. Have students critique their own artworks. Then display the artworks and have the class discuss the ways the artworks are effective. Students should create an exhibit of the collages somewhere the whole school can see the works. Include a poster telling viewers about collage. The poster can explain what collage is and can incorporate comments from the students about their experience making collages.

Exploring Poetry and Paintings


If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that it is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that it is poetry. Is there any other way? Emily Dickinson Samuel Taylor Coleridge described poetry as the best words in the best order. Visual art and art in language have more in common than many people realize. Knowing the elements of art line, color, shape, space, value, texture, and form allows students to discuss with much more clarity what they feel a piece of art is, what it says, and to examine how the artwork says it. In a similar way, a familiarity with some of the elements of poetry line length, meter, rhyme, examination of word choice, even the spatial arrangement of the poem on the page, can give students ways to talk about what that poem says and how it says it. These lessons use an introductory knowledge of the mechanics of both visual and written art to encourage students to look at a poem with a piece of art in more detail than they have before, and to either write about what they find or produce some artistic writing of their own. If you would like to read a more detailed description of poetic elements, please go to the appendix named Basic Elements of Poetry for Analysis. The lesson discussion here will refer to many of the things that are covered in more detail in that appendix. In general, the approach of these lessons will be to ask the students to look at pairs of art one poem and one painting and to compare and contrast them in terms of content and technique. There arent hard and fast rules about this, of course, but the students should be able to discuss particulars rather than generalities, and be able to show what in the poem or the painting supports what they are saying. Choose a painting and a poem to work with. If you have a large amount of time, you might use two of each, but more than that would be too much. (If this activity is sucessful and generates good interest and discussion among your students, you might consider planning another session.) Some suggested pairings are listed below along with the ages they seem most appropriate for. After the section for each age group is a list of questions for use in preparation and for class discussion. Dont be afraid to ask questions that cant be answered right off the bat. And, be prepared to hear answers that you didnt think of. If there is evidence for an opinion, its probably a pretty good one. It is also important for students to learn to encounter and allow differing ideas. This is essentially an observational and exploratory activity-- there arent right answers. 57

Another note: Although the suggested questions are meant to be asked about the poem and the painting, I recommend fully discussing one before beginning with the other artwork. This will help the students focus.

Early Elementary Grades

Suggested Pairings (poems are listed first, artworks are in this packet or from the Elementary postcard set): The Toucan or Concrete Cat with The Rhinoceros or Youthful Games I Like to See it Lap the Miles with Flight Practice with Instructor or Hereford Roundup R-P-O-P-H-E-S-S-A-G-R with Chelsea VI or Flight Practice with Instructor Poem with Channel Three or Snow Queen: Portrait of Adah selections from The Fish (its quite long) with A Tension to Detail To Utah: Arrival with Moonrise in the Canyon, Moab, Utah or Sunrise, North Rim Grand Canyon, or Capitol from North Salt Lake, or The Reef Winter with Wash Day in Brigham City, or Children at Play in Mantua Suggested Early Elementary Questions: Is there a story here? What is it about? Does the poet/artist let us know everything that we want to know, or do we have to figure some things out? Do you like it if you have to figure something like this out? Is this about serious things, or everyday things? How can you tell? Is there something surprising or funny here? Do you think it is supposed to be that way? What do you see that are clues? Is Concrete Cat a poem or more like a painting? How is this poem put together (rhyme and meter)? Does this help the poem? Did you notice these things when you first saw the poem? How is the painting put together? How has the artist used line (or color, space, value, etc.) to make a good painting? How does a poet help you see things, and how does an artist get you to think about what you see in a painting? (specific details, or unusual combinations) Does this poem or this painting make you want to write or paint? Do you think you will put everything in what you write or draw, or leave some things out as a mystery? At this point, the students should be ready to produce. You might work as a group finding fun rhymes like in Toucan and construct a poem as a class or individually. If you worked with Concrete Cat, try working as a group or individually to write a poem in a similar style. Or you might want to choose something (like Dickinson does the locomotive) and describe it as though it were something else, and see if you can give enough clues for people to guess what it is. This could be done as a group or individually. The students could write a simple descriptive poem (like Poem) and try to do it in a way that others can really see what they are describing. The students may want (singly or in groups) to tell a story that they think might go with the painting you have discussed. 58

From The Toucan Tell me who can Catch a toucan? Lou can. Just how few can Ride the toucan? Two can. .... Shel Silverstein James Christensen, The Rhinoceros

From To Utah I. Arrival Nobody wanted this place: Spaniards saw it and turned back; Trappers endured the taste Of salt in the wind for the fur pack Or love of space. When settlers planned Westward treks it was California They chose, and cursed this land For standing in the way with its thorns and Hot sand. .... Edward L. Hart

Douglas Snow, Reef

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Late Elementary Grades through Middle School

Suggested Pairings (poems listed first, artwork from this packet or as noted): The Fish with A Tension to Detail or Cockscomb, near Teasdale (in the elementary postcard and poster set) Hamlen Brook or Tree at my Window with Iridescence Neutral Tones with Jacob and Leah or Mountain Solitude Below the Surface-stream, Shallow and Light or anyone lived in a pretty how town with Jacob and Leah. All That Time with Jacob and Leah or Mountain Solitude A Black Birch in Winter with Mountain Solitude or First Snowfall, City Creek Canyon To Utah: Arrival with Moonrise in the Canyon, Moab, Utah or Sunrise, North Rim Grand Canyon or Capitol from North Salt Lake (all in the elementary postcard set) or with Desert Landscape, this packet. Winter with Wash Day in Brigham City, (in the elementary postcard set) or Children at Play in Mantua, this packet The Fish with Snow Canyon or Jaguarundi (both in the Middle School poster set) or Albino Trout, packet anyone lived in a pretty how town with Cottage Industry (in the Middle School poster set) Suggested Late Elementary through Middle School Questions: Does this poem/painting show you something that seems real to you? What things about it make it seem real, or not real? After you read this a couple of times (or looked at this for a couple of minutes) do you have questions about it? Is that a good or a bad thing? What kind of story is this telling? Do you know all of it or just part of it? If you had to work to figure out what was going on, did you like that or dislike it? What feelings do you have about this? Do you think that you feel the way the artist wants you to feel? Which detail in the poem/painting is your favorite? How does it help this piece of writing/art? Do you think this poem/painting is beautiful? Should it be? If you worked with anyone lived in a pretty how town or Cottage Industry, what do you think of art like this that makes it pretty hard to tell what is going on? After you spent some time with either of these, did you feel like you had a pretty good idea of what the poet/artist was thinking about? Do you think that the artist wants you to think about something more after you think about whats in the poem/painting? What? Can you see something about the way that this poem/painting was put together that helps it communicate its message? Look at how space is used (both in the poem and the painting), what your eye gets drawn to, etc. At this point the students should be ready to tackle something on their own. Choose from among the following or something similar: Choose an element of art and an element of poetry that you think serve similar purposes in the works. Describe each of them, the effects you feel they have, and how they work in similar ways. Write or draw something with the level of realistic detail that you saw in The Fish, or 60

From The Fish I caught a tremendous fish and held him beside the boat half out of water, with my hook fast in a corner of his mouth. H didnt fight. He hadnt fought at all. He hung a grunting weight, battered and venerable and homely. . . . by Elizabeth Bishop

From A Black Birch in Winter .... Old trees are doomed to annual rebirth, New wood, new life, new compass, greater girth, And this is all their wisdom and their art To grow, stretch, crack, and not yet come apart. Richard Wilbur
Joseph Ostraff Albino Fish

Lawrence Squires First Snowfall, City Creek Canyon

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Hamlen Brook; A Tension to Detail, or Jaguarundi Write a poem or a story that tells what you think the painting you worked with means. What is the story behind it? Make an artwork using images from one of the poems. Write a poem that uses images from one of the artworks. Write a poem that uses the colors in one of the artworks.

Late Junior High through High School

Suggested Pairings (poems listed first, artwork from this packet or as noted) Hamlen Brook or A Black Birch in Winter with Iridescence The Fish with A Tension to Detail The Guitarist Tunes Up or Neutral Tones with Jacob and Leah Below the Surface-stream, Shallow and Light or anyone lived in a pretty how town with Jacob and Leah. Child Development or Walking Across the Atlantic with Flight Practice with Instructor or The Rhinoceros or Snow Queen: Portrait of Adah (all in the Elementary School postcard and poster set) anyone lived in a pretty how town with Jacob and Leah or Horse Traders (in the High School poster set) All That Time with Jacob and Leah R-P-O-P-H-E-S-S-A-G-R with Storm Spirits (in the High School poster set) Suggested High School Discussion Questions What is happening in this poem/painting? What else? Does this poem/painting show you something that seems real to you? What things about it make it seem real, or not real? After you read this a couple of times (or looked at this for a couple of minutes) do you have questions about it? Is that a good or a bad thing? Is this poem/painting expressing something you have felt or a situation you have been in? Does it do a good job at it? Do you think that this poem/painting is beautiful? Why or why not? Do you think poems and paintings should be beautiful? Can you see things that the poet/artist used to make the message more clear? Or, if its not an easy to understand poem/painting, what did the poet/artist use to make it that way? Do you think that making it somewhat obscure was a good choice? What is the stress pattern and line length in the poem? Does it follow all the way through? What about the rhyming, if any? If there are variations, do you think they are there for a purpose? In the painting, name several things that tie the whole thing together. Is there anything that seems to stick out? Do you think this is on purpose? Discuss some ways that you think the poem and the painting are trying to say the same sort of thing or using similar tools. Do you think that the artist wants you to think about something more after you think about whats in the poem/painting? What? Here are some suggested individual activities for the students to do. Organize and write down some of your thoughts about the comparison and contrast between this poem and painting. 62

From Hamlen Brook ... Beneath a sliding glass Crazed by the skimming of a brace Of burnished dragon-flies across its face, In which deep cloudlets pass And a white precipice Of mirrored birch-trees plunges down Toward where the azures of the zenith drown. How shall I drink all this? Joys trick is to supply Dry lips with what can cool and slake, Leaving them dumbstruck also with an ache Nothing can satisfy. Richard Wilbur From Neutral Tones We stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod; They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. ... Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves. Thomas Hardy

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Write or draw something with the level of detail that you studied in the poem and the painting. If you were working with the less representational works (anyone lived in a pretty how town, R-P-O-P-H-E-S-S-A-G-R, or Storm Spirits), try to do something in that style but that still communicates an idea. Write a reaction piece to the poet or artist. Let them know what worked for you in their piece, and what you have questions about. Find at least five elements about either the poem or the painting that unify it, and write an essay describing them. Create an artwork that matches your reaction to and/or ideas about one of the poems. Create an artwork that contrasts with one of the poems.

Sources of Poems (source only included with first listing of poem) Early Elementary Grades
The Toucan, by Shel Silverstein www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-toucan/ Concrete Cat, by Dorthi Charles on next page I Like to See it Lap the Miles, by Emily Dickinson www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-like-to-see-it-lap-the-miles/ R-P-O-P-H-E-S-S-A-G-R, by e. e. cummings www.poemhunter.com/poem/r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r-2/ The Fish, by Elizabeth Bishop www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-fish/ Poem (as the cat), by William Carlos Williams www.poemhunter.com/poem/poem-as-the-cat/ Winter, by by Edward Hart To Utah: I Arrival, by Edward Hart both poems by Hart, Harvest: Contemporary Mormon Poems Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1989 (316p.): [20]-23

Late Elementary Grades through Middle School

The Fish, by Elizabeth Bishop Hamlen Brook, by Richard Wilbur www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=l&p=c&a=p&ID=35 Tree at my Window, by Robert Frost www.poemhunter.com/poem/tree-at-my-window/ Neutral Tones, by Thomas Hardy www.poemhunter.com/poem/neutral-tones/ Below the Surface-stream, Shallow and Light, by Matthew Arnold anyone lived in a pretty how town, by e.e. cummings www.poemhunter.com/poem/anyone-lived-in-a-pretty-how-town/ All That Time, by May Swenson writersalmanac.publicradio.org/programs/2003/05/26/index.html (also contains an audio file) A Black Birch in Winter, by Richard Wilbur 64

New and Collected Poems (Harvest Book) (Paperback) To Utah: I Arrival, by Edward Hart Winter, by by Edward Hart

Late Junior High through High School

Hamlen Brook, Richard Wilbur A Black Birch in Winter, by Richard Wilbur The Fish, by Elizabeth Bishop The Guitarist Tunes Up, by Frances Cornford www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-guitarist-tunes-up/ Neutral Tones, by Thomas Hardy Below the Surface-stream, Shallow and Light, by Matthew Arnold anyone lived in a pretty how town, by e.e. cummings Child Development, by Billy Collins www.poemhunter.com/poem/child-development/ Walking Across the Atlantic, by Billy Collins www.poemhunter.com/poem/walking-across-the-atlantic/ All That Time, by May Swenson R-P-O-P-H-E-S-S-A-G-R, by e. e. cummings

Concrete Cat by Dorthi Charles

dishdish

paw paw

paw paw

litterbox litterbox

poem reformatted for computer 65

mouse

stripestripestripestripe t a eYe eYe stripestripestripe i r e whis k s l ker whi stripestripestripestripes r m h whiske ske o t i r stripestripestripe h w U stripestripestripestripe

A e r

A e r

i l t a

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Elements of Poetry
From nursery rhymes to birthday cards, and Christmas carols and almost any other song we hear, poetry is all around us. But if analyzing poetry with your class feels a bit daunting, or its been a long time since you did this kind of thing, here is an introduction to poetic analysis. I do not imagine that many teachers will find their students ready to use the more technical of these terms, but my experience has been that even very young kids enjoy looking for and understanding how some of the nuts and bolts of poetry work. Appearance The poet is the only writer who has control over where the words appear on the page. So, the first consideration of a poem (as with an artwork) is, How does it look? It might be arranged in stanzas (verses), or look nearly as continuous as prose. It may depend on its placement on the page for some of its effect. Some of the poems of e.e. cummings, for example, rely partly on their visual impact (see R-P-O-P-H-E-S-S-A-G-R, and Concrete Cat). The length of lines and the length of stanzas do a lot to give a poem a sense of pacing, or speed. To some extent, the longer these things are, the more weighty the poetry feels. I sometimes imagine that I am blindfolded, and that the poet is leading me through the poem. What is the pace like? Quick, or even and measured? Does it stay the same so that I get used to the pattern, or are there quick turns, abrupt stops, and sudden accelerations? These features are somewhat analogous to the effect that line has in visual art Are the lines heavy or light and delicate? Do they convey motion, or are they more static? Meter Poets choose and arrange their words with great care. Poetry that seems to follow the basic cadences of conversation is often very precisely constructed. Traditionally, poetry was written in regular meters patterns that could be virtually diagrammed out. In the last 50-75 years, fewer poets have written exclusively in metered verse. I have found, though, that non-metered poetry is often as carefully crafted as a traditional set form. Poetic meter is described by naming the basic stress/ non-stress pattern of the syllables, and by counting how many of these patterns (each one is called a foot) occur in each line. It is perfectly feasible to look at a poem and discuss its stress pattern without using official terms this approach would suit younger grades. The patterns are: Iambic An iamb has two syllables: non-stress, stress; or, da-DUM. I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one, but I can tell you, anyhow, Id rather see than be one. is iambic. Trochaic A trochee also has two syllables: stress, non-stress; or, DUM-da. 67

From nursery rhymes to birthday cards, and Christmas carols and almost any other song we hear, poetry is all around us. But if analyzing poetry with your class feels a bit daunting, or its been a long time since you did this kind of thing, here is an introduction to poetic analysis. I do not imagine that many teachers will find their students ready to use the more technical of these terms, but my experience has been that even very young kids enjoy looking for and understanding how some of the nuts and bolts of poetry work. Appearance The poet is the only writer who has control over where the words appear on the page. So, the first consideration of a poem (as with an artwork) is, How does it look? It might be arranged in stanzas (verses), or look nearly as continuous as prose. It may depend on its placement on the page for some of its effect. Some of the poems of e.e. cummings, for example, rely partly on their visual impact (see R-P-O-P-H-E-S-S-A-G-R, and Concrete Cat). The length of lines and the length of stanzas do a lot to give a poem a sense of pacing, or speed. To some extent, the longer these things are, the more weighty the poetry feels. I sometimes imagine that I am blindfolded, and that the poet is leading me through the poem. What is the pace like? Quick, or even and measured? Does it stay the same so that I get used to the pattern, or are there quick turns, abrupt stops, and sudden accelerations? These features are somewhat analogous to the effect that line has in visual art Are the lines heavy or light and delicate? Do they convey motion, or are they more static? Meter Poets choose and arrange their words with great care. Poetry that seems to follow the basic cadences of conversation is often very precisely constructed. Traditionally, poetry was written in regular meters patterns that could be virtually diagrammed out. In the last 50-75 years, fewer poets have written exclusively in metered verse. I have found, though, that non-metered poetry is often as carefully crafted as a traditional set form. Poetic meter is described by naming the basic stress/ non-stress pattern of the syllables, and by counting how many of these patterns (each one is called a foot) occur in each line. It is perfectly feasible to look at a poem and discuss its stress pattern without using official terms this approach would suit younger grades. The patterns are: Iambic An iamb has two syllables: non-stress, stress; or, da-DUM. I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one, but I can tell you, anyhow, Id rather see than be one. is iambic. Trochaic A trochee also has two syllables: stress, non-stress; or, DUM-da. Twinkle, twinkle little star, and Eeny, meeny, miney, moe, are in clear trochaic meter. Anapestic An anapest has three syllables per foot: non-stress, non-stress, stress; or, da-daDUM. On a tree by a willow a little tom tit sang willow, tit-willow, tit-willow, is anapestic. 68

Dactylic A dactyl also has three syllable per foot: stress, non-stress, non-stress; or DUM-da-da. Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?/ Ive been to London to look at the Queen, is dactylic. The other element of meter is the length of the line, or how many feet each line has. The pattern for naming this is pretty straightforward: two feet is dimeter, three feet is trimeter, four feet is quadrameter, five feet is pentameter, then hexameter, heptameter and octimeter. From three feet to six feet are the most common lengths. I usually go about scanning the meter of a poem (i.e. figuring it out) by reading it with natural inflection, but slowly. Where I can hear a clear stress, I mark a line above that syllable that is much like an apostrophe, or a French grave accent. Syllables that seem clearly not stressed get a mark above them that is essentially the mark we use to indicate a short vowel, or a parenthesis on its back. After this first reading, I reread the poem and try to mark almost all of the syllables as stressed or not stressed, filling in the pattern. If there really doesnt seem to be a pattern, dont strain for it it wont be useful. I would suggest that you scan the poems you will work with as part of your preparation. Dont be surprised if working out the meter leaves you with some incomplete feet or an occasional alteration of meter. It seems as though our ears are pleased by patterns, but can get bored with total uniformity the meter in good poetry is likely to have some flex. However, consider the possibility that the alterations are there on purpose. Try to figure out if these changes in pattern speed you up or slow you down and if there is some significance to them. In the included poem Tree at my Window, it is easy to see that the last lines of the stanzas are much shorter than the other lines. But when you look carefully at stress patterns, you find that those short final lines each have three strong stresses. In other words, in about half the number of syllables, they have nearly as many stressed ones as the longer lines. Whether we are aware of it at first or not, this slows us down on the fourth lines and gives them (and what they are saying) greater weight. Be aware that almost any of the stress patterns can have a comic effect if word choice (or even the way the poem is read) employs the pattern too strongly. There was once a young man from Japan Whose poetry never would scan, When people asked why He replied, Because I Always try to get as many words into the last line as I possibly can. Rhyme Rhyme is the feature of poetry that is most familiar. Rhyme ties the sound shape of the poem together. There are wonderful intricacies possible in rhyming beyond the most common pattern where the final syllable of two different lines contain the same final vowel and consonant sounds (such as boat and coat). 69

In addition to that straightforward rhyme, you can have the sounds match for the final two syllables this is called double rhyme. Leader and reader are examples of double rhyme. You can have just consonant sounds match, at the beginning or the end of words. This is called consonance. The pairs up/ pop, and right/ wrong feel connected by their sounds, even though the connection is not as strong as a conventional rhyme (note that spelling is not the issue, but the aural sound of the word). There are many possibilities: near-rhymes (sometimes called slant rhymes) such as peer/ pare, and star/door from Dickinsons I like to see it lap the miles; and sight rhymes, which turn the aural idea on its head and rely only on how the words are written, rather than on how they sound. The conventional way to plot out the rhyme scheme of a poem is to jot a letter at the end of each line, repeating the letter if the end of that line rhymes with a previous line. The well-known verse, Roses are red. . . has a rhyme scheme that would be written ABCB, because it is just the 2nd and 4th lines that rhyme. In the included Robert Frost poem, Tree at my Window, the rhyme scheme is ABBA CDDC. . . following this pattern through the stanzas. However, in the last stanza, the final syllables of all of the lines rhyme together (GGGG). Also, the final stanza is constructed with double rhymes in the same pattern as the rest of the poem. (-gether rhymes with weather, and -bout her rhymes with outer) This kind of detail has the effect of strongly bringing the end of the poem together, even if you dont notice it when you first read it or hear it. Finding something like this can give you a rich appreciation of the skill of the poet. This kind of unity in poetry is analogous to unity of line, or shape in a painting. A couple of final notes. Give yourself time with the poems and the paintings, and encourage your students to take time. Their off-the-cuff response may be I dont get it (and I want to quit trying), but prod them to think longer and look carefully. When we are purely telling stories, we usually do it in a straightforward way but that doesnt mean that all worthwhile stories come in easy narrative form. Poems and paintings exist because the people who made them wanted to say something this way, instead of another. Making an overhead copy of the poem you want to discuss can make things easier. Feel free to make other pairings theres probably something worth talking about between almost any poem and painting, or any two paintings or poems. If you enjoy this poetry and want to find some more good stuff, I recommend finding an old textbook from an introduction to literature class. One good one is by X.J. Kennedy, another is by Lawrence Perrine. A text like this is likely to devote a few hundred pages to poetry, with good explanations and interesting poems to read. Another recommendation: Richard Wilbur and Billy Collins each have published collections of poetry with many wonderful poems.

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Bookmaking Lesson
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the idea of BOOK by making and binding a simple book of their own art work. Materials: paper (could be your own handmade paper) needle and thread glue cutting tools a small drill or awl rulers, straight edge, ribbon original artwork Process: The idea of books is ancient and honorable. Books were the first mechanical computers. Information was stored in them. The information was in code. The code is what we call literacy today. There was usually a main menu, the Table of Contents. Files organized by number (page numbers). If you knew the code and understood the technology you could find out amazing things that your own daily life would never allow you to experience. Books could even have pictures of other times and places and realities that exist only in someone's imagination. What a world we live in! There was a time when literacy and book reading were considerably more complex, evasive and unattainable than the computer literacy that so many complain of today. As in all art projects, the first step in book making is to imagine the book, what it looks like, what it is used for, and what the author wants to put in it. This project can be applied to an unlimited number of ideas and subjects. We are going to look at two generic differences in book making. One has a Western cultural wellspring while the other has its antecedents in Eastern cultures. They are called the Codex and the Accordion fold. The accordion fold is simple and an extensive form that is incredibly versatile. The codex is a more complex idea in terms of organization and binding but is equally fun to experiment with. Let us start with the simpler form, the accordion book. This book can be made with your own handmade paper as discussed in a previous lesson or it can be made with regular commercial paper. The first step is to choose the paper for the body of the book. Then the size of each page and number of pages must be decided upon. Now it is time to fold the accordion. The easiest way to fold the perfect zigzag is always to begin folding into the center, not from one end which may seem more obvious. First, decide how wide you want each fold to be and multiply this measurement by how may folds you want. Sticking to an even number of folds makes it easier to measure. A fold is a division of a length of paper with a crease down the center. For example, if each fold is 4 inches wide and you want four folds, then the total length of your paper should be 16 inches. After you have mastered the accordion fold it is time to turn it into a booklet. First we need to 71

make the cover. This is done by cutting a piece of cardboard (matt board, paste board, oak tag or even corrugated card board). It should be 1/8 inch larger than the accordion fold on all four sides. Cut one for the cover and one for the back. Now cut two pieces of cover paper approximately 3/4 of a inch larger than the cover boards. The cover paper can be from any source like wall paper, scrapbook paper, contact paper, hand printed paper or hand made paper. Put the cover paper on the table face down and place the board on top centering it with equal extra paper on all edges. Glue the board to the cover paper. Be sure to keep the glue even or it will create a texture on the cover. Now fold the cover paper over the edge of the board evenly and secure with glue. The front cover and the back cover should now look like upholstered card board. In fact, you can pad the cover with tissue paper for a more upholstery look. This style of accordion book will use ties to clasp it closed. To attach the ties you will need to make a slot in the front board using a hammer and a chisel or a strong knife. To do this, you first have to find the halfway point of the board height and mark this point 1 inch in from the board edge. Measure the width of your ribbon and transfer this measurement to the board. Cut or chisel through the cover board. Cut two lengths of ribbon, one four times the width and one twice the width of the board. Stuff the ends of the ribbon into the slot and glue. Now it is time to glue the accordion folds in between the front and back cover. Protect the rest of the folded paper while applying glue to the outside front of the folded paper. Carefully apply it to the inside of the cover board making sure that you cover the edges of the cover paper which you have folded onto the back side of the front cover. Repeat this process on the back cover. When the project is finished it should look something like this with the ribbons in place to tie it closed. The second kind of book we are going to make is a codex. That means a book with turnable pages. There are a variety of codex constructions available. Wrap around books, pamphlet style, fold with ties, five--seven--and nine hole sewing and multi sectional sewing. We will do the simple sewing techniques here. Determine the kind and size of paper for the book. Remember we are going to glue on our prints of winter sports. Determine the number of pages. In this instance it will need to be an even number. If you use too many pages the thickness will distort the edges and they will have to be trimmed to be even. The first one to try is going to be the two hole. This is simply done by punching two symmetrical holes in the fold of the pages with an awl. A heavy needle or even a nail can be used to punch the holes. Using an appropriate string or thread (color, texture, and thickness you desire) or raffia and thread it through the holes with a needle and tie it off.

2 hole sewing.

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Other styles of sewing use more holes to make it sturdier and segmented books are only bound together groups of these small sewing projects. 5 and 9 hole stitching.

Bookmaking is obviously a very large idea. There are many ways to get the cover attached to the pages but the simplest is to cut a piece of oak tag or matt board or what ever you want to make it form and then cover it in the same manner as the cover to the accordion booklet and simply glue it onto the top of the front page and the back of the last page. For small books, the gap on the spine is not a functional problem. If aesthetically you desire to close the gap on the back of the book, bookbinding tape is a clean, colorful and functional option. Bookbinding tape can be ordered from most School District supply warehouses or from most craft stores. One last thing should be mentioned about mounting the prints or whatever you want in the book. If you print on the hand made paper, then each print can be trimmed and glued onto the page of the booklet. Each student should decide if they want one picture to a page or if they want prints facing each other. Another solution to this is to have each print accompanied by some writing--a poem or a description or even a title and artist card--which can be glued into the booklet on the facing side of the page. Dont forget to design and create an interesting cover print or something that will function as a good cover--glued to the cover-- with title of the book and authors name. Evaluation and Exhibition: Since most of the projects described in this lesson are similar, evaluation should be based on a students ability to make choices in narrow venacular. There will be similar relief prints of winter sports and similar construction in the bookmaking process so let us focus on exhibition. These little booklet should be exhibited under glass if possible. Some of the books can be opened to show the prints inside and some show the cover and some show the stitching. Some kind of didactic (written explaination) should accompany the exhibit along with personal name and title tags. Related Projects: These books can be made to house most any kind of art project. A real winner for Elementary students are books of computer graphics which they trade like trading cards until they get the illustrations they want and they mount them and bind them in book form. Books that have a story on one page and an illustration on the facing page are also popular. Vocabulary: accordion, codex, book, awl, binding, spine. Bibliography: Japanese Bookbinding by Kojiro Ikagami. Cover to Cover by Shereen La Plantz. Introducing Bookbinding by Ivor Robinson. The Book: Art and Object by Philip Smith. 73

Making a Sketchbook
Materials: Posterboard, one 8-1/2 x 11 sheet per student, cut in half (5-1/2 x 8-1/2) Medium weight, smooth paper, three 8-1/2 x 11 sheets per student, one cut in half (butcher paper works as does bond copy paper. Must fold without cracking) Good quality drawing paper, nine 8/12 x 11 sheets per student Big sewing needles Crochet cotton, two 1-yard pieces and one 15 piece per student Beads or small charms, 3-8 per student (optional) Make the front and back covers by laying one piece of posterboard on a piece of the smooth paper, as shown in figure 1. Glue the posterboard to the paper, a. Then cut the corners of the paper, b. Make sure you leave a small space between the corner of the posterboard and the cut so the paper will cover the edge of the posterboard. Fold all the drawing paper in half, width wise. Take one folded sheet and glue over the free

Fold the three angled sides of the paper up over the cardboard, and glue, c. Trim one small piece of smooth paper so it is just smaller than the cardboard, and glue down, d. Make the back cover the same way. 74

edge of the cover paper, e. See figure 2, below. Do the same with the back cover and one folded sheet of drawing paper.

Place two sheets of folded paper inside each other and place in the center of the folded sheet that is glued to the cover. Do the same with two sheets for the back cover. Place the last three sheets of folded drawing paper together, inside each other. You should have three groups of three sheets: one attached to the front cover, one attached to the back cover, and one separate. These groups of paper are called signatures. Using a straight edge, mark the center fold of each signature about 1 down from the top, 1 up from the bottom, and at two points equidistant between the two marks. Use the needle to make holes where the marks are, going through all three sheets of paper, figure 3.

Then arrange all three signatures so the holes are aligned and the front cover is facing out on one side and the back cover on the opposite side.

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Thread a needle with one of the 36 pieces of crochet cotton. For purposes of showing the steps in sewing the book together, the inside folds of the signatures are shown with the page width reduced in size, the insides of the signatures facing up. Solid lines show where the thread shows inside the signatures and the dotted lines where the thread goes on the outside.

Start sewing at 1. From inside the middle signature, push the needle through the hole to the outside, leaving a 4 tail of thread. Bring the needle through the hole at 2, going from outside to the inside of the front signature. Next, push the needle in at 3, going from inside the first signature to the outside. Come up at 4 to the inside and then back down and outside at 1. Come up at 5, go down at 6, and come up again at 4. Leave a tail at 4.

Do the same process for the bottom half of the book. Start by going down at 7, leaving a 4 tail. Come up through at 8 and then down at 9. Come up through to the inside at 10, and then down at 7. Bring the thread up through at 12, down at 11, and up through at 10. Tighten the threads and tie the tails at 4 and 10 in double half hitches. Retighten if necessary, and tie the tails at 1 and 7 together. Cut ends short, figure 5. Using the short piece of crochet cotton, string several beads or charms together and tie off both ends, leaving the needle on one end. On the outside of the book, push the needle under one of the top threads, shorten as desired, and tie off. Give students small pieces of blue styrofoam or of some soft printing medium like Safety Kut (you can find scraps of blue styrofoam insulation at building sites for free or you can buy a sheet of Safety Kut and cut it into small pieces). Using a pen or knife, have the students press a design into their piece of styrofoam.

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The students may choose to make a personal design, a design with a reference to a poem or an artwork or several students can make designs which they can use together to make a more complicated design. Even very simple designs can make an interesting pattern when the shape is turned and printed in slightly different colors of ink. See an example of a finished book, figure 6. Students may want to add their name to the front.

figure 6

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Easy Books
Objectives: Students will demonstarte their ability to follow directions, cut, and fold, as theymake simple folded books. Students will use descriptive language to write a short story or poem that relates to the shape of the book. Kite Book Materials: 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of construction paper, small pieces of yarn, glue, pens or pencils

Flying My Kite

Directions: Teacherenlarge the pattern to 8 across. Students will cut out the pattern and trace it onto their construction paper. After the star shape is cut out, students will fold, as indicated by the black lines. If you want, take away one section of the kite to make a smaller book. Students should write their poem and plan how it will fit on the pages of the book. Students will then write in their books. When the students are finished writing, they can glue a tail made of yarn to the point of the book. Tie small knots of yarn near the end of the tail. 78

A Simple Flower Book


Start with a half sheet of paper. Using a compass or a round object as a pattern, cut out a half circle. Mark the center of the half circle at C by folding A to B and creasing lightly just at C. Make a fold in the half circle and then fold the paper again and again. You should end up with a shape like D. A C B

Unfold the paper and draw a wavy line around the outer edge of the half circle. Cut along the line so your paper looks like E. Then fold the paper back up, and make any adjustments you want to to the shape. Cut out a leaf shape and glue to the back of the folded flower, like F. Write a description of how a flower looks, how it smells, or how you feel about flowers on the inside, so a reader opens the flower to find the message. (You can, of course, make the outer edge of the flower pointed instead of curved. F 79

Using Your Hand Book


1. This book would be suitable for just about any story or poem, but it is particularly wellsuited to something about the child, his life experiences, travels, etc. 2. On construction paper, trace the students hand with the fingers close together. You could do this with the fingers spread apart, but there would be more cutting involved and it could get a little tiresome. Fold the paper together (with the fold at the wrist) so that you have two equal sides-- now you can cut the front and back out at the same time. 3. Decide how many pages youll have in the book. Using your cover, trace around it onto the paper youll be using for the story. Remember when you cut the inside papers to cut them a little smaller than the covers so theyll fit inside. Then just write away on the hand-shape pages, illustrating as you go. 4. Decorate the cover with a title and illustration, slip the pages inside, then either staple or sew them together. If you use staples, plan to cover them with a small piece contrasting paper. See the example below.

If you staple the book closed, add a contrasting piece of paper over the end to cover the staples.

* A fun book with hand activities is Hands on, Thumbs up, by Camilla Gryski.

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FLEXIGON BOOK

CREASE PAPER INTO 16 RECTANGLES. REMOVE THE BOTTOM FOUR PANELS.

A) NUMBER THE SQUARES (AS SHOWN) IN BOTTOM CORNERS- CAREFULLY CUT ON DARK LINE.

B) TURN OVER, MAKING SURE YOU ONLY TURN THE PAPER ONCE TO THE RIGHT OR THE NUMBERS WONT LINE UP PROPERLY.

--TO TURN FLEXIGON, SIMPLY FOLD THE PAGES MARKED 2 BACK TO UNCOVER THE PAGES MARKED 3. THEN TURN BACK THE NUMBER 3S TO REVEAL THE 4S, THEN BACK AGAIN. -- YOULL HAVE 9 TO 12 SURFACES TO WORK WITH.

(Adapted from A Book of Ones Own, by Paul Johnson

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CD Book or Book in a CD Case


This is a fun book, but it takes a little work. I suggest it is a good project for older kids or in a classroom where you have a lot of Moms that like to help. I am doing a personal All About Me book with my 7th graders. We will design a front cover and a back cover, and then the kids will write one of the letters in their first or last name on consecutive pages. Well have to double-up on long names. Then the students will draw and/or find pictures to illustrate things about them. We will add one of their personal poems (from their English classes) as a second fold-out at the bottom. I used regular white drawing paper for the project. Two sheets of 12 x 18 paper for each student will do. We will make collages with their drawings and magazine pictures using glue sticks. Otherwise all well use will be pencils and colored pencils for color. Try to cut paper as accurately as possible. Ive made templates from oaktag cardstock so that there is a minimum of measuring for my students to do. Inside cover: 4-5/8 tall by 9-5/8 wide. Fold this over so that you have a front cover and an inside cover. Dont just use a 4-5/8 square piece of paper, you need the thickness to hold it in the tabs. Back cover: 4-5/8 tall by a scant 11. Fold this over. For content pages, make 1 or 2 sheets 4-5/8 by 18. If you add a second sheet, it will add 6 pages. See visual below. Slip cover in back. Put a little glue in corners to hold in place.

Slip cover papers under tabs

glue into back cover

attach second paper here

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Concertina Book Ideas


In Paul Johnsons book, Literacy Through the Book Arts, chapters 4, 5, and 6 concentrate on the Concertina book form. It is very versatile! The book can be 4 pages or longer depending on how you fold it or add to it. The following are just a few ideas: 1) Basic Fold Fold paper in half (crease hamburger style), then fold edges back (crease)

2) Basic Fold with Pockets Same as Basic Fold, but first fold the bottom edge of the paper up about 2 for the pockets. Cut two 1 x 2 pieces of paper to glue pockets in place. You can write the story on the upper part of each page, then put characters or add-ons in pockets.

3)SilhouetteVariation As in the Basic fold version, but now cut the top of the pages in shapes that match the story.

*Johnsons book has a wealth of fun variations of these plus ways to make windows and doors, etc.

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Bookmaking Ideas for Secondary


In addition to making high-quality sewn books, secondary students can experiment with more complicated shapes such as tunnel books. They can also try using or incorporating unusual materials in their books. Ive included a few samples I found using google image search.

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Mountains and Valleys


It has long been a tenet of creative writing that a writer should write about what she knows. However, we often dont pay enough attention to what we think we know. This lesson is about taking a fresh and more intent look at something the students know. Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to observe by looking at and talking about artworks that feature mountains and valleys. Students will use their senses to observe real mountains and valleys, and will create a mountain and Valleys book with a poem written on the book. Materials: Make a small poster, or several copies of the postcard of Mountain Solitude, by Paul Salisbury Make postcard-size copies of at least two other images of artworks featuring Utah mountains. Use artworks such as Farmington in Winter, LeConte Stewart; Springville Pasture, and Springville, My Mountain Home, John Hafen; Mt. Nebo Early Spring, John Heber Stansfield; Lawrence Squires, First Snowfall, City Creek Canyon; Louise R. Farnsworth, Hay Stacks; Land of the Morning, Hanson Duvall: All these artworks are available on the CD. There are many more appropriate images at smofa. org If you go to the Artwork by Title index, you can often tell just by the title that the artwork is probably suitable. If you live in another area of the state, you may want to choose other artworks that are more like the mountains and valleys where you live, or, choose a variety. If possible, make enough postcards for each group of 4-6 students to have postcards of 23 different paintings. Pass out the postcards to the groups and have the students talk with each other about the artworks. Ask them to share their ideas and feelings with each other by answering the following questions: What time of year is it? What time or kind of day? How do the artworks make you feel? How do you think the artist felt about the scene? What, in the artwork, tells you what the artist feels about the scene?

Then have students look at how the artist created the scene What are the most common lines? Colors? Shapes? What draws your eye the most? What words describe the scene in the paintings? 85

Then take the class outside and have them look around at the mountains and what they can see of the valley. You may want them to take notes and make sketches. Have them think about words that describe what they see, and what kinds of shapes, colors, and forms they see. Back in the classroom, teach them to make the mountain books, as shown on the following pages.
Gary E. Smith, Point of the Mountain

Students need a piece of paper that is long and skinnythe size can vary. Students will fold the paper as shown above, so the ends of the sheet overlap each other. (shown right) Students can decide how much they want theirs to overlap. After sketching ideas on scratch paper, students should lightly draw the silhouette of mountains and/or a valley on their paper. Remind students that they can cut more off if they need to, but they cant put any cut paper back on.

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After cutting out the silhouette, they can check the shapes and make any adjustments they want to.

The next step is to write their mountain and valleys poem and decide where the words will go in their book. Students may want to write their poem on the book next. This depends on whether they will be able to write on top of what they are using to color the book with.

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John Hafen, Springville Pasture

LeConte Stewart, Farmington in Winter

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The History of Books


A Balanced Visual Arts and Literacy Lesson on the History of Books
Objectives: 1. Art History: Students will learn about the origin of books and how other cultures have used them by listening to a lecture and seeing visuals. 2. Aesthetics: By reviewing several different types of books from a suggested list, students will be able to list five main literacy skills and explain why each is important to their education. 3. Art Production: Keeping their five main literacy skills in mind, students will plan, layout, and execute a handmade book of their own design using all necessary art materials. 4. Art Criticism: Students will be able to identify the literacy skills used in their book production as well as critique their own work using a four-step process. Art History: History of Books: Since the beginning of human kind, humans have wanted to leave a mark somewhere, saying we were here. Humans have used leather, bark, clay, soft metals, and papyrus to record everything from laws to cultural stories. The word bookis Old English in origin and means written sheet. Some of the earliest writings come from Mesopotamia and Egypt. Mesopotamians wrote in cuneiform on clay tablets. The Egyptians had official scribes that were trained in writing hieroglyphs on papyrus scrolls. In ancient times, ca. 300 B.C., there was a great library in Alexandria, Egypt, that was said to contain over 500,000 papyrus scrolls.

Cuneiform tablet loc.gov/rr/amed/guide/hs-intro. html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Image:Ancientlibraryalex.jpg

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In the 4th century B.C., the Greeks and Romans wrote on papyrus scrolls as well as on wax-covered wooden tablets. Some of the wooden tablets were hinged together with leather thongs or pieces of metal; a book like this was called a codex. This style of construction was the earliest form of what we would define as a book. The people of Asia used several different materials to write on and preserve their thoughts: silk, palm leaves, birch bark and stems of bamboo were all made into scrolls. The Chinese are given credit for inventing paper about the 2nd century A.D. and then developing printing techniques around 500 A.D.

wax tablets notaquadrata.ca/scribesIntro.html

By the 5th century, most Chinese writing used only paper. But, the paper was not yet made into what we would call books. In Thailand, pieces of bark were put together in an accordion style of book. These opened vertically and were then read horizontally. Bamboo pieces, which were plentiful in the orient, were polished and then woven together with silk cords or leather strips. Scribes would then write with ink and brushes on the slats.

Ancient Chinese writing commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:LiBai-Kalligraphie.jpg

From the 7th to the 12th century, the Islamic Arab Empire flourished. Because the Arab conquered the Chinese, Islamic scribes learned how to make paper and became great book writers. Cities like Damascus and Baghdad were centers for book production. The Muslim bible, the Koran, was compiled by copyists by 651 A.D. Copies of the Koran were beautifully decorated with elaborate borders, backgrounds, and patterns called Arabesques. The same copyists also worked to translate the works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. For over 2,000 years, the peoples of Europe, Africa and Asia used the skins of animals to preserve their thoughts. Sheep and goat skins were the first to be made into writing sheets called parchment.

The First Surah Koran commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Image:FirstSurahKoran.jpg

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It takes the skins of 12 sheep to make a 150- page book. Then it was discovered that calfs skin made an even finer type of parchment called vellum. Native Americans, on the other hand, used bison or buffalo skins to keep their tribes stories. And further South, the Aztecs used deerskins, banded together to become several yards long. Their sacred records are called amoxtlis. When the Roman Empire collapsed about the 5th century A.D., Europe went through digitalcollections.lclark.edu many changes. There were wars and invasions. The Christian religion became a main focus of most Europeans. Many Christian monasteries were established throughout Europe, and it was in these that most of the books of this period of time were written, from approximately 476 to 1453. The monks worked in scriptoriums using only natural light, no fires or candle light, for fear of fire. The parchment or vellum pages were large and expensive, so great care was taken when writing on them. Creating a single page took up to 4 or 5 monks: one to lay out the guide lines, one to do the calligraphy, one painted the illumination, and another did the gilding. Covers for these precious pages were very ornate-usually of carved, inlaid wood and leather.

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Image:Enluminure_Drogon_c.jpg

Because most people didnt read at this time (such books only belonged to the very wealthy, to kings, and the church etc.), the illuminator had the responsibility of illustrating what was happening in the text on each page so the reader could see the story unfolding. All the materials used were made from natural sources, but because these books were so precious, well taken care of, and respected, a number of them still exist today. 91

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Scriptoriummonk-at-work.jpg

The Chinese are given credit for first making paper. They soaked different materials such as plants, straw, tree bark, and even old fish nets in water, then beat them into a pulp. The pulp was then poured onto screens and pressed lightly, and then left out to drain and dry. When peeled off the screen, the dry fiber made a sheet of paper to write on. The use of paper was slow to spread because most people of the 2nd century didnt read or write. When it was introduced into Europe in the Middle Ages, people didnt trust paper.. In fact, paper had no legal standing or value, hence the old saying not worth the paper its written on. Not until the 12th century in Europe did paper mills become common. (There is a good film in the Nebo Instruction Media Collection, filed under History, called Did You Ever Wonder. . . How they Make Paper #48896.)
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image: Making_Paper.gif This site has 4 other images of Chinese papermaking as a slide show

Printing, as we know it today, had its start (again) in China and Japan. During the 6th century, words and images were being carved into wooden blocks that could be inked and then printed onto paper or even onto silk. In the 11th century, the Chinese invented the first moveable type that we know of. The Europeans were a little slower; it wasnt until the 1300's that they began printing from wood blocks.

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Chinese_movable_ type_1313-ce.png

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Johannes Gutenberg, in 1438, was the man who revolutionized printing in Europe with his special jewelers tools and an old wine press. Gutenberg is given credit for the Gutenberg Bible, dubbed Europes first printed book even though it was never signed or dated.

rationalargumentator.com/ johannes_gutenberg.jpg

From this time on, the printing of books became very complicated and was a strong business. Europeans of the late 14th century into the Renaissance had a thirst for knowledge. Their demand for the printed word sparked a new world of business. There were type makers, type setters,

A leaf from a copy of the Gutenberg Bible springfieldlibrary.org/gutenberg/images/gutenbibl1.jpg

printing press makers, paper makers, publishers, writers, bookbinders, guilders, fore-edge painters and booksellers, just to name a few of the new professions.
The writer Mark Twain commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:MarkTwain.LOC. jpg

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Not surprisingly, with all of this new availability of knowledge and exchange of ideas, some censorship occurred. Italy, France, and Germany became major publishing centers and the state and church kept close tabs on the content of what was being published. Throughout the 14th to 16th centuries, state and church in Europe were intertwined. If someone questioned the state or churchs authority or doctrine, that individual could be thrown into prison or even put to death. Of course there were always ways to get around such censorship. By the 17th century, people had written books on science, medicine, law, and even questionable little books of poetry, short stories, and novels. These were often printed small enough to fit inside larger, more respectable volumes. Governments, starting as early as 213 B.C., burned written material they deemed not useful, decadent, or dangerous. Censors wanted to suppress any ideas they didnt agree with . This censorship still goes on today, but usually, without book burning. (For further information on printing, there is an old, but good film called: Printing Transforms Knowledge from the series: The Day the Universe Changed. #42194. This can befound in the Nebo School District Media Collection and, probably, in some other school district media centers.)

Pedro Berruguete. Saint Dominic Presiding over an Auto-da-fe (a religious court) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pedro_Berruguete_-_ Saint_Dominic_Presiding_over_an_Auto-dafe_%281475%29.jpg

Libraries Thank heavens people through the centuries had the forethought to preserve so much of what was written and said. Libraries were a part of many ancient cultures. The Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans all had great libraries.

Book burning by the Nazis commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:1933-may-10-berlinbook-burning.JPG

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Many European cities have libraries that have been in existence since the Middle Ages. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Andrew Carnegie, the founder of what would become US Steel, donated millions of dollars to build over 2500 libraries in 9 different countries. There is something special about the feel and smell of a library with all of its wonderful bits and pieces of knowledge handed down through centuries of time. Of course, now that we have the computer, CD- roms, video tapes, and the like, libraries are not just for books on the written page, but, continue to evolve and change as technology changes. Childrens Books

Macomb Public Library, donated by Andrew Carnegie, Macomb, Illinois commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Macomb_Public_ Library.JPG

Children and story books seem to go hand in hand, but it wasnt until the early 19th century that there were books published especially for children. The first store in the U.S. dubbed a childrens bookstore was in Boston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1916. Many books were and still are written by one person, and then given to an illustrator to add the artwork. Now and then some writers have done their own little drawings, such as in the book, The Little Prince, written and illustrated by its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupery in 1943. Today there are many author/illustrators such as Maurice Sendak, Mary Englebreit, Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. Can you imagine the world without the wide variety of wonderful childrens literature that we now enjoy? We enjoy childrens books not only for their great stories but also for their wonderful art that makes the mind wander to other places and times. To close with a bit of wit and wisdom from Benjamin Franklin, If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing. Why not do both? The source for this history of books is The History of Making Books, by Scholastic. It is a book well worth purchasing.
Ted Geisel (Dr. Suess), creating drawings for How the Grinch Stole Christmas commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ted_Geisel_NYWTS.jpg

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Why literacy through the making of Books? Having your students make books is an excellent way to nourish interest in literacy. Paul Johnson, senior lecturer in Art Education at the Manchester Metropolitan University and director of The Book Art Project has created two wonderful books-- A Book of Ones Own: Developing Literacy Through Making Books, 1992, and Literacy Through the Book Arts, 1993. If youre serious about getting into book arts with your students, you couldnt buy two better books to give you all the ideas you need. In the words of Paul Johnson, It is so practical to make a book of words, graphics, and pictures, whether da Vincis Copter the aim is to explore ones creative potential (an illus- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Leonardo_helicopter.JPG trated poem) or make a scientific investigation (inventing a machine). Even in this electronic age the notebook has a valuable function; the jotting down of words or graphics is as essential to the programming of a thought as it was to Leonardo da Vinci. And practical is the operative word.

Lesson

Plan Ideas for Bookmaking

Art History: 1. Go over the history of books with the class. 2. Ask questions, such as: How long have books been around? Have books always looked the way they look today? What kinds of materials did ancient people write on? 3. Show some older books if you can get a hold of them, even old magazines, etc. 4. If you can watch the video suggested in the lesson-- about how paper changed the world-- it has a lot of helpful information. Aesthetics: 1. Show different types of books such as: table top (or display) books, storybooks with and without pictures, textbooks, pop-up books, even a fun book on tape or cd. Discuss the purpose of each of these, what attracts us to the book, why do we pick up one book and not another? Is it the smell, the pictures, the story, or the cover that attract us? 2. Record answers and responses from this part of your lesson to use later for art criticism and assessment. Art Production: Make your own books. Begin with an easy one, then advance as time allows to some of the more challenging ones. The two books in the bibliography on book making are excellent resources. Look at how the example books are laid out. 96

Art Criticism: Using some of the answers that were given in the aesthetic discussion, talk about how their work compares and contrasts with the published books. Were the illustrations important to their work? If so, how? Does your layout move the viewers eye around the title and illustrations? Does your type face fit the story and illustrations? Assessment: Using the information gathered in your art critic and aesthetics discussion, have students look critically at their own books. Have them possibly make up the rubric to be graded by. Of course you need to look at craftsmanship, layout, straight lines, illustration, application of color if any, etc. Bibliography Andrew Carnegie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_carnegie A Book of Ones Own: Developing Literacy Through Making Books, second edition,by Paul Johnson, copyright 1998, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H., ISBN 0-325-00014-X Literacy Through the Book Arts, by Paul Johnson, copyright 1993, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H., ISBN 0-435-08766-5 Pictures and Poetry: Activities for Creating, Janis Bunchman and Stephanie Bissell Briggs, Davis Publications, ISBN 87192-273-8 The History of Making Books, by Editions Gallimard Jeunesse, copyright 1995, Scholastic Voyages of Discovery Book, ISBN 0-590-47652-1

The Creative Journal for Children: A Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors, by Lucia Capacchione, copyright 1982, Shambhala Publications Inc., Boston, Mass., ISBN 0-87773-497-6

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98

The Narrative Arts


Objectives: Students will make connections between the visual arts and literature by writing a narrative that is sparked by looking at a painting. Students may be asked to focus on a specific writing skill or a series of skills that match your curriculum. Materials Narrative artworks from the packet: Jacob and Leah, Flight Practice with Instructor, and Hereford Roundup. Any appropriate artworks from Springville Museums posters, or UMFAs or BYUs MOA poster sets. Paper, pencils or pens, or computers If making books, see individual book instructions for materials list Many artworks are narrative in nature. Some artworks tell part of a story thats written down. We often term this kind of artwork an illustration because its most important function may be to illustrate or show, part of the story. Some artworks make a reference to a known story but also contain ideas that go beyond that story. Still other artworks set up a story that viewers can interpret or create themselves, based on the elements in the artwork. For example, Jacob and Leah by Bruce Smith makes a clear reference to the story of Jacob, in the Bible. Jacob works seven years to earn the hand of a woman hes fallen in love with, Rachel. However, Rachels father tricks Jacob Bruce Smith, Jacob and Leah and marries him to Rachels older sister, Leah. Church Museum of History and Art Although by working seven more years Jacob is also able to marry Rachel, hes still married to Leah as well. The painting by Smith took that awkward relationship as a starting point, but also comments on the difficulties of marriage relationships in general, of how hard it can be to establish a close relationship with someone who is very different from you. On the other hand, Flight Practice with Instructor, by Brian Kershisnik, is more open ended. The dream of being able to fly is fairly universal, but other relationships or meaning can be found as well. Minerva Teicherts piece Hereford Roundup fits somewhere in between: its about a specific kind of experience, but the story line can be the viewers own. Show students some examples of narrative artwork and ask them What is happening here? Allow students to respond. You may want to tell the students that Minerva Teichert wanted to create paintings that would let busy people read a story quickly. Then have students write a story based on what they think might be happening in one of the artworks. 99

1. For very young students, have a class discussion about what is happening in the artwork. Then have the class, as a group, make up a story that is based on that reading. The teacher can write the story on the board. The story can then be written up and placed in your reading center so students can read the story again. If possible, make a color copy of the artwork you read and put it with the story. 2. Spend 5-10 minutes as a class reading an artwork. (You will need a poster of an appropriate work. Then divide the class into small groups and pass out postcard reproductions of artworks. Allow each group to choose one artwork. The group should read the artwork, and write a story based on that reading. One student should be the scribe and write down the story. When the students are satisfied with their story, the group should make a clean copy of the story. Have the students share their stories with the class. One good approach is to have the students read the story, each student in the group taking a turn to read. Sometimes, a narrative lends itself to readers theatre and can be presented to other classes. Some students can be the sound people who make approriate sounds to liven the production. Use rhythm instruments, purchased or home made as well as found instruments. 3. Make a variety of postcard or small poster-sized images available to the students. Each Readers Theatre student will choose an artwork and will write several sentences about what is going on in the artwork. Then the students will write a story based on the artwork. If more than one student wants to use the same art work, thats okay. In fact, the variety of stories written based on one artwork can provide an interesting jumping off point for a discussion on the artists intent or personal interpretation of artworks. 4. Divide the student into small groups or complete the following lesson as a class. After introducing the approach by allowing students to read an artwork, have the students make up a story with each student contributing one line or one phrase. Make a copy of the story for the students to reread. (see the lessons on Calvin Fletcher and Georgia OKeefe) 5. You may want to have students create a book to write their stories in. See the lesson on bookmaking for ideas. Have students create drawings or paintings to go with the story.

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Art History Lesson


After completing a story based on an artwork, have students learn about the artist(s). If your students dont read well yet, you will need to tell them the information. If possible, have another artwork by the same artist that they can look at. (See the lessons on Georgia OKeefe, Calvin Fletcher, and Minerva Teichert.) Older elementary and middle school students can read information from the back of the elementary postcard set. Junior high or senior high age students can read the information from the backs of posters or can read about artists in books or on the web. Divide the students into groups and let them design and present a story of the artist. Give students a date for the presentation and then allow them to choose how and what they will portray. If students are unable to come up with a solution themselves, you may need to make a few suggestions. Some possibilities include the following: 1. Make a painting of people come alive. The characters may speak and/or act out a scene that begins or ends with the one pictured in the artwork. 2. Create an ad for an exhibition of the artists works. Include a list of some important art works and something interesting about the artist. 3. Try some of the artists techniques or make art with similar subject matter. Show the art works to the class and tell how they relate to what the artist does/did. 4. Design a game for the class to play about the artist. 5. Have a panel of experts talk about the artist and the artists art. 6. Organize an artmaking experience for the class that relates to their artist. 7. Find out what was happening in society that affected the artist and focus on that relationship. 101

8. Research to discover whose art or teaching affected their artist. Or, conversely, whose art was affected by the artist. They should show samples of artworks that demonstrate the connections between the artists. 9. Students can find examples of other arts that have a connection to their artists works. (i.e. dance, drama, or music.)

Self-portrait by Robert Henri, Minerva Teicherts teacher Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery

Portrait by Minerva Teichert

Aesthetics Lessons
1. Russell Martin, author of Picassos War: The Destruction of Guernica and the Masterpiece that Changed the World, a book about Picassos painting Guernica, says that art is one of the best ways we have to make meaning of our lives, to come to terms with difficult experiences. Have students choose one of the artworks from the earlier lesson and write an explanation of how that artwork might help someone deal with difficult experiences in their life (or celebrate the good times, since all experience is not difficult.). Young elementary students will need to dictate their ideas to someone. (See the lesson on Preliterate Literature) 2. Give the students the following puzzle: You own the painting Jacob and Leah, but you want to sell the painting. You have been approached by a man who thinks he wants to buy the painting. The amount of money the man will pay you depends on whether he considers the painting an illustration or Fine Art. Use specific information from the painting to convince the man the painting is Fine Art. Have students work with a partner, one being the person who wants to sell the artwork 102

and the other the dubious buyer. Or, you may have students write their responses as individuals or as small groups. 3. Have students discuss when an artwork is illustration and when it is fine art. Or, have students discuss whether there is a difference. Instead of a class discussion, have students choose a side, argue that side with another student. Then students will change sides and argue the other position with a different student. 4. Divide students into six small groups. Give each group one of the postcards from this packet. Each group should decide what the value of that artwork is to them, to their community, and to society as a whole. Allow each group time to share their ideas with another group or with the class. 5. Divide the class into small groups and give each group a postcard from this packet. Each group will decide what part of society that artwork would have the most value for. Students must come up with at least three reasons. (If they have to find three reasons it will help students go beyond the most obvious, simple reason such as that cowboys will value Hereford Roundup the most.) Another possible approach is to have students choose three groups that will value the painting and say why.

Art Criticism
Divide the students into small groups. Give each group an image from this packet. Ask the students to look at the images of the artworks and discuss their first reactons to the artwork. Remind them that different people will react differently to each artwork. Then ask students to think about specfic things they could identify in the artwork that contribute to their response. For example, a student might say that Hereford Roundup is exciting. When asked why, he might identify the subject matter; personal experiences with riding horses or with cows; the repeated curving, active lines in the painting that create a sense of movement; the train speeding through the background; the sections of bright color; or the pattern in the border. If students need help identifying what creates their response, suggest they think about the individual elements and principles of art as well as the total composition. They should also consider how the artist has touched on their personal experiences to evoke a response. This kind of discussion improves students ability to talk about and understand art, and also to refine their thinking processes. 103

104

Learning to Read an Artwork


Identifying the literacy components of an art criticism model 1. Become literate, critical consumers of their visual culture If a pictures worth a 1000 words, then what are the skills needed to provide articulation?

Criticism & Literacy

Before:

Introduce to the students that they are going to learn how to conduct a critique on an artwork (Setting a purpose for reading)

Explain that it will be a game format and they need

to organize in small groups and assign a scribe. The How could you start a conversation with class will be shown an artwork and the teams are to this artwork? describe everything they see in the artwork. The scribe is to write down the team members responses. Establish the time limit and explain that the team with the most items on their list will win. (Setting up procedures for reporting)

During:
Gut Reaction making predictions, judging, stating opinions

Description describe what you

see, decode, reinforce descriptive language, promote observational skills, activate background knowledge

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During:
Procedure: Scribes count up the items on their list and the team with the longest list then reads their items for the class. The other teams are encouraged to challenge items on the list that might be questionable (e.g., birds, storm, fear). Award the winners and post the term Description The title of this artwork is Acicula. The word means and identify it as the first step in the Feldman the spine or bristles on some animals or plants. model of criticism. Have the students identify The artists name is Rod Walker and he made this sculpwhat kinds of things they described (objects and ture in 1995. It is big: 51-1/2 x 19 x 42. elements) (Teacher naming the strategy).

During:

The sculpture is made of curving pieces of wood with hundreds of old-fashioned nails sticking in it.

Procedure: Explain that the next step is Analysis and in that step you analyze how the artist used the elements of art to achieve principles. The teacher models several examples and helps the students analyze several elements on their own. (Student guided practice of strategy) Analysis understand art terminology (elements and principles), analyze how elements are used to achieve principles, connect visual input with formal analysis

During:
Procedure: Explain that the next step is Interpretation and in which you interpret the meaning of the work. Start by asking what the work is about. Gradually provide more back ground information (e.g., title, artist, date, biographical and contextual information) (Teacher modeling of strategy) Interpretation activate background knowledge, infer, comprehend symbols, extend thinking, do and apply research, determine meaning, revise predictions, question

During:
Procedure: Explain that the next step is Judgment and this includes two parts: informed and personal preference. Explain the difference and encourage the students to support their opinions. Explain that the two judgments can contradict. Model procedure. (Teacher modeling of strategy) Judgment establish criteria, distinguish between personal and informed preferences, support opinions, state facts, articulate views, assess evidence, conclude summarize, apply and evaluate information

After:

Extend thinking after viewing (What changes would you make? Do you feel different
about the work now? What is different?)

Procedure: Explain that the students will conduct a similar critique with peer student. Provide a handout with procedures to aid the student. The students will type up the results of their critique or give a verbal report and summarize their conclusions as the outcome of the experience (Student independent practice of strategy) 106

Reading Art
Visual Literacy and Propaganda
Target Grade Level: Grades 7-12 State Standards: Standard 2: Students will find meaning by analyzing, criticizing, and evaluating drawings Standard 3: Students will create meaning in drawings Standard 4: Students will find meaning in drawings through settings and other modes of learning Objectives: Students will understand the need for visual literacy in our modern society Students will understand the printmaking process Students will interpret several visual messages including examples from fine art and from WWII posters Students will investigate how to read and interpret visual literature Students will create a written response to a piece of visual literature Students will create their own visual message that pertains to society today. Learning Tasks: 1. Read and discuss the following information Guns, tanks, and bombs were the principal weapons of World War II, but there were other, more subtle forms of warfare as well. Words, posters, and films waged a constant battle for the hearts and minds of the American citizenry just as surely as military weapons engaged the enemy. Persuading the American public became a wartime industry, almost as important as the manufacturing of bullets and planes. The Government launched an aggressive propaganda campaign with clearly articulated goals and strategies to galvanize public support, and it recruited some of the nation's foremost intellectuals, artists, and filmmakers to wage the war on that front. http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_persuasion_intro. 107

.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/collections/ wwii-posters/

html Discussion questions: How did artists, writers and filmmakers become an important part of the war effort? How can words and images be as important as bullets? Emphasize that printmaking is one art form that distributes information to the masses What are common printed materials that spread information? (books, newspapers, magazines, postal stamps, comic books) 2. Show examples of war posters. (Multiple images can be found at the following address: archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/warning/warning.html Explain that the posters can be divided into two parts, which represent two psychological approaches used in rallying public support. Without explaining the two philosophies, allow students to place the posters into two groups. When they have finished, explain the two categories, which are posters that motivate, and posters that threaten. Share the following examples:

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These posters motivate the viewer by instilling patriotism, confidence, and a positive outlook. Patriotic colors of red, white and blue predominate. Pictures of fists, muscles, tools and artillery convey American strength. American heroes and familiar national symbols appeal to patriotism. These posters rock people out of their complacency with grim, unromantic visions of war. They depict the human cost of war, confronting the viewer with corpses, bloodshed, and gravestones. These images appeal to darker impulses, fostering feelings of suspicion, fear, and even hate. 3. Discuss questions such as the following: Are these pieces more than just art? What kinds of visual messages are being portrayed? Are these posters as powerful as a newspaper article? Why has the government chosen to add words to this artwork? Which posters are more powerful to you? Posters that threaten, or posters that motivate? 4. Invite students to choose one poster that appeals to them. Students will write a one-page response to the poster. They may choose to write as if they were the artist, the enemy, someone in the poster, a member of the U.S. army, or a U.S. civilian. Students must explain how the poster makes them feel. What effect does the poster have on them? 5. Introduce students to Kthe Kollwitz and Elizabeth Catlett. Share brief biographies and artwork of both women. Emphasize that both Kollwitz and Catlett focused on societal concerns. As a class, list all areas of modern-day societal concerns. Examples may include the following ideas: environment, overcrowding, drugs, gangs, famine, wars, animal rights, etc. 6. Encourage students to choose a concern that appeals to them. Using their topic, students must brainstorm how they might depict that concern. When they have a few good ideas, students will complete two thumbnail sketches. 7. Explain and demonstrate the process of linoleum block printing. Show materials and explain tools (brayer, linoleum cutter, burnishing tool, etc). Students will then transfer their drawing to the linoleum block. 8. When the print is complete, students are encouraged to make multiple prints in order to distribute them to the masses. Remind students that they have created a visual message to help the world become more literate about a specific issue. 109

Elizabeth Catlett, Colored Only UMFA

On this page is an example of an updated WWII poster and the original poster. The updated version is by Bill Maher, a writer who believes the governments approach to US citizens abouy what they can do as part of the War on Terrorism is too soft. The poster is on the cover of Mahers new book, which amazon.com describes as follows: Political provacateur Bill Maher tells it like it is in a useful and hilarious guide for the many Americans who want to do more

The WWII poster archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_ persuasion/warning/warning.html Victory Waits on Your Fingers Produced by the Royal Typewriter Company for the U.S. Civil Service Commission NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-44-PA-2272) We Can Do It! by J. Howard Miller Produced by Westinghouse for the War Production Co-Ordinating Committee NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-179-WP-1563) Because Somebody Talked!

Bill Mahers version en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_You_Ride_Alone_You_ Ride_With_Bin_Laden:_What_the_Government_ Should_Be_Telling_Us_to_Help_Fight_the_War_on_ Terrorism by Wesley, 1943 Printed by the Government Printing Office for the Office of War Information NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-44-PA-227A) Printing Office for the Office of War Information NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-44-PA-380) You Talk of Sacrifice...He Knew the Meaning of Sacrifice! Produced by Winchester NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-179-WP-1386)

Man the GunsJoin the Navy by McClelland Barclay, 1942 Produced for the Navy Recruiting Bureau NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-44-PA-24) Keep These Hands Off! by G. K. Odell NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-44-PA-97)

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Visual and Verbal Strategies for Learning


Cindy L. Clark clare754@alpine.k12.ut.us The arts not only give expression to the profound urgings of the human spirit, they also validate our feelings in a world that deadens feelings. Now, more than ever, all people need to see clearly, hear acutely, and feel sensitively through the arts. These skills are no longer just desirable. They are essential if we are to survive together with civility and joy. Ernest Boyer Tomorrows workforceand especially its leaderswill need broad abilities beyond technical skills. There will be a demand for people who are creative, analytical, disciplined, and self-confidentpeople who can solve problems, communicate ideas, and be sensitive to the world around them. Hands-on participation in the arts is a proven way to help develop these abilities. And what are young people learning when they learn the arts? To use their minds in verbal and non-verbal ways. To communicate complex ideas in a variety of forms. To understand what someone else is trying to tell them in words, sounds, or images. To imagine new possibilities and to do the hard work of making them happen. To appreciate quality. Our public schools must educate children to be fully literate, which in the twenty-first century will clearly include arts-derived knowledge. Longley, Laura Gaining the Arts Literacy Advantage Education Leadership, October 1999, p. 71-74. Pictures as well as words are important to human beings in their communication. We need to expand our narrow definition of literacy to include visual dimensions, and in so doing answer the call of researchers for the recognition of multi-literacies and ways these literacies can work to complement each other. Hubbard, Ernst 1994.

Reading Text and Art


Before During After Activate prior knowledge Monitor understanding Explain Build schema Make connections Interpret Preview Ask questions Apply Build anticipation Infer/predict Explore self Determine importance Pursue new paths Synthesis Ultimate goal: Students become effective learners WITHOUT our guidance. 111

ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE


Activating prior knowledge helps students to search their knowledge and life experiences for what they already know about the topic or what they can discover from looking at the artwork. This helps students connect new knowledge to the old. ABC LISTS 1. Divide page into twelve squares. 2. Label squares AB, CD, EF, GH, IJ, KL, MN, OP, QR, ST, UV, WXYZ 3. In each square, list as many words as you can think of that begin with the letters. BRAIN DRAIN 1. Divide the class into small groups. 2. Im going to give you a topic (or an artwork). When I say GO, your group is to generate as many words or phrases about the topic (or artwork) as you can in (3) minutes. Try to drain your brain onto the paper. Decide who will write your list. The topic (or artwork) is ___________. Ready GO! 3. Time students. Call time. 4. Teams count items and share lists. Find the group with the most unique items, OR have teams pass their lists to another group OR call for one group to read this list and for others to add information to their lists. 5. End with, What else do you know about ___________ that has not been discussed? What are some questions you have about what you have observed? 112

LIST, WEB, and QUESTION 1. Decide key categories of information students should know. 2. Have students make lists of prior knowledge about the toping as in Brain Drain. After the lists are made, show them a WEB with the categories listed and have them group what they know under each. Same web chart: http://www.sdeoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/tchester.htm 3. After looking at the finished web, have students think of authentic questions they have about the topic. Authentic questions are those students ask because they do now know the answers and are curious to know. KWHL 1. Students list what the already KNOW about a topic. 2. They list what they WANT to know or dont want to know. 3. They list HOW they think they can find out. 4. After the lesson, they list what they have LEARNED that they didnt know before. Chart found at http://www.graphic.org.kwhl.html

BUILD SCHEMA
Schema is what you know (previous knowledge) and how your brain has chosen to organize it. Schema reflects the experiences, conceptual understandings, attitudes, values, skills, and strategies a person uses to interpret new information. Learning occurs best when schema is sufficient enough to allow the brain to understand new material and incorporate this new material into the existing schema. The main goal in learning is to connect the new to the known. There are three ways to make these connections: Art-to-Self: Relate the art to something personal. Art-to-World: What does the art teach about the outside world? Society? History? Art-to-other Art: Viewer relates ideas from one artist to another artist. Are the concepts/styles the same or different? SEEKING INFORMATION 5, 3, 2 1. Identify key concepts and artist assumes viewers already know and that are needed to understand the painting, but that students may in fact not know at all. They lack the necessary schema. 2. Please learn all you can about __________ by asking me YES/NO questions. After you have asked five of these questions you may ask any three clarification questions and I will try to answer them with good explanations. Then I will ask you two questions that I would have asked if I were you and we till try to answer them. 113

3. Continue as above with the other key concepts students need for understanding content in the artwork.

Wanting to know helps increase the likelihood that understanding will occur. PREDICT FROM OBJECTS 1. Bring in objects that relate to the concept being taught. Have students predict what these objects have to do with the topic. 2. They list their guesses. 3. They examine the artwork or read material and see what changes they need to make in their predictions. What evidence is there to convince them to change?

BUILD ANTICIPATION

Help the student to look over several works by an artist. OR Help students look over a piece of text so that they have a framework for the whole. This gives them hooks for new knowledge. PREVIEW INTERVIEW 1. Students prepare to interview an artist as they look at his/her works of art. In pairs, students examining the work with different roles. a. Previewer looks at artwork and describes techniques, media, subject, elements, principles, etc. Then he/she tries to say what it is abouttries to capture what content seems to be expressed. b. Interviewer listens without looking at the art, and asks one or two authentic questions about the art. c. Students do not attempt to answer questions yet. They will do that when they interview the artist. 2. They switch roles, and look at other works of art by the same artist. 3. When finished preview, they have looked over the artwork, tried to ascertain essential information from each work, and developed questions to guide their learning and enhance their curiosity. Now they interview the artist as they examine the work individually. LOOK ALOUD/THINK ALOUD (modeled after a read aloud) HOOK: share your enthusiasm for the topic, and show a part of the art that was surprising, fascinating, or puzzling for you. Suggest that students look with the same enthusiasm. Ask them to share things they find surprising, fascinating, or puzzling. 1. Students do not have a copy of the art, yet. Read them the title, and see if they can predict the subject or content. 2. Describe a section or tow of the artwork as you Look Aloud, showing how you process visual images with energy, insight, connections, and inquiry. 3. Invite students to look aloud/think aloud with you. Discuss, predict, clarify, question. Do this for several minutes as you examine the artwork. Pause for students to Look Aloud. As they learn to think, apply art concepts, and discover meaning. 4. Have students continue to examine artwork in pairs. Encourage them to be aware of their thinking as they examine art. 114

PREVIEW

DURING OBSERVATION/READING QARs (Question / Answer / Relationship) THE FINE ART OF QUESTIONING RATIONALE: (see Vacca and Vacca, Content Area Reading, New Your: Longman, 1999. P. 59-63). The type of question asked to guide comprehension should be based on the information readers need to answer the questions. Therefore, teachers must help students become aware of likely sources of information as they respond to questions. In addition, students can learn to generate their own questions about reading material. Harry Singer contends, Whenever readers are involved in asking questions, they are engaged in captive comprehension. Some questions are textually explicit (face or definition questions)with answers found right there in the text. Other questions invite the student to thing about information they have read and searched for ideas that are related. These questions are textually implicit (thought questions). Still other questions require students to rely on their own prior knowledge and experience (opinion questions). QARs (Question-Answer-Relationships) make explicit to student the relationships that exist among the type of question asked, the text (or artwork), and the readers prior knowledge. Students comprehend at different levels of response. WHY IS QUESTIONING IMPORTANT! Research reports that teachers ask lower-level questions and assess comprehension rather than teach it. Teachers often encourage students to satisfy the teachers or texts purposes, not their own. Student-generated questions have two advantages (a) they make reading an active process; (b) they force the reader to focus on the material to be learned. Studies indicate that if we want students to do something we must teach them how. Self-questioning is more effective for low ability students than high ability students.

Students at all grade levels can be taught to generate questions and those of low verbal ability benefit most. First, teachers could become familiar with the different types of questions. Then they could teach students these differences. (That is what we are going to do in this lesson).

Student-generated questions increase motivations: Students take a more active role in their learning Students learn to guide their won thinking It places the responsibility for learning on the students, increases their attention, and allows students to take corrective action 115

Bibliography: Research Ash, B.H. (1992) Student-made questions: One way into a literacy text. English Journal, 81(5) 61-64. Crapse, L. (1995) Helping students construct meaning through their own questions. Journal of Reading 38, 389-390 Giullespie, C. (1190) Questions about student generated questions Journal of Reading 34, 250257 Nolan, R. (1191) Self questioning and prediction. Combining metacognative strategies. Journal of Reading 35, 132-138 Vacca and Vacca (1999) Content Area Reading, New York: Longman, 59-63 PROCEDURE: Teach students strategies for generating answers for each type of question. Then teach them how to ask questions of each different type. Fact Questions: (Explicitly/right there) These questions have single answers. They are not subject to interpretation, but are based on clear information. Sometimes we know the answer to a fact question immediately, but sometimes we must look up the answer in a book, as a resource person for help, or calculate results. No matter the strategy, answers to these questions are solid and are not open to interpretation. There are right answers, which make these the simplest questions to answer. Thought Questions: (Implicit questions/requires synthesis and gathering of information) These questions ask for analysis and explanationor present alternatives. They do not have single answers as fact questions do, and generally require using evidence or examples for support. Opinion Questions: (Rely on prior knowledge and experience) These questions ask for value judgments based upon individual feelings. They can be answered yes or no or I agree or in some other similar format. They should require an explanation of why to support the opinion. Not all people will have the same responses, but the responses will be direct and personal. There is not right or wrong answer for an opinion question.

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Compare van Goghs style with Gauguins. How are they alike? Different?
Paul Gauguin, Landscape with Horse and Vincent van Gogh, The Harvest Both images from commons.wikimedia.org

THE FINE ART OF QUESTIONING Of all qualities, questioning is fundamental to being human. It is how we dispel confusion, probe into new areas, strengthen our abilities to analyze and deduce. It is how we learn about other people and deepen friendships. Those who take the time to ask thoughtful, provocative questions are those who help us learn about ourselves. Through their questions, we also learn about them. P. 99-100 Mosaic of Thought by Keene and Zimmerman Directions: Answer the following questions which will be used for a discussion later. 1. What is your mothers first name? 2. Compare van Goghs style with Gauguins. How are they alike? Different? 3. Who was van Goghs brother? 4. Compare an art class with an English class. 5. Do you like classical music? Why? 6. What is surrealism? 7. Do owls usually hunt in the day or night? 8. Do you like cold weather? 9. Do you like post modernism better than impressionism? Why or why not? 10. How much money do you have with you? 11. How many letters are in the alphabet? 12. Do you like Coke classic? 13. Explain the similarities between an artist and a writer. 14. Have you ever been rollerblading? 15. Should we reduce class sizes? 16. Does art help cure social ills? 117

17. What is an analogous color scheme? 18. Why should we have school assemblies? 19. Is it snowing today? 20. Who threw himself down the stairs to feel the sensation of falling and bit the head off a bat? Directions: Read the text and write questions that cannot be answered with a yes or a no or a one-word answer. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Write a question that asks about an important detail in the text. Create a question about something that is puzzling in the text. Write a cause and effect question. Compose a compare/contrast question. Write a question that addresses a future outcome. Compose a question that relates to values and principles.

Directions: Examine the artwork and write questions that cannot be answered with a yes or a no or a one-word answer. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Write a question that asks about an important detail in the artwork. Create a question about something that is puzzling in the artwork. Write a cause and effect question. Compose a question that addresses a future outcome. Compose a question that relates to values and principles.

Why did the artist choose this particular point of view? 118

Comic Book Project


Objectives: Students will design and paint their own comic book character Students will identify attributes of their comic book character Students will complete the Choose Your Hero worksheet Students will understand and complete gesture drawings Students will learn how to exaggerate emotional expression Students will identify foreground, middle ground and background in an artwork Students will write an original story about their comic book character Utah State Standards: Standard 1 objective 1Students will explore a variety of art media, techniques and processes. Standard 1 objective 2Students will create works of art that show the use of the art elements and principles. Standard 3 objective 1Students will create content in works of art. Standard 4 objective 2Students will synthesize art with other educational subjects. Standard 4 objective 3Students will evaluate the impact of art on life outside of school Motivation Invite a comic book artist to come to the class and present his/her artwork. The teacher may choose to contact John Ortiz, who will come and present his project entitled Tap The Talent. Teachers may choose to have students look at other student work on the following web sites: www.tapthetalent.com. Or at http://dragonskeep.com/comics/tap_the_talent/contest2/contest2.shtml. Learning activities 1. Show students several examples of comics and comic books. 2. Invite students to read several of the comic books. 3. Invite students to complete the Choose Your Hero worksheet. 4. Give examples and explain the process of gesture drawings of figures. Teachers may choose to have a few students model for the rest of the class. As they draw, students should remember these three things: a. Draw general to specific b. Exaggerate emotional expressions c. Exaggerate body poses 5. Invite students to choose their best gesture drawing, and transfer it to a nice piece of paper. a. At this stage, students should add details such as costume, jewelry, facial expressions, etc. 6. Students will trace over their lines with a permanent sharpie marker in order to complete a finished line drawing. 119

7. Students will add a background or setting to their character. They must add: a. Foreground b. Background c. Middle Ground 8. When all of the details have been carefully traced in permanent ink, students may add watercolor paint to the drawing. Remind students to pinch all of the water out of their brushes before they begin or the color will bleed all over the paper. 9. Students will write a one-page story about their comic book character. It should include details about where they live, whom they protect, what their special powers are, and anything else that will help the reader to understand their character.

Choose Your Hero!! Comic Book Character Development


Please answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper!! 1. Select your character from the following list: a. Animal b. Machine c. Robot d. Insect e. Human f. Vegetable g. Toy h. Monster i. Other______________ 2. Is he/she a hero or a villain? 3. What is his/her cause? (Defending the city, saving the planet, making chaos, etc) 4. Describe his/her world. (Underground, Outer Space, In the Sewers, In the trees, On Mars, etc.) 5. What does he/she look like? (Big nose, long arms, no eyes, etc.) 6. What are his/her special skills? (Flying, X-ray vision, Photographic memory, etc.) 7. What is your Characters name? 8. Describe his/her enemy. (Is it a force? Is it a person? Place? Time?) 9. Describe his/her background. (Where are they from? Were they born with special talents?) 10. Describe his/her community. (Big City, Small town, etc.) 11. Describe his/her family. 12. What is his/her profession? 13. What are some possible story lines you may choose to write? 14. RESOURCES Once you have completed questions 1-13, begin to gather resources to draw from. You MUST have at least 3 sources to draw from. For instance, if you have chosen an insect, you must find at least 3 USEFUL pictures to draw from. The more resources you find, the better your drawing will be.

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Be a Visual Poet
Content Indicators: Aesthetics- Students will know: -a number of aesthetic questions which deal with each of the aesthetic stances. Art History-Students will know: -examples of art showing the use of each visual poetic device as a communication tool. Art Criticism- Students will know: -aesthetic stances for judging art Art/Design Studio- Students will know: -various media techniques Visual Culture- Students will know: -how advertising uses visual poetic devices as a persuasive tool. Process Indicators: Aesthetics- Students will be able to: -choose specific aesthetic clusters to investigate through his/her own artwork. -develop questions adressing issues faced in the aesthetic clusters. Art History-Students will be able to: -identify the use of visual poetic devices in various artworks. -keep a contractual agreement to explore a chosen visual poetic to communicate through his/her own artwork. Art Criticism- Students will be able to: -analyze his/her personal aesthetic stance used when judging artwork. -judge the artwork of his/her peers as well as personal works through various aesthetic philosophic stances. Studio- Students will be able to: -explore personal views, thoughts, and feelings through a chosen visual poetic and chosen medium and process. Visual Culture: Students will be able to: -identify the use of visual poetics in the media and decypher the success of these devices. Vocabulary Symbol, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Rhyming, Personification, Metonymy, Synecdoche, Paraphrase, Quotation, Allegory, Puns, Analogy. Resources Teacher: -images representative of each visual poetic the students can choose from -art journals and magazines Students: -Magazines paper pencil pencil sketchbook various media materials Instruction Lesson Motivation: Have students find examples of contracts from home, make copies and bring one to school. Students should analyze the terms and conditions of the contract. Explain to the students that for this lesson they will be signing a contract to accomplish all work. Each basic assignment will be laid out for them. They must then write their own terms and conditions for the contract. Perhaps, tell students the highest number of points possible is 100. Ask them what they expect each area explored to be worth. They should also consider the 123

consequences of failure to fulfill the written contract. Aesthetics: Have students choose from a list of aesthetic questions. The students will respond to that question with their artwork or in written form. The students decide how they will explore this question extensively. They may want to survey their peers or observe student reactions to different artworks and then reflect upon these. Here are some examples of aesthetic questions students may want to focus on: -What is art? -What is beauty? -Does the process involved in creation make something more or less art? -Does art need to have a concrete and supported purpose or idea attached to it? -Is the audience or the artist more important to an artwork? -Does art have to be ethical? -Can an artwork be both ugly and beautiful all at once? -Must art be a search for truth? What if lies are used to find truth? -How should one put a value on art? -Can anyone be an artist at anytime? -Are realistic depictions in artworks more effective then abstract? -Does art have to be displayed in a museum? -Are certain materials more effective as art mediums than others? -Can the audience truly understand an artwork if it reminds them of their own past? Art History: 1. Students will sign a contract (see Be a Visual Poet contract) in which they have chosen a specific visual poetic to explore in all the areas of art. A list of many visual poetic devices will be given and an artwork should be shown which models this particular device.

Visual Poetic Devices Symbol objects or signs that have acquired secondary meanings through much usage and time. For example, the symbol of a candle that has just been blown out can mean death has occured. Simile One thing is likened to another. In an artwork, two objects may be placed in an image in such a way that they are being related to one another. Metaphor This is like a simile, but stronger. This is saying that one thing IS another thing. This can be shown through juxtaposition or superimposition of two images. Hyperbole These show exaggeration or excess. In an image, something unrealistic is shown whether the size or color or some subject matter in a situation that is highly unlikely to happen in reality. Alliteration/ Rhyming Involve repetitions of similiar sounds that link text, in images repetition of form, color, and brushstroke can think ideas and images together. Personification Ideas are represented through animals or people. Cartoons are a good example of this. Putting a face on some object or making it seem animorphic is using this device. Metonymy Change of name. This is often found in slang but can be used visually, like ice being a substitute for diamonds. Synecdoche Parts that stand for the whole. Like the father being the head of the family. Allegory Using one subject to address a different subject. Like using a football teams defensive line as a strategy to explain tactics to protect yourself in relationships. Paraphrase Shorter version of a concept or story. This may use the most important images to get a point across. Quotation Could be recording an actual event Puns A play on words visually. A traffic jam could be drawn as a jam bottle with cars piled up inside. Analogy One connection is paralleled to the relation or connection of two other things. For example, a seed is to an apple as a person

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is to a car. This can be drawn literally in an image to compare the two objects and how they relate Criticism: 1. Students should review the various judging philosophies (handout of Aesthetic Philosophies) in art. 2. Each student should analyze his or her personal beliefs about art and choose a philosophy of art that best describes the way he or she thinks. 3. The artwork that the student creates in the Studio portion of the lesson should be critiqued through the philosophy chosen ( See handout p. 104). A critical review should be written by the artist about his or her own artwork. How does his or her piece fit the mold of this philosophy of art? 4. Along with the philosophy chosen, the artwork should also be criticized through a criticism model, such as the Anderson Model. Use the expansion of the Anderson Model with visual poetics as a base. Studio: 1. Students should first make a list of various topics, feelings, and ideas they would like to communicate through their artwork. These could be personal communications or reflections on politics, economics, ethical, or social issues (students can use the topic and vehicle mapping sheets for any visual poetic device they choose to use). 2. Once the student is aware of what he or she wants to communicate, the problem becomes how he or she will successfully communicate this through an artwork. Each student is to solve the problem in front of him or her. 3. Explain some brainstorming processes that students have probably used in the past in

their writing classes. A thought web is a good example. For every idea, have students write down as many images that would be symbolic to that idea Depending on the visual poetic chosen by the student the images may vary. Is something intended to be a literal depiction or is something used to represent something else? What images are most successful at portraying abstract ideas and thoughts? 4. Once the artwork has been brainstormed, the student can choose any medium available in the classroom to accomplish his or her art goal. Students should not only think about the medium they use, but also the size of the artwork and where the artwork should be displayed and for how long.

Visual Culture: 1. Students should find one example in the Visual Culture realm that uses their chosen visual poetic as a tool of communication. This example can be in the film industry, magazine and advertising, fashion, or any other design field. 2. Students should dissect this example and write a paper describing the use of the chosen visual poetic and whether or not they find it to be successful in communicating the intent. Extension For those gifted and talented students or those who may finish early, a further sketchbook assignment can be given. Have students write a literary essay using their literary device in words. Which describes or carries their point more effectively? Was his or her artwork more effective or was the written description?

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Be a Visual Poet Contract I __________________, hereby enter into this contract on ______________. I (name) (date) vow to explore a chosen Visual Poetic device in the areas of Art History, Aesthetics, Art Criticism, Studio, and Visual Culture. The culmination of my exploration and research will be an artwork that expresses my personal views on a chosen subject, issue, or feeling. Details of chosen poetics and exploration are as follows: (Any additional terms and conditions are attached to this contract, also signed) Visual Poetic Device______________________ Art History Art work found which shows the use of my visual poetic_____________. I will explore this particular artist and style through my visual poetic and my own artwork. Aesthetics Aesthetics question to explore __________________________________________ __________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Ways to explore these questions (e.g. peer questionnaire, observation of viewers) Art Criticism Art work chosen to explore_____________________________ Criticism Model chosen________________________________ Aesthetic Philosophical stance to explore__________________ Visual Culture -Find examples of media using chosen visual poetic as a persuasive device. Studio Theme, issue, personal experience, or feeling to explore_______________ Various images that can be used in artwork - Medium to be used__________________

(Student Signature)

(Teachers Signature)

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Aesthetic Philosophies 1. Mimetic Theory- Art represents or mimics nature. The artist is concerned with capturing the essence of objects and idealizing the image. 2. Hedonist Theory- The viewer is the most important for the hedonist. The artwork should make the viewer feel pleasure. 3. Expressionist- The artist is the most important. The artwork is an expression of the artists views, ideas, feelings, or emotions. The work has great power to arouse the viewers emotions. 4. Instrumentalist Theory- Art serves a social, political, moral, or economic purpose. 5. Formalist Theory- The artwork stands alone, it does not need the artist or the artwork. Art for arts sake. 6. Institutional Theory- The artwork becomes an artwork as it is decided by the art world and displayed in a museum or art setting. 7. Neo-Rationalism Theory- An artwork is a good work of art if it looks like or can be compared to other accepted landmark artworks. Certain criteria must be met for something to be recognized as a work of art. 8. Feminist Theory- The perspective of a woman artist is important since the majority of recognized artists have been white males. A womans perspective is different than a mans and therefore needs to be explored. This theory is also concerned with bringing all minority artists to the forefront. 9. Post-Modernist Theory- Construction of meaning for society and the individual is important. The relationship between the object and the viewer is most important.

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Topic Web Mapping Sheet Artworks using Symbols, Metaphors, and other Visual Poetic devices carry both a topic (what the artwork is about) and a vehicle (the mode or image through which the message is communicated). When criticizing or creating an artwork, identifying both the topic and vehicle is necessary for a thorough interpretation. Use this mapping sheet to help interpret current works of art or as an aid in creating a personal work of art. The process can start with either the vehicle or the topic whichever is most apparent. Use this mapping sheet if the topic is apparent. _________________________________ (What is the topic?)

(Possible vehicles that can be used, or have been used.

(Further Possibilities)

How can some of these vehicles work together to communicate the topic?

Are there layers of meaning that expand the topic?

Final choice of vehicle for art creation: 128

Vehicle Web Mapping Sheet


Artworks using Symbols, Metaphors and other Visual Poetic devices carry both a topic (what the artwork is about) and a vehicle (the mode or image through which the message is communicated). When criticizing or creating an artwork identifying both the topic and vehicle is necessary for a thorough interpretation. Use this mapping sheet to help interpret current works of art or as an aid in creating a personal work of art. The process can start with either the vehicle or the topic which ever is most apparent. Use this mapping sheet if the vehicle is apparent.

___________ __________ ___________ ___________ ___________

(What image(s) are used or do you want to use as the vehicle to express the topic?)

(Possible meanings for the vehicle(s) used, both literal and symbolic.)

(More expanding)

Combining some of the meanings written for the vehicles chosen what are some possible topics being discussed in the artwork?

The interpretation or the topic of this painting is: _______________________________ __________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ 129

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Art & Literacy Artist Biographies


Brian Kershisnik, Flight Practice with Instructor (2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Robert Leroy Marshall, Iridescence (1994) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Paul Salisbury, Mountain Solitude (1961) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Minerva K. Teichert, Hereford Roundup (1956) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Sam D. Wilson, A Tension to Detail (1982) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Bios131

Bios132

ARTIST: TITLE: MEDIA: SIZE:

Brian Kershisnik (1962 ) Kanosh, Utah Flight Practice with Instructor 2000 oil on canvas 108 x 136

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Brian T. Kershisnik was born July 6, 1962, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Because of his fathers employment as a petroleum geologist, he spent his childhood in various cities around the world including Luanda, Angola; Bangkok, Thailand; Conroe, Texas; and he graduated from high school in Islamabad, Pakistan (although in absentia because of an emergency evacuation due to the burning of the U.S. embassy). Kershisnik completed his first year of college at the University of Utah before serving an LDS mission in Denmark. After living with his family in Bergen, Norway, for a time, he returned to the States to pursue his studies at Brigham Young University. While attending BYU, he received a grant to study in London for six months. In 1987, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting and married Suzanne B. Christensen. Brian and Suzanne moved to Austin, Texas, in 1989, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Texas. They currently reside in Kanosh, Utah, with their two children and a black dog. During his youth, Brian didnt know any artists, and he was in college before the thought occurred to him to make art his career. However, when he started studying art, the seeds of his current work were almost immediately sown, perhaps because they were partially innate and were partially due to his childhood exposure to native arts. Kershisniks love of antiquity and of native art appears both in overt devices, such as his periodic use of the frontal eye on profiles and also in less overt ways such as in his use of the human figure as a symbol that leads the viewer into the story the painting depicts or reminds us of. As well, there are certain qualities in the paint itselfmuted colors, a softness of line, a glazewhich convey a sense of timelessness. One characteristic of primitive artists that Kershisnik approves of and consciously tries to emulate is the position they take of being watchers and not participators in the scenes they portray. Brian believes it would be arrogant and presumptuous to paint as if he were a participant in marvelous or grievous happenings. Therefore, his painting of the Atonement is not of an agonized Christ; instead, its painted as if he were a viewer of the apostles sleeping under the tree. He feels some artists are too free, are almost voyeurs, while primitive artists make no claim of having seen the events. They keep the art obviously surreal; they make the art a reminder of a story, an invitation to go reread the story. Kershisniks pieces are narrative, but it is important to him to maintain that same element of surrealism in his mind, so he doesnt necessarily have to use historically accurate details. Fallen Icarus in the Park (an idea taken from a Heironymous Bosche painting), like much of his work, tells a story, a truth Kershisnik hopes will increase our awarenessthat critical events, Bios133

extreme situations happen, but no one pays attention or understands, just as the people in the park go about their lives in ignorance of Icarus fall from the sky. Kershisnik doesnt think about his ideas for paintings too much ahead of time; he believes if he did, his paintings would be less honest. He says he gets his ideas serendipitouslyfrom painting mishaps or from something he heard, even possibly heard wrong (the wrongness doesnt matter, it is where the idea takes him, how it arbitrarily gets him thinking along a certain line). One time he was working on a painting and realized the hand he had painted was the best hand he had ever painted but wasnt in the correct position, so he changed the painting to make the well-painted hand be in the right place. Another time, too much red paint became the focal point of a work instead of a mistake. Brian Kershisnik, Fallen Icarus in the Park Kershisnik is introspective but also whimsical. These two characteristics are evident in his painting The Difficult Part in which a couple are dancing in an impossible position. The painting is fanciful yet also is a metaphor for the whole manwoman relationship, suggesting the relationship can be both dangerous and also paradoxical. Using metaphors and symbols that mean several things at one time, Kershisniks paintings have an element that prods us, as viewers, to reexamine the meaningful and deep parts of our lives, to look again, to use our accumulated knowledge to understand a little more, to at least look for more within ourselves, and to examine who we are as defined by our understanding of the human experience. Brian Kershisnik doesnt paint from lifehe doesnt use modelsbut a viewer once commented to him that he believes Brian does paint from life, even more than those artists who use models because he paints the real essence of life. Kershisnik refers to Jackson Pollack, who said he Brian Kershisnik, paints from nature because I am nature. Although Brian The Difficult Part thinks Pollacks statement is rather arrogant, he does agree his own art is from life because of how the paintings develop out of his experiences and ideas. Paintings should be beautiful, be inviting, create a desire in the viewer to spend the time needed to learn what one should from the artwork, according to Kershisnik. However, he also believes artists shouldnt bow to the lowest common denominator of producing pretty art. In addition, Brian doesnt believe art should be weapon-like, even if it is about some ugliness in life such as rape or the murder of children. All art needs some affection for the viewer, some compassion for the victims; it should be humanizing and should move humanity forward. Whatever the trials in our lives, Kershisnik says, what is most important is how we continue, what we learn from our experiences. He states: Bios134

There is great importance in becoming human, in striving to fully understand others, ourselves and God. The process is difficult and filled with awkward discoveries and happy encounters, dreadful sorrow and unmitigated joysometimes at the same time. I believe art should facilitate this truth rather than simply decorate it, or worse, distract us from it. It should remind us of what we have forgotten, illuminate what we know, or teach us new things. Through art we can come to feel and understand and love more completelywe become more human. The artists I admireobscure, famous or anonymoushave contributed to my humanity through their whimsy, their devotion, their tragedy, their bliss or their quiescence. I seek to be such an artist. As nearly as I can trace, my paintings emerge from living with people (and my dog) and from affection for the processes I use to make pictures. Although my skills of observation and craft are good, there is a fundamental element that makes a picture succeed that is outside of my control. It is a gift of grace every time it occurs and is as surprising to me as it is to any viewer taken by an image. This element eludes me every time I try to control it. I firmly believe that when a painting succeeds, I have not created it, but have rather participated in it. I paint because I love and because I love to paint. The better I become at both, the more readily accessed and identified is this grace, and the better will be my contribution. The artworld is acknowledging Kershisniks ability to participate in paintings. He has had eight solo exhibitions in galleries that range from the Dolores Chase Fine Art Gallery in Salt Lake City, Utah, to galleries in Texas, Washington, and Oregon. In addition, he has participated in group shows at the Salt Lake Art Canter, the Kimball Art Center in Park City, galleries in Texas, Utah, and New York, has exhibited and won awards at the Springville Museum of Arts Spring Salon and at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts on the University of Utah campus; Brians work was also selected for official exhibition during the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II, at Austin, Texas. Brian Kershisniks paintings are in permanent collections at Brigham Young University, including a painting in the Tanner Law Library, at the University of Ohio, Illinois State University, the Springville Museum of Art, the Museum of Church History and Art, Salt Lake County, The State of Utah, and are owned by Delta Airlines and Nordstroms. He has recently published the book Painting From Life and his artwork can be viewed on the web at: http://www.kershisnik.com/
http://www.guild.com/servlet/Guild/ArtTeamPage?atid=1810

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Robert Leroy Marshall (1944 ) Springville, Utah Iridescence 1994 oil on canvas 48 x 72

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Robert Marshall was born in Mesquite, Nevada. He attended Brigham Young University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1966 and a Master of Arts in 1968. He began teaching soon after graduation at Fullerton College in California. In 1969, he moved to Utah to join the studio art faculty at BYU. He has served as chairman of the art department for 12 years and as director of study abroad programs in London and in Madrid. Marshall believes that, as a professor, he can give back to humankind some of what he has been given. Part of the fulfillment he finds in teaching comes from being able to share in the creative processes of others. Marshall is an accomplished draftsman and is knowledgeable in color theory, film making, and in contemporary art history. As a painter, he originally was best known for his watercolor landscapes, but after a time he felt the need to grow and progress, and he took a leave of absence from the university and began working in oils on large canvases. Since that time, he has gone from painting his children and patterns and objects in his house, to a series of paintings of pottery, to a series combining pottery and fabriche felt the need to add some rectangles and sharp edges to the ovals and the ellipses of the pots. He says he got very interested in the folds of the fabricthe paintings became like little landscapes to him. The next move, from painting fabric to actual landscapes, came naturally. Bob Marshall, unlike some contemporary artists, is convinced that the landscape tradition is still a viable option and has a justifiable place in contemporary painting. For Marshall, Bios137

Robert Marshall, Money Plant

Awareness of the intrinsic (and I believe lasting) beauty of a particular location is always intensified through private rather than collective discovery. Quiet hikes into the land scape intensify our connection with the land in a way that standing on the periphery and observing the obvious can never accomplish.

In both his watercolors and his more recent oils, Marshall shares his discoveries and invites us into his private dialogue with the patterns, colors and textures that usually go unnoticed. His watercolors have a sense of intimacy of place that have been intensified in his latest workslarge, richly colored canvases entitled The Wetland Series. These paintings are often praised for their beauty, although Marshall says the paintings are of areas many people would pass by without noticing. Unconventional landscapes, they are tightly focused examinations of the cycle of life in the wetlandsgrowth, death, and decayan intense look at the natural elements where land and water meet. Marshalls paintings are influenced by both Abstract Expressionism and Realism. In the simplest sense, Marshalls paintings are about surface, color, and form. On a more complex level, they are descriptions of realities. Through the contrast of illusionary three-dimensional form and the two-dimensionality of the paints, Marshall hopes to engage and momentarily dislocate the viewer. He tells us, Interlocking passages of color areas simultaneously confirm and deny the flatness of the picture plane as forms emerge from the paint. I am not, however, dealing with contradictions, but rather I want each painting to be delicious and invitinga confirmation of multiple layers of reality. Marshall is interested in helping the viewer to meditate and ask questions that perhaps they would not otherwise have asked. This kind of dimensional interplay is one way of accomplishing this goal. In addition, the sheer beauty of his paintings attract us they are visual feasts to live with, to return to over and over again.

Robert Marshall, Snow Canyon

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Paul Salisbury (19031979) Richfield/Provo, Utah Mountain Solitude 1961 oil on canvas 28 x 36

Western realist Paul Salisbury has achieved more notability as a cowboy/western painter than any other Utah artist of these scenes. His oil paintings represent nature and its inhabitants with subtle realism. Throughout his life, Salisbury was devoted to regional landscapes and to scenes of the American Indian and the Western cowboy. Salisburys early years were spent on his fathers ranch in Richfield, Utah, near the Kanosh Indian Reservation. There he gained a sympathetic awareness and understanding of the western landscape and its inhabitants. During his younger years, he worked for his father on the family ranch; but, as often as possible, Paul took off and spent his time drawing the scenery and animals around him. Salisbury received formal art training under his uncle, Cornelius Salisbury, who encouraged him in his artistic pursuits. Paul continued his education at Brigham Young University under B. F. Larsen and E. H. Eastman. He also was privately instructed by LeConte Stewart, a noted Utah landscape artist. Despite his early training as an artist, he made his living as a musician, and it was not until the early 1950s that Salisbury was able to work continuously as a painter. When he did, he attracted a great deal of attention. The growing trend during the 1950s and 1960s toward cowboy/western art manifested itself in the paintings of Paul Salisbury of Provo. He was Utahs first significant Cowboy and Indian artist. As one of Utahs very few professional artists, he worked full time on his art and was not affiliated with a university or another occupation, but occasionally taught workshops and classes in painting. Salisburys painting, Mountain Solitude, demonstrates that there are no harsh colors in nature. Here, he has rendered the desert valley in muted earthtones and the mountains in gentle blue grays. These delicate colors and the use of short brushstrokes create a soft texture that combine with his treatment of light to enhance the calm atmosphere in the painting. Salisburys success as a painter is due in part to his conservative painting style, which is perfectly suited to traditional Utah tastes. Another factor in his success is his ability to create unity in his paintings by using a consistent tonality and bold composition.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

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Bruce H. Smith (1936 ) Springville, Utah Jacob and Leah 1990 oil on canvas 48 x 60 Courtesy of LDS Museum of Church History and Art

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Bruce Hixon Smith, a graduate of both Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, teaches drawing and painting at BYU. He currently lives in Springville with his family. While attending college, he studied with both Douglas Snow and Alvin Gittins. At that time, Bruces works leaned heavily toward non-objective art; however, after several often-frustrating years spent exploring abstract art, Smith shifted his focus. Currently, he is pursuing the spiritual in a style he calls academic objective realism. Bruce Smith relies heavily on repetition, often painting objects two or three times on the same canvas. He begins his work in a relaxed, uninhibited manner. He draws and redraws contour lines, making no attempt to cover up the first lines. These lines create a sense of movement, as if the person has paused momentarily or the fabric might move in the breeze. Smith brushes colors on thinly and briskly. He then moves from general to specific, usually concentrating on one focal point, building up colors, textures, and details, but leaving some areas gestural. Although painting is a private experience for Smithvisitors to his studio will find his easel facing away from the door and objects, that almost seem randomly distributed blocking the pathhe deliberately leaves his paintings open-ended, inviting viewers in. Smiths use of symbols contributes to this open door sensationthe meanings of some of the symbols he uses are discernable but layered. Other symbols are obscure: a ribbon, a bottle of fruit, a piece of cloth. Smith says sometimes he doesnt know the meaning of the symbols he uses. Not because he picks them randomly, but because he chooses the symbols intuitively, happy to let them remain undefined. He explains, When they seem right, I put them in and purposely keep it a little bit vague, even to me; so they are not illustration, where everything is understandable. I want to have the possibility of going deeperI prefer not to know exactly what they signify. Smith says all his paintings are about art, which is in a constant state of flux. Modernism did away with the old attitudes and ideas about art, but now Modernism itself is over. Smith seeks to incorporate some of the older attitudes about art and still have his work retain some of the brand new things Modern Art tried to do, including being a means of ditching the old. Bruce has a real allegiance to what art was prior to Modernism, which he believes is common. What he doesnt think is common is also having a feeling for Modernism. Bios141

He is convinced that art before Modernism has value today, but that Modernism has elements of worth as well. The problem, he says, is to mix those qualities. The open-endedness of his works is certainly a Modernist trait; conversely, over the last few years, Smith has configured many of his paintings in ways that harken back to Italian religious works of the Renaissance. Those early multipaneled altarpieces consist of a principal central panel with secondary side and/or top panels, and a predella. The predella is a small strip of paintings which forms the lower edge of the altarpiece and usually has narrative scenes from the lives of the saints who are represented in the panels above, or a portrait of the person who commissioned the artwork. Some of Smiths paintings have one smaller canvas below the main canvas, like an individual predella; others have a large central canvas with smaller ones above and below. And some, like The Street (Center of Snow), are themselves a series of paintings with another group below. Whatever the exact configuration, the allusion to Renaissance art is clear: and, like the symbols he uses, this reference gives depth to the artworks. But unlike David Hockney, who creates panoramic views, Bruce Smith uses multiple views and techniques like repetition to make his paintings offer us a wider view of ourselves. The artworks also invite us to ponder, to have a growth of awareness. . . a refinement of self-understanding. The painting Jacob and Leah, like all of Bruce Smiths work, is a visual image that means more, and is more, visually than it ever will if we try to capture too closely that meaning in words.

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ARTIST: Minerva K. Teichert (1888 1976) North Ogden, Utah/Cokeville, Wyoming TITLE: Hereford Roundup 1956 MEDIA: oil on canvas SIZE: 62 x 108-1/2

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Minerva Bernetta Kohlhepp Teichert was born August 28, 1888, in North Ogden, Utah. She grew up on a remote ranch in Idaho, the second of ten children. Her mother, Ella Hickman, was the daughter of one of the bodyguards of Brigham Young. Her father, Frederick John Kohlhepp, had been disowned by his prominent family when he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From her parents she gained a knowledge of the scriptural stories she would later portray as well as the indefatigable spirit that would characterize her life. In addition to her formal schooling, Minerva was taught by her parents to love reading and to appreciate good music, literature, drama, and art. She and her sister acted out plays in a willow copse on their ranch. When Minerva was four years old, her mother gave her a set of watercolors, and from that time forth, Minerva considered herself an artist. She carried sketch pad and charcoal with her constantly, sketching even the wild horses that were brought in to the corrals. After she was married, she drew everything, including fresh-caught fish before cooking them. Her skilled rendering of life and action is the result of this early preoccupation with drawing. When Minerva was 14, she went to San Francisco to work as a nursemaid for a wealthy family. During this time she was able to observe great paintings at the Mark Hopkins Art School. After she returned home and graduated from Pocatello High School at age 16, she taught school at Davisville, Idaho, saving money to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. When the time came for her to leave for Chicago, her father refused to let her travel alone. After being set apart as an LDS Church missionary, she traveled east with a church group, the first woman to be sent for art lessons with the official blessing of the LDS Church leadership. In Chicago, she studied under John Vanderpoel, a master of the academic school of painting. She returned home periodically to earn money by teaching or by working in the fields so she could continue her studies. When her studies in Chicago were completed, she returned to Idaho to "prove-up" her own isolated homestead, living by herself and sleeping with a revolver under her pillow. She was courted by two young men, one wealthy (whom she rejected) and the other, a cowboy. When she received a scholarship and left for New York City to study at the Art Student's League, she told the cowboy, Herman Teichert, to marry someone else. Bios143

The League was one of the most important art centers in the world, and Minerva studied under Robert Henri and George Bridgeman, eminent realist art instructors of the time. She periodically used various skills to pay her way. She sketched cadavers for medical schools, illustrated children's books, painted portraits, and performed rope tricks and Indian dances on the New York stage. While in New York she, and other students, had paintings exhibited in the immigrant receiving station on Ellis Island. Minerva became close friends with her mentor, Robert Henri, who called her Miss Idaho. Although her artistic subjects and interests were very different from Henris, she did develop a vigorous style with broad brush strokes that owes an obvious debt to his bold technique. Though rated with the top artists of the time, she returned to Idaho instead of taking advantage of an opportunity to study in Europe or of stepping into a professional career. Her teacher, Robert Henri, told her to go home and paint the history of the Mormon people. She returned to the West feeling she had a mission to perform. Minerva married Herman Teichert, kept books for the ranch, cooked for the hands, raised their five children, and painted. Her studio was their narrow living room, where she tacked up her canvases to paint. The room was too small for some of her works, which had to be folded as she painted. Since she could not get far enough away from her large paintings to get the correct perspective, she looked at her work through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars. Teichert sent her children to bed at eight oclock each night and then painted until midnight. Some nights, she set the clock ahead so she could send the children to bed earlier and have a little more time to paint. Minerva painted on everything she could find: boards, aprons, flour sacks, the margins of books, walls and doors, and on brown paper bags. She loved to paint the western wilderness with its predominance of blues and grays, but seldom painted just the land. Human figures and work animals, usually in a narrative, were her most common subjects. She used neighbors and family members as models, providing herself with a wide variety even though she lived in a rural area. Although Teicherts colors are generally subdued, she frequently used bright red paint to emphasize the central character or focal point. Her paintings are large and mural like, to be viewed from a distance. The strong composition and draftsmanship combine with delicate colors and lines and compelling narrative to produce powerful works of art, which she hoped would motivate people to build Zion. Women figure prominently in Teicherts works. She also did smaller paintings of flowers, still lifes, and scenery, which were usually intended as gifts. Teichert was a prolific painter, painting more pioneer and Indian subjects than any other Utah artist. Today, her best-known works are those published on the covers and in LDS magazines and lesson manuals and her Book of Mormon series of over 40 paintingswhich can be seen at Brigham Young Universityand the huge mural in the World Room of the Manti LDS temple. In addition, the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City owns several large pieces, including Madonna of 1847. Pinborough, Jan Underwood. 1989 Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert: With a Bold Brush. Ensign. April. pp. 34-41: Salt Lake City St. George Art Museum Brochure. 1992. A Touch of Minerva Teichert. St. George. Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. 1991 Utah Art. Layton: Gibbs Smith Information also provided by Miriam Wardle, a descendent of Minerva Teichert

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ARTIST: Roger D. Sam Wilson (1943- ) Salt Lake City, Utah TITLE: A Tension to Detail 1982 MEDIA: watercolor SIZE: 22-1/2 x 29-3/4

Sam Wilson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1943; then his family moved west, living first in Golden, Colorado, and eventually staying in the Los Angeles, California area, mostly in Long Beach. He graduated from high school in 1961, an experience he says is . . . best forgotten. I was too young to be a Beatnik and too old to be a Hippie. I owe my career to Lyndon Baines Johnson. I went to school without much direction. I guess it was partly to avoid getting drafted. I was drafted. After service, mostly in Barstow, California and Viet Nam (Barstow was the scary place), I resumed my education with the crucial G.I. Bill. My education was completed with a Masters from California State University, Long Beach. Currently, Sam Wilson is an Associate Professor, soon to be a full professor, in the University of Utah Department of Art. His varied career includes a number of teaching positions in California and Colorado, being an illustrator for Carl Sagens Cosmos on PBS, a Magician with Paramount Pictures, and working in stage design, construction, and silkscreening for Silent Running for Universal Studios. Wilsons work has been exhibited throughout the Intermountain Region and in California, earning him numerous awards. He spent 16 months doing the interior of the Cathedral of the Madeline in Salt Lake City, Utah. He enjoyed working there because, They let me do Wilson stuff. Talking about his work, Wilson said: Since I never could figure out the right way to start a painting, I would look at a piece of stuff, thinking that it may be a way of generating a picture. Its like those horse-cart, chicken-egg questions. Do I collect stuff to paint or do I paint to collect stuff? By way of paint or pencil, I display objects both exotic and mundane on desk tops or in caves. This stuff I use may be replicas of other cultures or junk and tools from my work place. Masks may be people, people are animals or a rock is a placeit doesnt matter. I entertain myself and satisfy my curiosities by accumulating and arranging the items on the surface of the picture in a manner as unpredictable as possible. I believe that these oblique references and nonsense relationships open to me (and you) greater possibilities, more surprises and a justification for such a quiet and solitary entertainment. Bios145

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

I use the techniques of realism and illusionism as a medium to present these harmless dramas. The pictures are just hanging around on the wallI mean they are static. I assume the role of magician to add a helpful tension. The game of whats real or not is a ploy, a device to catch your eye. The final result of this labor would be, for you, a trip with no passport, a contest with no clock and a visual snack without the predictable flavor of a franchised fun house.

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Appendix

Example of a non-professional book about an artist

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App:148

Minerva Teichert: Painting the West

By Louise Nickelson

Minerva1

Minerva Kohlhepp was born in North Ogden on August 28, 1888. Thats more than 100 years ago.

This is Minerva with her sister Marie. When they went to have their picture taken, Minerva threw a tantrum because Marie got to wear a necklace and she didnt. So the photographer found her a necklace of red beads to wear. He let her take it home and she used to carry it everywhere with her.

Minerva2

Several years later, Minervas family moved to Idaho.

She grew up on a ranch. Her family didnt have very much money, but she had nine brothers and sisters.

Minerva3

Minervas parents loved music, books, drama, and art, so Minerva learned to love them too. She and her sister liked to act out plays in a willow grove on their ranch.

When she was four years old, Minervas mother gave her a set of watercolors, and so Minerva decided she was an artist. After that time, she always carried something to paint or draw with.

Minerva4

Minerva liked to draw everything she saw on their ranch. This is a drawing of their turkey, Tommy. She made this drawing when she was about 12.

Minerva drew all the time and she got to be very good. This is a drawing she made when she was older.

Minerva5

When Minerva was 14, she went to San Francisco, California, to be a nursemaid for some rich people.

While she was in San Francisco, Minerva was able to take some art classes at the Mark Hopkins Art School.

She loved San Francisco.

Minerva6

After she returned to Idaho, Minerva moved to Pocotello to finish school.

This is her graduation picture. What a fancy dress!

After she graduated, Minerva taught school and saved her money so she could go to art school in Chicago. She wanted to study with great art teachers.

Minerva7

When it was time for Minerva to leave, her dad got worried and didnt want her to go so far away by herself. So Minerva ended up traveling with a group of people from church. She was the first woman the LDS Church sent for art lessons.

Learning to be an artist takes lots of work. But the students had fun too. This is Minerva in a costume she wore to a Mardi Gras Ball at the Institute.

Minerva8

Ch Can e ica you dg go fin e is dIl of o in La n t ois? ke he M ich iga n.

In Chicago, she studied at the Art Institute. Heres a postcard of what it looked like when she was there. Now its got big buildings all around it.

Minerva studied with John Vanderpoel. He wrote a book on how to draw people. The drawing just below is on the cover of the book.

The other drawings are Minervas. You can see she practiced hard. After three years, Mr. Vanderpoel said Minerva was as good as he was.
Minerva9

After she was done studying in Chicago, Minerva moved back to Idaho and homesteaded her own place. (Not very many women did thatit was too hard!) She was all alone, so she slept with a revolver under her pillow.

Two different men wanted to marry her, but she told the rich one she wouldnt marry him, and told the cowboy to marry someone else. She had gotten a scholarship to study art in New York, and that was a big deal for someone whod always wanted to be a great artist.
American Falls in the 80s Minerva10

The Art Students League, where she studied, was one of the most important art centers in the world. Minerva studied how to paint so her paintings would look real.

To earn money, Minerva did many different things. She drew cadavers for medical schools, she illustrated childrens books, painted portraits, and performed rope tricks and Indian dances on the New York stage.

Minerva liked wearing a headband. See if you can find other pictures of her wearing one. Minerva11

Heres a portrait Minerva painted. I think Id have liked to have her paint my portrait.

Minerva12

Minerva became friends with one of her teachers, Robert Henri. He called her Miss Idaho. Henri and Minerva didnt like to paint the same things, but she did learn many things from him, like to use big brushstrokes

Henri painted this portrait of a boy

Robert Henri Robert Henri said, Don't worry about your originality. You couldn't get rid of it even if you wanted to. It will stick with you and show up for better or worse in spite of all you or anyone else can do.

See how big and bold her brushstrokes are.


Minerva13

Another thing Robert Henri did was tell Minerva he thought she should go home and paint the history of the Mormon people in the West. So she did.

The cowboy, Herman Teichert, still wanted to marry her, so they got married and lived on a ranch in Idaho and then later, in Wyoming.

Minerva14

Minerva Teichert loved her family. Even though she felt like she had to paint every day, she always spent time with her family.

Minerva15

Minerva kept the books for the ranch, cooked for the ranch hands, raised their five children and painted. She hung big canvases in her living room and painted on them. She made lots of really big paintings. Since her living room was small, she hung up the canvas, with just half of it showing. Then, when she was ready to work on a new part, shed take the canvas down and nail it to the wall with the other half showing.

Heres the finished painting.


Minerva16

After she sent her kids to bed at eight oclock, Minerva painted. Sometimes she set her clock ahead so her kids would go to bed early and shed have more time to paint. Minerva didnt just paint on canvas, she painted on anything she could find. Boards, flour sacks, in the margins of books, and on brown paper bags. Once she made a painting on her apron because thats all she had with her.

The West was Minervas home and she loved everything about it, even the sagebrush!
Minerva17

She loved to paint the western land, but she always put people in the paintings too. Mostly, her paintings tell a story. Do you know this story?

What story could this painting tell?

Minerva18

Minerva used her family members and her neighbors as models. Could you hold still long enough to model for a painter?

Minerva19

Most of Minerva Teicherts paintings have kind of soft colors, like this one, but she almost always put some bright red in the painting too. Can you find some red in any of her other paintings?

Minerva Teichert made lots of paintings. She made more paintings of pioneers and Indians than any other Utah artist.

Minerva20

Big paintings like Teicherts are called murals. They usually tell a story and youre supposed to look at them from a ways away, not up close.

When you look at her paintings, you can tell that all Minervas practice and studying paid offshe learned how to draw really well! Because she used thin paint, you can often see some of the charcoal lines from her drawings on the canvas.
Minerva21

She also made lots of drawing of pioneers and of indians. Sometimes they were just drawings and sometimes they were plans for her paintings. Do you plan your artworks before you make them?

Minerva22

Some artists run out of ideas and stop painting, but not Minerva Teichert. When she was 60, she painted murals on the walls of a room in the Manti Temple. Its a big room! She also made 40 murals of stories from the Book of Mormon. She really did paint the story of her people.

This is Minervas family all grown up.

Minerva23

Just like Minerva liked to put a little red in her paintings, she said she wanted a little bit of red in her heaven. I hope she found that bit of red.

Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert 18881976

Minerva24

Bibliography
Cannon, Elaine, and Shirley Teichert. Minerva! The Story of an Artist with a Mission. 1997 Bookcraft: Salt Lake City Minerva Teichert: A Mission in Paint. Brigham Young University. 1988 Pinborough, Jan Underwood. 1989 Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert: With a Bold Brush. Ensign. April. pp. 34-41: Salt Lake City St. George Art Museum Brochure. 1992. A Touch of Minerva Teichert. St. George. Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. 1991 Utah Art. Layton: Gibbs Smith Information also provided by Miriam Wardle, a descendent of Minerva Teichert
Images: 1. Minerva Teichert, Hereford Roundup, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Utah (SMA) 2. Teichert Family Photographs, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 3. Idaho map, http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/places/states/idaho/id_big.htm; Teichert Family Photographs, Brigham Young University; Minerva Teichert: A Mission in Paint, Brigham Young University.1988 4. Minnie's Mural #7 BYU MOA 5. Minerva Teichert Drawings, SMA 6. Teichert Family Photographs, Brigham Young University; Mark Hopkins Art Institute, Internet; San Francisco Cable Car Museum. 7. Pocotello Postcard; Teichert Family Photographs, Brigham Young University 8. US map US Forest Service, Internet; Teichert Family Photographs, Brigham Young University 9. Postcard of Chicago Art Institute, Internet; Vanderpoel drawing, amazon.com; Teichert Family Photographs, Brigham Young University 10. Teichert Family Photographs, Brigham Young University; Minerva Teichert Drawings, SMA 11. Art Students League, www.arttimesjournal.com/ league6.jpg; Family Photographs, BYU 12. Family Photographs, BYU 13. Robert Henri, Internet; Robert Henri, Smiling Boy, allposters.com; Minerva Teichert, Indian Captives at Night, SMA 14. and 15. Family Photographs, BYU 16. Indian Captives, SMA 17. Minerva Teichert Drawing, SMA; Sagebrush photograph hanford.gov/docs/annualrp99/summan age.stm 18. The Miracle of the Gulls, Museum of Art, Brigham Young University; Indian Raiding Party, SMA 19. Teichert Family Photographs, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Minerva Teichert, Spinning, Jim Condit, detail, Hereford Roundup, SMA 20. Minerva Teichert, Hunting Buffalo; Madonna of 47, Church History and Art Museum, LDS Church, Salt Lake City, Utah 21. Minerva Teichert, Love Story, MOA BYU; Detail Roundup 22. Minerva Teichert Drawings, SMA 23. Minerva Teichert, Christ in America, SMA; Teichert Family Photographs, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 24 Detail of Indian Captives at Night, SMA; Family Photograph, BYU

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