Units prepared by Shari Hofschire, Dr. Frances Thurber, and Dr. Joanne Sowell
UNIT THEME: Artists
allow us to imagine ourselves in a variety of places and spaces
through their art.
GOALS AND OUTCOMES: (Based on the National Standards)
Content Standard 2: Using knowledge of structures and functions
Achievement Standard:
K-4: Students know the differences among characteristics and
purposes of art in order to convey ideas.
5-8: Students employ organizational structures and analyze
what makes them effective or not effective in the communication
of ideas.
9-12 Students demonstrate the ability to form and defend
judgments about the characteristics and structures to accomplish
commercial, personal, communal, or other purposes of art
Content Standard 4: Understanding the visual arts in relation
to history and cultures.
Achievement Standard:
K-4: Students demonstrate how history, culture, and the visual
arts can influence each other in making and studying works of
art.
5-8: Students know and compare the characteristics of artworks
in various eras and cultures.
9-12 Students describe the function and explore the meaning
of specific art objects within varied cultures, times and places
Content Standard 5:
Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits
of their work and the work of others.
Achievement Standard:
K-4: Students describe how people's experiences influence
the development of specific artworks.
5-8: Students describe and compare a variety of individual
responses to their own artworks and to artworks from various eras
and cultures.
9-12 Students describe meanings of artworks by analyzing
how specific works are created and how they relate to historical
and cultural contexts
Content Standard 6: Making
connections between visual arts and other disciplines.
Achievement Standard:
K-4: Students identify connections between the visual arts
and other disciplines in the curriculum.
5-8: Students compare the characteristics of works in two
or more art forms that share similar subject matter, historical
periods, or cultural context.
9-12 Students compare the materials, technologies, media
and processes of the visual arts with those of other arts disciplines
as they are used in creation and types of analysis
KEY QUESTIONS:
Questions in parentheses are from the Prairie
Visions Inquiry Chart. They form a framework for designing
more specific questions.
How do artists explore a sense of place
through their art? (How does art make meaning?)
How do artists manipulate the natural world to create a visual
image? (What does the form of this work say about its context?)
Why might an artist use both realism and imagination to create
a sense of place in an art work? (What connections can I make
to other experiences?)
How could I compare landscapes created by different artists in
different times and places? (What connections can I make to other
times, places, and cultures?)
KEY WORKS OF ART:
Nebraska Masterpieces: (Click on Reproduction for a printable
image.)
Keith Jacobshagen, Naming the
Days (Rain in May, Platte Valley)
Michael James, Momentum
LESSON IDEAS (SUB-THEMES):
1. Some artists use their art work
to present physical spaces, real or imagined.
2. Some artists use their art works to present historical
or cultural places.
LEARNING STYLES/DIFFERENTIATION:
This unit emphasizes:
Visual Intelligence
Verbal Intelligence
Intrapersonal Intelligence
Interpersonal intelligence
Naturalistic Intelligence
Musical Intelligence
Logical Intelligence
MORAL DIMENSIONS OF TEACHING:
John I. Goodlad (Editor), Roger Soder (Editor), Kenneth A.
Sirotnik (Editor), The Moral Dimensions of Teaching, Jossey-Bass;
New Ed edition (November 16, 1993).
Equal access to learning for all students is provided by various
opportunities for student involvement in learning: sharing their
ideas in discussions, using individual imaginations in art production/writing
and group activities. A nurturing climate is established through
the opportunities for students to share and have their work recognized
through presentations. The recognition of the importance and preservation
of various cultural places encourages stewardship. Learning to
make decisions that will affect both yourself and others positively
and accepting the decisions of others is part of the democratic
process.
LESSON 1:
Lesson Sub-Theme: Some artists use
their art work to present physical spaces, real or imagined.
Goals and Outcomes:
Students will learn how artists use their art work to represent
different kinds of physical places and spaces.
Students will explore the difference between realism and imagination
in a physical space.
Students will use art to create new places and spaces.
Key Questions:
How can I learn about a place from an art work?
How can I compare real or imaginary places and spaces by different
artists?
How do artists manipulate what they see to express an idea?
How do artists use design elements to create the illusion of space
in an art work?
How will the artist's choice of medium (paint, photography or
fabric quilting) affect the look of the art work?
Key Works of Art:
Nebraska Masterpieces: (Click on Reproduction for a printable
image.)
Keith Jacobshagen, Naming the
Days (Rain in May, Platte Valley)
Michael James, Momentum
Martin Johnson Heade, America, Cattleya Orchid and
Three Brazilian Hummingbirds, American, oil painting
Interactive site from National Gallery of Art includes links to
South America, Rainforest, an activity on the "senses,"
and naturalistic observation activity
Henri Rousseau, France, Tropical Forest with Monkeys,
1910
Equatorial Jungle, 1909, oil painting
Interactive site from NGA.
Ansel Adams, America, Mount McKinley and Wonder
Lake, Denali National Park, Alaska, 1947, photograph
Interactive site with video clips from PBS documentary, plus ten
images of his black and white photography. Go to "Gallery"
and Mount McKinley is #5.
Helen Frankenthaler, America,
Canyon, 1965, acrylic painting
Site features classroom lessons. Click on image to enlarge.
Larry Ferguson, Iceberg, Anarctica
Lesson Narrative:
Teacher Preparation: Visit the websites
listed under Key Works of Art. Some are from educational institutions
which provide lesson ideas and/or interactive features for students.
Decide which of these materials you are going to use in your classroom
and print out copies of the images.
Teacher Presentation: Introduce Keith Jacobshagen
and Michael James using the Nebraska Masterpieces posters. Use the Study
this Work of Art section from the back of the posters (Jacobshagen, James) to discuss each of the images, paying
particular attention to the questions:
What can I learn about a place from an art work?
How do artists use design elements to create the illusion of space
in an art work?
Why might an artist use both realism and imagination to create
a sense of place in an art work?
Analyze each work and determine the components of space/place
that each one includes. (Jacobshagen uses land and sky, Ferguson
uses water, ice berg and sky and James uses spaces with designs
and patterns.)
How do Jacobshagen and Ferguson create a sense of perspective
with a foreground, middle ground and background?
Small Group Discussion: Divide the class into
small groups and give each group a set of images of either:
Jacobshagen and Martin Johnson Heade
Or
Jacobshagen and Henri Rousseau
Or
Ferguson and Ansel Adams
Have them discuss the following questions:
What is the same about each of these places? What is different?
Are these places real or imaginary? Why do you think so?
Do you think these places look exactly like this or did the artist
use his imagination to manipulate and create it?
How would it feel to actually be in each of these places/spaces?
What might you hear? What might you touch?
How do the artists create depth?
Choose a spot within the image. How would this place look if you
were looking at it from this new spot? What would look different?
Whole Group Discussion and Student Presentation: Have each group report out about what they thought about the different places they compared. Use information from the websites to augment their ideas or answer questions students have.
Extension: Abstracted representation of space
for older students.
As a large group, look at the Michael James and Helen Frankenthaler'
works.
What is abstraction?
How can a sense of place or feeling of place be evoked through
abstract imagery?
What do each of the sections of James' quilt remind you of?
Does James' use of medium (quilted fabric) add a different feel
to the work?
Why might Frankenthaler have named this work "Canyon"?
In what ways does Frankenthaler connect her abstract work to a
real canyon?
How can abstraction suggest the idea of a real space?
Group Art Production: Have students create
an imaginary place with a three-dimensional diorama. Students
will create a place that is new and different. Each group will
create their diorama within a box. The top of the box will be
open (either a removable lid or cover with blue Sarah Wrap for
sky). Students will choose one side from which to orient and build
their structure with that side being the foreground or area closest
to the viewer.
Cut a flat slit, large enough to see through, on the side of the
box where the foreground begins. This hole and the top will give
students the opportunity to view their place from two different
perspectives.
Students will create the imaginary landscape within their box,
and then they will create fantasy objects for their imaginary
place. They will focus on materials with patterns and texture.
Wallpaper or other patterned papers cut from magazines or books
would be used to decorate the landscape. (Art making extension:
Students could also create their own patterned paper with watercolors,
tempera, stamps or fabric strips.)
Fantasy objects can be stand-up figures made of cardstock/ cardboard
and decorated with fabric. Objects could also include three-dimensional
objects, like thread spools, small plastic containers, any everyday
item of varied size and shape that can be draped and decorated
with fabric and other textured materials. The goal is to manipulate
the original object to create a new imaginary object.
When the imaginary place is finished, have each group member view
it through the two different viewpoints. How does it look different
from each opening?
Individual Writing Task: Imagine yourself in your imaginary place
and write a story/fairy tale about what kind of adventure you
could have in your imaginary place with your fantasy objects.
Small Group Share: Each group member reads their story to the
group. All the stories are set in the same imaginary place with
the same fantasy objects. How are the stories the same? How are
they different?
Instructional Strategies:
Teacher presentation
Small and Whole Group discussion
Student Presentation
Individual Art Making Task
Individual Writing Task
Assessment Strategies:
Formative Assessment Teacher
observation and check for understanding during discussions.
Summative Assessment Did students contribute to small group
learning activities? Have the students shown they understand the
difference between real and imaginary in their diorama creations?
Do their stories relate to their creations?
Interdisciplinary Linkages:
Social studies: explore different geographic
areas, like Antarctica, rainforests, jungles, plains, deserts,
mountains.
Science: explore environmental issues, global warming and preservation.
Language arts: read stories of imaginary places; read Eric Carle
stories for imagination, patterns, textures and focus on nature.
Resources and materials: -
Other works by Keith Jacobshagen:
http://www.jcacciolagallery.com/artists.shtml
http://www.siouxcityartcenter.org/exhibitions/image_thumbs.asp?key=105#top
http://www.tugboatgallery.com/keithgallery.html
http://www.artnet.com/artist/8871/keith-jacobshagen.html
Other works by Michael James:
http://206.204.3.133/dir_nii/idx_james.html
http://206.204.3.133/dir_nii/nii_ethnicdir.html
http://www.pbs.org/americaquilts/century/canvas/michael_james.html
Other works by Helen Frankenthaler:
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/frankenthaler_helen.html
Other works by Larry Ferguson:
http://www.modernartsmidwest.com/collection/LarryFerguson
- landscapes of Antarctica, China and Nebraska
http://net.unl.edu/~swi/arts/larry.html
- University of Nebraska Educational Television interview.
http://www.fergusonstudio.com
artist's studio.
Other artists to consider:
John Constable and William Turner,
19th c. British masters of landscape
17th c. Dutch landscape painters focus on the power of nature
Winslow Homer 19th c. American
Bodmer 19th c. Nebraska landscape painter
20th c. American Regionalist painters - Edward Hopper, Andrew
Wyeth, Thomas Hart Benton
"Dropping in on Rousseau" DVD, VHS,
book- how artist developed his unique style of painting birds,
animals, and plants. Video includes teachers guide with activities.
http://www.crystalproductions.com
Arts Materials:
Cardboard boxes to create dioramas one for each group/ size
will depend on student ages, size of groups and availability of
boxes
Fabrics, other materials
Wallpaper, other patterned papers commercially produced
or handmade by students
Cardstock/cardboard
Small three-dimensional objects
Glue, scissors
LESSON 2
Lesson Sub-Theme: 2. Some artists use their art works to present historical or cultural places.
Goals and Outcomes:
Students will recognize historical
and cultural value of different places.
Students will explore how both music and visual arts can create
an environment.
Students will understand that sound is another way to deal with
space.
Students will create soundscapes inspired by art works.
Key Questions:
How could I compare landscapes created
by different artists in different times and places?
How do artists create atmosphere and mood in a space?
How can I learn about a place from looking at an art work?
What can I identify about a place by what I hear?
How can what I see in an art work suggest what I can hear?
Key Works of Art:
Nebraska Masterpieces: (Click on Reproduction for a printable
image.)
Keith Jacobshagen, Naming the
Days (Rain in May, Platte Valley), 2000
Larry Ferguson, Iceberg, Anarctica , 2004
Romare Bearden, America, The
Block, 1971, collage
For images and detail of The Block and Block II:
http://www.beardenfoundation.org/artlife/beardensart/coverart/artwork/images/two_citiesimage.jpg
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=the+block-+bearden&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
Interactive, The Block, from Metropolitan Museum of Art,
including jazz sounds:
http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/the_block/index_flash.html
Romare Bearden, The Blues, 1974, collage, jazz/Harlem Renaissance
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/adc/10115853A~The-Blues-Posters.jpg
http://www.beardenfoundation.org/artlife/biography/biography.shtml
Utagawa Hiroshige , Japan, Geese
Descending at Katata from Eight Views of Omi Province
series, 1834, Woodblock print
Lesson Narrative:
Teacher Preparation:
Images: Visit the websites listed under Key Works of Art. Some
are from educational institutions which provide lesson ideas and/or
interactive features for students. Print out copies of the images
you will use in the lesson.
Objects: Gather a few objects to create everyday sounds that students
can relate to and which they can connect to a place. Examples:
a whistle (sporting event), triangle (supper call on the prairie).
Consider objects your students would recognize from your classroom
studies and literature.
Sounds: Explore the site below to prepare and download the sounds
you are going to use from the Sound Effects Menu and the Music:
Authentic Jazz menu, or gather your own recordings from a library.
http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/pir/PIRsfx.shtml
. Examples: sounds of nature, city/traffic, jazz.
Definition: Soundscape: Soundscaping gives students the opportunity to create a physical space or environment using their voices, the sounds of their hands and feet. The sounds they create can be realistic or more abstract and stylized. The sounds can create a mood, tell a story, or establish a sense of place.
Teacher Presentation and Group Discussion:
Tell the students that they are going to be exploring spaces and
places by what they see and what they hear. Have them close their
eyes. Use one of the selected objects, for example, a whistle.
Blow it. Tell me what you know about this place? (Sporting venues)
Again, close their eyes. Select a different object, for example,
a triangle-play it like a supper bell. Tell me what you know about
this place? (Supper time on the prairie)
Teacher make an animal sound, like a bear or a wolf. Tell me what
you know about the place you would hear this? (zoo, forest, mountains)
Have the students clap (like applause). What kind of place might
you hear this?
Introduce Keith Jacobshagen's Naming
the Days (Rain in May, Platte Valley),
using the Nebraska Masterpieces poster.
Use the Study this Work of Art section from the back
of the poster paying particular attention to the questions:
Have you ever seen a landscape like this?
Have you ever imagined a place like this or read a story with
a setting like this?
Is this a rural setting (in the country) or urban (in the city)?
Could you know what kind of place this was just by hearing the
sounds of it?
Now imagine you are actually standing in this painting.
What might you hear? Can you see anything that would make a sound?
Imagine what kinds of things might be in a
place like this, even if you cannot see them in the painting.
What things might be logical to this scene of nature?
What sounds do these things make? (dogs bark, cows moo, tractors
hum, bees buzz). Encourage non-tangible ideas, like the wind whooshes,
the crunch of stepping on leaves or snow, the splat of raindrops.
Have the students make the sounds as they brainstorm.
Small Group Activity:
Divide the students into groups of three or four. Have each group
choose one of these sounds of nature that relate to Jacobshagen's
painting. The teacher will give each group a different pattern
or rhythm for their sound. Examples: rapid barks, long mooing,
continual buzzing from soft to loud, continual tractor hum with
no variation, a whoosh of wind followed by a pause. Have students
practice their chosen sound with consistent repetitive timing.
Large Group Activity:
Each small group present their sound. Have the students listen
carefully to the different patterns and rhythms in the sounds
of all the groups.
What would be the best order for each of these sounds to be heard?
Which should start first and which should come next?
Will the sequence or order make a difference to the final sound?
Put all of the sounds together in a soundscape, using the sequence
of sounds decided by the class.
How do you think it sounded? What might we change? Why?
Change the sequence or order, according to class decision, and
perform the soundscape again.
Did the sequence or order make a difference to the final sound
(product)?
Did we create the mood of Jacobshagen's painting?
Teacher Presentation and Group Discussion:
What is the opposite of a rural landscape?
Introduce Romare Bearden's The Block. Romare Bearden is
a 20c African American artist who was known for his wonderful
collages. (From the French coller, to glue: a work made by gluing
materials such as paper scraps, photographs, and cloth on to a
flat surface.)
Romare Bearden wanted to capture the feel of the energy and activity
of the city in this work. How is this place different from Jacobshagen's
landscape?
How might the city sound different than the country? Have the
students develop sounds for what they see in the collage and what
they imagine could logically be in a place like this.
Play some jazz. Where might we be?
Introduce them to another city sound related to Bearden: jazz.
Bearden lived in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance when jazz
was everywhere. Continue listening to jazz while looking at The
Blues and The Block. What makes music in The Blues?
Bearden did many collages of jazz musicians and singers, like
this one. Bearden said the rhythm, tempo and color of jazz strongly
influenced his collages. Can you see those characteristics in
his works?
Look at Larry Ferguson's landscape, Iceberg,
Anarctica.
What do you see? Can you see anything that makes a sound? What
other sounds might be in this environment? (Remember wind, splash
are sounds.) Could you recognize this place just by the sound?
This photograph shows the bottom of an iceberg in Paradise Bay
on the Antarctica Peninsula. The iceberg has broken off a glacier
and is floating out into the ocean. Water under the iceberg created
these scallops on its bottom, and as the iceberg melts, it turns
over so this design is seen. The sound is thunderous, like lighting,
crackling and snapping like ice cubes in water, only 300x louder.
What other creatures might be in this faraway place? What sounds
would they make?
Show the students Geese Descending at Katata
from Eight Views of Omi Province series, by Utagawa
Hiroshige. This is a Japanese woodblock print. What is similar
between the landscapes of Ferguson and Hiroshige? These are both
landscapes of places with water but they are in different areas
of the world and different time periods. One is very isolated,
and the other is very populated. If you were on the boat in the
Hiroshige print, what different sounds would you hear?
Teacher Preparation: Prepare images of art works for students
to use to create soundscapes. Select from these diverse possibilities
according to your students' ages and abilities. Click on the title
for a site which contains a larger image.
 Carmen Lomas Garza, Cakewalk, 1987, in a town square: |
 George Bellows, The Cliff Dwellers, 1913, New York City tenements |
 Romare Bearden, Pittsburg Memories, 1964, interior with exterior train, industry: |
 Karl Bodmer, Herds of Bisons on the Upper Missouri, 19thc. Click on Herds of Bison at the left side |
 Grant Wood, Stone City Iowa, 1930, farm land |
 Berenice Abbott, Canyon: Broadway and Exchange Place, 1936, New York City. |
 Grandma Moses, Over the Bridge to Grandma's House, 1942, country. |
 Thomas Moran, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1913. |
 Hu Ho-nien, Zhangjiajie, 1995, Chinese landscape. |
Interdisciplinary Linkages:
Mathematics: creation of pattern, rhythm,
and sequencing.
Social Studies: people from different cultures, ethnic groups
and time periods.
Geography: locations of Antarctica, Japan, Harlem.
Science: plant and animal life of various places.
Music: jazz.
Resources and Materials:
Other works by Keith Jacobshagen:
http://www.jcacciolagallery.com/artists.shtml
http://www.siouxcityartcenter.org/exhibitions/image_thumbs.asp?key=105#top
http://www.tugboatgallery.com/keithgallery.html
http://www.artnet.com/artist/8871/keith-jacobshagen.html
Other works by Hiroshige:
Japanese woodblock artist, 1797-1858, famous for his landscape
images.
http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/
http://www.artelino.com/articles/hiroshige.asp
Other works by Larry Ferguson:
http://www.modernartsmidwest.com/collection/LarryFerguson
- landscapes of Antarctica, China and Nebraska
http://net.unl.edu/~swi/arts/larry.html
- University of Nebraska Educational Television interview.
http://www.fergusonstudio.com
artist's studio.
"Dropping in on Romare Bearden" DVD,
VHS, book- how artist uses a variety of media to make his unique
images with family, urban life and music themes. Video includes
teachers guide.
http://www.crystalproductions.com
Additional Bearden resources:
Kids stuff/many images: http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/beardencg.pdf
Lesson plan, grades 3-8: http://artaware.org/beardenlessonplan.htm
Additional Grandma Moses resources:
Selection of several images of different scenes, seasons:
http://www.artnet.com/Artists/ArtistHomePage.aspx?artist_id=650665&page_tab=Artworks_for_sale
Other artists to consider:
Hokusai, 1760-1849, Japanese woodblock artist, known for his landscapes.
He created over 30,000 works of art during his lifetime.
http://www.asia.si.edu/
http://www.andreas.com/hokusai.html - Great
Wave and other images.
Other artists:
Faith Ringgold, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Peter Breugel, John
Sloan, Georgia O'Keefe, William H. Joohnson, Jacob Lawrence, Diego
Rivera.