As our highlighted lesson, the submitter was awarded a $50 honorarium. See our guidelines to submit yours!

Subject: Visual Arts, Creative Writing
Grade: 9-12

Brief Description

Students collaborate in pairs to research any of these art styles: realism, impressionism, post-impressionism, expressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, or surrealism. They create original short stories, poems, or personal essays and illustrate the written work with artwork in the style of their chosen "Ism." Using desktop publishing, students edit their work into book. Each participant receives a laminated, bound copy.

Objectives

Students

• learn and understand an art period and the characteristics of the style.
• create written work using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• demonstrate an understanding of how to manipulate art media to illustrate the creative writing appropriately and in a historical art style.
• learn the value of teamwork in creating an impressive, meaningful product.

Keywords

realism, impressionism, post-impressionism, expressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, surrealism, poetry, short story, essay, art media, scanner, art, art history

Materials Needed

• computers with Internet access, printer, and desktop publishing program
• electronic art sources -- see Web sites suggested in the lesson
• art media, such as paints, pastels
• scanner
• spiral binding machine -- optional
• combs, the plastic "teeth" that hold a manuscript together -- one per student
  (optional)
• drawing paper

Lesson Plan

• Provide a brief overview of the following art movements: realism, impressionism, post-impressionism, expressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, and surrealism.
• Assist students in forming pairs and selecting an "Ism."
• Help students use print and electronic sources to research their chosen art styles. Two of the many worthy Web sites are Art History Network and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Monitor students' understanding of important attributes of the art styles as they complete their research.
• Have students write short stories, poems, or personal essays and illustrate the written work with artwork in the style of the chosen "Ism."
• Facilitate the creative writing aspect of the project, fostering not only originality but also correct spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation. Encourage creative and appropriate use of art media.
• Have students scan their completed illustrations. Assist where needed to expedite the scanning of finished artwork.
• Have students use a desktop publishing program to complete the project. Help the students with layout and with printing, laminating, and binding the books.

Teacher's Comments: This project promotes an active, constructivist learning environment. The students are motivated not only by the significance of the tasks and the interactivity involved but also by the exciting use of technology.

Assessment

Cooperative classroom efforts are authentic tasks that help students prepare for the future. The "real-world" goals of this assignment are evaluated in part by teacher observation of how the students work together, gather information, complete the writing, plan the illustration, and create the book. Formative assessment also includes asking the students to complete an evaluation form concerning their partners' contributions as well as their own

Lesson Plan Source

Paula Guhin, a visual art teacher at Central High School in Aberdeen, South Dakota, created this lesson with another teacher, Sandy Weins-Kersten.

Submitted By

Paula Guhin ( Paula Guhin), Central High School, Aberdeen Public Schools, Aberdeen, South Dakota

As our highlighted lesson, the submitter was awarded a $50 honorarium. See our guidelines to submit yours!