4 Week Curriculum
Big Idea: Happiness
Initial Essential Questions:
1. Can money make you happy?
2. Do you need other people to be happy?
3. How does social media reflect your happiness?
4. Why are some people happier than others?
5. Do you need to be successful to be happy?
6. What is success?
7. How do we represent happiness?
8. Can everyone be happy at once?
9. Do we have a right to be happy?
10. Is there a universal fun?
11. Why is Will Smith so happy?
12. Do material possessions make you happy?
13. Do people use religion to be happy?
14. How can something meant to promote happiness cause pain?
15. What makes you happy?
16. Does power make you happy?
17. Does the government affect your happiness?
18. How do you make other people happy? (random acts of kindness)
19. Is happiness the same cross-culturally?
20. Is there fake happiness? (Laughter-induced happiness)
21. How do chemical explain happiness
22. Is happiness contagious?
23.
How do you measure happiness?
Refined Essential Questions
1. What is success? And do you need it to be happy?
2. How do we represent happiness?
3. How do you make other people happy?
4. How can something happy cause pain?
5. What is the biological makeup of happiness?
Curriculum Unit Objectives
1. Students will be able to analyze their own beliefs about happiness.
2. Students will be able to represent their own ideas about happiness.
3. Students will be able to positively affect the world.
Directives
· Create a logo to represent happiness.
· Use a “good” thing to represent a negative thing.
· Make a happening that promotes happiness.
Activity/Project Ideas
● Laughter yoga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXgdSOxaCGI holy cow lol
● Random acts of kindness (flyers?)
● Making something (negative?) out of candy
● Eating cookies
● happiness mural? collaborative graffiti wall
● collaborative installation
● make/perform happenings
● Designing a happiness logo, making it into a “woodblock” print, then printing it onto
various things to promote happiness (i.e. greeting cards, handbills, posters, shirts, etc.).
● document handing out your handbills/hanging posters, reactions.
● http://www.deluxxe.com/beat/fluxusworkbook.pdf - kind of like social experiments-4
minutes and 33 seconds
● make placards for things already existing-conceptual art
Cultural Artifacts (art, music, etc.)
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Harvey Ball, designer or the smiley face: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Ball
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Happiness in stock photography
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I made a Happy Youtube playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1BEYA96zDeBicKQN3PcepzWaPkSQAZvj
also don’t worry be happy :)
● http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/work/project/the-happy-show/
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/the_happy_show.html
● http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Take-the-Happiness-Test-Quiz
● improv everywhere
● bucket o directives
● http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com
● http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_shares_happy_design?language=en#t508385especially starting around 8:20
● http://www.complex.com/style/2013/09/art-bathroom-plaques
Examples of Fluxus Happenings
● Bici Forbes:
○ Become Invisible:
■ a) by hiding
■ b) by divesting yourself of all distinguishing marks
■ c) by going away
■ d) by sinking through the floor
■ e) by becoming someone else
■ f) by concentrating so hard on some object or idea that you cease
to be aware of your physical presence
■ g) by distracting everybody else from your physical presence
■ h) by ceasing to exist
■ 1966
● WIllem de Ridder
○ Laughing
■ Four performers enter and stand in a row facing the audience. They
have four laughing masks on their faces and stand 10 minutes
motionless after which they box and leave again. Great fun.
■ 1963
● Ken Friedman
○ Mandatory Happening
■ You will decide to read or not read this instruction. Having made
your decision, the happening is over.
■ 1966
○ Fluxus Television
■ Paint shows and images on the glass screens of television sets.
■ 1966
● Milan Knizak
○ White Process
■ Stay 10 days in a white room with white furniture, white pictures,
etc. Eat only white food.
■ Drink only white drink. Wear only white clothes. Read white books
without black letters. You may also paint white pictures, makes
white sculptures, amuse yourself by making white things or simply
playing with white things.
■ Make your ideas white as well.
■ 1977
Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan #1
Key Questions:
● What is happiness?
● How do we represent happiness?
● What effects does seeing representations of happiness have?
Objectives:
● Students will be able to represent an idea effectively.
● Students will be able to discuss their own and others artwork logically and
thoughtfully.
● Students will be able to state their own definitions of happiness and success.
Student Materials:
● bristol board paper
● sketching paper
● markers
● pencils
● erasers
● linoleum
● cutting tools
● acrylic paint
● brayer
● plexiglass
● paper towels
Teacher Materials:
● powerpoint
● projector
● iPads
● paper to cover tables
● pre-cut paper (hand bills?)
Procedures:
● 15 discussion about what is happiness/success? do you need success to be
happy?
● 10 look through magazines/internet find 5 representations of happiness
● 10 talk about form/logos/design elements
● 30 design-draw 3 logos based on found representations and own interpretations
of happiness (product is happiness) slogans too if interested
● 10 present to small group, choose best logo
○ Discuss how you created your logos. What was your inspiration for each
logo?
○ Which logo best reflects the message you are trying to get across? How
does it deliver that message?
○ What colors did you use and how do they enhance the logos meaning?
○ Which logo has the best design and why?
○ Which logo’s design needs more improvement? What changes should be
made to improve the overall design?
● 10 talk about printmaking/how its good for logos (graphic)
● 10 demo printing/cleaning
○ Draw final logo design
○ Use transfer paper to copy image onto linoleum
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■ transfer flips but draw normally
○ Use appropriate carving tools to remove negative space (material around
logo that will not be printed)
■ safety-don’t cut toward hands/self, carve away
○ Place appropriate amount of paint onto plexiglass and roll out with brayer
until you hear “sticky” noise
○ Roll paint onto linoleum print with brayer until fully covered and no
linoleum shows through paint
○ Carefully flip print onto paper in desired location. Once the print is placed it
cannot be moved without ruining print.
○ Distribute even pressure onto the back of the print.
○ Carefully lift print directly upwards.
○ Rinse linoleum print, brayer, and plexiglass in sink. Put materials back
where you got them from.
30 Actual carving time (get approval before print)
15 practice printing on newsprint
30 print 5 good solid color prints
if done, move onto blend rolls
10 clean
Lesson Plan #2
Key Questions:
● What is art?
● How can art be more than just visual?
● Can an experience be art?
Objectives:
● Students will be able to represent an idea effectively.
● Students will be able to discuss their own and others artwork logically and
thoughtfully.
● Students will be able to state their own definitions of happiness and success.
Student Materials:
● bristol board paper
● sketching paper
● markers
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pencils
erasers
linoleum
cutting tools
acrylic paint
brayer
plexiglass
paper towels
(happening materials)
giant paper
tempera paint
model magic
Teacher Materials:
● powerpoint
● projector
● paper to cover tables
● pre-cut paper (hand bills?)
● yarn
Procedures:
● 45 minutes Students will finish carving linoleum blocks and print at least 5 final
prints
● 10 minutes Audience Variation No. 1
● 5 Brief discussion: What just happened? What is a happening?
● 20 Tumbleweed Event (tempera)
● 10 Event for midday in the sunlight
● 15 Introduction to fluxus- powerpoint and discussion john cage
● 20 break into groups give happenings perform (think about it explain afterwardstell title, how does this inform your own happenings)
-Air Event
inflate a small rubber balloon in one deep breath and sign your name on
the surface of the balloon. (this is your lung) you can buy the lungs of other performers
at an auction.
-Become Invisible
■ a) by hiding
■ b) by divesting yourself of all distinguishing marks
■ c) by going away
■ d) by sinking through the floor
■ e) by becoming someone else
■ f) by concentrating so hard on some object or idea that you cease
to be aware of your physical presence
-Telephone Clock
telephone someone. announce the time.
-Chironomy 1
Put out a hand from a window for a long time.
-Finger exercise
perform with finger(s)
-smile
five performers walk about smiling
-nothing
performers to nothing
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20 create happenings, at least 3 “realistic ones” 3 “crazy ones”
5 min pair and share, peer edit
40 make pages (one per page) for fluxus happening book
perform favorite happening
-disrupting daily life, social norms, manners, embracing/embodying feelings out of the
ordinary, experiencing, performative,
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Lesson Plan #3
Key Questions:
● How can you create an effective, creative message?
● Why is it important to display art in public spaces rather than in private or just in
museums?
Objectives:
● Students will be able to effectively send a message in a public space.
● Students will be able to explain the reasons for their creative decisions.
Student Materials:
● bristol board paper
● sketching paper
● markers
● pencils
● pens
● erasers
● linoleum
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cutting tools
acrylic paint
brayer
plexiglass
paper towels
(public art materials?)
Teacher Materials:
● powerpoint
● projector
● 1 iPad
● paper to cover tables
Procedures:
● 30 Students complete happenings pages and/or prints
● 5 Clean up
● 20 Public art presentation and discussion
○ pep talk-did well with happenings can do great work with these too, also
expectations of what qualifies as thoughtful and not thoughtful work
● 15 Brainstorm/explore building?
● 60 Students design public art piece with a message (signage, installation, or
performance)
● 5 Clean up
● 45 Walk around as a class viewing art and discussing
Questions to ask:
● What is your message?
● Why do you want to send this message out?
● What do you hope it will accomplish?
● Will your message change peoples’ minds about something?
● Will your message push people to take action?
http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/smart-living/the-most-incrediblesupernumberactsofkindness/ss-BBaBeno#image=1
Lesson Plan #4
Key Questions:
● How can you work together to make a cohesive work of art?
Objectives:
● Students will be able to work together as a group to create a cohesive,
comprehensive piece of work
Location:
● Flagg Hall basement/spray booth
Student Materials:
● brown bags
● scissors
● glue
● large graffiti paper
● sketch paper
● thick paper
● exacto knives
● spray paint
● acrylic paint
● paintbrushes
● markers
● cutting boards
Teacher Materials:
● powerpoint
● projector
● iPad
● camera and tripod
Procedures:
● 10 Students arrive, drawing, sketching directive as they enter
○ write your name in graffiti style
● 10 go over Saturday art school expectations
○ respect others - teachers and peers, listen to whoever is talking-raise
hand when we ask a question and wait to be called on
○ respect materials - clean, wash and dry paint brushes and palettes, put
back where you got it from
○ respect space - clean up your workspace when you’re done
○ students who follow rules and participate get positive reinforcement (treat
next week)
○ By the way, we have to do this video
● 30 graffiti examples and discussion
○ teacher led group discussion
■ what are some of your ideas for graffiti?
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■ what message are you sending?/ what will people take away from
seeing it?
■ where would you like the graffiti displayed ideally?
■ what types of people are you trying to target?
60 collaborative graffiti
○ Rachel
■ safety procedures
■ stencil demonstration
■ solidify group’s idea
■ start group work (switch after 30 minutes?)
● painting group
● stencil group
○ Taylor
■ halfway discussion and moving students
■ closing discussion
10 clean
30 student happenings
30 tell students they will be teaching next week
○ put into 3 groups and decide what grade level they will teach:
■ pre-k and kindergarten - Rachel
■ 1st and 2nd - Taylor
■ 3rd-5th - Suzie
○ brainstorm in groups “What have you learned so far that you would like to
teach the younger kids?” “How will you teach it?” “What materials will you
need?”
10 pass out brown bags for Bag Exchange Happening for next week and explain