MYP unit planner
Unit title
Art Changes Us!
Teacher(s)
White
Subject and grade level
Visual Art-Level 2
Time frame and duration
9 weeks
Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of
interaction and unit question
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What do we want our
students to retain for years into the future?
Community and Service-The emphasis of
community and service is for students to
develop community awareness and to
discover the social reality of the community
and their place within it. This unit asks
students to investigate how communities
and people have changed because of art.
People change through experiences.
MYP unit question
To what extent do people and communities change through
experiences?
Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
What other local assessments or tasks will be used?
Assessment Tasks:
B- Extracts from the DW showing work from the beginning to the point of realization and materials such as
diagrams, photos, and visual influences- at least 3 pieces
A- A comparison or analysis of art practices in the context of the themes being investigated: 1 page
including supporting evidence (art movement project)
D- Comments by the teacher and student relating to personal engagement, based on this unit of work
C- Analysis of the process of working, discussing themes and issues raised by work, and responses to
feedback from the teacher and other students (in DW)
Local Tasks:
 6-8
 Warmups Weeks 3-8
 Printmaking with found objects (and creating a new work of art)
 One-point perspective room drawing
 Drawing outside from observation
 End of semester paragraphs/critique

Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
B-Develop an idea, theme or personal interpretation to a point of realization, expressing their artistic
intentions
Apply skills, techniques, and processes to create, perform and/or present art
A-Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the art form studied in relation to societal, cultural
historical and personal contexts
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the elements of the art form studied, including specialized
language, concepts and processes
Communicate a critical understanding of the art form studied in the context of their own artwork
D-Show commitment in using their own artistic processes
Demonstrate curiosity, self-motivation, initiative and a willingness to take informed risks
Support, encourage and work with their peers in a positive way
Be receptive to art practices and artworks from various cultures, including their own
C-Reflect critically on their own artistic development and processes at different stages of their work
Evaluate their work
Use feedback to inform their own artistic development and processes
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
Criterion A,B,C and D
Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to
the learning activities through inquiry
Content
What International Connections are being made throughout this unit?
What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit
question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the
significant concept(s) for stage 1?
International Connections:
 Students have an international connection within each weekly sketchbook assignment.
 Look at examples of collages from around the world
 Look at/discuss Pablo Picasso’s “Room at Arles”
3.02
1.03
7.01
3.01
Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
Collaboration- Students will collaborate within the table-group setting. Due to working with peers, students
will have a deeper understanding of what techniques are successful, and which ones may be less
successful.
Learning experiences
How will students know what is expected of them? Will
they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise
the skills required? How will they practise applying
these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will
we know?
Students will see examples, non-examples,
checklists and rubrics for tasks.
Students will acquire the knowledge based on
demonstrations and hands-on experiences.
Prior student knowledge will be assessed with
warm-up questions. Further formative
assessments will be conducted verbally and
through observation, and will continue for the
duration of the unit as new skills and concepts
are introduced.
Teaching strategies
How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback
during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have
we made provision for those learning in a language other than their
mother tongue? How have we considered those with special
educational needs?
Verbal and demonstrative formative assessments will be
used to give students feedback during the unit. The
teacher will give group and one-on-one demonstrations
and will discuss how given examples are examples or
non-examples of the desired product.
The teacher will employ various teaching strategies,
including: demonstrations, discussions, collaborative
work and peer feedback in a group setting, and through
a culminating chance for students to present products to
the class.
Instruction will be differentiated as needed during every
class period. Further examples, demonstrations, and
reminders will be given to individual students and to the
class. With these additional supports in place, all
students will learn the concepts of the unit. For those
learning in a language other than their mother tongue,
handouts will be given in the appropriate language.
Students with special educational needs will receive
differentiated instructions for tasks and additional
scaffolding as needed.
Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during
the unit?
NC Standard Course of Study
The internet for art examples
Computers with word processing
The knowledge, expertise and experiences of others in the classroom
Ongoing reflections and evaluation
In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions.
There are further stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for
teaching and learning” section of MYP: From principles into
practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?

Some students were challenged to work with their table group on the table collage (they used their papers that they
made). Collaboration skills were challenged for a few students who like to work individually.

The one-point perspective assignment came easily for some students, and some students struggled. It seemed to
help to remind them daily that for cube-like objects, all lines should either be drawn to the vanishing point, or should
be perfectly horizontal or perfectly vertical.
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?

Several students used one-point perspective in their sketchbook assignment for that week.
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?

Students reflected on their tan rubric packet, where they recorded feedback from peers/teacher. Students also
reflected because this is the last unit of the semester and we had the end of semester test and critique as the
culmination of this unit.
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated
action?

Being reflective was a big part of this unit, both on the group collage and on the one-point perspective project. On
the one-point perspective project, students were especially inquisitive about how to draw a sofa, or a table, or why
their table doesn’t look right, etc.

Students had plenty of opportunities for student-initiated questions and decisions on the art assignments for this unit.
Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?

Math-use of perspective. This partnership could be aligned next time.
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?

Same as above- math and perspective.
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
 Yes, both through the art assignments and the end of semester written test.
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make
sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?

One big thing that helped was giving students a tan rubric packet and reminding them to have it out every day, so
they could record feedback as they received it. This really helped boost scores for Rubric C. These examples of
recorded feedback served as the task for Criterion/Rubric C, as a developmental extract.
Are we prepared for the next stage?

Yes- next year!
Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?

Warmup questions/discussions and review sessions for the end of semester test. Yes, it helped to highlight areas of
knowledge that were strong, and which areas students needed to review.
Figure 12
MYP unit planner