Sarah Leslie Email: sm.leslie@mail.utoronto.ca Visual Arts Lesson Plan Title: All the water in the world Grade: 2 Timing: 80- 90 minutes Overview/Big Idea: This is an introductory art lesson to allow the students to further explore their understanding of water and air in the environment (a connection to their science unit). The students will be guided through the story of All the water in the world by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson as they view the artist’s interpretation of water, and begin to form their own interpretations. They will create their own works of water in nature through using the textures and techniques employed in the children’s book. Specific Curriculum Expectations: Visual Arts Creating and Presenting D1.1 create two- and three-dimensional works of art that express feelings and ideas inspired by activities in their community or observations of nature Reflecting, Responding and Analyzing D2.2 explain how elements and principles of design are used to communicate meaning or understanding in their own and others’ art work Exploring Forms and Cultural Connections D3.1 identify and describe a variety of visual art forms they see in their home, at school, in their community, and in visual arts experiences Science Understanding Basic Concepts 3.4 identify sources of water in the natural and built environment Materials & Tools: Book: All the water in the world by: George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson Drawing paper (one per student) Scrap booking papers (including various colours, lines and textures) – student created through access to a variety of materials Acrylic Paint (Primary & Secondary Colours) Acrylic Paper (One for each student for final copy) Acrylic Paper (Quarter sections for students to create textured paper) Forks Sponges Toothbrush Straws Household materials Artists/Artworks: George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson c. 2011 Water by Frank Asch Quality Art Education (what qualities have you covered?) √ using a variety of materials and images √ integrating the creative and critical analysis processes √ connecting to the lives of my students through a big idea √ creating a safe environment for creativity and risk-taking -------------------------------------------------------------------Is it also integrated with another discipline? Integrated with Science Curriculum as noted earlier Delivering the Lesson Timing Grouping W S 10 min I Warm-up/Minds On Activate prior knowledge: Have the students share with a partner what they already know about water in the environment. Where do they see water? How is the water used? Why is water important? Share answers as a whole class. What are some common themes and elements of water? Create a mind map of the lists of words they used to describe water. Are there any common themes? Ask the students what they notice about the words they have listed. Are there any words we should add? √ √ Action: (Step-by-Step) 20 min 40 min √ √ 45 – 60 min √ Read the story ‘All the water in the world’ by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson and focus on the drawings which are made by the professional arts. For each image, ask them to describe what they see, identify common elements and how the elements are used to convey meaning [For instance: how lines and shapes (design elements) and emphasis of the water (design principles) are used]. What do you think the artist’s trying to show about water? Was there a particular page you liked best and why? The students will be provided to use the same techniques as the illustrator to create their own scrap booking paper. Each desk will be provided with a variety of textured objects to create their own paper for their artwork. (Requires modeling: how to use the materials appropriately and where the materials go after they have been used). The paper will dry over night and continue the next stage of the activity the following day. Explain that they will be using the same techniques as the illustrator to show what they think of water in our environment. (I also read another book entitled Water by Frank Asch, to draw out additional ideas of how water can be represented in the environment). They will get the opportunity to use various scrap booking papers to form a picture which were self created. Draw the students attention to the mind map and discuss possible ways the students can show their initial impressions of water through artwork Ask the class to set aside their large drawings for display on a bulletin board. 10 – 15 min Consolidation: Have a gallery walk of all the artworks the class has made. Discuss what it felt like to use a technique of another artist. What did you like about using textured paper to show water? Are there any similarities or differences? Have them complete a self-assessment as a ‘ticket-out-the door’: Each student will give themselves “Two stars and a Wish” √ √ Students will also have the opportunity to express their artwork through a reflective piece. This will be the opportunity for the students to describe how they see water in the environment and why they chose to represent water the way they did. Assessment is based on Success Criteria develop as a class: √ I used different colours and shapes which covers SPACE of the page √ I integrated a VARIETY of textures to create MOVEMENT on the page √ I REFLECTED and NAMED my artwork. Guiding sentence: Water is, Water feels, When I think of water... Reflection (what worked/didn’t work and what changes are needed for next time): After reflecting on the entirety of my lesson, I believe it was successful; both for the teachers and my development as a student professional. Having limited visual art experience throughout my schooling career, I was initially nervous teaching the students about different forms of visual art expressions. However, finding valuable literacy texts in the library proved to be an effective way to activate the student’s prior knowledge of the Science Air and Water in the Environment unit. The images in the two texts I used provided a way for the students to express their initial impressions about water and different ways it can be represented in nature. Additionally, the students were able to comment on the common elements the illustrators used and how they were used to convey meaning. For instance, a discussion of movement and texture allowed for the development of success criteria to develop for their final visual art project. As the visual arts lesson continued, the students were excited to display their artwork in the hallway and received praise from the students within the classroom as well as colleagues throughout the school. They signed the artwork and provided a reflection which was individualized to how they see water in the environment. The lesson required three separate elements; talking about professional works of art in literacy texts, creating the textured paper and creating their final works of art with included reflection. The lesson in its entirety took a total of ninety minutes over the span of two days, and requires careful planning and attention to the classroom schedule to ensure period blocks are dedicated to the art project. The organized chaos in the room can becoming overwhelming to one classroom teacher and I would suggest coordinating with volunteers to ensure clean-up runs smoothly. The inclusion of student reflection is a key component of the grade two classroom which allowed for the students to discuss elements and principles of their own artwork as well as communicating next steps. However, I believe this was the most important step of the art project. Therefore, as students completed their art work, I continued to meet with each student individually. I would allow the student to discuss the elements of their work and formulate a plan to write out what they wanted to say. This ensured each student was aware of their own artwork. Display Board