American Art Student Centered Discussion Lesson Plan
Objectives:


Students will view a power point that gives a brief overview of
American Art from 1800-1920’s
Students will participate in a twenty minute open ended discussion
about a slide from each of the four time eras.
1. 1600-1800
2. 1800-1875
3. 1878-1900
4. 1900-1920’s

Visual Art
and Student
Centered
Discussions:
Student
Centered
Practice:
Students will write a paragraph at the end of the discussion
about why the work of art is significant and why they like or
dislike the work of art.
 Visual Thinking Strategies Main Focus:
1. structured but open ended discussions about diverse art
2. Help beginning viewers develop a rapport with art and increase
their aesthetic understanding
3. expand participants ability to solve problems cooperatively
 Stage I:
“Accountive viewers are storytellers. Using their senses
memories and personal associations, they make concrete
observations about the work of art that get woven into a
narrative. Here judgments are based on what is known and
what is liked. Emotions color their comments, as viewers seem
to enter the work of art and become part of an unfolding
narrative.”

Activity I:
1. Students will go around the room and describe one
thing that they see in the painting slide.
2. Students will get into groups and tell a story to one
another about the painting. Then the students will
share the story about the painting with the class.
3. The class as a whole will go around the room and
tell one segment of an entire story.
 Stage II:
“Constructive viewers set about building a framework for
looking at works of art, using the most logical and accessible
tools, their perceptions, their knowledge of the natural world,
and the values of their social, moral and conventional world. If
the work does not look the way it is “suppose to”- if the craft,
skill, technique, hard work, utility, and function are not
evident or if the subjects seem inappropriate- then the viewer
judges the work to be weird, lacking and of no value. The
viewer’s sense of what is realistic is a standard often applied to
determine value. As emotions begin to go underground this
viewer begins to distance him or herself from the work of art.

Activity II:
1. Students will discuss what makes the art
important.
2. Students will describe the work using the
elements and principles of design.
 Line
 Shape
 Color
 Form
 Texture
 Light
 Repetition
 Variety
 Rhythm
 Balance
 Emphasis
 Economy
 Proportion
3. Students will discuss if the work is
aesthetically pleasing to them and what makes
is aesthetically pleasing.
4. Students will discuss what they think of the
technical quality of the work. Do you think the
work of art took a long time to make? Is the
work of art functional?
5. Students will discuss how they feel when they
see the work.
At the end of the student discussion, Students will write a paragraph
describing why they think the work we discussed in class is significant.
They will also write about why they like or dislike the work of art.
Evaluation:
Students will be graded on class participation.