The lesson plan "Great Moments in Art" by Harold Olejarz (https://docs.google.com/View?id=ddv49vkt_20fcpctfdm) has 6 - 8 grade students link relevant dates in artists' lives with the locations of their births, deaths, and great works. This lesson plan uses Google Calendar, and which automatically links locations to Google Maps. The lesson plan has students either share one google calendar, or all access each other's calendars to learn about the lives of artists.
One of the aspects of this lesson plan that I appreciate is that it uses technology and social networking (tools of the present) to connect students to people, places and artworks of the past. This is a great example of how to make a connection between the centuries. The interactive quality of this lesson plan is also very engaging for students. Using Google Maps/Earth, students can understand the distance and proximity between locations, and really get the effect of a virtual field trip. These tools are far more effective the the pull-down maps resembling window shades that we used when I was in school.
However, there is an area where I see the lesson plan is lacking. As an artist myself, the most notable critique is that the lesson plan devotes most of its energy to dates and locations (the very details that put students to sleep in an the average art history class). In my opinion, the ART is the most important aspect, and the dates and places (while important) will always be secondary. I want my students to explore the imagery, composition, style, materials, social and historical context, and then pinpoint it to a date and location. After all, its the image that has the power to inspire and convey meaning. The dates and location certainly influenced the style and imagery, but they do not have the same effect as the image itself.
Perhaps a way to remedy this would be to add a requirement to the lesson plan that requires students to have 5 - 10 direct links to images at the museums they choose. Having the images become the centerpiece changes the focus from the location to the pieces themselves. When students enter their description, I would require that the first paragraph be devoted to an actual analysis of the piece of art (composition, style and technique), and then have them go into the historical details of the artist's life. It would be a shame to title a lesson plan "Great Moments in Art" without talking about the art itself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I like your twist on the assignment in having the students talk about the actual art itself. It's a good way for them to understand the big picture without getting lost in the details. While date and time set the context, the assignment makes much more of an impact when it describes the piece of art as well.
ReplyDeleteYour insight into where this lesson plan is lacking is extremely useful and I agree completely. It seems that this issue, the issue of replacing artistic qualitative ideas with tangible quantitative definitions, is often an unbalanced exchange that happens in both the art classroom and the literary classroom. It is so easy to take advantage of the concrete qualities of dates and physical places than to address and discuss the symbolism and artistic value of a work. This certainly is something that I'm sure we will have to be aware of and aware of other teachers doing. It's a bad habit we can't fall into!
ReplyDeleteNina, I really liked your emphasis on reviewing the art as opposed to focusing on the dates. Working this way can help younger students create more of a personal connection to what they're working on. Dates are pretty concrete facts, but personal opinions on the art works are a student's own. By combining the two, can help students develop more analytic skill.
ReplyDeleteI definitely appreciate this review of the lesson plan you chose. I think it highlights the beneficial parts, but also offers some insight that allows students to depart from the mundane habit/requirement of simply focusing on information without applying some critical thinking skills and personal connection to the assignment at hand. Furthermore, I think your suggestions have the potential to inspire children to appreciate art as more than a collection of shapes, lines, colors, etc. but a piece of self-expression. That would probably help increase a child's divergent thinking as opposed to educating them out of it!
ReplyDelete