Anthony F. Franco and Benjamin A. Gorman
Rationale:
History is all around us: it exists in objects—that old fan in the attic, that monument atop East Rock, that abandoned building— unlimited resources. The use of these materials can stimulate greater interest and serve as a focal point in developing the ability to observe, reason soundly, and test ideas, as well as providing substance for a writing experience.
Major Concept:
With a critical understanding of artifacts, the past can move out of books and connect us directly to people and their lives. Since objects are a form of communication, we can learn to “read” them; we can apply our ideas and senses to objects in order to improve our communication skills.
Terminal Objective
:
Upon completion of the series of sub-concepts, you will be able to view physical evidence as a springboard into the past, gain a clear understanding of meaning through objects, and increase your writing skills.
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Sub-concept
I. Learning to “read” an artifact and to apply careful descriptions is the first step in viewing the past around us.
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Sub-concept
II. Since objects can connect us with another culture, we can bridge the gap of time by applying our senses, intellect and emotions to experience a human commonality and express our connection in a narrative form.
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Sub-concept
III. Artifacts are reflective of the cultural values that produced them. By using our imagination, raising questions, and doing research, we may gain insight into the world of the past and enlarge our own world with a discerning eye.
INSTRUCTIONS
Each of the following three sections includes: a sub-concept, performance objectives, learning activities and an opportunity to test yourself. Read each sub-concept and performance objective carefully. Then complete the learning activities and the options. Some of the work is to be done individually and some will be completed in a group.
Complete the self-test before you go on to the next subconcept. If you have any questions or problems, stop and consult the teacher. Self-tests will be checked and a record of your progress will be kept by the teacher.
When the three sections are finished, go on to the Post-Assessment and complete all the questions. From the Quest Activities choose one or more for completion on a date set by the teacher.
SCHEDULE
Day 1: Description of packet, reading of rationale, major concept, terminal objective and sub-concepts. Preview entire packet and read student instructions. Form groups and choose a leader in each. Begin Subconcept I: activity 1.
Day 2: Activities 2 and 3. Activity 4 completed for homework.
Day 3: Activity 5 (handout I) may be completed for homework. Activity 6 for homework.
Day 4: Activities 7, 8 (handout II) and 9. Choose an optional activity due later. For homework, complete self-test I.
Day 5: Begin Sub-concept II: activity 1 (handout III) all parts. Activity 2 for homework.
Day 6: Activities 3 and 4: activity 5 for homework.
Day 7: Activities 6 and 7: activity 8 for homework.
Day 8: Choose an optional activity due later and complete self -test II.
Day 9: Begin Sub-concept III: activity 1.
Day 10: Activity 2: begin activity 3 for homework.
Day 11: Presentation of optional activities from sub-concepts I and II.
Day 12: Activity 3 due. Self-test III to be completed.
Day 13: Post-Assessment and Quest Activity chosen.
Sub-concept
I
Learning to “read” an artifact and to apply careful descriptions is the first step in viewing the past around us.
Performance
Objectives
:
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1. You will practice using your sight to sharpen your observation skills.
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2. You will develop a list of vivid and descriptive word s.
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3. You will write simple descriptive sentences.
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4. You will demonstrate and define terms to be used with formal analysis of objects.
Activities
: (do all activities)
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1. Using a picture from a textbook chosen by the teacher, look at it carefully. Close the book and list on paper
all
the things that you observe.
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Using the same picture and now, while looking at it, make a list of what you see. Compare your lists. Think, why is one longer?
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2. A common listing of the class’s observations will be placed on the chalkboard. In your group, choose 10 words that best describe the picture and list them in order of what is most noticeable. Share your list and discuss differences among the groups.
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3. Using the 10 words decided upon in your group, write a vivid or accurate word for each.
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4. Write two sentences describing what you saw in the picture using your vivid or accurate words.
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5. Complete handout I. Discuss the elements that wont into the pictures. Discuss the types of lines, identify the shapes, in what ways did the choice of colors add to the picture and name the kinds of textures that can be seen.
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6. Using a dictionary, copy the definitions of the following:
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line
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shape
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color
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value
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texture
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contrast
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7. Number 1 to 12, then choose the more vivid word from each pair below and copy it.
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1. black
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ebony
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7. Iouvred
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slotted
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2. rounded
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cylindrical
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8. tasty
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delectable
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3. vivid
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clear
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9. pungent
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smelly
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4. calm
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serene
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10. hidden
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covert
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5. vile
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bad
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11. tranquil
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still
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6. taut
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tight
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12. fluttering
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waving
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8. Copy handout II. Complete it using your sailboat picture as the object to be described.
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9. Write a detailed view of the front of the classroom, from your vantage Point, from left to right. Would you describe a person the same way? How would you? Would you describe a baseball field the same way? How would you?
Optional Activities
for sub-concept I: (choose one)
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1. From your library, choose a book that deals with an introduction to art and read the sections that deal with the elements of art.
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2. List 15 vivid words that describe your favorite sport or TV program.
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3. Choose an object in your house that you consider to be old. Write a careful description of it using 3 to 4 sentences.
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4. Facing your home describe the front facade using optional description from bottom to top.
Self-test
for sub-concept I:
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1. Describe exactly something that you own which you value.
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2. Number 1 to 8, then choose the more vivid word from each pair below and copy it.
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1. cold
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frigid
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5. torn
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shredded
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2. coarse
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uneven
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6. dry
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parched
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3. gigantic
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big
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7. darting
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running
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4. brilliant
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smart
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8. all around
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surrounded
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3. Draw with your pencil a bowl of fruit using lines and shapes, add color and texture by shading with your pencil.
Sub-concept
II
Since objects can connect us with another culture, we can bridge the gap of time by applying our senses, intellect and emotions to experience a human commonality and express our connection in a narrative form.
Performance
Objectives
:
1. You will become aware that we identify things with our senses.
2. You will list human emotions and write a paragraph explaining the emotions that others might feel.
3. You will make some reasonable deductions describing them in a paragraph.
4. You will be able to define culture and explain how objects reflect values.
Activities
: (do all activities)
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1. Complete handout III.
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2. Using a dictionary, copy the definitions of the following:
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deduction
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inference
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value
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culture
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reason
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intellect
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emotion
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artifact
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3. List all the emotions that you have felt or might feel in your life. This may be a timed activity. Circle all the emotions on your list that you might have when viewing a lighted candle. Now underline the emotions that someone your age 200 years ago might have felt viewing the same candle. Are there any differences: why?
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4. In your group, make a list of all the feelings that Columbus and his men may have experienced upon reaching the New World. Can we still feel those emotions today?
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5. Remember a favorite candle: think how you felt at the time you saw it. Writs your feelings about the circumstances in a paragraph.
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6. Your group has found a book, a coin and a china plate. What can you tell about the group of people who possessed these objects? Share your deduction with the class.
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7. Pretend you are an archaeologist in the year 2180. You have found an object from the 1980’s; describe this object and detail its function in a paragraph without using its name.
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8. Choose one of the following to complete.
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Look at your baby book or a picture of yourself as a baby. Explain in a paragraph why it is important to be kept and what it shows.
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Or
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Explain in a paragraph why we have museums and people visit them. If you have been to one, what do you remember?
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Or
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Select something that is old around your house and explain why it has value to you or someone in your family. State what it is and the explanation in a paragraph.
Optional Activities
for sub-concept II: (choose one)
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1. Using your sailboat picture, write a description of how the other senses besides sight would know it and its setting.
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2. Do a personal inventory of your Pockets, wallet or Purse. Make a list of the objects. Circle what is most important to you. If someone else found the same objects, what might they say about you; write a short paragraph about the person who owns the objects.
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3. Using pictures cut from magazines and/or newspapers, make a collage: illustrate things important in today’s world. Give it a title.
Self-test
for sub-concept II:
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1. In a paragraph, describe what your house means to you in terms of your senses, emotions and intellect.
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2. Define culture.
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3. List 3 objects that illustrate our culture today.
Sub-concept
III
Artifacts are reflective of the cultural values that produced them. By using our imagination, raising questions, and doing research, we may gain insight into the world of the past and enlarge our own world with a discerning eye.
Performance
Objectives
:
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1. You will list questions that can be answered by investigation.
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2. You will develop the use of your imagination and write a creative narrative paragraph.
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3. You will research an object to determine what information it can reveal.
Activities
: (do all activities)
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1. Select an object from the list below. Make up 10 questions relating to the object and the person(s) who used it. Identify the object if it is not known to you. Draw a picture of the object (optional).
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windmill
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trencher
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pewter tankard
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bed-warmer
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quilt
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spinning wheel
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quill pen
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cupboard
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postage stamp
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stoneware jug
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tombstone
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windsor chair
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2. Write a creative essay about one of the following:
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milking stool
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quilt
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colonial candle
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an apron
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butter churn
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ax
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flintlock rifle
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iron pot
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Your story could be from the object’s point of view or from the viewpoint of a person who used the object.
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3. In your home, find the oldest snapshot that you can and learn everything you can about it. Write your information adding your own observations. Where was it taken? When? Who is in it? If there are buildings, are they different today? Describe what you see.
Self-test
for sub-concept III:
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1. You have entered an old house that people no longer live in but it remains as they left it. Choose one room. Name 10 things that might tell you about the people who once lived there and write a paragraph describing what the family or a person was like.
POST-ASSESSMENT
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1. Using a photograph exhibited by the teacher or a picture from a textbook, write a descriptive paragraph including its physical qualities, the content and analysis of form.
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2. A visitor from another period in history is staying with you. List 5 objects or experiences that they would not know and 5 that they would recognize using their senses, emotions or intell etc.
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3. Define culture.
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4. Write a paragraph explaining how an object can tell us about people’s lives, give at least two examples.
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5. List 5 objects that you own and state next to each what values that they reflect. Then list 5 objects that you owned when you were half your present age. Next to them state what value they had to you then.
QUEST ACTIVITIES
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1. Write an account of a particular chair in your home. Check the height of the seat and back. What is it used for and where is it found? Was this always true? How is it put together? How is it finished? Does it have a special history? Compare it to others in your house.
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2. Look at all the pictures in your house and select the oldest. Describe your choice. Give the title or subject shown. Who was the artist? Describe the medium. ExPlain why the picture was chosen, ask.
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3. Make a copybook. Use 5 pieces of paper and a cover. Stitch the paper together. Put something special in it: write neatly and draw carefully.
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4. Pretend you are a portrait Painter. Do a color Portrait of a family member or friend and include a background. Will the portrait tell a story?
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5. Investigate colonial cooking. Cite some recipes. Try cooking one.
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6. Make a list of 10 streets near where you live and try to discover or reason why they were given their names.
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7. Try to discover the oldest thing that your family owns. Discuss its history with a family member who knows and write a report.
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8. Visit an historic house and make up questions that you would want to ask the people who first lived there that would reveal their life style.
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9. Investigate your house. Draw a floor plan to scale.
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10. Often old objects have new and different uses. Look around your house and identify two if possible. Describe what they were originally used for and what use do they serve now.
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11. Investigate colonial lighting or soapmaking. Write a report explaining the types and the making.
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12. Choose a car. Write an essay describing it. What can you tell about the society to which it belongs?
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13. Make a list of 5 objects which you would include if you were responsible for filling in a time capsule. Write a paragraph explaining your choices for each.
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14. Take some photographs (5 to 10) and arrange them to relate a theme showing how people feel about things.
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15. Choose a person. Paint a portrait of that person in words using vivid nouns and adjectives.
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16. Choose a colonial craft. Research it and write a report.
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17. Using your copy of handout II, complete a description of a painting or photograph approved by your teacher.
Handout I for sub-concept I, Activity 5:
You are to draw a picture of a sailboat in a step by step manner. You may copy a sailboat or use your imagination. Keep it simple. Yours will be special because it will be different. Be neat. Be prepared to share it with the class. Follow the steps in order.
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1. Using a pencil draw a sailboat using straight and curved lines on a piece of white paper. Draw it large enough, at least 5” x 8”, so that the sections may be cut out.
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2. Cut out the parts of your sailboat and staple or glue them to a plain background. Cut out some more shapes that you can add to your picture in order to Put the boat into a scene.
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3. Using crayons or water colors, add some color to your picture, the sailboat and the setting. You need not color everything in and do not use white.
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4. Place something rough under your picture and rub a white crayon or white chalk over the parts that you want white. Think where you want to add the white texture. Move the rough surface around. You are adding texture and white highlights to bring out the colors, lines and shapes that you have arranged into a picture.
Refer back to Activity 5 for follow up discussion.
Handout II for sub-concept I, Activity 8:
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Description:
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1. Physical qualities:
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a. Length _____: height _____: weight _____.
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b. material(s) made of: __________.
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__________.
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c. construction (put together) _____.
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2. Content:
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a. inscriptions, words, initial s, numbers, etc.: _____
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__________.
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AND/OR
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b. story illustrated: _____
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3. Formal analysis:
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a. colors:
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b. shapes:
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c. Lines:
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d. textures:
Handout III for sub-concept II, Activity 1:
Complete each of the following. Your lists will be share in class.
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1. List 5 sounds that you know the cause of by just hearing.
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2. List 5 odors that you can identify by just using your power to smell.
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_____
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3. List something that gives you each of the following tastes.
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sweet _____
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sour _____
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tart _____
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salty _____
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4. List 5 objects in a dark room that you could identify by touching: name the texture of each.
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1. _____ _____
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2. _____ _____
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3. _____ _____
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4. _____ _____
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5. _____ _____
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5. By using just your sight (in your minds eye) describe:
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1. an ice cream cone __________
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2. a piece of Pizza __________
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(Could your descriptions be of any other things?)