Barbara W. Coles Trader
I will design activities which address various individual learning styles, interests and abilities of our students in art and literature.
I.
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The objective is given for students to develop imagery in literary and art works.
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I feel that good artists are like good writers; they help us to enjoy not only their ideas, but our five senses we experience. We compare paintings like we compare written pieces of literature. We use words that are
similes
such as: As and Like to compare. I will give examples to the students with an explanation:
A cave was very cold;
the writer might state that the cave was
as cold as ice
. This comparison will help us to understand how cold the cave really was because all of us have felt the coldness of ice (prior knowledge).
A.
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In each sentence below, there is an incomplete comparison. Write your idea in the sentence.
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1.
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The new street wound around the mountain like _____.
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2.
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White clouds, like _____, scudded across the moon _____.
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3.
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My son’s request to use our car are as persistent as _____.
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4.
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White petals from the pear tree floated to the ground like _____.
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5.
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On the maps, Connecticut River looked long, narrow and pinched into sections like _____.
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B.
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The two paintings, which I have addressed during the beginnings of the curriculum unit, will be compared in the cooperative learning groups:
Watson and the Shark 1778
:
Gulf Stream, 1889
. The teacher directedquestions will be generated. How were the paintings similar? What was the setting? How did they differ? What audience does one think the painter/s are painting the picture/s? What is your image of a strong man? Why does one think that the artist was projecting a certain image? Where does one think the artist conceived his/her ideas? The preceding questions will be modeling techniques for the teacher during the oral and written brainstorming sessions.
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C.
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The objective is given to interpret and compare family paintings. Henry Ossawa Tanner was the first renowned African American male painter. One of his famous paintings was
The Banjo Lesson, 1893
. Closer to actuality, the painting showed an unsentimental affection and tenderness between an African American grandfather and his grandson. The grandfather teaching his grandson how to play the musical instrument. They were totally selfabsorbed and concentrated on the lesson which showed intellect and was scholarly/academic. The painting did not demonstrate idle amusement or play, but it illustrated an opportunity for the transmission of the knowledge. The students will also read Tanner’s biography who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; his father was an African Methodist Episcopal Church bishop.
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The
Dandy Jim from Caroline, 1844
painting will be compared. The painter is anonymous. Thus, I will ask the students what ethnic background do they think that the artist might have been? Hence, the painting depicted visual stereotypes of African Americans who were slaveholding ancestors. The black man playing the
banjo
was enacting popular minstrel gestures, which the facial expressions illustrated freakishness, with a
banjo—
picking Jim Crow character having
apelike
features. The wide grin became the stereotypical ideal of white racism in the
nineteenth century.
Many times the performers, in reality and in the paintings, were Caucasians disguised with painted blackfaces. I will ask the students do they recall viewing
Benny Hill Shows
which are reruns on today’s television, and some of the scenes snowed him with a painted blackface. Hence, the grinning musicians portrayed the African Americans as symbols by eternal nature, rather than intellectual figures/people, in American history and art. It depicted their love of the slavemasters with all its political implications of
minstrel shows/tradition
. I will tell the students that the
minstrel tradition
lowered African Americans’ selfesteem/positive selfidentity.
D.
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The objective is given for selfconcepts.
Looking Back at African American Artists
: 1. b—He was a landscape painter (18281901). 2. a—The Ohio Freedmen’s Aid Society sent him to Art School in Glasgow, Scotland (18211850’s). 3. c—His painting,
Family
, was featured in the February, 1989 issue of
Instructor
magazine. 4. e—He painted the Tombstones, 1942 in Harlem, New York. 5. d—They are famous women painters who are presently living.
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a.
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Robert Duncanson
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b.
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Edward M. Bannister
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c.
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Charles A. Alson
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d.
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Annie Lee and Varnette Honeywell
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e.
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Jacob Lawrence
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E.
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The objective is
visualization
. The skill will form mental pictures as students interpret paintings and literary works. The students will draw pictures within easel designed art papers. They will use pencils, felt tip pens, water colors and/or crayons entitled “My Art Gallery”.
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The students will discuss Jacob Lawrence’s painting, the Tombstones, 1942 which conveyed overcrowded tenements and families living in Harlem (New York, New York). The students will design picture stories comparing
overcrowded tenements then and now
(non-verbal and verbal skills).
II. American Family Literature
A.
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The objectives are given to help students change the way they think about reading and themselves. 1. Procedure—The students will read the story silently in subgroups of 3’s (cooperative learning).
Zeely
, written by Virginia Hamilton who is a famous African American author of children’s current stories, will be read.
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2.
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PostReading—I will ask the students to write and briefly describe the following: elements; details; the suspense; identify clues.
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3.
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Enrichment—I will give the students an opportunity to make handprints using a washable ink/paint. They will compare and contrast the different hands in the class.
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4.
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Homework—The students will compile a list of at least 10 things, and what can be done with the hands. They will draw individual pictures. “Our hands help us to be different from all other living things”.
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B.
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The objective is given to identify fictional and nonfictional elements. The students will visualize descriptive passages and analyze the author’s attitude toward them.
Anthony Burns: The Defeat and Triumph of A Fugitive Slave
is by Virginia Hamilton. Her book is a fiction for children of the 20th century. The paperback is written in the form of a diary. Selections are written from the
Fugitive Slave Act 1850’s
: May, 1854June, 1854.
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C.
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The objective is given to predict orally the
Novel
:
The Color Purple
. The students will do the following before they watch the video tape.
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1.
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The student will predict what does one think when he/she hears the word
purple
?
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2. How did the sisters impress the individual student?
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3. What do you think will happen in the story?
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4. How will the problem be solved?
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5. Where and when did the story take place?
After the students have viewed the
video tape
, the teacher will direct the students to read specific pages in the book. They will answer written statements to
summarize
the preceding questions. The students will reread their answers aloud for group discussions and analyze inner conflicts that families might encounter. Hence, there are different positive ways to manage stress and to cope in today’s society.