Curricular Resources > 1991 Volume II > Unit 3 (91.02.03) > Section 2

The Family in Art and Material Culture

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 91.02.03

Unit Guide

Interpreting Selected Works of Art from the 20th Century African-American Experience

Christina Frodsham

Tools for this unit:

Your feedback is important to us!

After viewing our curriculum units, please take a few minutes to help us understand how the units, which were created by public school teachers, may be useful to others.

Give Feedback

OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES

Objectives

1. Increase the methods in which visual information is delivered.

2. Develop awareness of the cultural heritage represented by selected artists.

3. Learn an art vocabulary for purposes of oral discussion as well as for written descriptions of works of art.

4. Sharpen observational skills in order to become an “active” viewer and to identify with the artist or subject matter.

5. Understand that works of art have value because they define an individual or a society in a particular place, at a particular time.

6. Gain cultural perspective by analyzing and understanding disparities in experience and by searching for common experiences. ¹

Startegies

1. Students will observe works of art in the form of slide reproductions, print reproductions (22” x 30”), and books in order to increase the ways in which visual information is received. The reproductions will be available long enough for students to observe the work at their own rate.

2. Students will be asked to define what they think art is. Works of art from various cultures and centuries will be shown in a brief slide presentation. Art will be described as a message, a means of communication. It expresses people’s experience and how they feel about that experience.

3. Students need to have a working vocabulary of art terms before they can use the object analysis process for sharpening observational skills. The individual teacher will know best as to how extensive this vocabulary needs to be in order to suit the ability of his or her class. The terms can be described as similar to the parts of speech, only these terms are parts of a language of form. Descriptions of line, color, shape, space, and texture should be included. For example, in discussing the element of line, students should become familiar with placement and direction, as in horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and parallel. More advanced students can talk about converging or intersecting lines. Also, the use of adjectives should be encouraged in order to differentiate lines, as in “jagged” diagonal line or “thick” parallel lines. It is important to keep the descriptions as factual as possible.

A. The students will make their own glossary by writing down the terms from the board as they appear in the context of looking at and describing a reproduction together with the teacher.

B. Flash cards will be made in class in groups. The term will appear on one side and the definition on the other.

C. Evaluation of terminology knowledge can be made through matching or fill-in-the-blank tests.

D. Using their own flash cards, students will look at an unfamiliar work and describe it according to the formal elements of line, shape, color, value, and texture. These elements correspond to those used in the complete formal analysis of an object, which is the next strategy in becoming an “active” viewer.

Previous Next Back to Top

1.	Increase the methods in which visual information is delivered.
2.	Develop awareness of the cultural heritage represented by selected artists.
3.	Learn an art vocabulary for purposes of oral discussion as well as for written descriptions of works of art.
4.	Sharpen observational skills in order to become an “active” viewer and to identify with the artist or subject matter.
5.	Understand that works of art have value because they define an individual or a society in a particular place, at a particular time.
6.	Gain cultural perspective by analyzing and understanding disparities in experience and by searching for common experiences. ¹

1.	Students will observe works of art in the form of slide reproductions, print reproductions (22” x 30”), and books in order to increase the ways in which visual information is received. The reproductions will be available long enough for students to observe the work at their own rate.
2.	Students will be asked to define what they think art is. Works of art from various cultures and centuries will be shown in a brief slide presentation. Art will be described as a message, a means of communication. It expresses people’s experience and how they feel about that experience.
3.	Students need to have a working vocabulary of art terms before they can use the object analysis process for sharpening observational skills. The individual teacher will know best as to how extensive this vocabulary needs to be in order to suit the ability of his or her class. The terms can be described as similar to the parts of speech, only these terms are parts of a language of form. Descriptions of line, color, shape, space, and texture should be included. For example, in discussing the element of line, students should become familiar with placement and direction, as in horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and parallel. More advanced students can talk about converging or intersecting lines. Also, the use of adjectives should be encouraged in order to differentiate lines, as in “jagged” diagonal line or “thick” parallel lines. It is important to keep the descriptions as factual as possible.
A.	The students will make their own glossary by writing down the terms from the board as they appear in the context of looking at and describing a reproduction together with the teacher.
B.	Flash cards will be made in class in groups. The term will appear on one side and the definition on the other.
C.	Evaluation of terminology knowledge can be made through matching or fill-in-the-blank tests.
D.	Using their own flash cards, students will look at an unfamiliar work and describe it according to the formal elements of line, shape, color, value, and texture. These elements correspond to those used in the complete formal analysis of an object, which is the next strategy in becoming an “active” viewer.