Lesson Overview
In this lesson, the students will participate in an open discussion of voice. We will look at several examples of paintings, sculptures and other pieces of art and discuss their voice.
Duration
One fifty-six minute class period
Previous Assignment
Students will have read several poems for homework and practiced reading them aloud in more than one voice.
Materials
Art prints of several paintings and pieces of art; a few examples include
The Scream, Edvard Munch, 1895; The Bedroom, Vincent van Gogh, 1888; Balancement, Wassily Kandinsky, 1925; The Tragedy, Pablo Picasso, 1903; Profit I, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1982;
handouts and rubric
Instructional Objectives
· Look at examples of well known pieces of art and discuss the stories they tell
· Prepare a presentation based on a piece of art
· Choose a piece of art to narrate in front of the class and present it in the voice they feel it warrants and discuss the reasons for their choices
· Participate in an open discussion about the other students' presentations and how voice can differ depending on the interpretation
Instructional Plan
If an artwork were able to speak, what would it tell us? What story does it tell? What would the tone of voice be of the artist who is telling the story? In this lesson, I am looking for students to evaluate a piece of art and based on its qualities, attribute a sound or voice to the work. This lesson will come after the students have been reading poetry for homework and have practiced reciting what they read in class. They will have been asked to evaluate the poems and make basic generalizations about them, such as mood and subject.
We will begin this lesson with me modeling what I am asking the students to complete by the end of the class period. It is my hope that I can have each student participate in one class period, to keep the continuity of the lesson going. I will begin with one of the pieces of art listed above, or an additional piece depending on the number of students in my class. I will begin by telling a story about a piece that I chose and adjust my tone of voice according to the mood of the painting. Afterward, I will explain to students the reasons for my choice of mood and story, which will be based on the elements and principles of art. If the piece includes a lot of dark stormy skies, the overall mood will be sad, depressing or intense. If there are a lot of zigzag lines, it may contribute confusion to the piece.
I will give students a handout with some basic questions on it to help them through this process and give them some time to collect their ideas. Examples of questions may be: List the elements that you see and what they can add to the meaning of the work. What is the subject of the painting? Does the subject tell us anything about the story it could possibly tell? If it is a bigger class, it may even be beneficial to group the students in pairs to make it easier for them to come up with ideas. Students will tell the story of their painting or piece of art in an appropriate tone of voice. If they work in pairs, students have to each have a turn speaking. After each group, or student has finished, we as a class will discuss their decisions and make comments on how it was done well, and/or how it could have been changed.
Assessment
Students will be evaluated for this lesson by a rubric. This rubric will score the students based on their participation in not only their own presentation, but also comments on other students' presentations. It will also evaluate their use of art language (i.e. elements and principles) and how accurately they conveyed their ideas about the story. It will also assess the process, and how well they answered the prompt question
