Amber Fumich

Matt Mcelmar

Nathan Miller

RJ Ravida

Group lesson plan #1

03-01-05

 

Title and Introduction: American Tragedies! And Artists Responses

In this lesson you will learn a brief history about three American Tragedies: The Dust Bowl occurring during the Great Depression, The Race Riots in Birmingham Alabama and the Kent state University May 4th shootings.  After discussing these three tragedies we will view three major artworks created in response to these tragedies, Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother” 1936, Andy Warhol’s “Red Race Riot” 1963 and Robert Smithson’s “Partially buried woodshed” 1970.  After our discussion you will be given a chance to create your own artistic response to a more recent American Tragedy, being September eleventh.  
Subject:  Art and American History

Topic:    Artistic responses to tragedy

Objectives:

  • Identify ways in which culture has influenced the work of contemporary artists e.g.(photographers, painters and sculptures)
  •  Create expressive artworks that demonstrate a sense of purpose and understanding of the relationship among form, materials, techniques and subject matter. 
  • During the artistic process, evaluate their choices of compositional elements in terms of how these choices affect the subject matter.
  • Compare works of art to one another in terms of the historical, cultural, social and political influences evident in the works.

Procedures:

  • Gain attention: (1-2min.)

Teacher will begin by telling the class: 

Today we will be talking about the word tragedy. Can anyone tell me what the word tragedy means? According to the Webster’s dictionary the word tragedy excites terror or pity, an event resulting in great loss and misfortune.  Can anyone tell me of a tragedy that you have experienced first hand?  Today we are going to talk about tragedy as you all know but we are going to concentrate on American tragedy.  With that being said can anyone tell me an American tragedy?  Today we are going to discuss three American tragedies and artist who made artworks in response to the tragedies. 

  • State objectives: (1-2min.)

Teacher will tell the class:

Today we are going to examine how three different artists use art as a response to an American tragedy.  You will then have an opportunity to create your own   expressive artwork that demonstrate a sense of purpose and understanding of the relationship among form, materials, techniques and subject matter   in response to the way you felt after September eleventh occurred.  During our class discussion we will identify ways in which culture has influenced the work of contemporary artists and compare works of art to one another in terms of the historical, cultural, social and political influences evident in the works. During our studio time we will evaluate your choices of compositional elements in terms of how these choices affect the subject matter. I.e. what you chose to draw and whether or not it conveys the message you intend it to. 

  • Stimulate recall of former learning: (1-2min.)

Teacher will tell class:

Imagine if you were a professional artist when September eleventh occurred, what would be your response artistically?  Would you paint, sculpt, draw? Would you take pictures of its aftermath? What great American tragedies did we think of earlier? How would you respond to something like race riots, shootings or great poverty?

  • Present new Material and studio: (25-30min.)

Teacher will tell class:

 “Migrant Mother” 1936 by: Dorothea Lange

The first American tragedy we are going to talk about is the Dust Bowl.  During the 1930’s the panhandle and interior of Oklahoma was turned into a dessert which brought further hardships to families in the midst of the great depression. Due to overextension of the land, improper farming techniques, and previous droughts, tens of thousands of farmers were left with acres of useless dust and sand which was impossible to grow crops in. Countless families were unable to grow even the minimal amounts of food to feed their families. Many of these desperate men and women packed up their families and moved west and north in hopes of finding work. John Steinbeck’s novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, was based on the experience of a family dealing with life in the Dust Bowl.  The artist that responded to this great devastation was a female photographer by the name of Dorothea Lange, this photograph titled “Migrant Mother” taken in1936 was a snap shot of the great devastation of the dust bowl.  This is an interesting link with more photos of the dust bowl http://www.odl.state.ok.us/oar/resources/fsa/

 “Red Race Riot” 1963 by: Andy Warhol

The next American tragedy we are going to discuss are the race riots that occurred in Birmingham, Alabama.  Civil Rights most influential leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a series of non violent protest marches in the South during the early 1960’s. His march in Birmingham Alabama in the spring of 1963 was held in the hopes of supporting equal rights, desegregation, voting rights, better public housing, and improving public education for African American students. The police were called to the march and told to disperse the protesters. The officers turned used fire hoses, batons, tear gas, and attack dogs to deal with a group of non violent protesters.  The artist that responded to this great devastation was Andy Warhol; this screen print titled “Red Race Riot” made in 1963 was a tribute to the devastation of the race riots.  For more information on Andy Warhol and interactive screen-printing check out this website http://www.warhol.org/

 “Partially buried woodshed” 1971 by:  Robert Smithson

The next American tragedy we are going to discuss is the Kent State University May 4th shootings.  During the height of Vietnam, President Nixon announced that he had authorized a series of bombing runs and troop operations in Cambodia. This act was viewed by many to be an expansion of the war. Groups of students were protesting on college campuses all across America. At Kent State University, after days of protesting and the ROTC building was set fire to, the National Guard was called in to police the campus. During a large demonstration the guardsmen used tear gas on the protester in attempts to disperse the crowd. After the crowd showed no signs of leaving, the guardsmen opened fire on the protesters leaving 9 wounded and 4 dead. This was not the first time that National Guardsmen opened fire on protesting students but this was the incident that brought the most attention of the problem to light.  The artist that responded to this horrible event was Robert Smithson; this earthwork titled “Partially buried woodshed” made in 1971 was a tribute to the events of May 4th.

            Now that we’ve discussed three past American tragedies we are going to have a chance to discuss a tragedy that is much more current to us, September eleventh.  Can any one tell me how they felt after you found out the tragedy occurred?  How do these artworks relate? How has culture influenced these artists?   Well artist have an opportunity to express themselves in a non-violent way like the artist we observed earlier did.  They had something to say about a tragedy and said it through their work.  Now it is your turn to express yourself artistically in response to the September eleventh attack on America.  Each of you will receive one sheet of 18x24 drawing paper and oil pastels; you will then be expected to create a finished drawing expressing your thoughts/response to the event that occurred.  By finished I mean side to side and top to bottom utilizing the whole page, do not get lost in details! This is a creative release drawing; it doesn’t have to be perfect.  

  • Provide learning guidance: (during studio)

Teacher will repeatedly ask questions, such as:

    1. How did you feel when you found out about the attack?
    2. How did you fee when you saw the photos of the devastation?
    3. How does this make you feel today discussing it?
    4. What colors represent moods?
    5. What do the objects your drawing represent?
  • Elicit performance: (during studio)

Teacher will repeatedly ask questions, to each student:

    1. What is the purpose/meaning behind your drawing?
    2. How do the objects you decided to draw affect the subject matter?
    3. Is your drawing complete, side to side, and top to bottom?

 

  • Provide Feedback: (during studio)

Teacher will tell the students:

Feedback depending on their performance but will always remains positive.  Only positive criticism, this is not a portfolio review to get into college.  It is an expressive drawing and will be graded accordingly. Tell the students that their evaluations will be passed back at the beginning of next class.  Tell them all that your sure they did a wonderful job and to have a nice day.

·        Asses performance: (when artworks are completed)

1.      Was the student able to meet all of the objectives?

2.      Were most of the objectives meet, yet the quality of the studio was above average?

3.      Were all of the objectives meet, yet the quality of the studio was poor?

4.      Was the student able to create expressive artworks that demonstrate a sense of purpose and understanding of the relationship among form, materials, techniques and subject matter? 

5.      Was the student able to identify ways in which culture has influenced the work of contemporary artists?

6.      Was the student able to evaluate their choices of compositional elements in terms of how these choices affect the subject matter?

   7.  Was the student able to compare works of art to one another in terms of the  

         historical, cultural, social and political influences evident in the works?

 

 

  • Enhance Retention transfer: (5-10min.)

Once the compositions are finished and have been graded we as a class will discuss our topic of creative responses to terrible acts.  This topic will be stressed and show as a release for other potentially troubling situations.  

Assessment:

·        (refer to Asses performance bullet in procedures heading)

Materials: 

  • A 11x17 laminated visual of  “Migrant Mother” 1936 by: Dorothea Lange
  • A 11x17 laminated visual of  “Red Race Riot” 1963 by: Andy Warhol
  • A 11x17 laminated visual of   “Partially buried woodshed” 1971 by:  Robert Smithson
  • A sheet of 18x24 drawing paper for each student
  • A box of oil pastels for each student in a variety of colors

Theorist:

            As a biologist, Piaget was interested in how an organism adapts to its environment. Behavior is controlled through mental organizations called schemes that the individual uses to represent the world and designate action. This adaptation is driven by a biological drive to obtain balance between schemes and the environment.

            This lesson is based on Piaget’s theory of ‘Formal Operational Development’, which assumes that children are able to deal with hypothetical and potential situations that are separate from the content at hand. In the Formal Operational Stage children can deal with hypothetical situations and abstract ideas which they have not directly experienced and form concepts that are not based directly upon the experience itself. These students can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systematically, they also become concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems.

Accommodations:

Dyslexia is defined by www.dictionary.com as “A learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and comprehend written words.”  This is a very broad definition of the word, and doesn’t really exemplify what dyslexia is.  People with dyslexia often have a hard time reading many words on the chalkboard correctly or remembering a simple list of instructions.  Teachers must realize when they have a dyslexic student in their classroom and adjust their lesson plans accordingly.  In this lesson, a student with dyslexia should have no problem completing the task because we have picked all artwork which contains no text.  All instructions are verbal, leaving no problems for the dyslexic child in understanding the assignment at hand.

Closure:

In this lesson, students were instructed to observe works of art which were created because of a tragic event in history, and come up with their own work of art focusing on September 11, 2001.  By first seeing how other artists portrayed tragedy, they could better get an idea of what they wanted to develop.  While writing this lesson I think we all learned a little more about art and the way people use art to portray a tragic event in their life that really touched them.  September 11th is a day which is most likely the most significant American tragedy in our lives to date, and we thought that it would be a great tribute to those lost if the students would remember it with an artwork of their own.

Bibliography:

  1. Rhode, G., Jenson, W. R., & Reavis, H. K. (1993). The Tough Kid Book: Practical Classroom Management Strategies. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
  2. Davidson, James, and others, McGraw-Hill, Fifth Edition, Nation of Nations: A Narrative History of the American Republic, Volume II: Since 1865.
  3. Binder, Frederick, Houghton Mifflin, Fifth Edition. The Way We Lived, Volume II: 1865-Present.
  4. David G. Myers, (2001) Psychology, New York, New York. Worth Publishers.
  5. www.dictionary.com Taken 02-27-05
  6. http://www.warholprints.com/Introduction.Andy.Warhol.html Taken 02-27-05
  7. http://www.museumca.org/global/art/collections_dorothea_lange.html

      Taken 02-27-05

  1. http://www.robertsmithson.com/earthworks/partially.htm