Grade Level: 9

Introduction The Internet has become a powerful tool for performing research and conveying information. In the Visual Arts, specifically, the Internet is a way for students to learn more about both contemporary and historical artists, as well as a place for artists to be noticed. In this lesson, students will construct a web page about an artist of their choosing, either contemporary or historical, to be included permanently in a large database for the use of future students in researching artists. Students will use Microsoft Word or comparable word-processing program or a web editing tool to create a single page about an artist, with biographical information, images of the artist’s work, and links to other sites with more information about the artist. When finished, the web page will be uploaded and linked to from individual pages on the various movements in art history.
Subjects Art History Technology The Internet Biographical writing	Students will engage in: þHands-on activities þ Independent Activities þ Class Discussion þ Web Page Creation
Topic Arts Research and the Internet
Guiding Questions
Big Ideas in Art Artist concerns and interests, the Internet and art, Relevance of art history
Lesson length 5 class sessions (1 for lesson introduction, artist selection, research and site layout planning, 3 for execution, and 1 for critique and discussion)
Objectives The State of Ohio Art academic standards (link) 1.Students will select an artist and create a biographical web page relating to the artist’s life and work. (Standard: Connections, Relationships and Applications, Benchmark A) 2. Students will explain how sociopolitical and cultural factors influenced artists’ work (Standard: Historical, Social, Cultural contexts; Benchmark 3) 3.Students will explore a work by their selected artist in-depth and respond to that work in a short paragraph about the meaning and media in the work of art. (Standard: Analyzing and Responding, Benchmark C)
Scenario The Superintendent of our school district has approached us and asked us to create an index of websites about artists to be used by students all over the country. Each artist will have their own page on our site, and the pages will be arranged by Art Movement. Each page must contain at least three visuals by the artist, one image of the artist (if applicable), three off-site (absolute) hyperlinks, and three references (one of which must be a print reference). The page must also be attractively designed and link to both the movement page and the artist index main page.
Requirements Each artist page must contain: Three (3) images of artworks by the artist One (1) image of the artist, either a self-portrait or photograph (if applicable) Three (3) Absolute hyperlinks pertaining to the artist Three (3) references, cited in APA format, one of which must be from a print-based article Attractive layout (not graded-extra credit opportunity) Proper spelling and punctuation/grammar checked
Pre- Class Procedures 1. Teacher will create the Assignment page, ArtNet homepage, Art Movement pages and one example artist page (two if possible). 2. Teacher will post these online by uploading them to a server. 3. Teacher will set up computer and projection equipment before class.		Materials (consumables) ¨ CD-RW’s or other rewriteable media, e.g USB drives, floppy disks, zip disks, etc.
In-Class Procedures 1. Teacher will introduce lesson. 2. Teacher will show model artist page and how the page is linked to the main page. 3. Teacher will answer any student questions. 4.Teacher will quickly explain how to create pages in Microsoft Word, creating links, inserting images and using tables. 5. Students will divide into teams of 2-3 partners and begin researching potential artists. 6. Students will work in the computer lab and work on creating their artist web pages. 7. Teacher will provide individual assistance as necessary, and upload pages and update links when students are finished with their pages. 8. Teacher will lead an in-class critique of student work on pages during the last class period reserved for the project.
1. Gain attention How many of you have ever wanted to create your own Web Page, that people could see on the Internet? Well, today I’m going to show you how to do it using Microsoft Word and then you will be able to create your own page as part of our next assignment!
2. State objective You will be learning how to create your own Web page in Word, how to do effective research on an artist, and how to write a short biographical statement.
3. Stimulate recall of former learning Do you remember writing a short biography, maybe in elementary school where you had to write a book report? We will be doing the same thing except applying the short biography format to learning about artists. I’m sure each of you has seen Microsoft Word before, or even used it. If not, I will show you how to use it. We will be using a feature of Word to make Web pages in .htm format, complete with images.		Tools ¨ Computers with an Internet Browser such as Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer or Opera, Microsoft Word or other HTML-capable word processing program, and/or WSIWYG Web Editor such as NVU, FrontPage or Dreamweaver. ¨ Digital Data Projector and screen
4. Present new material So you already know how to create a document in Word. Using this tutorial I have created for you, you can easily create a web page on your own, but I will show you really quickly the basics of making your own. You have to open a new document in Word, and then add your images, text, tables, etc. When you have finished, save your progress as artistname.doc on your <<removable media>>. Now, to create our web page, go to File>Save As Web Page. Click on that, then select Web Page from the pull-down menu at the bottom of the Save As dialog box. See the Tutorial for assistance with this.
5. Provide learning guidance If at any point you need help creating your page, please ask me, and I will be over to help you as soon as possible. Feel free to experiment with page layouts and use tables to create the look for your page that you want.
6. Elicit performance When you have finished your web page, let me know, and I will come over and upload your page to my server. I will grade your pages and then I will let you know the grade when I have finished.		Other Resources ¨ Example of completed/ Model site- Felix Gonzales Torres ¨ Grading rubric sheet
7.Provide feedback Teacher will hand each group a graded rubric sheet with personal comments and extra credit score. If requested, teacher will also offer in-progress advice and information.
8. Assess performance Students may also be asked to evaluate their team member’s performance throughout the project. This evaluation will be averaged in with the final group score to make the individual score. The individual score is the score that will be recorded in the gradebook as the student’s grade.
9.Enhance retention transfer To enhance retention/transfer, teacher can segue into another web media project or problem, or the teacher can move on to another technology project, or the teacher can review during the critique what the students learned from the project.
Evaluation Evaluation will be made following the grading rubric created for the assignment.
Links: tip_assignment.htm Grading Rubric Model Artist Page Click Here to link to the Teaching Blog entry Click Here to visit the ArtNet homepage
Teacher only notes
Variations Famous people, Famous architects, writers, poets, dancers, actors/actresses & directors, etc. Art methods, materials and processes with individual pages
Connections to other disciplines Technology, History, Language Arts, Design, Communication