Lesson Plans and Curriculum Guides

Semester Curriculum Guide


Buddy Plumlee, teacher

Grades 9 - 12

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UNIT 1: Visual Elements and Autobiography


Project 1 (the first two weeks of the semester)


Title: Elements Self-portrait


Central Focus: The central focus is for the students to become proficient in understanding and utilizing the seven elements of art and design (line, color, shape, form, value, space, and texture) through the exploration of self and identity as a concept.


Project Description: The students will create seven mixed media self-portraits based on one photographic image chosen by each student. Prior to beginning the project, the students will make self-portrait studies in their sketchbooks using pencils, graphite sticks, pens and felt tipped markers. Each self-portrait will address one of the seven elements of art and design. Scaffolded into the lesson will be whole group instruction about the seven elements of art and design along with individual guidance. Sketchbook exercises will be focused on developing self-portraits that represent those elements. All of the vertical self-portraits will measure 8 ½” by 5 ½”, and will be mounted on one large sheet of black poster board per student.


Additionally, the students will be required to keep a semi-daily journal in a 100 page composition journal book. The majority of the journal’s content will be up to the student, but it must include one new vocabulary word of the student’s choosing per journal entry. The word must include its definition and be used at least once within the written text of the journal entry. A minimum of four one page journal entries is required per week. Content may include daily observations and reflections, memories,doodles, drawings, etc. Students will be encouraged to use only pens, felt markers, and crayons for their journal entries, and avoid the use of graphite and charcoal.


Time Required: Two weeks (10 class sessions)


Differentiated Learners: It is recognized that students learn and develop artistically at different rates. Instruction and assessment will be modified to accommodate these differences as the need arises on an individual basis.


Materials: Mixed media (pencil, graphite, pen, marker, crayon, conte crayon, oil pastel, soft pastel, charcoal, construction paper of various colors, hot pressed 140 pound watercolor paper or Bristol board.


Vocabulary: Elements of art and design (color, line, form, shape, space, texture, value). Principles of art and design ( balance, emphasis, contrast, repetition, proportion, movement, negative/white space). Self-portrait, journal/journaling, identity, self-concept, dry mixed media, wet mixed media.


Artist Reference: Lynda Barry, Frida Kahlo


Standards: VA:Cr1 Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

VA:Cn10 Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.


Connections: SEL 2A.4a Analyze similarities and differences between one’s own and other’s perspectives. Studio Habits: Envision, Develop Craft/Skill Eight Habits of Mind | Project Zero.


Unit 1, Project 1


Artist Reference


Lynda Barry Self-portrait (line emphasis) and Composition Book Journal

(Lynda Barry Explores the Language of Art, 2019)

Frida Kahlo Student Example

https://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait- (Introduction to the Elements of Design, 2021)


With-monkey-1940.jsp

Project 2


Title: Principles of Design and Place Project


Central Focus: The central focus will be for the students to become proficient in the understanding and use of the principles of art and design (emphasis, balance and alignment, contrast, repetition, proportion, movement, negative/white space) through the exploration of place as a concept.


Project Description: The students will choose one exterior image (photo) of a place of significance to them where they have lived or been to (home, school, coffee shop, national park, mountain, etc.). Prior to beginning the project, the students will make study drawings in their sketchbooks. Based on this image, the students will create seven mixed media pieces that represent each of the seven principles of art and design. Scaffolded into this lesson will be whole group instruction about the seven principles of art and design with a focus on developing compositions that represent those principles. Each piece will measure 8 ½” by 5 ½ “. The students will mount their seven pieces onto a large sheet of black poster board.


The students will continue with their semi-daily journal. They will be encouraged to reflect on the meaning of place, home, location, and so on, as it pertains to their own lives.


Time Required: Two weeks (ten class sessions)


Differentiated Learners: It is recognized that students learn and develop artistically at different rates. Instruction and assessment will be modified to accommodate those differences on an individual basis.


Materials: Mixed media: Oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, watercolor, tempera, acrylic, collage, glue, erasers, 140 lb. hot pressed watercolor paper, bristol board, multi-colored construction paper, scissors.


Vocabulary: Mixed media, principles of art and design (balance, emphasis, contrast, negative/white space, repetition, proportion, movement), place, concept.


Artist Reference: Christo, Edward Hopper


Standards: VA:Cr1 Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

VA:Cn10 Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.


Connections: SEL 2A.4a Analyze similarities and differences between one’s own and other’s perspectives. Studio Habits: Envision, Develop Craft-Skill




Unit 1, Project 2 Artist Reference


Christo (Christo Vladimirov Javacheff)

Artist’s rendering of “Running Fence” project

Principles of repetition and movement.


https://americanart.si.edu/artist/christo-27236 https://artsy.net/artwork/edward-hopper-nighthawks-1943


Student sample

Principles of contrast and proportion https://www.artsy.net/artwork/edward-hopper-nighthawks-1943


https://www.umf.maine.edu/2018/05/umf-proudly-hosts-art-explorations-mt-blue-high-school-student-exhibition-may-17-june-1/




Project 3


Title: Synthesized Self-portrait and Place


Focus: The focus will be on the students learning how to synthesize qualities from the seven elements of art and design and the seven principles of art and design in one artwork while further exploring the concept of autobiography.


Project Description: Students will create one large artwork that combines self-portrait and place, and synthesizes the fourteen elements and principles of art and design (incorporate at least three of each). Prior to beginning the project, the students will explore their ideas and make sketches and studies in their sketchbooks. The artwork will be made using a variety of dry and wet mixed media on a sheet of cold pressed 140 pound watercolor paper measuring 22” by 30”. This will be mounted on a sheet of black poster board measuring 24” by 32”.


Students will continue with their semi-daily journals. They will be encouraged to focus on writing about events in their lives that had a significant impact on them, either from their past or from the present.


Time Required: Two weeks (10 class sessions)


Differentiated Learners: It is recognized that students learn and develop artistically at different rates. Instruction and assessment will be modified to accommodate these differences as the need arises on an individual basis.


Materials: Dry and wet mixed media (oil pastel, soft pastel, charcoal, pencil, collage, tempera paint, acrylics, watercolor, multi-colored construction paper, glue, brushes, scissors) on 140 pound cold pressed watercolor paper.


Vocabulary: Elements and principles of art and design, synthesize, autobiography, identity.


Artist Reference: Teresa Oaxaca, Candice Bohannon


Standards: VA:Cr1 Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. VA:Pr4 Select, analyze and interpret artistic work for presentation.

Connections: Studio Habits: Stretch and Explore, Develop Craft-Skill


Reference Artist

Teresa Oaxaca

https://www.teresaoaxaca.com/

Unit 1, Project 3


Reference Artist

Candice Bohannon

Self-portraiture in one of her favorite places.


https://fineartconnoisseur.com/2018/08/figurative-art-fiercely-inspired-candice-bohannon/


Student Sample


https://www.crockerart.org/exhibitions/high-school-self-portrait-show



UNIT 2: Self-hood Spoken in the Language of Images


Project 1


Title: Storyboard Autobiography in Black and White


Focus: The focus will be on the students learning how to narrate an autobiographical story using a sequence of images in a storyboard format using only black, white and gray dry and wet mixed media. Text will also be introduced to this project. The students will center their artwork around the principles of contrast, emphasis, and unity, and the elements of line, form, and value.


Project Description: Students will develop an autobiographical story based upon reflections and recollections in their semi-daily journal. They will be instructed to develop the story around an event or a series of events that happened recently. Subjects for the story may include events involving home, school, family, friends, the community, the country, doing something they love, doing something they dislike, making art, etc. The students will collect images, photos, and so on for this purpose. They will also be instructed to take photos of themselves in various settings related to their story, and use them as reference material for their mixed media project. From these images the students will create a sequence of individual pieces of varying sizes that narrates their story through the language of images. The students will use prior knowledge about the fourteen elements and principles of art and design and create art pieces that are predominantly realistic/representational, though abstraction may be incorporated as the students see fit. Text as a descriptive device or as dialogue will be incorporated. The individual pieces will be assembled onto a large sheet of black poster board measuring 30” by 40” inches.


Prior to beginning the project the students will explore ideas and formulate a composition in their sketchbooks.


Students will continue to write in their semi-daily journals with an emphasis on reflecting on events from their past that had a significant impact on them (events involving home, community, family, nation, social identity, etc.).


Time Required: Two weeks (10 class sessions)


Differentiated Learners: It is recognized that students learn and develop artistically at different rates. Instruction and assessment will be modified to accommodate those differences as the need arises on an individual basis.


Materials: Dry and wet mixed media limited to black, white and grays (oil pastel, soft pastel, watercolor, India ink, charcoal, pencil, tempera, acrylics, collage, papers of various shades of white, gray and black, newspapers, magazines, etc.) glue, scissors, hot pressed 140 lb. watercolor paper and Bristol board.


Vocabulary: Storyboard, sequential art, frame, panel, text box, speech bubble, noir, autobiography, mixed media, narrative, identity. Principles and elements of art and design (contrast, emphasis, unity, line, form, value).


Reference Artist: Dave McKean


Standards: VA: Cr1 Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. VA:Cn10 Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.


Connections: SEL 3C.4b Plan, implement and evaluate one’s participation in a group effort to contribute to one’s local community. Studio Habits: Envision, Reflect, Stretch and Explore.


Unit 2, Project 1


Reference Artist

Dave McKean

https://hubertybreyne.com/en/expositions/oeuvre/31407/dave-mckean-book-2-1991?paged=2&id_

ex=279


Student Sample

https://www.dirktiede.com/tag/how-to-draw-comics/



Project 2


Title: Journal Reflection Storyboard About Identity


Focus: The focus will be on the students furthering their competency in understanding and utilizing the sequential art format to narrate an autobiographical story through the language of images. The students will be asked to consider how they perceive themselves versus how they believe others perceive them, and to give careful consideration to what they view as their own identity (gender identification, race/ethnicity, religion, social economic, political, sexual orientation, group identity, likes and dislikes, etc.)


Project Description: Students will choose from their semi-daily journal an event that took place that is memorable and had a significant impact on them, and that is directly tied to or a big influence on their identity and self-concept. The event or series of events may be recent or from the past, and may involve family, community, school, country, social identity, and so on. Students will collect images related to this story, and will take photos of settings and people, including themselves, to use as reference material. Based on these images they will develop a composition for a storyboard of sequential art. Prior to beginning the project the students will explore their ideas and make sketches and studies in their sketchbooks. Using a variety of mixed media (wet and dry) the students will then create a series of individual artworks of various sizes, based upon the images they collected and arranged in a sequence that narrates their story. The students will incorporate text into their pieces as a descriptive or narrative device, and/or as dialogue. Emphasis will be placed on incorporating all of the fourteen elements and principles of art and design individually within panels, or combined within panels.


The students will continue to write in their semi-daily journals, emphasizing reflections on the art they are making. At the end of the unit the class will participate in a group discussion/critique about their artwork. The students will be encouraged to refer to notes in their journals during the discussion.


Time Required: Two weeks (10 class sessions, including a class discussion on the final day)


Differentiated Learning: It is recognized that students learn and develop artistically at different rates. Instruction and assessment will be modified to accommodate those differences as the need arises and on an individual basis.


Materials: Wet and dry mixed media (oil pastel, soft pastel, acrylics, tempera, watercolor India ink, charcoal, pencil, collage, newspaper, multi-colored construction paper, magazine pages, product labels), glue, scissors, hot pressed 140 lb. watercolor paper, Bristol board.


Vocabulary: Storyboard, sequential art, panel, frame, speech bubble, text box, autobiography, identity, self-concept, reflection, perception, elements and principles of art and design.


Reference Artist: Lynda Barry, Joe Sacco


Standards: VA:Cr1 Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. VA:Cn10 Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.


Connections: SEL 3C,4b Plan, implement and evaluate one’s participation in a group effort to contribute to one’s own local community. Studio Habits: Envision, Stretch and Explore, Reflect, Develop Craft-Skill.


Unit 2, Project 2


Reference Artist


Lynda Barry


https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91072892

https://www.salon.com/2000/06/30/barry_4/


Joe Sacco

https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/joe-sacco


https://www.vqronline.org/vqr-gallery/unwanted-part-1



Student Examples


Students from Oakland International High School comic project about their experiences as immigrants in the United States.

https://oaklandnorth.net/2011/10/27/immigrant-students-at-this-oakland-school-describe-their-experiences-with-graphic-art/


https://modelsofexcellence.eleducation.org/projects/we-are-oakland-international