LEARNING TO LOOK LESSON PLAN

Grade Level: Grade 5

UNIT LESSON: Describe, analyze, interpret and evaluate works of art using the elements of art.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can we read and understand a work of art?

ART STANDARD(S):

VA.5.C.1.2 – Use prior knowledge and observation skills to reflect on, analyze, and interpret exemplary works of art. VA.5.C.3.1 – Use the structural elements of art and organizational principals of design when engaged in art criticism. VA.5. C. 3.3 – Critique works of art to understand the content and make connections to other content areas. VA.5.H.1.1 – Examine historical and cultural influences that inspire artists and their work. VA.5.H.1.2 - Use suitable behavior as a member of an art audience. VA.5.S.1.4 – Use accurate art vocabulary to communicate about works of art and artistic and creative processes.

FLORIDA STANDARD(S) & NGSSS:

LAFS.5.SL.1.1 - Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. LAFS.5.SL.1.3 – Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. LAFS.K12.W.1.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

ART CONTENT LEARNING GOAL:

Students will make observations, learn a vocabulary and skills to thoughtfully and effectively reflect, build understanding, and actively engage in discussion in response to works of art.

Students will learn to use the art museum as a resource for learning and enjoyment.

CORE CONTENT LEARNING GOAL:

Students will develop critical thinking skills based on visual evidence and evaluate viewpoints expressed by peers.

Students will write original narratives using visual details from a work of art as a departure point.

I CAN: I can understand, explain, and illustrate how the elements of art are used in a work of art.

I can discover meaning and present my ideas with facts and relevant descriptive details to support the main idea or theme in a work of art.

I can recognize art as a reflection of the artist’s ideas, environment, and/or resources.

VOCABULARY: Elements of Art: color, shape, line or form (3-D), space and texture foreground, middle ground, background, positive space, negative space, perspective, cityscape, modern, architecture, industrialization, Precisionism

TECHNOLOGY & MATERIALS: Definitions of The Elements of Art handout

Reproduction of Charles Demuth’s After All… from the Norton Museum of Art Collection

Pencils

Colored Pencils

Ruler

8 ½” x 11” paper for note-taking and drawing

LESSON: Part I – Classroom The elements of art and how they are employed provide a “vocabulary” and method to help us understand, interpret and find meaning in works of art. When “reading” a work of literature, knowledge of vocabulary and sentence structure are guidelines for making sense of what we read. In the same way, the elements of art are a language artists use to create and communicate ideas. Students will practice looking for the elements of art and learn to recognize, analyze, and discuss how they contribute to the appreciation of visual art. Prompt: students to think about the importance of looking at visual art. Observe: Display an image of After All…by Charles Demuth. Ask students to spend several minutes looking quietly

and closely at the work. It’s important to allow students the time to look. Respond: Without providing any prior information, ask students “What do you notice?”

Allow a few minutes for responses.

Divide students into six groups and provide every student with the Elements of Art handout. Assign each of the groups an element of art to explore in the painting (color, shape, line, form, space, texture). Have students refer back to the artwork to look for their respective element. Allow students time to discuss what they notice.

Ask students the following questions relevant to their group’s assigned element: Color

“What colors do you see in this artwork?”

“Are they cool or warm colors - or both?” “Vibrant or muted?”

“How do the colors make you feel?”

“What colors are used the most?” “The least?”

“What do you think the artist is trying to tell you by his use of color?”

Line

“What lines do you notice?”

“How would you describe the lines?”

“How does line guide your eyes around the composition?”

“What shapes do the lines form?”

“How has the artist used line to define certain details?”

“How does line contribute to a feeling of movement and energy in the painting?”

Shape

“What are some of the different shapes you notice?”

“What geometric shapes can you identify?”

“Why do you think the artist used small and large shapes in the composition?”

“How does shape contribute to pattern in this painting?”

Texture

“Describe the texture in this painting.”

“Does the texture make the painting more realistic?” “If so, how?”

“How has the artist applied texture to the canvas using his materials?”

Space

“Which objects seems closer to you? Further away?” How has the artist achieved this?

“Where are the foreground, middle ground, and background?”

“Is the composition balanced?” “How has the artist achieved balance?”

“Where does the artwork look flat or dimensional?”

Analyze and Discuss:

As a large group, discuss student observations. Reflect on their observations and thinking by answering the following questions:

“What new ideas do you now have about the work of art?”

“What did you notice that you didn’t see before?”

“What more do you want to know or what do you wonder about?” LESSON: Part 2 – Classroom Observe: Display the image of After All… by Charles Demuth. All conversations should lead back to looking at the artwork and reflecting on what students’ observations reveal about the work.

Respond: (Ask students the following questions):

“What were your first impressions of the scene?

“Does the artwork remind you of anything?” “What do you see that makes you say that?”

“What does this work emphasize?” “How?”

“Why do you think the artist chose to paint this particular scene?”

“How does this image compare to other American landscapes you've seen?”

“Where might the artist have stood while creating this work?”

“How might this painting change if the artist selected a different vantage point?”

“What do you think was happening around the time Charles Demuth painted After All…?”

“How is that reflected in his painting?”

“How do you think the artist felt about the growth of industry at this time?" “What do you see that supports your idea?”

“What do you notice in Demuth’s painting that might symbolize confidence and strength?” “Explain why you think so.”

“How would you explain this painting to someone who’s never seen it?”

“Why do you think the artist decided not to include human figures in this work?” “How would it change if people appeared in the composition?”

Encourage Visible Thinking: (Each student will need paper and pencil):

Ask individual students to consider what the painting reminds them of and record their impressions.

Write a paragraph about a place the painting reminds them of. It can be either real or imaginary. Describe what the place looks like. Include as many details as possible.

Next, write a narrative about what it would be like if you were in this place. What would it be like (what would you see, hear, feel, smell or taste)? What would you be doing there? What would you tell others about it? Include as many details as you can.

Have each student list four objects they find most intriguing in the work (ex. the smokestacks). Have them select two they like best and write a paragraph from the perspective of that object or detail (imagine if they were the smokestacks…) in the work. Each student should complete one paragraph each for the two details they’ve chosen.

Analyze and Discuss: Have students re-assemble into one large group. Refer back to the painting and discuss their interpretations as they share what they’ve written. ( Have them consider the following):

“Which object or detail has the most interesting view point?” “Why?”

“How do the elements of art observed in the composition help evoke different memories or ideas?”

“How do the different points of view compare?”

“Which descriptive words or phrases have they included that would help someone “see” the image for the first time?”

“Did anyone have similar thoughts, ideas or experiences?”

Connect and Explore: With students, review the following information about the artist and the artwork:

About the Artist

Charles Demuth drew inspiration for his artwork from a rapidly changing society. Many American artists at

the time were depicting the modern industrial landscape such as skyscrapers, bridges, and factories as primary

subjects in their work. A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Charles Demuth began his formal training in art at

Philadelphia’s Drexel Institute in 1904. He met and befriended poet William Carlos Williams, whose work later

served as inspiration for Demuth’s art. In 1905, he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where

he studied with painter William Merritt Chase.

On repeated visits to Paris over the next nine years, Demuth studied at the Academia Julian and joined

Gertrude and Leo Stein’s Saturday evening salon, a meeting place for leading avant-garde artists like Picasso

and Matisse.

Demuth was a truly modern artist whose paintings embraced the changes of modern industry. He played a leading

role in the development of a style of painting known as Precisionism. The style first emerged after World War I and

was at the height of its popularity during the 1920's and early 1930’s. Main Precisionist themes are industrialization

and the modernization of the American landscape with structures depicted in precise, well defined geometrical forms.

Charles Demuth died in his hometown of Lancaster at age 51 due to complications from diabetes. He left a number

of his paintings in the care of painter and friend Georgia O’Keefe who organized a retrospective exhibition of his

works in museums nationwide.

About the Artwork

After All… offers a landscape transformed by industry. The buildings of the Armstrong Cork Company in Lancaster,

Pennsylvania, appear as if seen from an upper story window. The viewer looks out at the profiles of buildings, fire

escapes and towering smokestacks against a gray sky. A nearby building blocks our view of the left side of the scene.

The jutting silhouette of a fire escape and a light pole with projecting loudspeakers offer a sense of scale to the brick

and shingle structure. Two smokestacks, potent symbols of industry, loom over the smaller buildings on the right side

of the painting.

Demuth painted the work with great precision, and he emphasized the streamlined forms of modern industry as well

as the geometry of the composition. Since the ground is not visible in the painting, the buildings appear organized as

independent, collage-like shapes. These characteristics of Demuth’s industrial images like After All… became part of

the American style known as Precisionism. The title is taken from poet Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Exposition”

published in 1871. In this and other poems, Whitman championed American industry. Both Whitman and Demuth

seemed to acknowledge that the role of the American artist would not be to create new art forms, but to stamp those

inherited from the past with a particular American character. Although no human figures appear in the painting, the

setting encourages students to discover what the dreams and obstacles were like during this era in American History.

LESSON: Part 3 – Classroom Before Your Museum Visit Hands-on Activity (Provide students with sketch paper, pencil, colored pencils and a ruler):

Have students think about an industrial landscape in their town or city.

Relying on what they’ve learned about the elements of art, have them create their version of a city of the future. Encourage them to use a ruler to draw more precise lines, shapes and details.

Give students 30 minutes to draw.

When completed, have students share their drawings with each other. Have them identify and discuss how the elements of art in their drawings communicate their vision.

Some questions to ask:

“What type of objects, places are an inspiration to them?”

“Why?”

“What do their drawings tell us about life in the future?”

LESSON: Part 4 – At the Museum

Schedule a Learning to Look school tour at the Norton Museum of Art. Visit the website www.norton.org for

more details. Be sure to note you’ve shared this lesson plan with your students.

Prior to your tour, request your museum docent lead or support you in a discussion with students to explore the elements of art observed in the artworks they encounter.

While on your museum tour and in front of Charles Demuth’s painting, After All.., ask students to consider the differences between the reproduction they explored in the classroom and the original artwork in the gallery. Questions might include:

“Did you expect the painting to look the way it does?”

“Why or why not?”

“What elements are more apparent in the original?”

“Is the painting bigger or smaller than you expected?”

“Does the size affect your experience of the work?”

“What other types of artwork are exhibited near this work of art?”

“What characteristics do they share?” Choose two works in the gallery and compare the styles of both by focusing on the way the artists used the elements of art. Describe some of the similarities and differences between the two works.

“How do the other artworks change how you think about this particular painting?”

Reinforce how the reproduction is not the same as the original work of art.

ASSESSMENT: Accompanying student creative writing and drawing

TEST TAKING STRATEGIES Make sure you understand what is being asked

Analyze to examine something in detail so you can show why it’s important

Cite evidence to prove your answers

Plan to include examples and details in your response

ESOL STRATEGIES: Critical thinking skills

Guided writing with accommodations for ELL

Questioning techniques

Use of visuals

CHARLES DEMUTH (American, 1883–1935) After All..., 1933 Oil and graphite on fiberboard Bequest of R. H. Norton, 53.43 36 x 30in (91.4 x 76.2cm)

Elements of Art: Line, Color, Shape, Space, and Texture

The elements of art are the building blocks used to create a work of art. Provided is a

description of each element paired with an example of a particular element depicted in a work

from the Norton’s Permanent Collection.

Line is a continuous mark with a greater length than width. Possible characteristics: horizontal,

vertical, diagonal, zigzag, curvy, thick, thin, straight, curved, directional, implied.

Horizontal lines: allude to lines that are parallel to the horizon.

Diagonal lines: refers to lines that join two opposite

corners of a shape.

Vertical lines: refer to height because they are perpendicular to the horizon or earth, as the line

extends up to the sky.

Color is perceived as the light reflected off of objects and has three main qualities—hue, value,

and intensity. Possible characteristics: warm/cool palette, vibrant, dull, chilly, refracted, pure,

muted, muddy, intensity, pigment, monochromatic, natural, or contrasting.

Primary colors: yellow, red, and blue.

Secondary colors: orange, purple, and green.

Complementary colors: are opposite each other on the color wheel: yellow/purple; red/green; blue/orange.

Value: describes the brightness of color. Artists use color value to

create different moods. Dark colors in a composition suggest a

lack of light, as in a night or interior scene. Dark colors can often

convey a sense of mystery. Light colors often describe a light

source or light reflected within the composition.

Intensity: describes strength of a color. Bright colors pure and are often associated with positive

energy and heightened emotions. Dull colors have been mixed with other colors and create a

somber or calm mood.

Space is the area between and around an object. Space can also refer to the two-dimensional

illusion of depth. Possible characteristics: perspective, foreground, middle ground, background,

picture plane.

Positive and negative space: Positive space is the area or part of a

painting's composition that the subject occupies. Negative space is

the space between objects or the parts of an object.

Shape outlines objects in space. Shapes have two dimensions, width and height. Possible

characteristics: solid, symmetrical, asymmetrical, dimensional, abstract, free form, heavy, light,

outline, realistic.

Geometric shapes: are shapes such as circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles.

Organic shapes: are normally irregular or asymmetrical, have less

well-defined edges or a flowing or curving appearance. They are often

associated with things found in nature, like plants or animals.

Texture: The surface quality of an object that we sense through touch. All objects have a

physical texture. In a two-dimensional work of art, texture can convey a mood or feeling.

Possible characteristics: hard, soft, rough, fine, smooth, furry, sharp, uneven