ARTS EDUCATION TEACHER HANDBOOK

VISUAL ARTS :: ELEMENTARY LESSON PLANS

ELEMENTARY LESSON PLANS

 

Submitted by Zoe Williams, Iredell-Statesville Schools

Lesson Title:
Powers of Observation - HANDS

Grade Level or Course:
Grade Five

Time Allotment:
45 minutes

Targeted Goals and Objectives from the 2000 North Carolina Arts Education Standard Course of Study and Grade Level Competencies, K-12:

1.02 Practice a variety of methods of observation from different points of view to explore spatial relationships.
4.01 Compare and contrast the work of various artists' styles and cultures.
6.01 Respond to questions relating to purpose and appropriateness of works including: why do you think this artist painted this way or how do the materials the artist used help get across the idea of the artwork?

Targeted Goals and Objectives from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and Grade
Level Competencies, K-12 for other content areas.

None Provided

 

Lesson Objective(s):

Students will be able to:

  • draw their hand accurately by continually observing it in one pose

  • adequately relay to others an activity using charades, using only expressive hands

  • understand the reasons why artists' use different hand positions/poses in artworks and

  • understand the cultural context of hands in various artists' work.

Materials/Equipment Needed:

  • illustrations of artworks with expressive hands

  • sharpie markers

  • 12"x18" paper- charade cards (see below)

  • text, Discover Art 5, Chapter 20, Davis Publishers Inc., 1985

Lesson Procedure:

Lesson 1

  • Before students arrive, write on board, 1. Draw two or more hands (no tracing), 2. Ask a friend to pose for your drawing, 3. Add background of your choice.

  • Charades - go over rules, use hands only to express the actions on your card. Each table of six students is a separate game. Pick a starting student. All six students get a chance to go.

  • Discuss: 1. Difficulty of using just hands in charades, 2. Hand poses in artworks that are around the room and what they show.- Read Discover Art 5, Chapter 20 together. Then have students model hand poses and discuss what the hands are doing and why hands may look wrinkled, large, tired, etc.

  • Draw - Demonstrate how to look at an outline of one's own hand and not look at the paper too much. Show how to see the hand as one shape and then see details of lines, wrinkles, rings, fingernails, cuts, etc. Demonstrate drawing each detail one at a time.

  • Show students the instructions on the board and have students draw as instructed.

  • At the end of class, discuss how students are improving as artists by looking at the object they drew and not the paper. Use their drawings as examples.

Assessment:

  • Observe students looking at their hands to draw. Remind them to not look at their paper very much. If you cannot recognize the pose they drew, ask the student to model it for you and have them draw it again.

  • Observe students playing charades. If others cannot guess the action, make suggestions verbally to help them.

  • If students cannot guess the reasons artists posed hands in specific ways, have students pose as the subject themselves just as the artist drew his picture. Ask students how they feel or what they think while in the pose (such as hands over face, might be showing anguish or grief).

Special Considerations:

You may make your own charade cards. I made two sets for 24 students.Some ideas for these might be: threading a needle, drinking hot cocoa, writing a letter, tying a knot, eating dinner, playing a recorder, brushing one's teeth, eating an apple, folding laundry, reading a book, playing drums, or washing one's face.

The unit this lesson is in is called Powers of Observation. The previous lesson was about drawing leaves. The emphasis is on whole shape, lines and details. I refer to this lesson frequently, comparing hands to leaves in terms of shape and details.

The next lesson is a still life. Students assemble a magazine collage of food (after seeing and discussing Flemish still life paintings of flowers, food and objects). Students then draw the still life by looking at their collage.

Differentiation:

Low-achieving students - suggest simple hand poses such as spread out with only one finger bent. Suggest they concentrate on shape and not on details (maybe add fingernails but not lines).

High-achieving students - encourage complex hand poses and concentrate on drawing as much detail as possible.

 

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