Analysis and Interpretation: Media Arts and Visual Arts

Title: THE ART COLLECTOR

Standards: Research Process, Technology Use, Reading/Media Literacy, Responsible Use

Overview: This lesson engages students in research on artists whose work appeals to them. They will select works of art for an imaginary personal collection and will justify the selection of each piece based not only on their personal aesthetics but also on the historical importance of each artist.

 

Title: WHAT PORTRAITS REVEAL

Standards: Research Process, Technology Use

Overview: This lesson is designed to help students recognize that portraits can tell us more about people of the past than just what they looked like. Students consider how portraits can be manipulated to express a specific point of view, examining art that turns the representation of individuals into statements about what they stand for. To conclude the lesson, students gather portraits from their own homes and prepare a report explaining what these items might tell a future historian.

 

Title: MONA LISA'S SMILE

Standards: Research Process, Technology Use, Reading/Media Literacy

Overview: Visitors to the Lourve Museum in Paris inevitably make their way up the stairs to the gallery where one of the most famous paintings in Western art hangs: the Mona Lisa. People over the centuries have delighted in the woman's coy smile. In this Science Update, you'll hear what the Mona Lisa has been hiding all these years.

 

Creation and Performance: Media Arts and Visual Arts

Title: DRAWING POLITICAL CARTOONS

Standards: Research Process, Reading/Media Literacy

Overview: The purpose of using political cartoons is to develop both factual knowledge and interpretive skills. Students must have background information before they can analyze a political cartoon or drawing, so it is easiest to teach this skill using a current event. Once students have mastered the analysis of current events, they should be able to approach similar tasks with historical cartoons.

 

Title: PURSUIT OF MEANING

Standards: Research Process, Technology Use, Reading/Media Literacy

Overview: In this lesson, students develop a proposal for mounting a multi-arts exhibit based on the theme "Pursuit of Meaning." They will also investigate spiritual ideas related to the exhibit theme; categorize concepts, themes, symbols, and motifs; select examples from the arts to illustrate their conclusions and choices; compile and write an exhibit catalog; defend their conclusions and choices.

 

Title: RHYTHM AND ART: ELEMENTS OF ART

Standards: Research Process, Technology Use, Reading/Media Literacy

Overview: Students will be able to understand how non-verbal language is manipulated to communicate a thought or an emotion. Students will be able to dissect the relationships between elements and principals; specifically line, shape, color, and contrast.