Our Unit
For our unit, at Polaris Expeditionary Learning School, we wanted to take the students through an exploration of every day art as well as their identity. This unit focuses on the idea of art and its role in the real world with regards to the function and purpose of every day objects. Some examples we are focusing on are clothing, and the idea that someone designs and makes clothes; pottery, and how it is made to serve a purpose. We will also be introducing the students to the idea of technology used as an art media/tool. Identity is the second part of our unit and we are connecting identity and everyday objects by exploring how the students can use their personal interests to make or influence their art. For example, students will explore how their clothing, favorite foods, favorite books, etc. shape their identity and then communicate those aspects in their art work. At the end of the unit the students will bring all of their art pieces together to fully express, and discuss, their identity and how it relates to their everyday objects.
Lesson 2Identity: In this lesson students will start by writing in their sketchbook. The students will explore aspects of their identity and what it means to be themselves. Once the students have explored their identity they will take those ideas and make a painting that represents who they are and what they like. We will provide examples of self portraits from art history and our own personal paintings as motivation for the students.
Lesson 4Pottery: In our third lesson, students will create a series of functional ceramic objects. These could include: bowls, plates, cups, mugs, spoons, etc. Students will explore the idea of functional objects and brainstorm how to make them more interesting as motivation. Students will explore function, design, and inspiration in this lesson. Their ceramic objects will be inspired by their personal identity by making each object specifically for their favorite food/meal/drink.
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Lesson 3Clothing design/fibers: In the second lesson students will take a field trip to a local T-Shirt/Merchandise print shop and will see their paintings from the last lesson printed onto the back of t-shirts so that they can explore the process of how clothes are made. After our field trip the students will take their t-shirts and use demo’d techniques to decorate the front of their shirt with fabric paints in order to further express their ideas of their identity. We will use the field trip experience and the merchandise in the shop as our motivation for the students to build understanding of techniques. Demos will also serve as motivation.
Lesson 5Invitation (Technology Days): For our final lesson, the students will be introduced to technology as a form of art. The students will have the option to design an electronic art invitation as well as photo invitation or a video invitation. These invitations will showcase the student and the art they have created in past lessons and will serve as a way to make their families aware of the student art exhibition that will be coming up in the coming week. The students will be displaying their identity through their art that they have created in past lessons, and through these invitations will be exploring new forms of art through technology.
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