Great website for thinking about Visual Literacyartspiration.sccoe.org/resources/2015 Cilker Handouts/CilkerNext...Social Studies- 7th grade ancient civ., visual literacy Question:

Great website for thinking about Visual Literacy http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ccia-10-visual-literacy-strategies-todd-finley

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Social Studies- 7th grade ancient civ., visual literacy Question: What seems to be happening in these? Explain Frieze depicting the rite of the Opening of the Mouth, in the presence of Isis, Osiris, and Anubis.(detail), King Thutmosis IV tomb, c. 1323 BC, Valley of the Kings, tomb #43. The Palette of King Narmer- The tablet is thought by some to depict the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the king Narmer. The Palette depicts Narmer wielding a mace wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt. On the left of the king is a man bearing the king's sandals. To the right of the king is a kneeling prisoner, who is about to be struck by the king. Above the prisoner is a falcon (Horus) perched above a set of papyrus flowers, the symbol of Lower Egypt. Below the king's feet is a section depicting two naked, bearded men. They are either running or are meant to be seen as sprawling dead upon the ground.

Question:

In what way do these figures seem similar? or Where do you see some examples of standardized figure representation? Have someone standup and try posing in this composite perspective.

Idea

Composite Perspective & Canon of Proportion. In Egyptian mural and relief, the human figure is often presented in composite perspective and follows the Cannon of Proportion.

Discuss the Canon of proportion. Explain Canon = rule, point out the grid system.

Questions

What does the creation of a Canon (set of rules) for the figure, say to you about

the society?

What are some of the advantages of creating rules with a drawing on a grid system?

Idea- The Egyptians love of order and stability. Get them to think about what you can do with a grid: scale, illiterate drafts people, huge drawing programs with many artists/drafts people. From the Old Kingdom (about 2613-2160 BC) onwards, a system of guidelines, later developed into a squared grid, was used to ensure the correct proportions of the figures. Before the Late Period, standing figures were generally laid out on a vertical grid of eighteen squares measured to the figure's hairline, and seated figures on one of fourteen.

Math – 7th grade ratios, constants of proportion Practical example in arts of ancient times of the use of ratios, constants of proportion, and scale. Question What would be the ratio of the height of the knee to the height to the hairline? If you had to draw a man that was 6 ft tall to the hairline, what is the height of his knee?

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Measurements, ratios and percentages, graphing, & attributes of a graph/ distrubtion. Review of results, ideas for variations from the Canon.

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Trees, in addition to absorbing water and nutrients, anchoring and supporting the plant body storing food and nutrients and reproducing... also Share resources and Communicate! This is done through Fungi and fusing roots of different trees together. They move carbon, water and nutrients between trees purposefully as needed. Thus they are networked to form a complex ecosystem. Mother Trees...large, old trees serve to connect the other trees in the forest.

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For grades K-2 Create and talk about a Box City. For grades 3-5 Create a forest and write or tell a story. For grades 6-8 Research a California Native Tree, write or speak about it and create it.

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For grades K-2 a. Use buildyourwildself.com for ideas on expanding on the ideas from the

workshop b. Write a story about your character c. Create a book of stories (with very young children, transcribe the stories for

them). d. Have children act out their characters and the environments. e. Utilize the worksheet from the session, which leads children, step-by-step, into

the activity. For grades 3-5 Base exercises on Habitats from around the world, different environments and Humans. Use the grid provided and have prompts that will get them thinking outside their own environment. a. For 4th grade, adapt to different regions. Creative Thinking – looking at different

areas. b. For 6th grade, Creative Thinking – looking at the universe.

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For grades 6-8 Create favorite animal, then adapt it to a new environment. a. Scientific investigation and process, with a design challenge b. Can connect animal to a story, writing about its character c. Research mutations d. Take parts of different animals and put them together. What are the best qualities

for a given environment? e. Give students a photo of something real. They note down what they see. Next

they try to determine the science behind what they see. i.e. An airplane in sky. In the process they learn to separate what they see, from what they think. Were their initial conclusions accurate? What did they learn after investigating the photo... about the “real” object and/or about their first reactions?

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For grades K-2 a. Using everyday objects, such as condiment cups, Popsicle sticks, and cubes, tell

children that “we are going to build something” with the materials. Document the building process, using measurement and charts. Talk about math as part of this process.

b. Ask the question: “how do we water our fields?” Use pans of sand with pipe cleaners and other materials. Have groups share their failures and their ultimate successes.

For grades 3-5 Approach Art by trying to solve art “problems” (not projects)….the same approach used in science (solving problems). Observing and applying art knowledge. a. Students completed a Gray Scale Unit based on observation of bridges. They

looked at bridges using a viewfinder. Looked for a viewpoint and what would be their emphasis in the end result.

For grades 6-8

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a. Create a boat or bridge using balancing and shape in the designing process. Students learn much better through the design process, learning most through doing.

• Make different iterations to the challenge. If it works why? If it fails, why?

In the 2nd iteration make it more challenging or learn from your mistakes and make changes.

• Teacher grades based on “reflection” of why something worked or did not work. Grade is not based on it only working. Withhold judgement and allow student to experiment with how to make it work. Even if not successful, the student is given opportunities to go back and work on it again for half credit, after project due.

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For grades K-2 a. Vary this activity by incorporating other cultural celebrations. b. Create dance compositions around family celebrations. c. Use techniques as a way to explore history. For grades 3-5 Explore basic aspects of Cultural Celebration. Use to build a strong community in the classroom. a. Concept: “Giving Thanks” – can break it into 3 sections:

1. Make a drawing 2. Make a Mandala 3. Create a dance

For grades 6-8 Celebrate various cultures with art: in this workshop the culture chosen was Diwali and students made Mandalas with natural materials. a. Students create a Group Dance. Every person creates one move or step. Stream

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them together and create a dance which includes them all. Kinesthetics is a great way for students to learn about cultures. Moving and engaging the body helps the mind & body to remember and experience in new ways.

b. In History, students create artworks that reflect the culture or time period they are studying.

c. In Math, look to the lines, and shapes in cultural symbols of various cultures, like those of India or of Native Americans, or of various religions (i.e. Islam) in their art. Analyze the shapes, angles, radial symmetry, etc. Incorporate a compass or other tools in the experience.

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For grades K-2 a. Connect children’s individual quilt projects into one big classroom quilt. b. Use quilting as a way of telling stories about family and family history. c. Make a story from material and paper. d. Design a felt storyboard, as a variation on quilting. e. Use scrap paper instead of fabric for young children. For grades 3-5 a. Incorporate into Math & Literacy: use a geometric shape to create a quilt pattern.

OR, shape into letters of the alphabet, then build into a quilt.

Create with a lot of freedom, expression within the quilt grid borders. Have a unit with fractions – showing proportions.

For grades 6-8 Given triangles of cloth and paper, students create a quilt pattern while discussing the various angles and relationships between the shapes they have created.

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a. History - Research and experiment with quilts of i.e. Early Americans or Gee’s Bend Quilt-makers, dating from early 20th century on. Learn about Family Patterns.

b. Map quilts used during the Underground Railroad to assist slaves to escape to the north.

c. Find Hidden messages in geometric shapes. d. Engineering and Math- learn coding, use of knots to send messages. (WWII),

research the Inca’s use of knots. Quilt Museum’s suggested Vocabulary List Angle, Congruent, Square, Triangle, Half, Whole, Plane, Fraction, Point, Vertex, Vertices, Corner, Intersection, Side, Rotate, Adjacent, Array, Pattern, Symmetry, Line of symmetry, Symmetrical, Orientation, Tessellate, Tessellation, Trapezoid

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For grades K-2 a. Dramatize common stories, such as Billy Goat Gruff. b. For science class, have the kids actually embody the concepts (e.g. acting out the

role of an atom or a molecule). c. In ELL classes, have small group discussions and drama. In the big group, allow

the children to mime or do charades.

For grades 3-5 Explore being creative and expressing. Respect for classmates and no exclusion. a. Creates games without competition!

Example: “Rhyming Word game: Stand in a circle, give a ball to one student, start the student with a word, the student says the word, passes the ball and the next student comes up with a word that rhymes.

b. Gesture/Mime Unit to help cultivate vocabulary: One student presents a gesture or mime to the next. The student guesses what the student is acting out. Or, students have a mime or gesture and then they exchange them between students (i.e. one student mimes playing with a yoyo, the other looks at their wrist to show a watch…those two students exchange the gesture and then take them to another

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student.) c. Create a scene without words that can turn into personal narratives. d. Visual and physical exercises without words. For grades 6-8 a. Improvisation - Games help students to focus and process immediately, as well as,

develop critical and quick thinking. Also helps to improve their short term memory.

b. Use props - Give different props to two people. Ask them to create a scene using their props immediately.

c. Social Science/History - Students act out the action in historical events i.e. one group acts out the Boston massacre and another group the Boston Tea Party. Then combine and create a short class play.

d. Social Science/History/Art - Students take the poses/tableau of painting or sculpture being studied: i.e. reenact the Burghers of Calais by Rodin.

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