EDCI 301: Integrated Art Lesson Plan

Name: Kelsey N Lesson Title: Aboriginal Bark Painting Grade Level: 6 Subject: Social Studies Fine Art: Visual Art Time of Lesson: 60 minutes Lesson Summary Students will independently describe the elements/characteristics of how groups of people are classified into cultures. Students will learn about bark paintings of the Australian Aborigines and explain how they are different than Native American (Plains Indians) cave paintings. Students will review the defining characteristics of each culture and how each group of peoples art reflects how they communicate feelings and ideas, respectively. Students will also create Aboriginal bark paintings using the contour line drawing technique and Aboriginal stylistic elements (ex: cross-hatching, repeated patterns, geometric shapes, dividing lines) of animals of their choice using brown construction paper, pencils, sharpies, crayons, and a glue stick to express how Aborigines drew animals as if they had X-ray vision. Essential Question How does art reflect how groups of people communicate feelings and ideas?

Plan for Previous Lesson(s) Students will review the definition of culture in whole group discussion. Students will explore the Australian Aboriginal culture and the Great Plains Indians culture through reading informational texts. Students will also independently create a Venn Diagram, comparing and contrasting the various characteristics that make up both groups of people (*to set the stage for the present lesson on visual art comparison) Subject Area Standard(s)

Plan for Next Lesson(s) Students will study the Lakota Indian tribe (a tribe of the Great Plains Indians) through analysis of informational text. Students will work in groups of four to discuss how cultural diffusion influenced the development of sub-cultures of the Great Plains Indians. One student in each group will be the recorder to share their ideas with the whole class.

Learning Objectives

Students will describe (in writing) the characteristics/elements that historians use to organize people into cultures. Students will explore Aboriginal culture and visual art and compare/contrast with Native American visual art (namely, Plains Indians cave paintings/pictographs) in discussion groups of about four students. Students will create Aboriginal bark paintings, using the contour line drawing technique and stylistic elements, copying the Aboriginal style and drawing animals as if they had X-ray vision. Social Studies, Grade 6 Standard 2.0 Peoples of the Nations and World Topic A. Elements of Culture Indicator 1. Describe the characteristics that historians use to organize people into cultures Objective b. Describe and compare elements of culture such as art, music, religion, government, social structure, education, values, beliefs and customs, from civilizations in early world history

Art Standards(s)

Visual Arts, Grade 6 Standard 2. Historical, Cultural, and Social Context Indicator 1. Compare and explain how works of art from various cultures communicate feelings, ideas, and universal themes Objective b. Explain how stylistic elements that represent a historical period, social context, or culture communicate feelings, ideas, or universal themes in a visual composition

Materials/Resources Technology -Computer -Projector Instructional -PowerPoint -Images of Native American cave paintings and Aboriginal bark paintings See Attached: -*Teachers example -*Visual images of animals for reference -*Elements and Features Poster Supplies (per student) -1 piece of Brown construction paper (12 x 18) -1 pencil -1 Black sharpie -1 box of crayons -1 glue stick -1 piece of either black, red, yellow, or white 12 x 18construction paper (*for the mounting/backdrop) Weblinks: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/peopleplaces-kids/australia-rockart-kids/ References/Resources: - http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/ - http://www.history.com/topics/native-americanhistory/native-american-cultures - http://www.artheritageprogram.org/Aboriginalart.pdf http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp. na.001

Vocabulary -Contour line drawing: Technique when drawing the outermost edges of an image to make the item you are drawing look realistic -Aboriginal bark painting: Illustrate stories told to young people during the long hours of the wet season when people were confined to shelter; some illustrate animals as if they had x-ray vision expressing how their ancestors were responsible for creation (many showing how animal and human anatomy as well as spirit are similar) -Dreamtime Stories: Stories of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and creation; how humans, animals, and plants have traveling spirits/souls -Ochre: Ground rock used for painting (pigment is often yellow to dark orange/deep brown) -Cross-hatching: Drawing two layers of hatching-lines- at right-angles in order create a mesh-like pattern -Native American cave painting: Illustrations suggest ongoing habitation, way of communication about hunting/food, and religious/ceremonial purposes (sacrifices) -Pictographs: Drawings or paintings made on rocks (way of communication using symbols because no written language)

Assessment: Rubric Product/ Records to be Assessed Paragraph classifying culture Evaluation Criteria 4.0 (Exceeds Expectations) 1 paragraph 7-10 sentences (individual) on using words like the characteristics location, that historians environment/climat use to classify e, traditions, people into religion cultures Group record sheet expresses understanding of different features of both forms of visual art (compare/contras t) 5-7 features of comparison (ex: type of paints, platforms, purposes, patterns, dividing lines, crosshatching, figurative images) 3.0 (Meets Expectations) 5-7 sentences using words like location, environment/cl imate, traditions, religion 5 features of comparison (ex: type of paints, platforms, purposes, patterns, dividing lines, cross-hatching, figurative images) Can mostly tell what animal it is through contour lines 2.0 (Approaches Expectations) 4-5 sentences using only 2 terms (location, environment/ climate, traditions, religion) 3-4 of comparison (ex: type of paints, platforms, purposes, patterns, images) 1.0 (Does not meet expectations) No writing in SS notebook or 2-3 sentences using no relative terminology

I.

Group record of elements/ features of visual art comparison

II.

1-2 of comparison (ex: type of paints, platforms, purposes, patterns, images)

Contour outline in bark painting

III.

Use of contour outline techniques

Accurate contour outline of given animal

Realistic Xray imagery in bark painting using elements of bark painting

IV.

Successful and skillful imagery portraying X-ray vision style (utilizing elements of bark painting)

Lines, shapes, designs are realistic images of skeletal/musculatur e components of animal (utilize 4-5 features/elements of Aboriginal bark painting)

Contour lines are not defined enough to portray a single animal Lines, shapes, Lines, shapes, designs are designs are imaginative not realistic and somewhat and are realistic (utilize disorganized 3-4 elements of (utilize only 2 Aboriginal bark elements of painting) Aboriginal bark painting)

Contour lines do not portray the outline of an animal

Lines, shapes, designs are random and do not follow structure of animals insides (do not utilize any elements of Aboriginal bark painting)

Optional: Lesson Variations -Only exploring one culture and their visual arts (either the Native American cave paintings or the Aboriginal bark paintings) if pressed for time -Write a Dreamtime story to go along with students Bark Paintings (spiritual story of the animals life) as an upward extension to this lesson -Provide alternative to art production: Give students the opportunity to create a cave painting (This lesson did not

contain much detail about the elements/principles of cave painting/pictographs) and explore in more depth the Plains Indians stylistic elements in their picture symbol communicative art form. -Focus more on comparing different time periods and art history elements in visual compositions of the two groups of people (The teacher can provide a greater variety of visual arts from the two groups of people and have students independently or in groups compare/contrast the major similarities and differences of the art forms in a historical context)

Instructional Sequence Set Up

Approximate Time

Procedure *Set up prior to lesson The teacher will set up the projector and PowerPoint. The teacher will place the brown construction paper (enough sheets for the whole class), a pile of assorted black, red, yellow, or white construction paper, and individual bins of pencils, sharpies, crayons, and glue sticks (for each numbered table), on the back table.

Introduction

(4 min)

Today we are going to explore Aboriginal visual art and compare/contrast it with Native American visual art (namely, cave paintings/pictographs). We are going to explore the essential question: How does art reflect how groups of people communicate feelings and ideas? We are going to describe the characteristics that historians use to organize groups of people into cultures to help us answer the essential question. And finally, we are going to utilize what we learned about the stylistic elements and features of Aboriginal bark painting to create our own bark paintings in the X-ray Vision style that mimics Aboriginal techniques using contour outlines (and geometric shapes, repeated patterns, cross-hatching, etc.). The teacher will open up the PowerPoint and begin by asking students to share the different characteristics that make up the Native American culture (even though there are many different tribes across North America: name the key cultural influences for the Great Plains Indians) and the Australian Aboriginal culture. The students should have already completed their own individual Venn Diagrams (graphic organizers) in the previous class, so this is just a review to set the stage for comparing both cultures forms of visual art. The teacher will offer discussion questions for the whole class: What constitutes culture? What are the spiritual beliefs of the Plains Indians? The Aborigines? What languages or communication systems do they have? T will show the collaboration of student ideas (from the previous lesson) in a class Venn Diagram on the first slide of the PowerPoint.

-Independent writing about classifying groups into cultures

(7 min)

The teacher will then ask students to take out their Social Studies notebooks and ask them to reflect on/describe in writing the characteristics that historians use to organize people into different cultures (ex: art, music, religion, government, social structure, education, values, beliefs and customs) and how these characteristics/elements are passed on to future generations (Approximately a paragraph in length- 5-7 sentences). The teacher will refer to slide 3 to stimulate students background knowledge with terminology related to culture. Now we will begin to look at the different forms of visual art from both groups of indigenous people, examining the stylistic elements, and discovering what they communicate. Aboriginal bark paintings illustrate stories told to young people

Core Activity -PowerPoint Slides 4-14

(12 min)

about their spiritual beliefs and customs. Some paintings illustrate animals as if they had X-ray vision expressing how their ancestors were responsible for creation (many showing how animal and human anatomy as well as spirit are similar). Native American cave paintings/pictographs are illustrations that suggest ongoing habitation, way of communication through symbols about hunting/food and religious/ceremonial purposes. The teacher will begin by showing a short video clip on slide 4of Aboriginal rock art (http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/people-placeskids/australia-rockart-kids/) that will set the stage for bark paintings in later years. After watching the video, the teacher will offer discussion questions: Did the Aboriginal people think rock art/bark paintings were art back then? What was its purpose? The Dreamtimes stories portrayed in Aboriginal bark paintings told the stories of the creation and how the land and animals shared the same spirit. These X-ray bark paintings communicated ideas of a shared soul by showing how human and animal anatomies are similar, thus expressing a common spiritual being. The teacher will go through the PowerPoint slides explaining what the bark paintings were supposed to portray and communicate (Dreamtime stories of creation, specifically animals who have the same anatomical and spiritual makeup as humans), showing visual examples from the Aborigines (slides 5-10). Slide 5: Bark painting is an art form involving painting the interior of a strip of tree bark with ground rock or ochre and charcoal used to express spiritual beliefs and Dreamtime stories of creation/animals. Slides 6-9: *Visual Examples of bark paintings Slide 10: There are many stylistic elements and features that the Aborigines used in their bark paintings like contour line drawing: a technique in which you sketch the outermost edges of an image to make the item you are drawing look realistic. Other elements include figurative designs, use of lines, geometric shapes, and repeated patterns. The teacher will then continue going through the slides (slides 11-14) about the Native American (Plains Indians) cave paintings known as pictographs. Slides 11-12: Pictographs are picture symbols the Plains Indians used to communicate with one another because they did not have a written language of words and letters. What do we use to communicate? Is it the same across countries? Cultures? They were made using pigments such as red and yellow ochre, manganese oxide, and charcoal. Many cave paintings/pictographs were often of hunting scenes, thought to bring ample prey for the next hunting season. Each symbol/illustration was commonly known to represent an idea they wanted to communicate. Slides 13-14: *Visual examples of cave paintings/pictographs -Group Discussion about the features/elements of both forms of visual art (5 min) The teacher will then have students at each table compare/contrast elements and features of Aboriginal bark painting with Native American cave paintings in discussion groups of about 4 people. Each group will elect a recorder and should come up with about 5 features/elements (discussed in the PowerPoint) that are written on a single sheet of paper to share with the rest of the class. The teacher will have each groups recorder tell the elements of comparison they found. (*This should be a quick discussion to stimulate student understanding of the principles/features of Aboriginal art, specifically, so they can utilize them in their own artwork).

Slide 15: The teacher will then offer reflection questions about the two forms of visual art, how they connect to how people are classified into different cultures, and what each group is trying to communicate: What features were represented in Aboriginal art? Plains Indian art? Did they use the same materials? What do you think the Aborigines were trying to express or communicate through their X-ray vision bark paintings? What ideas were they trying to portray? What key factors influence classification of Aboriginal culture? Native American culture? What traditions do you pass on in your family? How do you do so? How would you explain your own culture? How could location or environment impact similarities and differences between Aboriginal and Native American cultures? -Bark Painting (Slides 16-19) (24 min) After the students explore the visual art of the Aborigines and Plains Indians and have a deeper understanding/reflection on how groups of people are classified into cultures, the teacher will introduce how to make Aboriginal Bark Paintings using contour line drawing and the X-ray vision style (as the class has explored from lecture and group discussion about elements/features). The teacher will refer to the How To slide (slide 18), pass around the teachers example for students to look at, and explicitly go through each step thoroughly so students understand the procedures. The teacher will remind students to include the stylistic features/elements that Aborigines used in their bark paintings: contour outline, dividing blocks, figurative designs, and geometric shapes, cross-hatching and repeated patterns (the teacher will have explained what this term means on slide 10). *The teacher will have an Elements/Features poster she will post on the blackboard for additional reference (summarizing and displaying what was on slide 10) with images of each technique.

The teacher will pick one student from each table to gather materials (for each student at their table) from the back table. The teacher will hand out the visual image handouts (1 per table) for students to refer to when choosing an animal to draw the contour outline. The teacher will walk around the room facilitating discussions about the elements and features they are including and answering questions students may have about the different techniques. Clean Up (3 min) After the students are finished with their bark painting, the teacher will pick one student to gather all materials and bring them back to the resource table (The teacher will call students according to table number). The teacher will collect the paintings from each table and make a stack on the resource table so as to hang them on the bulletin board for the rest of the unit on culture at her next convenience. Once the students are finished cleaning up, the teacher will have students walk around the room to look at (not touch) other students works (the teacher will call one table at a time) in a gallery walk format. This will stimulate a discussion on the various elements and techniques of Aboriginal bark painting that different students used in their drawings. The teacher will then offer questions to reflect on the activity. These can include: What did you learn about how art communicates different ideas/beliefs from this activity? How did The contour outline help you when drawing your animals? What are some other media that you could work with to explore bark paintings? Do you think this activity stimulated your individual creativity? What stylistic elements did you include that the Aborigines included in their paintings? (ex: figurative/geometric shapes and designs, cross-hatching, contour outlines) How do you see Aboriginal visual art as a reflection of their culture?

Closure/Reflection

(5 min)

Plans to Display/Exhibit Student Work Students will mount their painted bark on one piece of black, red, yellow, or white construction paper and the teacher will hang them in different angles on the bulletin board with an orange background. These colors are representative of the ochre and charcoals that Native Americans and Aborigines used to create their cave, rock, and bark paintings. The teacher will take photos of the students learning about the Native Americans/Plains Indians artwork/way of communication/culture and when the students are creating their own bark paintings to display the learning process to parents and administrators at conferences.

Teachers example:

Visual Images of animals for reference (contour outlines):

Elements and Features poster: