SETTING GOALS & EXPECTATIONS

1. Conceptual Structure
State the big idea and define it.
Metaphors and Symbols Artists in visual, literary, and musical arts use
metaphors and symbols as ways to communicate, convey meaning, and
create imagery for the viewers, readers, and listeners.
Ask the essential questions that help to define the investigation of the big idea for
your students.
What are metaphors? What are symbols? Why do artists in various mediums
use metaphors and symbols in their work?
How do metaphors and symbols abstract concepts or messages for viewers?
Why would an artist choose to abstract their thoughts rather than state them
literally or matter-of-factly?
List the key art concepts that will help students to understand the big idea as an
artist.
Representation through Abstraction, Visual Metaphors, Semiotics
What do you want students to explore through this unit of study? What questions
will they seek to answer about this big idea in their own art?
Compositional Planning and Pre-creation processes Mindmapping as a
vehicle to dissect and analyze literary compositions and then as a vehicle to
help determine possible metaphorical and symbolic imagery.
Word Connotations Analyzing how language has pre-conceived or learned
reactions and how those influence how interpret words and phrases.
Metaphors and Semiotics How do these concepts influence our lives on a
daily basis?
Medium Interactions How do medium choices effect how imagery
communicates a message?
RESPONDING AND CONNECTING
2. Instructional Activities
What will the students KNOW at the end of this unit? What specific new knowledge
will they acquire?
Artists, musicians, and writers use metaphors and symbols in a variety of
ways to communicate to and with their viewers, listeners, and readers.
Explain how the students will explore the concepts of the big idea through viewing
several artists and their artwork.
 Students will study individually and in groups a variety of literary works in the
styles of poetry and song lyrics as a basis and subject matter for illustrative
compositions.
Students will dissect literary metaphors as an imagery source for creating
illustrative compositions. Student will work as individuals and as a class to
discover meaning and reflect on the concepts of interpretation and point of
view.
Choose artists whose work exemplifies an exploration of your big idea and include
examples of the artists work in your curriculum.
Visual Artists Musicians Authors
Frida Kahlo Alanis Morrisette Mary Anne Radmacher
Salvador Dal Avril Lavigne Emily Dickinson
Ren Magritte Jimmy Eat World
Pink Floyd
Fastball
Dexter Freebish
Cheap Trick
The Lumineers

The Two Fridas, Frida Kahlo, 1939 Metamorphosis of Narcissus, Salvador

Dal, 1937
The Lovers, Ren Magritte, 1928
Musical Selections:
Not The Doctor, Alanis Morrisette
Anything But Ordinary, Avril Lavigne
The Way, Fastball
Hear You Me, Jimmy Eat World
Us and Them, Pink Floyd
Sleep on the Floor, The Lumineers
Leaving Town, Dexter Freebish
Cruel to Be Kind, Cheap Trick

Literary Selections:
Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Emily Dickinson
What Its Like to Confront Regret, Mary Anne Radmacher
Explain how you will teach artistic ideas and how you will CONNECT the key
concepts to prior knowledge and other disciplines. How will your students relate to
this experience in a relevant and personal way? What questions will you ask your
students about the artwork to engage them in thinking about how the artist is
exploring the big idea? What opportunities will the students have to RESPOND to
art?
Students will begin by examining all of the works individually, jotting down their
immediate thoughts in a very short amount of time their first impressions. As a
class, we will then work through each piece individually essentially, we will be
using VTS strategies to examine all of the works and asking the important
questions: What is going on in this image/work? What do we see/read that makes
us say that? What more can we find? Just as with traditional VTS, students will not
be given title or authorship information and musical selections as well literary
pieces will be typed up, not listened to as the intent is for the students to hear their
own voice without predetermined intent.
While students are not choosing the initial pieces with which to work, they will get
to choose from the entire selection of literary and musical works from which to base
their compositions. I made the decision to choose these piece for them instead of
having them choose their own as I wanted their to be a variety of deep subject to
explore from which they may not be familiar, have much experience, or have any
preconceived notions or emotions towards raw material.
CREATING
3. Art making activities
What will students DO and CREATE that will provide evidence of depth of knowledge
about the big idea?
After VTS-ing the various materials, students will choose a literary/lyrical piece from
the selections provided. Using a mapping style of their choice, they will begin by
analyzing and dissecting the written word, mapping ideas, thoughts, phrases,
images, etc. that come to mind. Students will then use this mapping to sketch
possible imagery to communicate the ideas they have dissected from their written
work. These sketched ideas will then be used to create a draft layout for an
illustrative final composition that summarizes the chosen literary work. Students
are able to utilize and single or multiple mediums with which to create.
How will the art teacher help students artistically and creatively investigate and
express the big idea through media? Explain how you will facilitate the
development of knowledge about CREATING/ARTMAKING that will help students
explore subject matter, media, and techniques in their own work.
I will work one on one with students following the class discussion/VTS session as
they work their way through their literary selections. Should the opportunity arise, I
will have students work with each other to solve problems that they run into that
another student may have already discovered a solution for. Students will be using
materials that they have used in a variety of ways previously and are familiar with,
thus increasing the probability that they will be successful in the creative
endeavors.
4. Assessment
What evidence from performances and products demonstrate deep understanding
and generalizable new knowledge? What evidence of pre-thinking, in process
ideation and development will be required? How will you know what your students
have learned about:
the big idea that they investigated
the artistic concepts and depth of knowledgebase
art creating and production/process
 reflecting on their own work and connecting and responding to other art work
How will the students voices be represented in the assessment and presentation
of their work?
Ask yourself: What will the assessment DO?
Who is the assessment FOR?
What does the assessment VALUE?
Assessment will be made both formally and informally. Informally, student
understanding will assessed through observation, discussion and one-on-one
conversation with the student. This is important to ensure that the student doesnt
get stuck that they are able to progress through their exploration and not get
hung up. This also allows me to track their progress towards the end goal, a
completed final composition that encompasses, communicates and illustrates the
concepts the discovered in their literary work. Formally, students will be evaluated
for a grade as is required by my school district. Students will be evaluated on their
use of compositional space, planning, participation, pushing themselves, effort,
creative strategies, etc. The end goal is not a perfect piece but rather striving and
pushing for greatness whilst also effectively using class time. Students will receive
progress points for accountability. Pieces to be considered/evaluated for their final
grade: participation in class discussion/critique, mapping/planning strategies,
sketches, and final composition and artists statement.
PRESENTING
5. How will your students work be PRESENTED and curated? Who is the audience?
How will students share their own vision of their process and the finished work?
(Video, Aurasma? Artist Statements?) What kind of feedback will the artists receive
and from whom?
Student work will be displayed in the hallways along with their artists statements.
Artists statement will be read during a class critique and the students work will be
critiqued by their peers and instructor. Critique allows for feedback, reflection,
explanation, justification, etc.
TEACHER REFLECTION
6 .How does your curricular design foster ideation (including interpretation and art
analysis) media, and meaning making skills? Describe how your curriculum design
helps students understand and make visible their own thinking about art as a visual
literacy within our visual culture.
This design allows for student meaning making in a variety of ways including
orally/spoken, written mapping/planning/artists statement, and then visually
through sketches and a final composition. Through being able to express ones own
thoughts and opinions as well as receiving feedback from both their instructor and
their peers, students are able to express the why and how, ins and outs of their
decision making, creating and thought processes.