John Mungiello

Lesson Plan #3

Lesson Plan Title: Histories True Hero’s

Grade: 10th

Time: 5- 45 min. per.

Teacher: John Mungiello

Date: 3/6/14

Learners Characteristics:

Lowenfeld’s “Pseudorealistic State”, ages 11 to 13. Students at this stage begin to care most about the products outcome as opposed to “Dawning Realism” when they care more about the act of drawing. In this stage there are two psychological differences. One is called visual, which means the child’s work tends to take on the appearance of a “stage presentation”. The work is inspired by what the student is seeing. The second psychological difference is “based on subjective experiences”. This stage is about student’s use of emotional relationships in the outside world and how it relates to them. Visual students feel like they are a viewer looking at their work from the outside. Nonvisual students get deeply involved in their work and how it relates to them in a deeply personal way. Visual learners gain the concept of how color changes under “external conditions”. Nonvisual learners see color as a tool to use in order to express emotion.

Characteristics of students with learning disabilities:

ADD and ADHD: Students with ADD and/or ADHD may be inattentive, hyperactive and/or impulsive. Students might exhibit the following: fails to pay close attention to details, makes careless mistakes, can’t sustain focused attention, doesn’t appear to be listening, has difficulty organizing tasks, activities, materials, doesn’t like activities that require sustained focus, easily distracted by extraneous environmental activity, often forgets routine activities, fidgets, moves hands and feet, moves round in seat, can’t stay still, gets out of seat often, runs in classroom, hall climbs, has difficulty engaging in quiet activities, even quiet leisure activities, talks excessively, blurts out answers to questions, sometimes even before questions are completed, has difficulty waiting, taking turns, interrupts teacher and others frequently.

Autism: Students with Autism have a lifelong developmental disability that affects their verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and social interactions. Students might exhibit the following: repetitive activities and movements, resistance to changes in environment and daily routine, unusual responses to sensory experiences, poor play skills, frequent conflicts with others, lack of empathy and inability to see perspective of others, inability to tolerate overly stimulating environments, lights, sounds, movements.

Behavioral, Emotional and Social: Students with Behavioral challenges can be aggressive and anti-social. Behavioral challenges may stem from a wide range of issues,-- gangs, drug use, homelessness, familial abuse, medication, and health problems. Students with Emotional challenges can feel sad, depressed and have low self-esteem. Students with Social challenges have difficulty interacting with others, making and keeping friends and dealing with everyday demands of social activities. Students with Behavioral, Emotional and Social learning disabilities might exhibit the following: inability to learn that cant be directly linked to health, sensory environmental or cognitive intelligence, inability to establish and maintain good interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers, voicing of inappropriate feelings or exhibiting inappropriate behaviors under normal classroom conditions, almost constant unhappiness or moody or depression-like behavior, passive- aggressive behavior, responds with trepidation and fear to ordinary classroom activities.

Down Syndrome: Students with Down syndrome usually learn and progress slower than most other children. However, not all areas of development are equally affected. Students with Down syndrome are strong in Social development, learning with visual supports, and reading words. Socially they develop roughly at the same time as babies without Down syndrome. In adult life they continue to acquire good social skills and appropriate social behavior. Students with Down syndrome learn better when they can see things illustrated. This spans across and includes the acquisition of language, motor skills and literacy. When information is presented with the support of pictures, gestures or objects, students with retain better. Many students with Down syndrome develop reading abilities in advance of what might be expected for their cognitive and language levels. Reading is a particular benefit, given their specific speech and language delays. Challenges include slow motor development, poor oral motor control which impacts language skills, delays in spoken language and use of expressive language, delay in mastering sentence structures and grammar, and difficulty in developing clear speech production, number skills (2 years behind reading skills), Verbal short-term memory, the ability to hold and process verbal information, and processing spoken language.

Theme Concept:

Every person can be a hero in some way. Sometimes it is something small that they do (that usually goes unnoticed) and sometimes it is big. A person who pushes someone off of a train track before the train hits them can be considered a hero, or soldier who takes a bullet for his fellow soldier and saves his or her. These are larger scaled cases that are heroic, but there are all also smaller cases that can be heroic as well. Small heroics can include being a caring mother or father everyday, being a teacher who ops to give up his or her weekend to create better lesson plans for the students, buying your girlfriend a cup of coffee and surprising her at work with it etc. These small acts of kindness create a community of heroics and in turn making people stronger and happier. A hero thinks of the other person over him or herself, but this does not mean you have to give up your life to be a hero. Giving someone a loving embrace does not require sacrifice, but it does require thinking of the other person and acting on empathy and love.

Our society tends to over look these small acts of heroics. Turn on the news and what do we see? Death, destruction, crime, hatred and then celebrities and sports follows. Why do they not mention all of the good acts that went on in the day. Something good happens everyday just as something bad happens. They news does not report the good because it is not as exciting and it does not get viewers. The only time they will mention acts of kindness is if they are on a larger scale. What this does is tell our students that unless you act heroically on a large scale you cannot be a hero and cannot make a difference. Of course, this is not true. Students must be able to examine their lives very closely and understand the wonderful contributions that all make to society everyday. No matter how small.

Theme Concept: historical hero’s

Generally throughout history the defining characteristic of a hero is self-sacrifice. This means to put others completely over one self and inevitable result is death. Most true heroes in history have died as a direct result of their heroic actions. Some examples are Martin Luther King, Harvey Milk, Gandhi, Lumumba, Bhenazir Bhutto and Malcom X. These individuals stood up and advocated for themselves and their fellow women and men who were being kept down by the political and social powers of the time. Why does this end with their death? Why does standing up for your beliefs and human rights result in death? This world and the systems of power do not allow for individuals to truly stand up for their rights. We can in small instances; instances that stay under the radar, but once we make an impact and our ideas are heard we risk our lives, our jobs, our relationships, positions in life, family etc.

By looking at history heroism seems to go hand in hand with loss in someway. Even hero’s like Mother Teresa had to give up basic wants and needs of human beings to achieve their goals and to help others. As people who are part of this world we have to examine why true heroes (not celebrities) must give up so much to be a hero.

Non-Art Discipline Concept:

Poetry allows us to create text that embodies emotion and lets us connect with the writer and their subject on a deep emotional and cognitive level. Using Poetry students will explore the emotional and historical relevance of the person they are researching. One way to truly connect with someone is to feel empathy for him or her, especially when trying to connect with someone we haven’t met. Empathizing with a person allows us to bridge the gap between us, which in turn allows us to connect on a deeper level. Too often people do not empathize with another person. I believe this is why people are harmed, killed, lied too, bullied etc. I don’t know if we can teach empathy, but by using art and poetry we can ask our students to try an deepen their emotional understanding of someone other than themselves.

Concepts in Art Disciplines

Art Production (Art Making):

· Element or Principle of Design: One of the elements that create drama and emotion in art is lighting. It allows us to enhance emotion and pull viewers deeper into the worlds we are creating on the paper. Especially in portraiture lighting can be used as a psychological tool to express how the person we are depicting is feeling inside. This allows the viewer to think and go deeper into the piece.

· Technique/Process: Charcoal is one medium that creates shadows, mid-tones, and lights easily. We can use the side of the charcoal stick; blend with our fingers, eraser to make lights, etc.

Aesthetics:

· How does contrast affect the emotional qualities of an artwork?

· How does contrast affect the meaning of an artwork?

· Is it ethical to create a portrait about someone we never met and do not know on a deep level? Why or why not?

· Does our opinion of the person we are drawing affect how we depict them? Why?

Art Criticism: “Albert Einstein, 1879-1955”, Gerhard Richter, Oil on Canvas, 1971/72, Oil on Canvas

· Description

1. What types of tones do you see?

2. What types of lines do you see?

3. Where is the light coming from?

· Formal Analysis

1. Where are the darkest shadows?

2. Where are the mid-tones?

3. Where are the highlights?

4. Is the lighting soft or hard? What led you to that decision?

· Interpretation

1. How does this picture make you feel? Why?

2. How do you feel about the subject (the person) of the painting? Why?

3. What do you think the person in this painting’s personality is like? Why?

4. If you had to pick a song that fit the emotions of this picture what would it be?

· Judgment

1. Is this a good painting? Why or why not?

2. How do you think the artist feels about the person he painted?

3. Do you think every one will have the same thoughts about the person in the painting? Why or why not?

4. Is it ok for people to have different feelings about the person being depicted? Why?

5. Is it ethical to paint a portrait of someone the artist never met and make assumptions about them? Why?

6. What negative effects can assuming something about another person have on that person? Why?

Art History: Gerhard Richter, German photo realistic and abstract painter

1. Richter was born in Dresden, Germany, February 9, 1932

2. He began his career as an abstract expressionist. His works were brightly colored, thickly textured and he started to utilize his iconic swiping of the brush.

3. Later Richter moved into photorealism. His paintings, almost exclusively in black and white and blurred became his iconic look. He replicated old photographs he found and by using contrast and a blurring effect he created dark and emotional paintings that show the passage of time.

4. His subject matter usually dealt with family and history in some way. One of his most famous series Baader-Meinhof portraits are portraits that depict the deceased people involved with the terrorist group the Red Army Faction that was active in Germany.

Learning Objectives

Art Disciplines:

1. Students will be able to analyze and artistically interpret the emotions of their historical hero by creating a portrait that uses contrast to create emotion.

2. Students will be able to recognize shadows, mid-tones, and highlights by creating a portrait using values/contrast.

3. Students will critically respond to a painting by Gerhard Richter by answering questions about description, formal analysis, interpretation, and judgment.

Art Disciplines Learning Modifications:

Change the amount of time allowed for completing art activities. Encourage students to take breaks during art activities. Change mode of instruction. Adapt level of skill needed to complete art activities. Change the materials or adapt them to the needs of the student. Simplify the art making activities. Modify how special needs students can respond. Adapt the extent to which student engages in art activities; adapt to students’ strengths and interests. Change the goals of the art activities, but use the same materials. Provide visuals to further explain verbal and written instruction.

Non-Art Discipline:

1. Students will be able to recognize the accomplishments of a historical hero by researching their life and accomplishments.

2. Students will be able to reflect and express the emotional qualities of their hero and his/her accomplishments by writing a poem.

Non-Art Discipline Learning Modifications:

Students can record a spoken poem instead of writing one. Poem can be written using multiple languages. Students can create an IMOVIE of a poetry reading instead of writing a poem. Provide extra time. Remind students of behavioral expectations. Give students visuals along with the text.

Democratic Skills:

1. Students will be asked to reflect and empathize with a historical hero and their struggles in life.

2. Students will critique the state of our country and its hero’s

3. Students will use critical thinking to analyze why hero’s struggle so much in our country or die as a result of their actions.

4. Students will use attentive and respectful listening skills when members of class/small groups are expressing ideas and feelings.

5. Students will reflect on their own thinking processes and behavior.

6. Students will listen to opinions of others even if they don’t agree with them.

7. Students will respectfully ask others to explain further if they didn’t understand what was said, or if they want someone to say more.

Democratic Skills Learning Modifications:

Give frequent positive feedback, particularly when special needs students are listening to others and being listened to by others. Allow students to complete art-learning tasks away from others when needed. Assign special needs students to routine classroom tasks, as well as tasks of responsibility for group learning needs, e.g. table leader who needs to distribute materials, conduct pre quiz reviews etc.

Sequence of Classroom Activities:

1. Students will watch part of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

2. Students will work with a partner and discuss how they felt while watching the video and how they think Martin Luther King felt while presenting the speech.

3. I will circle the room and have discussions with each group of students.

4. Groups will present their discussion with the class.

5. Next I will ask students what happened to Martin Luther King? This will lead into a short discussion of heroism and how most true hero’s in history struggle and end up sacrificing their lives for the good of others.

6. Individually, using the computer or their IPhone’s or Ipad’s, students will research and find a historical hero that they connect with. They will find out who he or she is, what he or she did/how it bettered peoples lives, and what happened to them in the future. I will provide a list of historical hero’s that can be researched if students do not or cannot find their own.

7. Presentation and Demonstration on lighting and contrast.

8. In their sketchbooks students will complete a gradation scale from dark to light.

9. Brief presentation on Gerhard Richter and his soft photorealistic portraits.

10. I want you to-Students will begin to create portraits of the historical hero they picked. Students will use lighting and contrast to create emotion in their work.

11. I want you to- Create a poem describing your hero and their achievements

12. Group art show/critique of final drawings/poems.

13. Art Criticism

14. Aesthetics Activity

15. Conclusion

Materials & Equipment:

Scrap Paper

Drawing paper

Pencils

Charcoals

Kneaded Erasers

Resources:

· Photo Paintings, Retrieved March 6, 2014, From, http://www.gerhard-richter.com/art/paintings/photo_paintings/category.php?catID=56

· Retrieved March 6, 2014, From, http://historysheroes.e2bn.org/hero/achievements/4332

· Martin Luther King, I have a Dream Speech, Retrieved March 6, 2014, From, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs

· Crane, H. (1926) Garden Abstract. New York, NY: Literary Classics.

List of Art Works:

· Gerhard Richter, “Tote (dead)”, 1988, Oil on Canvas, 62 cm x 62 cm

· Gerhard Ricther, “48 Portraits, Albert Einstein, 1879-1955”, Oil on Canvas, 70 cmx 55cm

Supporting Materials (vocabulary list, artists’ biographies, historical information, student self-assessments, rubric):

Student Self Assessment Sheet

Self-Assessment Rubric

Gerhard Richter Biography Handout

Richter painting examples

Richter painting you tube clip

Martin Luther King JR “I Have a Dream” speech you tube clip

Shading/ Contrast handout with visuals

Vocabulary List

Historical Hero’s List with visuals

Narrative of Classroom Procedures:

Introduction/Discussion/Questions (about theme concept, concepts in art disciplines, non-art discipline concepts, art works, democratic behaviors):

Heroes sacrifice so much (even their lives) to help others. How does it feel to be that person? What was going through their hearts and minds during the moments of their heroic actions? We can get closer to understanding this if we are able to empathize and think about our feelings. Students will watch Martin Luther King JR’s “I Have a Dream Speech”, which is something most students are familiar with. Often in school we see clips of the main part where he says I have a dream, but the rest of the speech is equally as powerful and moving. I will show students these moments, which build up to the familiar “I Have a Dream”. This will show them something new, which might stir up more emotion since they are not familiar with it. Then I will end with the familiar so students can see how it all falls into place. While students are watching they will record a few of their emotions on paper, which they will use for later discussion. I will have a few on the board and explain the meanings before the video is played.

Stimulation Activity:

Students will break into groups of 4 will discuss and find conclusions to the following questions. How were you feeling while watching the video? Why?, How do you think Martin Luther King JR was feeling? Why?, How do you think members of the audience were feeling? Why?, How do you think Caucasian people were feeling during this speech? Why?, How do you think African Americans were feeling during this speech? Why? Students will discuss and find answers to these questions in their groups. I will be walking around the room and discussing with students and probing their answers to try and get the students to an even deeper level of empathy/cognition.

After students have answered the questions. Groups will present their findings, which will lead into me asking the students if they know what happened to Martin Luther King? We will have a short discussion about this in class and I will have guiding questions on the board. This will lead into the idea that heroes always sacrifice something, even their lives as MLK did. I will have a brief slideshow of some of the heroes that this happened to.

I Want You To…(Problematized instructions for individualized and/or small group art making):

Students will break up and individually they will research and find a hero that relates to them. Students can use the computer, their Iphones, Ipads, or Ipods to research. Students will need to find out who the person is, what they did to qualify them as a hero, what happened to them in the end, and find portraits of their person, which will be used as reference for art making.

Next I will have a brief you tube clip of Gerhard Richter painting a portrait and have a demonstration where I show the students light and contrast used in portraiture, and how it creates emotion. This ties into the previous lessons where we used lines to show movement and emotion. Students will be reminded that they all work hand in hand.

In their sketchbook students will fill in a tonal scale going from dark to light. This will be the guided practice so I can see that all students can use shading. If I notice they are having trouble I will re-think my method of teaching and work from there.

Next students will be instructed to create a portrait of their hero and how they feel about them or how the hero might have felt. As students are working I will be circling around the room and provided feedback/ positive verbal reinforcements.

Students will be given the poem “Garden Abstract” by Hart Crane. Students will read this poem in their groups and answer the following questions. What types of emotions come up when reading this poem? How does the writer inform you about the personality of the woman in the poem? Students will present and a discussion will follow.

Students will now write a poem (long or short) about their historical hero. Students will need to incorporate what we have been discussing. Emotions they have towards the hero, emotions of the hero or the people he/she affected.

Drawings and poems will be displayed together on the wall. Next to each piece of art will be the student’s name. We will create a mini class gallery and have an art opening. I will have healthy drinks and food to simulate the wine and cheese gallery openings. Once students have a chance to view the pieces of art and read the poems we will re-form as a class and have a group critique. The critique will be led by the artist and the audience can say what they’re favorite part of the piece is and why.

More Questions, Statements, Positive Verbal Reinforcements, Suggestions and Clarification of Tasks (related to theme concept, concepts in art disciplines, non-art concept, democratic skills):

Art Aesthetics and art criticism questions will be answered in groups about Gerhard Richter portrait of Einstein. I will go around to each group and have discussions.

Aesthetics:

· How does contrast affect the emotional qualities of an artwork?

· How does contrast affect the meaning of an artwork?

· Is it ethical to create a portrait about someone we never met and do not know on a deep level? Why or why not?

· Does our opinion of the person we are drawing affect how we depict them? Why?

Art Criticism: “Albert Einstein, 1879-1955”, Gerhard Richter, Oil on Canvas, 1971/72, Oil on Canvas

· Description

4. What types of tones do you see?

5. What types of lines do you see?

6. Where is the light coming from?

· Formal Analysis

5. Where are the darkest shadows?

6. Where are the mid-tones?

7. Where are the highlights?

8. Is the lighting soft or hard? What led you to that decision?

· Interpretation

5. How does this picture make you feel? Why?

6. How do you feel about the subject (the person) of the painting? Why?

7. What do you think the person in this painting’s personality is like? Why?

8. If you had to pick a song that fit the emotions of this picture what would it be?

· Judgment

7. Is this a good painting? Why or why not?

8. How do you think the artist feels about the person he painted?

9. Do you think every one will have the same thoughts about the person in the painting? Why or why not?

10. Is it ok for people to have different feelings about the person being depicted? Why?

11. Is it ethical to paint a portrait of someone the artist never met and make assumptions about them? Why?

12. What negative effects can assuming something about another person have on that person? Why?

More Questions/concepts:

Which do you think expresses emotions more, your poem or drawing? Why?

Can artists tell a story by creating portraits? Why or why not?

Concluding the Lesson (Discussion, Questions, Sharing of Productions, Recapping):

Drawings and poems will be displayed together on the wall. Next to each piece of art will be the student’s name. We will create a mini class gallery and have an art opening. I will have healthy drinks and food to simulate the wine and cheese gallery openings. Once students have a chance to view the pieces of art and read the poems we will re-form as a class and have a group critique. The critique will be led by the artist and the audience can say what they’re favorite part of the piece is and why.

Ask students: What can contrast do to a portrait?

Ask Students: How did the artist use contrast in the portrait?

Ask Students: What type of emotion is being conveyed in the portrait?

Ask Students: Why do you think true heroes have to sacrifice so much for the betterment of others?

Ask Students: What is one thing you learned during this lesson that you did not know before?

Lastly students will fill out a self-assessment rubric and I will fill out a teacher self assessment rubric.

Lesson Extensions/Connections:

1. Students can create an IMOVIE reenacting a particular achievement their hero made. For instance, Martin Luther King’s speech.

2. I can create a new lesson that is about what students want to advocate for. They can think and create art about how they would help people.

3. Students can create and illustrated children’s book about their historical hero.

4. Students can create a song as a tribute to their hero using apps/mac programs or real instruments.

5. Students can perform a play about their hero’s accomplishments, a dance routine, a musical performance, a poetry reading, movie clip etc. It will be a student talent show based around historical heroes.

NJCCCS 2009:

· One Visual Arts Standard and Indicator:

1.3 Performance: All students will synthesize those skills, media, methods, and technologies appropriate to creating, performing, and/or presenting works of art in dance, music, theatre, and visual art. Content Statement- culturally and historically diverse art media, art mediums, techniques, and styles impact originality and interpretation of the artistic statement. CPI# 1.2.12.D.2 Produce an original body of artwork in one or more art mediums that demonstrates mastery of visual literacy, methods, techniques, and cultural understanding.

· One Language Arts Discipline Standard and Indicator:

English Language Arts Standards, Writing, Grade 9-10, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3d Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

Student Self-Assessment Sheet

“Histories True Heroes”

Student Name_____________________________

Date: ____________________________

1. How did you show emotions in your drawing?

2. How did you come to the conclusion that your person is a historical hero?

3. What did you learn about the historic figure you picked?

4. How did your research inform your art?

4. What did you like best about this project? Why?

Teachers Evaluation

Lesson Plan:

1. Are the activities in the lesson age-appropriate?

2. Are the activities in the lesson appropriate for all learners including students with disabilities and English Language Leaners?

3. Are there parts of the lesson that require too much time/too many features that don’t allow enough time for adequate understanding?

4. Did all parts of the lesson engage and maintain students interest?

5. Does the lesson conceptually link art with another subject in an integrated way that is both implicit an explicit?

6. Are the learning activities presented in the best sequence for maximizing student understanding and participation?

Teaching of Lesson:

1. Did I allow enough wait-time?

2. Did I make eye contact with students?

3. Was I excited about the lesson?

4. Did I ask enough open-ended questions?

5. Did I allow students to ask open-ended questions?

6. Did I speak clearly and loudly enough for students to hear me?

7. Did I hold students accountable and check for acquisition of knowledge?

8. Did build on students’ prior understanding/knowledge

9. What is one aspect I can improve for the next time I teach this lesson?

Student Outcomes:

1. Were the students participating during group assignments?

2. Were students able to verbalize how they empathized with Martin Luther King during his speech?

3. Were the students able to critically respond and answer questions about why heroes must sacrifice?

4. Were students able to use technology in order to find a hero they connected with?

5. Did students find that heroes name, achievements, and eventual outcome of their actions?

6. Were the students able to complete the tonal scale in their sketch using dark to light?

7. Did students understand contrast as a principal of design and accurately apply verbal description of various kinds of movement when discussing their drawing?

8. Were students able to verbalize how artist’s can use contrast to evoke emotion?

9. Were students able to verbalize how they used contrast to evoke emotion in their piece?

10. Were students actively engaged while participating in the group critique?

11. Were students able to participate respectfully in the group critique?

12. Were students able to verbalize how their peer used contrast to evoke emotion during the group critique?

Outcomes for students with learning disabilities:

1. Did students feel successful?

2. Did students accept and build upon positive feedback?

3. Were students engaged and giving optimal effort during activities?

13.

Teacher Example.