Sample Lesson Plan, 3rd-5th grade, Interpretation

NCSCOS Goals: Visual Arts Goals 4 and 7

NCSCOS Objectives: 4.3, 4.4; 7.1, 7.2

Grade level: Adaptable K-8

Lesson objective: To compare and combine language arts skills and mechanics to visual arts skills and mechanics.

Materials: 8" squares white drawing paper,10"squares white or pastel papers,12" squares patterned wall papers, Sharpie*[or other permanent] markers, watercolors or crayons, Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold

1. Focus and review
What is a painter?
Can a painter be a story teller?
Can you "read" a painting?
Choose an artwork with a narrative style.
Ask a student to read or interpret the artists "story".
Is the artists purpose consistent with his intention?[Look to an artist bio. Etc…]
What if the painter wrote about his own artwork? His art would be visual. His art would be verbal. With this lesson we will learn about an artist who does just that. She writes on her art. She tells stories about her paintings. Her name is Faith Ringgold. Artist and author, Ms. Ringgold offers an interesting twist to two ages old art forms.

2. Statement of Objectives
Students will become acquainted with the art and literature of artist/author Faith Ringgold. Each student will create his/her own "patch" [for a class story quilt] which includes an illustration that supports a theme or central idea along with a narrative that supports the illustration [by providing explanation or justification]. An art/literature connection will be recognized as well as realized.

3. Teacher Input
Let's make a Tar Beach inspired story quilt!
A story quilt is a unique art/narrative art form created by New York artist Faith Ringgold. Ms. Ringgold combines painting with quilting and further enhances the visual experience with fictional story telling bands that support the imagery and entice the viewer to become more involved in what they see. A painter since the 1950's, Faith Ringgold developed this unique art form based on the quilting traditions of her great grandmother, passed on by her great-great grandmother[a slave in antebellum Florida] who made quilts as part of her duties.*
[Background information was taken in part from Tar Beach; Crown Publishers, N.Y.] Faith Ringgold is the author and illustrator of the children's book Tar Beach. Based on one of her story quilts, this book is rich with the wonderfully free and spirited style of Ringgold and is also a source for a brief bio of the artist as well as a color photo of the story quilt of the same name.
Read the book Tar Beach aloud to your class or have students take turns reading sections aloud to the class. Share the illustrations.

4. Guided Practice
Using the students to help brainstorm, make a chart or list of themes or ideas suitable for a class created story quilt. What was the theme or idea behind Tar Beach? After some discussion decide on one theme the group can identify with .It could be something topical [ex.;peace, success, safety,e tc.] or something entirely kid-friendly [desserts, play ,vacations, etc.] let your group dictate your direction.

5. Independent Practice
Instruct the students to develop an illustration on an 8" square of drawing paper [no words, illustration only]. At the completion each student should then go over pencil lines with permanent marker [Sharpie]. The squares can then be completed with watercolors or with crayons, colored pencils, etc. [Fill the square, including background.] Back 8" square with a 10" square of white or a pastel paper. Students are then to compose a narrative to support or clarify their illustrations. [Consult language arts teachers for aid or even for team teaching if time allows.] The narratives are then rewritten in the margins of the 10" square. Back the 10" square with a 12-14" square of patterned wallpaper. Individual squares can be displayed solo or combined to make the much more dramatic and interesting group quilt.

6. Closure
A storyteller can be an artist. A storyteller can be a writer. Faith Ringgold is both. She communicates visually and controls the interpretation of her work by providing a narrative account of its meaning.
Display the class' quilt or quilts. Describe a few squares. Read a few stories. The combination of words and of images is a great communicator. The text supports the imagery and the imagery supports the text. The students' writing is strengthened by the artwork and the artwork is given clarity from the writing.

Modifications/Extensions
All sizes and materials can be substituted as supplies or individual students dictate [ex; collage from magazines for imagery, etc.]. Writing can be done in pairs, can be dictated to a scribe or done with another teacher in another setting. See some examples of a story quilt below: