Sample Lesson Plan: Critical Stance Lesson 1:
Which Style Fits?
Day 1 of 2
Grade level: 4th - 8th
grade
Objectives:
· Students will analyze the elements of style
for a work of art and compare it with the elements of style for
a piece of writing.
· Students will read two selections of the same story, written
in different styles, and select the writing style that best fits
the style of the painting, citing evidence in both texts (visual
and verbal).
· Students will read two selections of the same story written
in different styles, and select the text that they like the best.
· Students will write a poem for a painting of their choice
that complements it through descriptive word choice, structure,
and/or other writer's choices.
Art work used: Damocles
by Richard Westall, Ackland Art Museum, www.ackland.org
Grade level(s): 4th-8th grade
Materials include:
· Images that demonstrate different kinds of personal styles
· Flip chart or whiteboard
· 2 versions of Damocles story for each student (see below,
titled Text of story to use with Lesson 1, Critical Stance, 4th-8th)
· pencils for each student
Time needed: two 50-minute periods
Focus and Review:
1. Show students images of people who have a particular "style"
- a Goth person, a Southern belle style, a preppy style, a surfer
style, a nature-oriented style, etc. Ask students to identify what
they would call each person's style, based on what they see in these
images.
2. Ask students what they think it means to have a personal style.
How does a person have a "style?" Record student answers
on a flip chart or white board. (hairstyle, glasses, gestures, voice,
clothing choices, materials choices, color choice, etc.)
3. Ask students how they think that
relates to a writer's style. What is the writer's equivalent for
color choice? texture choice? materials choice? accessories? Record
student answers in a column next to the discussion of personal style.
4. Now, ask students to consider a
visual artist's style, and make the same list of things that comprise
an artist's style (color choice, material choice, technique, subject
matter, perspective, brushstroke, use of media, etc.).
Statement of Objective:
Tell students that they are going to compare the style of two writers
with the style of a single artist to see how they fit each other.
They will need to pay close attention to some details in the painting
and the two texts, and think carefully about these details to be
successful.
Teacher Input:
1. Ask students to look at the painting Damocles by Richard Westall.
How would they describe the style of the painting? Record student
answers.
2. Ask students to read the two different versions of the story
that are listed below, and if they have an unanswered questions.
Address questions as appropriate.
3. Ask students to select which version of the story they liked
reading the best, and to explain why; encourage students to consider
what about the writer's style appealed to them. Poll the class for
their preferences, and record the results.
Guided practice:
1. Next, tell students to select the version of the story that best
"matches" the style of painting, and jot down on the sheet
provided where the artist's choice and the writer's choice seem
to "match up" or correlate most closely.
2. Ask students to share with a partner. Then have the students
share each of their best ideas with the rest of the group. Record
student answers, and ask follow-up questions or redirect as necessary.
Independent practice:
To conclude, ask students which version or style of the story they
would select as a label for this work of art if their goal was to
help visitors remember the story accurately, and why.
Closure:
Today, we talked about how artists and writers have different styles,
and how they make different choices to create a particular style.
Tomorrow, you'll have a chance to write a poem in a style that you
think matches a work of art that you select.
Extension:
Ask students to extend the idea of a match to think about a piece
of music or poetry that they believe would go with this work of
art. Would they select music that was ancient or 19th century, or
music that sounded frightening or calm? Would the poem tell the
story, or tell about one person's emotions as they witness the scene?
Richard Westall, British, 1765 - 1836, Damocles, oil
on canvas, 1812, Ackland fund, 79.10.1
Text of story to use with Lesson 1, Critical Stance, 4th-8th
Version 1:
This is an historical story recorded
by a Roman writer named Cicero about 2200 years ago. Damocles was
a courtier in Syracuse (an island off the coast of Italy) during
the reign of a powerful ruler named Dionysius. Damocles talked and
talked with other courtiers about how wonderful the life of a ruler
must be every day.
Dionysius, tired of hearing Damocles'
go on and on, decided to teach Damocles a lesson. He invited Damocles
to a lavish banquet in which he was to feel what it really felt
like to be a ruler. In the midst of the beautiful feast, Damocles
noticed a sword suspended overhead by a single horsehair.
The anxiousness that Damocles felt
as the sword hung over his head was similar to the worries and responsibilities
that go along with all of the pleasures of a ruler's position. Dionysius
asked that the sword be taken down in front of all the people at
the banquet, and explained to Damocles why he had the sword hung
over the young man's head. Damocles became much happier as a courtier
because he now understood both the difficulties and the benefits
of being a ruler.
Version 2:
Well, there I was, just talking with
my friends at work about all of my boss Dionysius' great stuff.
He has this beautiful palace with golden statues, musicians at his
beck and call, and beautiful servant girls who treat him like the
ruler he is - the ruler of the island of Syracuse, near Italy. Who
wouldn't be jealous of these great things? How hard could it be
to be ruler, if you have all these wonderful things around you,
after all?
The very next day, Dionysius walks
up to me and asks me if I'd like to be ruler for the day. What's
a person to say but yes? I walked into the banquet hall the next
day, wearing the same kind of fine, gold-trimmed robes that Dionysius
wears every day. I was given a crown of sweet roses for my head,
a golden staff, and a chance to sit in a golden thrown, complete
with a little cushion for my feet.
Just as a servant girl offered me
a drink, I saw something shine above my head. It was a sword, hanging
by a single hair! What was I to do? My heart raced like a rabbit.
One hand grabbed the arm of the throne, while the rest of my body
slid onto the edge of it. I couldn't think of anything but that
sword, but I didn't know whether moving would make it fall, or if
staying still was better. It felt like the sword was hanging over
my head forever. Then, I saw Dionysius flick his hand upward to
someone I couldn't see. The sword disappeared, and I drew a deep
breath.
When I looked at Dionysius for an
explanation, he just said that even being a ruler has its own worries
and responsibilities that aren't always easy to understand if you
aren't the ruler. Well, I can tell you that from that day on, I
was more than happy to be a courtier without worrying about taking
care of all of the people in my country, or people trying to steal
it from me!
Critical Stance Lesson, Lesson 2: Writing with
Style
Day 2 of 2
Materials include:
· reproductions of a range of works of art
· worksheets for each student, titled Comparing Art and Poetry
Choices (attached)
· pencils for each student
· post-it notes
Focus and Review:
Yesterday, we compared the styles of two writers with the style
of a single artist. Today, we are going to think about that same
idea, but in a different way.
Tell students to look through a range
of images and select a reproduction that they find VERY interesting
(so interesting that they'll want to spend almost an hour with it).
The students should take the images they selected back to their
desks.
Objective:
Tell students that they are going to write a poem that suggests
or "matches" the style of the work of art.
Teacher Input:
The teacher reviews the sheet provided (see below), which will be
used in guided practice. The teacher will review terms such as brushstroke,
composition, detail, color, level of description, etc. Next, the
teacher will model how to analyze the artist's style with a work
of art.
Ask students to look at the reproduction
they selected and, using the sheet provided, ask students to analyze
the artist's style. Then, ask students to complete the right-hand
column of the worksheet to include words that they think reflect,
in writing, the visual style of the artist.
Guided Practice:
Tell students to switch their reproduction and list with a partner;
ask each partner to look at the other person's work of art, and
their list, and add any words that they think further describe that
artist's style based on what they see in the work. Ask students
to return their materials to their partner.
Show students a reproduction of a
work of art (different from the one you used in lesson one), and
give them copies of two poems that you think relate stylistically
to that work. (The poems themselves should reflect different aspects
of the artist's style.) After you read each poem, you can ask students
for how they think the poem and the work of art relate to each other.
If this does not yield a rich result, you can read through the poem,
identify the elements of the poem that relate to the style of the
work of art, and talk about your thinking process as you do so.
Independent practice:
Next, ask students to select a format for their program (list should
reflect their prior knowledge of poetry forms that you know the
students are familiar and comfortable with, which may include acrostic,
haiku, diamante, freeform, etc.), and write a poem about their work
of art in the style that they think best reflects the style of the
work of art.
Closure:
Display student poems with reproductions in the classroom. Give
each child three post-it notes. Ask each student to stand in front
of his/her work, and take a step to the right. Ask each student
to jot down an idea about how they think this classmate's poem relates
to the work of art he or she selected. Repeat these steps twice
so that each student reads at least three other people's works and
analyzes them.
If time permits, ask students to share
their poems with the rest of the class. Acknowledge word choice,
structure, or other author choices that resonate with the artist's
style.
Extension:
Create a poetry magazine of the student poems with the images or
share the students' works in another authentic format (older adults
in a rest home? featured as part of the classroom newsletter or
website?, etc.).
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