EMPATHY IN ART

EMPATHY IN ART

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will be exposed to the work of three artists: Margaret Keane, Norman Rockwell and Fabio Napoleoni. Students will use artworks by these artists to practice using empathy.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 2-3
CONTENT FOCUS: VISUAL ARTS & SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
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"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can express the meaning of empathy and can empathize with others.

  • I can identify the emotions portrayed in an artwork and use clues from the artwork to justify my answers.

Essential Questions

  • What does empathy mean?

  • How do artists express emotions in their work?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

ASCA: Behavior Standards

School counselors provide culturally sustaining instruction, appraisal and advisement, and counseling to help all students demonstrate: Social Skills.

B-SS 4. Empathy

B-SS 6. Effective collaboration and cooperation skills

Arts Standards

Grade 2

VA2.RE.1 Discuss personal works of art and the artwork of others to enhance visual literacy.

 

VA2.CN.2 Integrate information from other disciplines to engage in the understanding and production of works of art. a. Explore universal concepts (e.g. self, family, community, world) inspired by other subject areas.

 

Grade 3

VA3.RE.1 Use a variety of approaches for art criticism and to critique personal works of art and the artwork of others to enhance visual literacy.

 

VA3.CN.2 Integrate information from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of works of art. a. Apply art skills and knowledge to improve understanding in other disciplines. 

 

VA3.CN.3 Develop life skills through the study and production of art (e.g. collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication).

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

ASCA: Behavior Standards

School counselors provide culturally sustaining instruction, appraisal and advisement, and counseling to help all students demonstrate: Social Skills.

B-SS 4. Empathy

B-SS 6. Effective collaboration and cooperation skills

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 5: I can interpret and evaluate the meaning of an artwork.

Anchor Standard 7: I can relate visual arts ideas to other arts disciplines, content areas, and careers.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Empathy - The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person

  • Perspective - The lens through which individuals interpret information, experiences, and interactions
  • Emotion - A combination of feelings, bodily responses, and behaviors that occur in response to situations or events

Arts Vocabulary

  • Painting - A two-dimensional artwork made using wet media such as tempera, oil, or watercolor

  • Color - One of the seven Elements of Art; reflected or absorbed light; color can be used to express emotion or mood in an artwork
  • Value - One of the seven Elements of Art; the lightness or darkness of something; artists can use value to create mood

 

Materials

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Project an image of the artwork Girl at a Mirror by Norman Rockwell. 
  • Ask students to “step inside” the image.
    • Ask students to consider what the girl might be thinking about? Feeling? Why is she looking at herself in the mirror?
    • Have students share their thoughts with a partner.
    • Facilitate a class discussion around student responses. Emphasize that students can have different interpretations because of their individual perspectives and that no perspective is “wrong”. 
  • Discuss the concept of empathy and perspective with students.

 

Work Session

  • Introduce students to the three artists they will be looking at: Margaret Keane, Norman Rockwell and Fabio Napoleoni.
  • Show students images of these artists' paintings through the presentation.
  • Break students into small groups. Ask each group to select one of the artworks from the presentation.
    • Ask students to consider what the character in the image might be thinking about? Feeling? What in the image tells them that?
      • Ask students to pay attention to physical elements in the paintings, the facial expressions of the characters, the colors and the value the artists use. 
    • Allow students to present their analysis to the class. 
  • Students should select one artwork to analyze individually. Students will create a description of their selected painting, reflecting on who the character is and what their life might be like using the Step In. Step Out. Step Back. graphic organizer. Project page two of the graphic organizer while students complete page one.

Remind students to pay attention to physical elements in the paintings, the facial expressions of the characters, the colors and the value the artists use.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Allow students to share their analysis in small groups providing visual evidence from the painting for their analysis.
  • Facilitate a class discussion about how students can use the same skills that they practiced to analyze art to empathize with others.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess student understanding of empathy by observing students’ answers during class and small group discussion and students’ individual artwork analysis.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can express the meaning of empathy and can empathize with others.
  • Students can identify the emotions portrayed in an artwork and use clues from the artwork to justify their answers.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Accelerated: Students can expand their graphic organizer into a journal entry from the perspective of the character in their painting.

Remedial: Allow students to complete the analysis and graphic organizer with a partner.

 

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Shiela Garth

Revised and copyright:  May 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

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