EXPLORE WRITING THROUGH PAINTING

EXPLORE WRITING THROUGH PAINTING

Learning Description

Discover the possibilities of visual expression with your students by allowing them to create a landscape or cityscape artwork illustrating their dream vacation spot! Students will work collaboratively in small groups to write a narrative that incorporates each artwork’s location.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 4-5
CONTENT FOCUS: VISUAL ARTS & ELA
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"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can create a landscape/cityscape artwork that has a background, middle ground, and foreground.
  • I can effectively write about my artwork using sensory and descriptive language.
  • I can contribute to writing a well-organized collaborative narrative.

Essential Questions

  • How can art-making become a catalyst for the writing process?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4: 

ELAGSE4W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Grade 5: 

ELAGSE5W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

Arts Standards

Grade 4: 

VA4.CR.1 Engage in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas by using subject matter and symbols to communicate meaning.

VA4.CR.2 Create works of art based on selected themes.

VA4.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art.

VA4.CN.2 Integrate information from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of works of art.

 

Grade 5: 

VA5.CR.1 Engage in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas by using subject matter and symbols to communicate meaning.

VA5.CR.2 Create works of art based on selected themes.

VA5.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art.

VA5.CN.2 Integrate information from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of works of art.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 4: 

ELA.4.C.3.1 Write narratives developing real or imagined experiences. When writing: a. establish a situation and setting; b. introduce a narrator and/or characters; c. organize a plot structure; d. use narrative techniques such as dialogue, descriptive language, and sensory details to develop events, setting, and characters; e. use a variety of transitional words and phrases to sequence events; and f. provide an ending that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

 

Grade 5: 

ELA.5.C.3.1 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences. When writing: a. establish a situation and setting; b. introduce a narrator and characters; c. establish a plot structure; d. use narrative techniques such as dialogue, precise words, descriptive language, and sensory details to develop events, setting, and characters; e. use a variety of transitional words and phrases to sequence the events; and f. provide an ending that follows logically from the narrated experiences or events.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use the elements and principles of art to create artwork.

Anchor Standard 2: I can use different materials, techniques, and processes to make art.

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

  • Narrative - A story or sequence of events and experiences
  • Setting - Where a story takes place
  • Characters - Individuals, animals, or entities that take part in the action of a story, play, novel, movie, or any other narrative form
  • Descriptive details - Vivid and specific pieces of information that paint a clear picture in the reader's mind
  • Sensory language - Words and descriptions that appeal to the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch

Arts Vocabulary

  • Landscape - A depiction of a large area of natural scenery, typically encompassing various elements such as mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, forests, and fields
  • Cityscape - A depiction of an urban area, featuring buildings, streets, and other structures typically found in a city
  • Background - The part of a landscape that is farthest from the viewer
  • Middle ground - The part of a landscape that is between the background and foreground
  • Foreground - The part of a landscape that is closest from the viewer

 

Materials

  • Mixed-media paper
  • Drawing materials of choice - colored pencils, markers, pastels, etc.
  • Pencils
  • Destination/location categories written or printed on paper to be posted around the room (e.g., beach, city, mountains, etc.)
  • Poster paper and markers
  • Optional: Watercolor paints, paint brushes, water buckets, small water cups, paper towels, and craft roll paper or newspaper to cover desks/work area and tape to secure

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Pre-work: Post location spot categories along with large poster paper around the classroom. 

 

Classroom Tips: If using watercolors, cover students’ work area. Have students share paint and water supply in the work area. Fill two buckets with water–empty one by filling student water cups 1/3 full, then use it to dump dirty water in; the second bucket will be your fresh water supply as needed.

 

  • Project images of different places around the world that people like to visit. Have students silently observe for at least 30 seconds.
  • Then, ask them to close their eyes for a minute and imagine their dream vacation spots… places they might visit if they could travel anywhere in the world!
  • Have students open their eyes. Tell them that posted around the room are names of places (keep them generic so that if students select a specific place like Cancun, they can identify with the larger category of “beach”). Tell students to move to the location category that their destination best fits in.
    • Have students group themselves at their locations into groups of 3-4.
    • In their groups, students should generate a list of adjectives and descriptive phrases describing the location. Have students record their adjectives on poster paper located at the location spot.
    • Provide time for students to share.

 

Work Session

  • Tell students that they will be creating a landscape/cityscape of their location. Students can use school devices to look up images for reference.
  • Show students a diagram of a landscape artwork. Identify the background, middleground, and foreground.
    • Discuss how things that are supposed to be farthest away appear smaller than things are supposed to be closest to the viewer. This is called perspective in art.
  • Pass out mixed-media paper to students. Have them fold it into fourths (fold hotdog style and then fold again hotdog style). The top fourth will be the sky, the next fourth will be the background, the next fourth will be the middle ground, and the bottom fourth will be the foreground.
  • Direct students to lightly sketch an image that illustrates their dream destination onto their paper using the sections for the background, middle ground, and foreground.
  • Have students add color to their artwork to bring it to life.
    • Students can use any medium–colored pencils, pastels, markers, watercolor, tempera paint, etc.
    • If watercolors are available to students, have students watercolor the sky and use drawing tools, such as colored pencils, for the land. Watercolors can be blended easily to create a sunset/sunrise effect that students will love incorporating into their art!
      Teacher tip: If using watercolors, allow students to practice on scratch paper before painting on their artwork. 
  • Once students have completed their artwork, they will use descriptive and sensory language to write about their location; remind them of the adjectives that they generated at the beginning of the lesson.
  • Assign students to work in collaborative groups of 3-4. Each student in the group should have created their artwork about a different location.
  • Have students work collaboratively to write a narrative about a character(s) who travels to each location.
    • Discuss the components of a narrative, including setting, plot, and characters.
    • Students should share their descriptive writing with each other to bring the locations to life.
    • Once students have created a general outline of the narrative including all plot points, including a conclusion to the story, have students work independently to write a full narrative based on what the group generated.
    • Have students engage in peer review in their groups and revise their work.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Provide time for students to share narratives and artwork. Discuss the similarities and differences between the stories.
  • Have students reflect on the process by identifying one personal grow and one personal glow.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, use of descriptive language, discussion of the components of a landscape, participation in artmaking process, and conferencing with students during the writing process.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can create a landscape/cityscape artwork that has a background, middle ground, and foreground.
  • Students can effectively write about their artwork using sensory and descriptive language.
  • Students can write a well-organized collaborative narrative that incorporates the location of each group member’s artwork.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: 

  • Have students research and create a presentation on their location of choice.
  • Have students research and create a presentation on a famous landscape artist (Paul Cezanne, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Georgia O’Keefe, Van Gogh, Robert S. Duncanson, etc.). Or, create a landscape in the artist’s style.

Remediation: 

  • Allow groups to work collaboratively to write one single narrative rather than individual narratives.
  • Provide a graphic organizer to help students structure their writing.

 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: Darby Jones. Updated by: Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: August 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

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