Chapter 5 Questions

1. How do we know what our students know about the topics we plan to address?

I can ask my students questions and investigate what their knowledge level is. Before I can teach them what I want them to know, I need to know exactly what they already know. This way I can have a foundation to start with and build their knowledge on what they already know. I can have them write down everything they know about the subject in a list. 

2. How would you go about teaching for “deep understanding”?

In my classroom I will have many different strategies for students to gain deeper understanding. I will incorporate different activities that stimulate different parts of the brain. I will teach in many different learning styles such as, kinesthetic, visual, auditory, linguistic, scientific, logical, etc, so all of my students can be reached. 

I will also promote self reflection. As teachers it can be extremely helpful to guide students in discovering how they learn best. Students should be aware of their own learning style and what can help them learn the best. I should share information in as many ways as possible in order to helps students find their strengths and weaknesses.

3. How would you teach for student relevance?

Seeking significant and relevant connections to the larger world can deepen interpretation and remind students that artworks are produced and exist within a social context." pg. 45 Rethinking Curriculum. 

By basing art curriculum on key understandings, those understandings will become the primary focus of the lessons. Students will feel like their curriculum is relevant to their lives and will want to explore more ideas!

I would incorporate student lead discussion, student sharing techniques and student collaboration. When students are given more responsibility then they connect it to their lives. I can engage students in the lessons by assigning them projects and presentations. These can be group based or solo. Students can learn more information when they study and research it intensely.

When students have to give presentations they are usually self motivated to know everything they can about the subject. This helps them become more familiar and knowledgeable about their given subject. I can also ask students what they are interested in and students can vote on what subjects they want to incorporate into the lesson plan.

4. How might teaching for student relevance be a ridiculously bad thing?

If I solely teach for student relevance then the lessons might not be as knowledge based. If I cater too much to the wants of my students then I put the power into their hands instead of being a guide for their knowledge. I think that students do need a personal connection to the material in order to have the motivation to learn. But I don't think that I will cater extensively to their wants. I will try to have a balance of engaged learning and student interest. 

5. For the unit you are envisioning, what will be your “entrance strategy”?

I could use strategies like games, acting, or add some mystery to the unit introduction. If the students are engaged during the opening dialogue then they'll be more interested in the lesson. I want to have a mysterious opening exercise so that students will be engaged and interested. I want them to be curious enough about the activity so that they stay engaged. For an example I could arrange some items like readymades in the middle of the room in order to show students some physical objects from the Dada period. I could also have some photos on the projector showing images of modern art to show students the versatile examples of art.  

6. In an inquiry based, constructivist approach, a key question is “What does that mean?  What are some other ways that you can ask that question?

-How does this relate to you and your life experiences?

-What does that mean to you personally?

-What do you think the artist intended?

-Why do you think the artist made these choices?

7. As art teachers, we often pose artistic problems for our students, defining the constraints that we hope will cultivate divergent, creative solutions.  How do you plan to have students become researchers and pose their own creative problems?

In my classroom I want all students, introverts and extroverts, to participate in discussion and activities. Part of their grade will be based on active and engaged learning. I want students to help teach and lead discussions in the classroom. They need to be responsible for their own learning, I cannot force any learning upon them. I want them to know that their learning is their own obligation. This accountability is an excellent attribute for students to learn and develop for themselves.

I believe in teaching my classroom according to the democratic approach. The Democratic approach combines firm rules with respectful adherence. It incorporates a healthy level of autonomy. This approach teaches students responsibility and self reliance. My class rules will be clearly stated with punishments clearly understood. Students are held accountable for their actions in the

8. At this early stage in your unit, how do you envision the sequential organization of learning experiences or activities? Make a list of what you plan to do in sequence.

-Begin with a mysterious opening activity such as students analyzing art objects in the middle of the room to find out how they are connected to the lesson.

-Have students listen to a short lecture about the topic we are learning that day.

-Give the students a small opening activity correlated to the lesson.

-I hope to utilize nature in my student’s learning. I hope to take my students on nature walks and have them observe the world around them and connect it to art. Participating in a fun environmental art lesson can be a great and memorable learning experience for my students.

-Create a Class competition. When this is done appropriately it can actively engage the learners. Students can split up into teams, either divide the class evenly or students can select the people in their group. They can participate in timed activities like creating a tallest clay sculpture. They can list as many artists that they can recall. They can draw the most realistic object as a team. And after these tests they can compete against each team to move onto the next round of contests

-I can create a museum in our classroom by hanging student’s art pieces around the room. Students can then do a gallery walk and observe their peer’s works. Using the art criticism technique with the five senses I will have students analyze different art pieces to better understand them. After critically analyzing an art piece students will feel as if they know the art piece better and more intimately. They will feel more engaged with their chosen piece.

-In a museum setting they also gain confidence in describing the history, aesthetics and meaning of their piece.

9. How will you determine if what you are doing is working? What counts as evidence of learning for you?

I will have rubric sheets with numbers grading the student's sketch work, homework, and final projects. I will also have critiques with students to help them improve their pieces or be inspired for upcoming assignments. I will also evaluate student's motivation and effort in these processes. 

10. What are the learning goals for your unit?  What kinds of understandings are you reaching for in these goals?

Learning Goals: 

Guide students to interpret art

Engage students in fun activites-have them teach their own mini lesson to show their understanding of the topic. 

Assist students in studying the social, cultural and individual connections in artwork

Teach students that art contains value, purpose and meaningful form

Students will investigate art that interests them and present to the class or in group collaborations.

Change can be an influential part of artwork

Seeing Beyond the Surface - Enduring Idea

Post your personal reflective response to Chapter 5 in relation to your teaching and artistic practice. How do you plan to "engage students" in your own classrooms? How will you set up the conditions so that students can take responsibility for their own learning and their own engagement? What kinds of learning experiences will you create?

My artistic practice & Enduring Idea:

Seeing beyond the surface

I want students to feel connected and involved in art. I want students to truly see and understand the meaning in art pieces.

This practice can spread into different areas of a student’s life. When students truly see others and get to know their peers they develop deeper friendships and relationships. When students study the world around them they can gain insight into new cultures that may be different from theirs. This idea of seeing beyond the surface can lead students to become art appreciators as well as informed global citizens.

Chapter 5: Teaching for Deep understanding.

“We teach students, not subjects.”

This chapter taught me how to develop a conceptual framework for understanding art. Students can investigate various cultures, origins and traditions in art. As teachers we want students to relate and connect with what we’re teaching, otherwise their level of commitment will diminish. Even the most amazing curriculum will be of no help if the students have no reason to care about what they’re learning. As a teacher I need to calculate how meaningful the learning experience will be from my student’s perspective. Their engagement with learning extends their understanding.

Promoting student reflection: As teachers it can be extremely helpful to guide students in discovering how they learn best. Students should be aware of their own learning style and what can help them learn the best. There are so many different types of learning. Howard Gardner created a triad of learning styles: Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. The student and their potential should be at the center of learning and teaching. Teachers should share information in as many ways as possible in order to helps students find their strengths and weaknesses.

As a teacher I will instill a love of learning in my students and help them find meaningful connections with art.

How do you plan to "engage students" in your own classrooms

In my classroom I want all students, introverts and extroverts, to participate in discussion and activities. Part of their grade will be based on active and engaged learning. I want students to help teach and lead discussions in the classroom. They need to be responsible for their own learning, I cannot force any learning upon them. I want them to know that their learning is their own obligation. This accountability is an excellent attribute for students to learn and develop for themselves.

How will you set up the conditions so that students can take responsibility for their own learning and their own engagement?

I believe in teaching my classroom according to the democratic approach. The Democratic approach combines firm rules with respectful adherence. It incorporates a healthy level of autonomy. This approach teaches students responsibility and self reliance. My class rules will be clearly stated with punishments clearly understood. Students are held accountable for their actions in the

This approach is an excellent way to teach a classroom. It gives students the free agency they deserve, but also clearly defines the consequences of their actions.

What kinds of learning experiences will you create?

I want to create meaningful, engaging and fun learning experiences. I want students to learn all that they can and have a good experience at the same time.

I hope to utilize nature in my student’s learning. I hope to take my students on nature walks and have them observe the world around them and connect it to art. Participating in a fun environmental art lesson can be a great and memorable learning experience for my students.

I can create a museum in our classroom by hanging student’s art pieces around the room. Students can then do a gallery walk and observe their peer’s works. Using the art criticism technique with the five senses I will have students analyze different art pieces to better understand them. After critically analyzing an art piece students will feel as if they know the art piece better and more intimately. They will feel more engaged with their chosen piece. In a museum setting they also gain confidence in describing the history, aesthetics and meaning of their piece.

Assignment: Using material from Chapter 4, create a lesson that provides a detailed description of how you plan to make art history, criticism, and aesthetics interesting and thought provoking:

I have an excellent activity to make art criticism, aesthetics and art history fun for students. Students will each have their own copy of the printout below when exploring a museum as a classroom:

SMELL	Fresh grass Flowers	..	..
SEE	Canoes and boats Animals running Bright blue sky	..	..
TASTE	snacks by the waterfront	..	....
EAR	Monkey chattering Dogs barking Canoers yelling Kids chatting	..	..

Students will choose at least three different art pieces that they will study and describe in writing. The students will be presented with some descriptive words before heading into the museum. These words will help them later when writing their summaries.

For example let’s assume a student chose the painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Seurat. For the SMELL section students will describe what they think they would smell in the setting. In this painting perhaps you would smell the fresh air of the park or the smoke coming from the man with the pipe. For the TASTE section a student could describe eating some snacks by the waterfront. For the HEAR section a student could describe the sound of the wind rushing through the park, the calls of friends on the canoes, or the monkey chattering to the puppy.

This art criticism activity helps students immerse themselves into a work of art. Students will study and discover the aesthetics of their chosen piece. By placing themselves in a painting they are forced to think critically about what one would hear, taste, smell and see. They will also write a summary of the art piece’s history. Students will seek out the small details and notice more about the piece.

After describing certain pieces students will select their favorite piece and present it to the class. This immersive activity helps students form appreciation and a unique personal relationship with art.

Matisse self portrait lesson with Refugee students

I had the opportunity to help the Design department teach three art lessons to refugee children in Salt Lake City.

We opened the first day with a short introduction to Matisse and his paper cut out work. We helped the students create a self portrait in the style of Matisse. They were a bit apprehensive at first because the abstract style of a portrait seemed a bit daunting. But once we showed them how to rip out some hair, a face and some eyes they jumped right in! The tables were quickly covered in scraps of papers, scissors and glue sticks.

Their art piece was a three part piece. The first page held their Matisse self portrait, the second page was their favorite place in the world and the last page was what they wanted their future to look like.



The students I worked with definitely fought against cutting and ripping paper. They were much more used to using pencil or pen to draw what they imagined. But once I showed them how to make a simple soccer ball or blue cloud, they realized the potential that ripping paper had.