Response to Carroll text:
Drawing on Imagination, Memory, and Experience
I realized the importance of this topic from the moment I read the first few lines of the Carroll text. I had experienced watching a student struggle with the expression of an idea from memory during Tiger Artists. This was extremely frustrating for him, and no matter what I said in attempt to help him visualize this experience seemed to actually help. The pre-visualization strategy had worked with most students, recalling a climactic moment in their life and what it looked and felt like. I think that giving the student the opportunity to describe the memory verbally or by writing would have been more effective in this situation.
I loved what Carroll said about recognizing that memory and imagination imagery can be developed with visual sources. Just because a student is creating an image recalled from their mind does not mean that they can not use resources such as pictures and images for references. This will make their work stronger and richer.
Tapping the Narrative Impulse
Storytelling in art not only allows for deep learning experiences, but also serving "a very personal and human need." Storytelling begins in early childhood and continues to be a powerful tool for a lifetime. Narratives in art give students the opportunity to find and create meaning. As an art teacher, I can inspire students to tell/create their story by prompting them with questions and asking them to reflect on experiences. Inspiration for narratives can also come from other texts such as literature, music, art, storybooks, cartoons, etc.
Suggested prompts to use in my classroom:
Take the Boredom Out of Observational Drawing
In the article above, Jessica Balsley explains the ways in which we can engage young students through observational drawing. She argues that the subject matter is not important as long as the students are improving their drawing skills and notice the details of an object. Balsley explains that when the students choose to draw an object that engages them, they are much more interested in noticing the details of the object and as an added bonus, less classroom management is required. A few examples of objects she gave to engage students included a Wii controller, iPhone and tennis shoe. I also loved her idea of transferring the drawing to a print after the drawing was complete.
Art Instruction Inspired by Art:21 Artist: Ellen Gallagher
Lesson I could teach relating to artist his/her big idea:
Having a background in advertising and public relations, I would love to do an entire advertising unit with my students. A very exciting lesson could be inspired by the work of artist Ellen Gallagher, who creates her own meaning by altering advertisements. Students could select an advertisement (or campaign) from a variety of contexts to alter, playing with elements of satire, irony, etc. It would be an exciting opportunity for students to examine ads seen on television, billboards, magazines, newspapers, digital surfaces, and more. The opportunities are endless.
How will you help students connect the enduring idea (Art:21Theme) to the students’ lives?
I think advertising is a part of life that is experienced universally in the U.S. All students in some point throughout the day, are exposed to some type of advertising or promotoinal material. In an advertising unit, we could explore ideas ranging from reading advertisements as visual texts to altering them to create new meaning. If the students pick a product, service, or idea that is of interest to them, they are likely to be engaged throughout the unit.
How will you build the students’ knowledge base about the enduring idea as it relates to other content areas as well as to life? (authentic arts integration)
Advertising is equally of interest in a social studies and language arts classroom. The content that is produced by the advertising industry has large influence on society due to its prevalence in the every day. It would be interesting for a social studies class to examine the ways in which advertising can serve as a source of information about a culture and its values. Because advertising so often includes written text, a language arts classroom could both read and analyze texts as well as work on persuasive writing through the creation of advertisements.
How will you build the students’ knowledge base about the enduring idea as it occurs in art (art criticism, art history, aesthetics)?
I will build the students' knowledge base about advertising and the appearance of consumerism in artworks by studying both art and advertisements throughout history that relate to this theme. We will interpret and discuss advertisements throughout history and the messages they were trying to send to the consumer as well as artworks talking about consumers (Ellen Gallagher, Andy Warhol, etc.).
How will you engage students with exploring, questioning, and problematizing the enduring idea through artmaking?
I will ask my students engaging questions that provoke high level thinking...
Drawing on Imagination, Memory, and Experience
I realized the importance of this topic from the moment I read the first few lines of the Carroll text. I had experienced watching a student struggle with the expression of an idea from memory during Tiger Artists. This was extremely frustrating for him, and no matter what I said in attempt to help him visualize this experience seemed to actually help. The pre-visualization strategy had worked with most students, recalling a climactic moment in their life and what it looked and felt like. I think that giving the student the opportunity to describe the memory verbally or by writing would have been more effective in this situation.
I loved what Carroll said about recognizing that memory and imagination imagery can be developed with visual sources. Just because a student is creating an image recalled from their mind does not mean that they can not use resources such as pictures and images for references. This will make their work stronger and richer.
Tapping the Narrative Impulse
Storytelling in art not only allows for deep learning experiences, but also serving "a very personal and human need." Storytelling begins in early childhood and continues to be a powerful tool for a lifetime. Narratives in art give students the opportunity to find and create meaning. As an art teacher, I can inspire students to tell/create their story by prompting them with questions and asking them to reflect on experiences. Inspiration for narratives can also come from other texts such as literature, music, art, storybooks, cartoons, etc.
Suggested prompts to use in my classroom:
- What if...
- Create characters and imagine how they would interact
- Invent a story explaining a phenomenon
- Create a story with a moral
- Illustrate a story
- Create an animated flip book
- Create a puppet/puppet show
- Build yourself a character costume (maps, props, etc.)
Allowing students to be multi-modal in their thinking can enhance their learning and help them work through challenges.
Working from Observation
It had not occurred to me the degree to which observational drawing is generally not included in the K-5 art room until I tried to think of an example I had seen. The only observational drawing that I recall observing in the elementary art classroom occurred if a student specifically asked for a reference in drawing something difficult to recall from memory. Observational drawing is a great way to help students develop drawing strategies and problem-solving skills. If we teach children from an early age to focus more on "looking" and less on "drawing," they may begin to be more confident as artists knowing that they understand how to draw. Process portfolios can be a great tool in building students confidence as their drawings improve over the course of the semester or year.
Developing an Expanded Vocabulary for Visual Form
I found this section interesting having recently talked about VTS and its power to include and engage all students. When Carroll posed the question, "is there such a thing as a universal language of form?" I thought to myself... not in the way one might think. I think that there is a universal visual language, however, the meaning the forms create may be interpreted differently by each individual. I found that I appreciated the intuitive approach to exploring form, allowing students to make discovering about visual form through experimentation and meaning making.
Expanding the Repertoire for Visual Perception and Artistic Response
A critical part of developing a repertoire of skills for visual reception and artist response includes expanding the skills of students so that they can express ideas freely in a multitude of ways. I want to empower my students and teach them that there are no limits in the world of art. I want my students to recognize that they have the power to brainstorm and carry out the best way to express themselves. I must create engaging, exciting and authentic lessons in order for my students to challenge themselves and build their skills, knowledge and potential.
Reflecting on Perceiving and Responding Visually
This last part of the reading tied all of the strategies together for me. In order to teach students how to perceive, think and form, we must introduce them to a variety of representational strategies including: working from observation, memory, experience, story, and imagination.
Article that relates to Developing a Repertoire of Skills for Visual Perception:
Take the Boredom Out of Observational Drawing
In the article above, Jessica Balsley explains the ways in which we can engage young students through observational drawing. She argues that the subject matter is not important as long as the students are improving their drawing skills and notice the details of an object. Balsley explains that when the students choose to draw an object that engages them, they are much more interested in noticing the details of the object and as an added bonus, less classroom management is required. A few examples of objects she gave to engage students included a Wii controller, iPhone and tennis shoe. I also loved her idea of transferring the drawing to a print after the drawing was complete.
Art Instruction Inspired by Art:21 Artist: Ellen Gallagher
Having a background in advertising and public relations, I would love to do an entire advertising unit with my students. A very exciting lesson could be inspired by the work of artist Ellen Gallagher, who creates her own meaning by altering advertisements. Students could select an advertisement (or campaign) from a variety of contexts to alter, playing with elements of satire, irony, etc. It would be an exciting opportunity for students to examine ads seen on television, billboards, magazines, newspapers, digital surfaces, and more. The opportunities are endless.
How will you help students connect the enduring idea (Art:21Theme) to the students’ lives?
I think advertising is a part of life that is experienced universally in the U.S. All students in some point throughout the day, are exposed to some type of advertising or promotoinal material. In an advertising unit, we could explore ideas ranging from reading advertisements as visual texts to altering them to create new meaning. If the students pick a product, service, or idea that is of interest to them, they are likely to be engaged throughout the unit.
How will you build the students’ knowledge base about the enduring idea as it relates to other content areas as well as to life? (authentic arts integration)
Advertising is equally of interest in a social studies and language arts classroom. The content that is produced by the advertising industry has large influence on society due to its prevalence in the every day. It would be interesting for a social studies class to examine the ways in which advertising can serve as a source of information about a culture and its values. Because advertising so often includes written text, a language arts classroom could both read and analyze texts as well as work on persuasive writing through the creation of advertisements.
How will you build the students’ knowledge base about the enduring idea as it occurs in art (art criticism, art history, aesthetics)?
I will build the students' knowledge base about advertising and the appearance of consumerism in artworks by studying both art and advertisements throughout history that relate to this theme. We will interpret and discuss advertisements throughout history and the messages they were trying to send to the consumer as well as artworks talking about consumers (Ellen Gallagher, Andy Warhol, etc.).
How will you engage students with exploring, questioning, and problematizing the enduring idea through artmaking?
I will ask my students engaging questions that provoke high level thinking...
- What do you think the advertiser does not want the consumer to know?
- What do you think the advertiser wants the consumer to think/feel/believe after viewing the advertisement?
- Who do you think the advertiser is trying to target in this advertisement?
- Do you think this ad is successful/what makes an ad successful?
- Is this advertisement truthful or deceiving?
- For art talking about advertising: What do you think this artist is trying to say about advertising?
- How would changing the context of this ad (where it is placed) change its meaning?
- How could you alter this advertisement to change its meaning?
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