Expressive Lines

Grade Level: 1st grade Length: Three 40-minute class periods

Enduring Understanding:
Artist can use art to tell stories or express their feelings. These feelings or ideas can be expressed through multiple forms of art.

Prepared Graduate Competencies:

Recognize, articulate, and debate that the visual arts are a means for expression Explain, compare and justify that the visual arts are connected to other disciplines, the other art forms, social activities, mass media, and careers in art and non-art related arenas Recognize, compare, and affirm that the making and study of art and design can be approached from a variety of viewpoints, intelligences, and perspectives

Objectives: Students will be able to identify a variety of expressive lines and describe
specific feelings or emotions they initiate. (Blooms: Understanding Standard: Observe and Learn to Comprehend GLE: Works of art express feelings. Literacy)

SWBAT tell a story about their winter break using expressive lines. (Blooms:
Applying Standard: Relate and Connect to Transfer GLE: Visual arts relate experiences to self, family, and friends. Literacy)

SWBAT create an expressive work of art based on a piece of music using lines
and blocks of color. (Blooms: Creating Standard: Invent and Discover to Create GLE: Create art to communicate ideas, feelings, or emotions. Technology)

Vocabulary:
Expressive Abstract Horizontal Vertical Diagonal Dotted Curvy Wavy

Zig-zag Criss-cross Thin Thick

Materials:
Markers White paper for marker stories Small newsprint type paper for practice with music Watercolor paper Acrylic paint Watercolors Paint brushes Water cups Crayons

Resources:
Visual Sound lesson plan made by Shawn Dean found at http://incredibleart.org/lessons/elem/kandinsky_dean.html Morning Picture lesson plan made by Ken Rohrer found at http://incredibleart.org/lessons/early/early2.html Music Flight of the Bumble Bee- London Philharmonic Orchestra Coastal Break- Tycho All for U- RJD2 Les Jours Tristes (instrumental)- Yann Tiersen The Winner Is- DeVotchka Easier (instrumental)- Grizzly Bear My Little Ponies Friendship is Magic Theme (for orchestra)- Walt Ribiero Kandinsky images found at http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/kandinsky/ Composition VIII On White II Kandinsky Images found at http://www.abcgallery.com/K/kandinsky/kandinsky5.html Gentle Ascent Improvisation 7

Preparations:
Cut paper to size Divide markers for each table Make playlist for music activity Put Kandinsky slideshow together Gather painting supplies

Action to Motivate:
Day 1: I am going to tell a story about something that happened over my winter break, but instead of drawing pictures to illustrate my story, I am going to use lines. I went to the art museum! Has anyone seen the art museum before? It is made up of all jagged lines The art museum is in downtown Denver so I had to parallel park my car on the street. I had to go back and forth and back and forth When I got inside I had to go up the stairs Walk through the roped off line My shoes were really loud so I had to tip toe around all the quiet people There were a lot of people so I walked around them a lot to get through the room When I was looking at the paintings I looked up close and from far away. When I left the room I was right back where I started and I went down the stairs, and out the door Ok so does everyone see how I have a lot of different kinds of lines on my story that match my words? Thumbs up if you think you can do this too? Ok everyone will have about 3 minutes to tell a story to the other people at their table. We will rotate so everyone gets a turn. Day 2: Who remembers how we told stories last class? Right, we used lines. So we know that we can use drawing painting to express feelings and ideas. There are also other kinds of art we can do that with. Who can think of other ways we can tell stories? I will call on kids to give some suggestions. They will probably come up with things like books, movies, people talking out loud. If they arent moving towards performing arts I will start nudging them that way. Once a student or myself has mentioned music I will begin speaking more in depth about that concept. Musicians can tell stories in their music with words or even just the sounds they make with their instruments. So today we are going to listen to some music, think about how that music is making us feel, and then we are going to draw some more lines that go with those feelings

Day 3: Refresh quickly on how art expresses feelings and tells stories. Remind them of what we accomplished the class before and demonstrate how they will be applying watercolor on top of their black lines. So has anyone every tried to use colors in their artwork to express ideas or feelings? How might e be able to do this with the music today? If a song sounds really sad what kinds of colors would we use? Could you use color to show that a song sounds like nighttime? Ok, well that is what we are going to try to do today when we are painting to the music. Just like yesterday we are going to paint what we hear.

Procedures:
Day 1: Action to Motivate: I am going to tell a story about something that happened over my winter break, but instead of drawing pictures to illustrate my story, I am going to use lines. I went to the art museum! Has anyone seen the art museum before? It is made up of all jagged lines The art museum is in downtown Denver so I had to parallel park my car on the street. I had to go back and forth and back and forth When I got inside I had to go up the stairs Walk through the roped off line My shoes were really loud so I had to tip toe around all the quiet people There were a lot of people so I walked around them a lot to get through the room When I was looking at the paintings I looked up close and from far away. When I left the room I was right back where I started and I went down the stairs, and out the door Ok so does everyone see how I have a lot of different kinds of lines on my story that match my words? Thumbs up if you think you can do this too? Ok everyone will have about 3 minutes to tell a story to the other people at their table. We will rotate so everyone gets a turn. The students will return to their seats where there are markers and paper for each of them So whoever is sitting at the highest number at their table will go first. If you are that person at your table will you raise your hand? Ok Im putting 3 minutes on the clock, go! Repeat until everyone has had a turn. Have everyone move back to the rug with their stories. Does anyone want to share how they expressed their story through lines? After each story I will ask what kinds of lines we can see. I will call on students to name some lines until we have heard some basics like: Horizontal (side to side), Vertical (up and down),

Diagonal (corner to corner), Dotted/Broken/Dashed, Curvy, Wavy, Zig-zag, Criss-cross, Thin, Thick. I will also ask the artists why they chose those lines for their story. Day 2: Action to Motivate: Who remembers how we told stories last class? Right, we used lines. So we know that we can use drawing painting to express feelings and ideas. There are also other kinds of art we can do that with. Who can think of other ways we can tell stories? I will call on kids to give some suggestions. They will probably come up with things like books, movies, people talking out loud. If they arent moving towards performing arts I will start nudging them that way. Once a student or myself has mentioned music I will begin speaking more in depth about that concept. Musicians can tell stories in their music with words or even just the sounds they make with their instruments. So today we are going to listen to some music, think about how that music is making us feel, and then we are going to draw some more lines that go with those feelings Pass out paint shirts before the students find their seats. Every person will two pieces of newsprint and a selection of crayons. If youre ready to start put your crayons in the air. I will start the music and we are going to draw the lines we hear. Play each song for about a minute- depending on how the kids are doing. Between each practice clip have students change to a clean side of paper. Help point out the differences in each song and how they might call for different lines Flight of the Bumble Bee- London Philharmonic Orchestra = fast energetic lines. Zig zags, more scribbley lines. Coastal Break- Tycho = much slower. Calmer smooth lines, more reminiscent of water All for U- RJD2 = Very jazzy, maybe broken lines that show a beat, there are a ton of different instruments that may call for a bunch of different lines. Once the practice portion is over pass out paper and call on tables that are behaving well to come get black acrylic paint and brushes. When everyone has materials explain that we will once again be painting the lines we hear, and students should try to leave white space on their papers so they can add color next time. Start the music! (While students are working, put up the Kandinsky slides to help them make some connections to their own art in progress. One artist who used to do this a lot is a man named Wassily Kandinsky. He loved music so a lot of his paintings are about music he made or listened to. Here are some of his paintings. See how he uses just lines and colors to show his feelings and ideas? When an artist makes something that doesnt look like a person or thing from real life, its called abstract) When students finish direct them to the dry-rack and the paint-shirt bucket. Allow for a few extra minutes of clean up time. Get a bucket ready in the sink for dirty paintbrushes.

Day 3: Action to Motivate: Refresh quickly on how art expresses feelings and tells stories. Remind them of what we accomplished the class before and demonstrate how they will be applying watercolor on top of their black lines. So has anyone every tried to use colors in their artwork to express ideas or feelings? How might we be able to do this with the music today? If a song sounds really sad what kinds of colors would we use? Could you use color to show that a song sounds like nighttime? Ok, well that is what we are going to try to do today when we are painting to the music. Just like yesterday we are going to paint what we hear. Their paintings and materials will be ready sitting on their desks. When everyone is ready begin playing the same music that was played the day before. Students will work at their own pace so as students finish direct them to the dry-rack

Post Assessment:
Did students identify a variety of expressive lines and describe specific feelings or emotions they initiate? Did students tell a story about their winter break using expressive lines? Did students create an expressive work of art based on a piece of music using lines and blocks of color?