Walkin the Line - K - LESSON ONE

Concepts: Artists use their emotional responses and natural movement to music as a source for creating artwork. *Line, shape and color can be used to represent beat and rhythm. *A painting can be created with a deep personal intuition rather than the precision of ones eye. VA SOLS for Visual Arts: Visual Communication and Production K.1 TSW create works of art that represent personal responses to art-making problems. K.2 TSWl create works of art that express feelings and ideas. K.18 TSW describe ideas, experiences, and feelings expressed in personal and other works of art. Cultural Reference: Joan Miro, also Kandinsky, Cy Twombly, Jackson Pollack, various instrumental music/songs. Defined Vocabulary: Abstract: Does not represent an actual object. Inspiration: Something that makes you want to do something creative. Lines: zigzag, wavy, bumpy, curvy, straight, horizontal, diagonal, vertical, dashed, dotted, etc. Collaborate: Work and play together. Overall Objectives: Students will collaborate and share the paper to fill it with a variety of shapes, lines and colors by interpreting the sound and music they hear into images using markers, crayons, and oil pastels on large sheets of paper. In lesson two, students will build upon their line drawings and paint a watercolor wash and black ink painting over them. Instruction: Greet students, tell them they are going to draw lines today while listening to music and first they are going to play follow the leader with you as you demonstrate how to move your body to be different types of lines. Lead students through the room as they wave, zigzag, dot, and circle. Show students examples by Miro. EQ: What kinds of lines do you see? Which painting has a dotted line? Which painting has a shape that jumps out at you? What painting has a line that looks like a moustache? Have student volunteers come up to the board to draw specific sounds that you make. EQ: What things are fast? Tell me. What things are slooooow? How would you draw a fast/slow sound? Send students to the table. Take time to make sure there are two students per sheet of paper. Work with marker and play a jazz song (bouncy). Encourage the students to ice skate and dance with their markers and to dance with their papermates. Stop the students every minute to switch colors. Stop at the end of the song to look at the paper, see a shape? Color one shape in. Move the students to the next table. Play a fast african dance song with a lot of drums (choppy). Repeat steps and move students. Use oil pastels and play a soft, mellow song (slow). Specifically fostered by this lesson: A strengthened sense of self by identifying and developing the ability interpreting this music visually through color and mark. The ability to use meditation, reflection and a strong intuitiveness as a way of achieving serenity and interpreting music. Appreciation and knowledge of modern and post-modern abstract painting.

This unit encourages greater empathy with others, acceptance of others points of view, mutual respect, and a sense of community. This lesson also encourages and promotes the connection of music and art as one topic and fluid subject matter. Artistic Activity (Time Frame): This activity will take two 40 minute lessons. Painting will be completed in the first lesson. List of Materials: (Lesson one & two) Prototypes, Exemplar presentation, Process Visuals, Checklist (Rubric), Think About sheet: Sound relating to mark (Missing at the moment), Tempera Cakes and Brushes, Black Paint, Large Drawing Paper, Water, tubs, rags Closure: Can you make lines that show movement? How does your body help you make those lines? How does the music affect how you make your lines on the paper? Backup Plan: Read (pick childrens book about music) while students finish working. Use oil pastels or crayons to make this a one day lesson and focus more on complementary colors, shapes and gesture. Let student work independently if they are having trouble working with others. Assessment: Checklist 1. Students will demonstrate understanding of sound/mark relation. 2. Students should have a variation of lines and shapes as well as symbolic colors in their drawing/painting. 3. Students should have a clear understanding of abstraction vs. realism. 4. Students should demonstrate good craftsmanship. 5. Students should show effort and participation.

Links: Wassily Kandinsky Web Museum Guggenheim's site