Incorporating Reading and Writing Strategies

Presentation and Lesson Plan

Presented By:

Joan Crane

Jennifer Lee

Alana Paratore

Dustin Smith

Zabrina Zahariades

MTS/528

August 1, 2014

Dr. Leggett

Vincent van Goghan Art History Lesson Incorporating Reading and Writing

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Lesson Objectives

California Visual Art Standards: High School Proficient3.0 HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT

• Understanding the Historical Contributions and Cultural Dimensions of the Visual Arts Students analyze the role and development of the visual arts in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting human diversity as it relates to the visual arts and artists.

The standards listed in the lesson will allow students to :• Understand the role Vincent van Gogh played in the History of Fine Arts

• Identify and describe Post-Impressionistic art and how it reflects the time and place from which it was created.

• Analyze a paragraph about Vincent van Gogh citing textural evidence to support inferences.

• Produce an audience, purpose and task appropriate Found Poem from the text about the artist.

National Core ArtsPerforming, Presenting and Producing:

• Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.

Responding: Perceive and analyze artistic work

• Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work

Common Core Literacy: Reading and WritingCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1

• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.4

• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Instructional Strategies Used to Accomplish

Objectives and Standards

Close Reading-a style of reading that teaches learning

to interact with text

Writing a Found Poem-a creative writing style that

engages students in reading first and then using critical

thinking and creativity to organize and develop an

original piece based on their reactions and evaluations

of the text; uses higher order Depth of Knowledge

Strategy 1

Close Reading

Why Close Reading?

Close Reading is really about: Making inferences before reading

Staying active while reading

Summarizing and discussing while reading

Re-questioning after reading

Close reading allows students to get engaged with text as they read by:• Re-reading

• Stopping to discuss passages

• Circling, highlighting, drawing and underlining key words or phrases

• Questioning/summarizing and making inferences in margins

In the case of studying an artist like Vincent van Gogh, two types of text interaction can occur (for the purposes of teaching art and referencing Common Core, paintings are considered “technical text”)

• Engaging in viewing and responding to some of his artwork (technical text)

• Reading background information about his life (actual text)

Example Procedures for Close Reading Exercise

Vincent van Gogh Lesson

1. Show students some artwork by the artist

2. Have them create inference questions by interacting with the artwork like:

• Why are his paintings so rough looking?

• What was his state of mind when creating the work?

• Why is his work important?

3. After interaction and discussion occur with the art pieces, hand out text about the artist

4. Introduce vocabulary

5. Go over Close Reading instructions

6. Possibly show a Close Reading example like the one provided in the lesson plan

7. Allow students to read text with the strategies

8. Follow up with discussion

Background Info for Close Reading

Van Gogh’s ambition, support and mental illness all played an important role in making him one of the most famous painters in history. His struggles with depression gave him the need to express his angst in his art. With the help of his brother he was supported artistically as well as financially. His need to continuously seek his purpose in life made him persevere as an artist and find his unique style and gift for the art world. At this time, there were a number of artists in France who were influenced by the Impressionist painters who were concerned with depicting a visual impression of a given moment, especially in terms of light and color. The Post-Impressionists, including Vincent van Gogh, pushed the ideas of the Impressionists further, by expressing emotion in their art, using unrealistic color and thick loose brush strokes. Unfortunately, it was not during his life time that his gift as an artist was recognized and circumstances surrounding his mental illness caused his life to be cut short. It is important to note his contribution to the visual arts and how he has changed the way we look at it.

Vocabulary:

• Impressionism: a style or movement in painting originating in France in the 1860’s, characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of a moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and color.

• Post-Impressionism: Inspired by Impressionism, but pushed the ideas of Impressionists into new directions like the use of thicker paint, brighter unnatural colors, and expressions of emotions.

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Example Text for Close Reading Strategies:

After the introduction to the previous slides and learning the importance Vincent van Gogh

played in the history of Visual Arts, students use the following paragraph to analyze and draw

textural evidence through Close Reading Strategies, and then use Found Poetry Strategies to

produce an appropriate piece of writing.

Accommodation: Text complexity can vary per grade level and student abilities.

The Dutch artist, Vincent van Gogh had a very dramatic life. He was poor and suffered

from a mental illness, but he persevered. One of his great passions in life was to help others,

especially the poor people he came in contact with while being a missionary. He struggled at

finding his unique purpose in life. Though he was never well-known as an innovative artist during

his lifetime, he changed the art world with the stroke of his paint brush, using thick layers of

bright colors and loose brush strokes. His dedication to his art, and perseverance, along with the

support from his brother, Theo, helped him push the boundaries of Impressionism. He used

painting as a coping skill for his mental illness. When showing signs of mania, depression and

hallucinations, he was committed to a mental hospital. During his hospital stay, he painted

prolifically, completing 150 paintings in just a few years. His brother Theo encouraged him

through letters and financial support. Although, Vincent only painted for 10 years, he created

860 known pieces. His thick textured paintings show his innovative style of movement and color

applied in layers of unmixed paint. His distinct style makes him one of the most famous artists in

history. Sadly, his life was cut short due to injuries caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Five Steps of Close Reading:

1. Number the paragraphs- for referencing

2. Chunk the text- draw lines between the paragraphs to allow for smaller chunks of

information.

3. Underline and Circle- (this can be refined by what you decide to have them read) This

would be for specific things you want them to look for, such as: claims the author makes

should be underlined while key terms, names of sources, power verbs and figurative language

should be circled.

4. Left Margin: What is the author saying?

In the left column of the text (You’ll have to be specific as to what you want the students to

"get" here), but have them summarize each chunk in ten words or less.

5. Right Margin: Dig deeper into the text.

In the right margin, do a quick drawing of what each chunk represents. (You could ask them

at this place to offer one power verb to describe it.)

Strategy 2

Found Poetry

Found Poetry gained most of its momentum during the

twentieth century, paralleling Pop Art. Found Poems are the

reordering of text found in everyday media. It is a collage of

words found in magazines, online articles, newspapers, and so

on. Combining literacy and art, the author of a found poem

pieces together clippings of chosen words in selected fonts

and sizes to form one poem of their own.

It gets students engaged in reading fiction and fact; combining

the two, or creating truths out of fiction, or fiction out of truth.

This is done by the author and gets the creator to not only read

the original text, but analyze it, and then create something new

and evaluate it-critical thinking and creativity balled into one.

What is Found Poetry?

Why Found Poetry?

How to Make a Found Poem:• Select a theme or lack thereof

• Decide what texts or sources to find lines of the

poem from (e.g. Magazines, books, speeches,

online sources [printed])

• Select fonts of a similar or contrasting style to fit

expression of author/artist

• Cut and clip words out of chosen literary works

• Determine a palate or canvas (backdrop) to place

the clippings

• Order clippings in creative ways on canvas

• Adhere the clippings in an expressionable

fashion (to canvas)

• Critique the final product

• Write a reflection of the process and the message

being told

Found Poem Example:

Van Gogh

Dramatic,

Purpose, perseverance, passions, Innovative,

Thick paint, bright colors,

Loose brush strokes,

Mental illness, depression

Prolific,

Distinct style,

Life was cut short,

Van Gogh

Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Lesson Extensions:

1. Research another Post-Impressionist artist and find a good

piece of text to make a found poem from

2. Compare/contrast 2 different Post-Impressionism paintings or

artists & their work

3. Create their own Impressionistic painting and write a

reflection of their creation process and product.

4. Convert poem graphically on the computer and post to a

website or blog

5. Present information and poem to a younger grade classroom

6. Write a list of things that help you be successful as an artist

Strategies for Diverse LearnersSince each student doesn't learn the same way as another student, the teacher's job is to create

lessons to meet the diverse needs of their students. Instructional accommodations should be

made in the content, process, product, and learning environment to benefit the learning of all

the students. This lesson meets all of these areas in the following ways:

CONTENT

The lesson is presented using presentation slides (slides/artwork can also be printed for

individuals if necessary), while providing verbal and written directions. This allows for

students to understand the material by listening and reading. Both Close Reading and Found

Poetry are interactive-based strategies that benefit all the Multiple Intelligences in reading

and writing through: interactive discussion, drawing and note –taking, questioning,

organizing, summarizing, creating and presenting material.

PROCESS

The lesson is scaffolded to break up the lesson into comprehensive steps. The teacher

explicitly models how to do a Close Reading of a text by teaching students how to analyze a

text and directly write notes on a copy of the text. Through guided practice, the students are

coached to find evidence to understand author's purpose and explanation. For the Found

Poetry portion, the teacher also models how to complete the task and provides an example for

the students to see a completed project.

Strategies for Diverse Learners (cont.)PRODUCT

The Found Poetry assignment is student-centered because the students are able to

choose their favorite words and phrases, and how they construct the product.

Depending on some students needs, some modifications will include using a form of

technology and being allowed extra time to complete the assignment.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

The lesson is structured: lecture, explanation, Q&A, modeling, and guided

practice. The learning environment is supportive and student-centered as students

form small groups to work on their projects and the teacher circulates the room to

consult with individual students.

References:

http://www.slideshare.net/asasson/van-gogh-oil-

paintings?utm_campaign=ss_search&utm_medium=qf1&utm_source=1&qid=17bd65e4

-7489-4de4-81cd-0555abd886a7&v=qf1&b=&from_search=1

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/vaproficient.asp

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/9-10/

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/9-10/

http://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/field-with-poppies-1890