My Art Lesson Plan

A Geometric Portrait

Paul Klee

A Primary Lesson Plan

Paul Klee is one of my favourite artists. He painted in a unique and personal style; no one else painted like he did. He used pastels, tempera, water color, and a combination of oil and water color, as well as different backgrounds. Klee valued the "primitive," and especially the art of children. He envied their freedom to create signs, and respected their innocence and directness.

Objectives

Students will create a 2 dimensional portrait.

Students will identify and use geometric shapes.

Students will identify the work of artist Paul Klee.

Vocabulary

color, resist, geometric shapes.

Materials: shape tracers including large circle, rectangle, square, triangle, oil pastels, 11"x17" white paper, orange tempera paint thinned with water and wide flat brushes.

Procedure

Ask students to recall having had their school picture taken. Tell them that was a photograph portrait but there are also portraits which are painted. Show the print of Senecio (Head of Man) by Paul Klee. Have students draw a portrait of someone in the class or themselves using geometric shapes that they have outlined or have drawn themselves. Have them press hard as they color in the shapes with the oil pastels. Paint the drawing by dipping the brush in the wash and moving it from one side to the other across the top. Dip again, slightly overlap and paint a second row. Continue to the bottom. If the layer of paint is too thick you can blot with paper towels to allow the pastels to show through. Allow to dry.

Assessment

• uses geometric shapes to create a portrait
• uses materials appropriately
• participates in discussion

Integration of Technology

Students will use an illustrator computer program to create another Paul Klee type portrait using the same basic principles. For example, they will put geometric shapes together to create a portrait and they will apply an opaque mask or another effect to entire portrait to create the illusion of paint.

Source

Modern Art-Elementary Lesson Plans

Written by Tabitha Ward

http://members.aol.com/TWard64340/modern.htm

GLE-General Learner Expectations

Reflection, depiction, composition and expression.

A Learning Experience

Opportunity should be provided for experiences that contribute to:

-a knowledge of the vocabulary of basic art terms and expressions appropriate to the student’s level of development

-skills and techniques necessary for meaningful self-expression by the child

-an understanding of art media, materials and processes and their appropriate use

-an understanding of the expressive content inherent in visual forms.

In Depiction, the basic skills of image making are developed using one of more of the three reflective areas as referents. These skills are developed according to forms and their proportions, actions and viewpoints and the qualities and details of those forms.

SLE’s Specific Learner Expectations

Depiction

Component 4-Main Forms and Proportions: Students will perfect forms and develop more realistic treatments.

Concepts A, B, and C

A-Shapes can suggest movement or stability

B-Many shapes are symmetrical

C-Images can be portrayed in varying degrees of realism.

ICT Relevance-Processes for Productivity

P3-Students will communicate through multimedia

>create a multimedia presentation, incorporating such features as visual images (clip art, video clips), sounds (live recordings, sound clips) and animated images, appropriate to a variety of audiences and purposes.

>Access available databases to support communication.

Why use technology?-the fine arts curriculum is so outdated that using any type of technology improves the lesson because it adds the current world to the old world. It puts art in a more up-to-date context. With this particular lesson plan the children will learn the art historical way to create a Paul Klee-type portrait and then they will integrate illustrator-type technology to create another portrait. I hope that it will give the students an appreciation for both types of art making.

The Good and Bad of Technology Integration

Technology Integration in the classroom is something teachers deal with on a daily basis. It is the actuality of living and teaching in today's urban society. The article "Linking Technology, Learning and School Change" by, Alan Feldman, Bob Coulter and Cliff Konold, discusses one particular teacher's journey to technology integration in his classroom. William took the initiative to work toward a smooth transition, which did not happen over night. It took a lot of work and cooperation with many people to make it happen; including Laura who concentrated less on hardware and wires and more on integration . It also took several years before he was able to work with technology so easily that it truly enhanced his unit and lesson plans. The point is that it did enhance his lessons. His classroom was able to cooperatively learn with other classrooms around the country and thus gained a much more accurate and deeper understanding of the lessons William had taught them.

Unfortunately this type of integration can only happen in a school that is lucky enough to have technology support and sufficient in-school computers. The funding is just not there in many communities, although there are people, like Nicholas Negroponte, who are working to make computers more accessible to all individuals. He is spearheading a project called One Laptop Per Child. If we are able to overcome the financial limitations, I believe it is just a matter of time before all classrooms are technologically integrated.

Technology in the Classroom

It's not logical to have a classroom without technology today and computers have become central to this technology. Maybe this dates me...but I remember when the only technology in the classroom was a film projector. The teachers would always have a hard time loading the film reels and the sound would never be in sync with the picture! I am hoping that a class like Communications and Technology would prevent problems like that from happening today. Like I have stated before, computers are an invaluable resource and in my discipline, specifically, there are many ways to include technology, for example, http://artlogs.org/ is a website dedicated to art blogs. In my university classes, I have seen professors change just recently from slide projectors to a laptop or flash drive and projector when showing art pictures. The requirements in art have also changed to include Media Arts I for a combined Art/Art Education degree. All of these changes are further integrating technology and education... changes that I don't see slowing down anytime soon!

Bloggers @ School?

I am all for using technology in schools! I feel that it is an invaluable learning and teaching resource. The fact that ICT or Information and Communication Technology is no longer intended to stand alone in schools, but is rather integrated into core programs, is a testament to the fact that Alberta Education feels the same way. I do feel, however, that blogging at schools, in particular, might be a double-edged sword. As a homework posting site and a record of past student work, blogs work very well. Unfortunately a gray area tends to appear when students post on these blogs. Not all students adhere as strictly to professional classroom standards as others and if an inappropriate comment is made, are there ways to prevent this comment from reaching public domain? Are there screening devices for student blogs? Is there a professional code of conduct for classroom bloggers? Unfortunately, at this time, there are not many safety nets in place and I believe more work needs to be done in this area before student blogging is a fully integrated part of classroom participation.

A Little About Me...

Hello! My name is Shannon Fulton. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Trevor, for almost 16 years. We have two amazing girls. Ashley is 15, extremely smart, beautiful, witty and fun! Taylor is 8, super funny, dramatic, artistic and caring. We are truly lucky to have such fantastic kids! I returned a year and half ago to my ongoing university education after I felt able to let my girls have a bit more independence. In doing so I feel like I have been the one to gain more independence and have been able to find out who I am! Not me, as a wife, or me, as a mom...but ME! I feel very privileged to be in the Faculty of Education this year. I have an amazing passion for art and the artistic process and I hope in my teaching style to be able to incorporate art in the classroom everyday!