Untitled Figure Salomón Huerta		Red Blue Green Ellsworth Kelly		An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Collar of Thorns) Yasumasa Morimura
Explore Art page (kid-friendly)		Explore Art page (kid-friendly)		Explore Art page (kid-friendly)
Milan, The Last Supper (from Pictures of Chocolate) Vik Muniz		Beep, honk, toot, #2 Haim Steinbach		Gabriel and Ramon John Sonsini
Explore Art page (kid-friendly)				Explore Art page (kid-friendly)

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• Print the images listed above onto overhead transparencies.
• Write the vocabulary words on large cards and place on the board or on a bulletin board.
• If sketchbooks are not available, bound unlined paper is a fine substitute.
• Print Exploring Art and Contemporary Cross-Word Puzzles.

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Session One:
1. Pass out sketchbooks (or unlined paper) and writing supplies to students.

2. To introduce the students to sketching, demonstrate for the students how simple lines can be used to document their observations. For example, using one or two continuous loose and squiggly lines, quickly sketch a student while limiting the amount of times you look down at your paper. This sketch will only show the person’s head, arms, legs, and body without any details. Explain to the students how this gesture drawing reflects movement and form while using a few simple lines. Ask a few students to pose in front of the class so that their classmates can draw them using this sketching technique. Have the students complete 3-4 drawings in their sketchbooks. For the last drawing, instruct the students to concentrate on the subject for their drawing and not to look down at their papers.

3. Begin a discussion with the students about contemporary art: What does the word "contemporary" mean? What do you think contemporary art looks like? What materials do you think artists use in contemporary art? How do you think contemporary art differs from art made a long time ago? Have the students look up the word "contemporary" in the dictionary, if necessary.

4. Explain to the students that they will now practice sketching with reproductions of artwork. Instruct the students to first look at the artwork silently (for 15 seconds) and then complete a 30 second sketch.

5. Place the first transparency on the overhead. Use the following questions to guide the discussion about the images:
• What’s going on in this picture?
• What more can we find?
• What materials are used?
• How does this artwork make you feel?
• How do you think the artist felt (happy, sad, confused, etc.) when he/she made this?
• What does this artwork remind you of?
• What shapes do you see?
• Is this artwork representational or abstract? Provide evidence.

Reference the vocabulary cards whenever possible. Repeat this method two more times.

6. Place the students in pairs. Pass out one piece of unlined paper to each group. Have the students fold the piece of paper in half each way, so that there are four equal squares. Ask the students to choose eight vocabulary words and write one vocabulary word in each square. Working with their partners, have the students find the definition of each visual art vocabulary word. In each box, the students will write the definition and draw a small illustration of that definition.

7. Assign the Exploring Art and/or Contemporary Cross-Word Puzzle for homework.

Session Two:
1. Choose one of the artworks shown in class during Session One. Ask the students to describe the artwork using the vocabulary words from Session One. Then, show the students two more artworks. Use gesture drawing and discussion questions from Session One.

2. Hand each student a piece of unlined paper. Ask the students to draw a graphic organizer (i.e. Venn Diagram, Chart, etc.). Using this graphic organizer and the visual art vocabulary words, instruct the students to compare and contrast two pieces of artwork.

3. Once completed, have the students discuss their interpretations aloud. Ask the students which artwork they prefer and to provide an explanation for this preference.

4. Using the completed graphic organizer, ask each student to write an essay about these two artworks. For fourth grade: have each student write a narrative composition comparing and contrasting the two artworks. For fifth and sixth grade: have each student write a persuasive essay comparing and contrasting their opinions about two different artworks.

Extensions
English-Language Arts: Students can choose a contemporary artist and complete a research report about this person and the artwork he/she created.

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There are no teaching tips for this lesson plan.

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CA Content Standards
Fourth Grade Visual Arts:
1.5 Describe and analyze the elements of art (color, shape/form, line, texture, space and value), emphasizing form, as they are used in works of art and found in the environment.

4.3 Discuss how the subject and selection of media relate to the meaning or purpose of a work of art.

5.4 Read biographies and stories about artists and summarize the readings in short reports, telling how the artists mirrored or affected their time period or culture.

Fifth Grade Visual Arts:
1.2 Identify and describe characteristics of representational, abstract, and nonrepresentational works of art.

1.3 Use their knowledge of all the elements of art to describe similarities and differences in works of art and in the environment.

2.2 Create gesture and contour observational drawings.

5.3 Research and report on what various types of artists (e.g., architects, designers, graphic artists, animators) produce and how their works play a role in our everyday environment.

Sixth Grade Visual Arts:
1.1 Identify and describe all the elements of art found in selected works of art (color, shape/form, line, texture, space, and value).

1.2 Discuss works of art as to theme, genre, style, idea, and differences in media.

2.1 Use various observational drawing skills to depict a variety of subject matter.

3.3 Compare, in oral or written form, representative images or designs from at least two selected cultures.

4.1 Construct and describe plausible interpretations of what they perceive in works of art.

Fourth Grade Language Arts:
2.1 Write narratives.

2.3 Write information reports.

1.1 Ask thoughtful questions and respond to relevant questions with appropriate elaboration in oral settings.

Fifth Grade English-Language Arts:
2.1 Understand how text features (e.g., format, graphics, sequence, diagrams, illustrations, charts, maps) make information accessible and usable.

2.1 Write narratives.

2.3 Write research reports about important ideas, issues, or events.

2.4 Write persuasive letters or compositions.

1.5 Clarify and support spoken ideas with evidence and examples.

Sixth Grade English-Language Arts:
1.3 Use a variety of effective and coherent organizational patterns, including comparison and contrast; organization by categories; and arrangement by spatial order, order of importance, or climactic order.

2.1 Write narratives.

2.3 Write research reports.

2.5 Write persuasive compositions.

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Teachers:
Technique:
Frohardt, Darcie C. Teaching Art with Books Kids Love: Teaching Art Appreciation, Elements of Art and Principles of Design with Award-Winning Children’s Books. Golden, Co: Fulcrum, 1999.

Kimon, Nicolaidos. The Natural Way to Draw. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1941.

History:
Arnason, H. H. History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Photography. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1998.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Online collection shows a sample of 150 works of contemporary art.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Online collection contains many works of contemporary art.

Students:
Technique:
Kistler, Mark. Draw Squad. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.

The Draw Squad
Three online lessons to give confidence in drawing.

History:
Gaff, Jackie. 20th Century Art. Milwaukee, WI: Gareth Stevens Pub., 2001.

Gaff, Jackie. Alberto Giacometti (Artists in Their Time). New York: Franklin Watts, 2002.

Greenberg, Jan. Action Jackson. Brookfield, CT: Roaring Book Press, 2002. A unique picture book about Jackson Pollock and the way in which he worked.

Greenberg, Jan. The Painter’s Eye: Learning to Look at Contemporary American Art. New York: Delacorte Press, 1991.

Greenberg, Jan. The Sculptor’s Eye: Looking at Contemporary American Art. New York: Delacorte Press, 1993.

Destination Modern Art
An interactive Web site for elementary school-aged children to learn about modern art.

Fiction:
Laden, Nina. When Pigasso Met Mootisse. Brookfield, CT.: Roaring Book Press, 2002.
At one level this is a book about friendship and cooperation but it will definitely spark an interest in art and artists, especially Picasso and Matisse.

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