Summary
This lesson encourages student writing by combining an art project with a creative writing assignment. Through guided inquiry and responses, students elicit responses that inform their creative writing piece. While this lesson is currently aligned only to ninth grade standards, it would be appropriate to teach in any secondary grade and align the standards accordingly.
Essential Question(s)
What does a piece of art communicate to us? How can art inform our writing?
Snapshot
Engage
Students participate in a Commit and Toss activity to identify three adjectives or characteristics of a person they admire.
Explore
Using their adjectives, students paint/draw/sketch a pair of eyes.
Explain
Students engage in a discussion over the paintings and their adjectives through a Four Corners activity.
Extend
Students use their adjectives to help construct a narrative that tells the stories of a character, fiction or non-fiction, who possesses the eyes they have created.
Evaluate
Students participate in a gallery walk to read the short stories, view the art, and give constructive feedback.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Printed Eyes handout (one per student; print two-sided; print in color; attached; optional)
Four Corners Posters (one set; attached)
Story Organizer handout (attached; optional)
Gallery Walk Checklist (one per student; attached)
Writing Rubric handout (attached; optional)
Sticky notes (five per student)
Container/Basket (one per activity)
Blank Paper (one per student)
Notebook Paper (one per student)
Art supplies (water colors; paint brushes; water; paper; markers; colored pencils; etc.)
Chart tablet paper (optional)
Scissors (optional)
Engage
Using the attached Lesson slides, introduce the lesson as both an art project and creative writing project. Display slide 3 to share the essential questions for this lesson. Ask for any volunteers to answer either question. If they cannot, you might prompt students by saying, "Have you ever looked at a picture or painting that made a big impression on you? If so, what do you remember about it?" Allow time for any responses.
Display slide 4 to share the learning objectives. Explain that today we will want to communicate our thoughts and feelings through both our artwork and our writing.
Pose this question to students, "Whom do you admire?" Give them time to think over the question, and then ask "What specifically about them do you admire?"
Display slide 5 and encourage students to think of someone they know or who may be a public figure, past or present. Remind students that it should NOT be someone who history or the public has identified as a villain. (For example, students should not choose Hitler or a serial killer, etc.)
Ask students to think about adjectives or characteristics about that person. Pass out three sticky notes to each student. On the sticky notes, students should write down three adjectives or characteristics (one per sticky note) in order to participate in a Commit and Toss. Allow time for them to write their name on each sticky note and one adjective or characteristic on each. Once completed, have them crumple each note and throw it into a basket or container.
Shake up the container with all the notes. Then, have students grab three items from the bin. Display slide 6 and introduce the Stand Up, Sit Down instructional strategy. Have students stand in a circle or at their desks. Each student will then read aloud one sticky note they have selected, then crumple it back up. While the students are reading these adjectives and characteristics aloud, write the adjectives down on poster paper or a white board to create a word wall. If the student’s peers share an adjective that is on one of their sticky notes, they can crumple the repeated adjective up. Once all sticky notes are crumpled up, they can sit down. Continue around the room until all students have shared their adjectives and are sitting down.
Discuss the word wall with your students. Tell students that as a class, these are the words/characteristics that the class applied to the people they admire. Inform students that for an activity later in the lesson they will need their three adjectives. They can keep the original words they chose for their person or choose something from the word wall that better expresses the person whom they admire.
This word wall needs to be preserved for use later in this lesson.
Explore
Display slide 7 and ask students, "Who did you choose as the person you admire?" Let students answer aloud. As students are answering this question, the teacher will write these responses down on a new piece of poster paper or on the other side of the white board. Allow time for students to read the compiled list. Comment on any patterns you may see. For example: "On our list, many of us admire our grandparents. What were some of the adjectives or characteristics that we used when thinking about our grandparents?"
Display slide 8. Give each student art supplies and a blank piece of paper. Art supplies can vary from paper and markers to paint, brushes, and heavier art paper. Students will then draw/paint/illustrate a pair of eyes that they think reflect the three words that they used in Commit and Toss activity and the person whom they admire.
Allow time for the drawing of the eyes in your class. Depending on the medium for the art, students may need only part of a class period or an entire class period.
Explain
Once art work is completed or the pre-printed set of eyes chosen, display slide 9 and present the students with the following statement:
"You can judge a person by simply looking into their eyes." Give students a minute or two to think about this statement.
Students will then use their thoughts on this statement to participate in a Four Corners activity. Around the room, have four separate signs showcasing varying levels of agreement or disagreement. Explain to students that they will choose their level of agreement or disagreement for the statement. Have students walk to the sign they choose. Once students have walked to their sign, have them talk as a group for a few minutes. Next, ask students to elect a group spokesperson to tell the class why they selected the sign that they did. Ask each spokesperson to share out their group's thoughts.
Extend
Ask students to return to their seats, display slide 10 and pose this question: "Think about the people you admire and the eyes you have drawn to represent them. What experiences do you think the eyes have seen?” Call on any volunteers to respond.
Display slide 11. Pose this questions: “Do your eyes have a story to tell? If so, what kind of story would they tell?” Give students a minute or two to contemplate the questions and ask for a few student responses. Explain to students that while they have thought about a person they admire to help us create mood and ideas, the story that they create can be a work of fiction or nonfiction. That is the "creative" part of creative writing. Ask students to write a narrative from the perspective of the eyes they have created. Students might start their story with little exposition, or they may choose to build a character before they start writing other portions of the narrative.
Students should include the adjectives/characteristics from the Commit and Toss activity in their narratives. Pass out a sheet of notebook paper to each student and have them begin writing.
Evaluate
Display slide 12 and inform students they will participate in a Gallery Walk to view each other's writings and corresponding artwork. Place students in small groups of four or five. Pass out the Gallery Walk Checklist handout and two sticky notes to each student. Explain to the students that they will choose two writings on their groups assigned wall to provide feedback for.
Introduce students to the modified version of Two Stars and A Wish instructional strategy. Explain to students that they will choose two writings on the wall to provide feedback for using the Gallery Walk Checklist. First, they will mark off the checklist based on what is written. Then they will leave a sticky note next to the writing with a star and a check. The star will be one thing from the checklist that the writer did well, and the check will be something the writer might want to revise.
Assign groups to view one of the (wall) galleries so that groups will only read a portion of the entire student writings. Ask students to leave feedback for students' writings based upon the checklist that has been provided. Emphasize to groups to leave feedback ONLY if it is listed on the checklist.
Once the Gallery Walk has been completed, allow students to read through their constructive feedback from the sticky notes and make any edits or changes as needed prior to turning in the final product.
Resources
K20 Center (n.d.) Commit and Toss. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/119
K20 Center (n.d.). Four Corners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/138
K20 Center (n.d.). Gallery Walk/Carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center (n.d.). Stand Up, Sit Down. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1771
K20 Center (n.d.). Two Stars and a Wish. Strategies.