Learning Objectives:
Student will learn how to tell stories through painting.
Students learn how to analyze narrative paintings.
Students will be able to mix and identify a wide range of colors including their skin tone, primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors.
Students will be able to represent the important people, places and things in their lives.
Students will understand the differences between skin tone, race, culture, ethnicity, and nationality.
Students will reflect on their own identities in relation to the world around them.
Students will be able to analyze contemporary works of art and understand how artists today are representing their identities through paint.
Students will be able to use learned vocabulary when describing their work.
Students will be able to communicate their ideas both in writing and orally.
Students will learn from one another and develop an awareness of cultures in our community.
Students make connections amongst the cultures furthering students' social emotional skills of empathy, inclusion, and belonging.
Unit Sequence:
Lesson 1:(Field Trip Lesson) How do artists tell stories in their work?
Description: Students will analyze the work of Toyin Ojih Odutola and discuss the possible narrative behind the work.
Activity: Looking at the paintings of Toyin Ojih Odutola, students will write about what scene might have happened before or after the scene being depicted. Students will discuss how the character’s feelings and are being represented through paint. Students will spend the rest of their time in the galleries drawing different paintings by the artist.
Lesson 2: How might I tell a story through paint?
Description: Students will share their reactions and thoughts about their recent trip to the Whitney Museum. Students will again look back at the work of Toyin Ojih Odutola and discuss how she tells a story through paint.
Activity: Students will spend the rest of class time brainstorming a story that they might want to tell through painting. Students will use a planning guide to assist with their brainstorming. Students will have the option of choosing from the story prompt jar. Ex.”When was a time you felt proud?” “How do you like to celebrate?” “What do you like to do on the weekends?”
Lesson 3: How can I show movement?
Description: Student will look at the work of Jacob Lawrence and discuss how the gesture of the character in the painting helps us know what action is taking place.
Activity: Students will rotate acting as the model for gesture poses. Students will practice capturing the body in movement through drawing.
Lesson 4-5: Who are the characters of my story?
Description: Students will look back at the work of Toyin Ojih Odutola and analyze the character’s facial expressions and actions.
Activity: I will demonstrate how to show a body in motion using paint. Students will begin to paint the people in their painting.
Lesson 6: What is the setting of my story?
Description: Students will look at the work of Carmen Lopez Garza and discuss how she uses paint to depict the setting of the story. Students will discuss different aspects of the setting that can help reveal the narrative in the painting.
Activity: I will demonstrate how to add the setting to their background. Students will work on creating their settings.
Lesson 7: Finish, Reflection and Critique
Description: Students will use the first half of class to finish the settings of their paintings. Students who are done will use that time to write about their stories and describe challenges that they have experienced when creating their story. At the end of class students will share their stories in small groups.
Resources: https://whitney.org/Exhibitions/ToyinOjihOdutola
