Transcript Slide 1
Enriching Social Studies through Art—Let’s Walk the Block Soledad Erickson Boone Elementary School Fourth Grade Social Studies Qui ckT i me™ and a decompresso r are needed to see th is pi ctu re. Romare Bearden, The Dove, 1964 Cut-and-pasted photo reproductions and papers, gouache, pencil and colored pencil on cardboard. Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY/VAGA NY/Estate of Romare Bearden Trusts Key Ideas that Informed the Lesson • In a democracy, voting is a right that is important to every citizen. • Discrimination has limited African Americans’ voting rights. • The Civil Rights Movement brought about important changes in African American rights. • Artists use symbols to communicate ideas. • Artworks can be a response to the times. The method of this unit is to integrate art with American history. This was accomplished through activities that emphasize vocabulary development and activate prior knowledge, visualization exercises, small- and large-group activities, and drama- and art-based activities. Special accommodations and modifications were made for students in Special Education and ESL students. What I wanted students to learn: • How to interpret a work of art • Make and support inferences and form interpretations about main themes and topics • Explain how authors and illustrators use text and art to express their ideas • Create works of visual art to communicate ideas What my students learned: •About the life and accomplishments of artist Romare Bearden; •About African American history, especially experiences during the Civil Rights Movement; •About racism and how it affects U.S. history; •About the unifying techniques of collage; and •About achieving dreams despite adversity. What I learned • Incorporating art into the general education curriculum has great benefits for all students. • Collaborating with the Terra Foundation has been an asset to me and my students. • By interpreting art work as they learned history and then creating their own artwork, students were able to see history through a perspective other than their own.