Posted Fri Jul 2 08:21:07 PDT 1999 by M.J. McCollum (
Lesson PlanArtists and Their Art
Language Arts/Art 7-12
Mary Jane McCollum
July 1, 1999
Materials needed:
Computer: Mac or MS-DOS
Program: With Open Eyes AEA 7 #50-102978, Forest Technologies, material from The Art Institute of Chicago
Handout: Teacher-prepared worksheet.
Classroom arrangement: one-computer classroom or small groups
Length of lesson: 1-2 days
Objectives: to effectively gather and use information for research purposes
to understand the visual arts in relation to history and culture
to practice notetaking skills
to practice summarizing skills
to know and compare the characteristics of artwork in various
eras and cultures
to analyze and demonstrate how factors of time and place
influence visual characteristics that give meaning and
value to a work of art
Anticipatory Set: Students will brainstorm a list of artists.
Teaching New Lesson:
1. Teacher will choose an artist from With Open Eyes, AEA 7
#50-102978.
2. Teacher will model the following information about the artist on a teacher-prepared worksheet on the overhead:
a. How to take notes and write a summary based on information from written text.
b. How to draw conclusions (practice inductive reasoning skills) about artist’s painting based on:
1. color
2. light
3. detail
4. background
5. theme
3. Hand out several copies of teacher-prepared worksheet.
4. Teacher will select several new artists, and students will then practice taking notes, summarizing, and drawing conclusions.
5. Observations will be shared with class.
Transfer: Students will practice these skills again when they select an artist and write their own research paper.
