Mini-Activity Four, Art + Literature: "Aboriginal Art"
Aboriginal Art
Grade Level: 1st & 2nd
Length: Two 45-minute periods
Theme Concept(s): Color, line and shape. Symbolism. Taking a real life object or concept and turning it into a visual symbol. Communication and storytelling.
Aesthetics, Art Criticism, Art History: Piet Mondrian was an artist who used color, line and shape in his works. He mainly used primary colors, horizontal lines and vertical lines and squares. Do you think this is art? Why or why not? What shapes do you see? What colors do you see? Where do you see primary colors (Kandinsky, Dots)? Do you think there is a story to this artwork? Mondrian, Kandinsky.
Art Production Concept(s): Introducing primary colors (red, yellow and blue). Color, line and shape as art elements. Symbolism and storytelling through art.
Teaching Strategies: Introduction/Stimulation, Demonstration, Discussion, Art Production.
Creative & Critical Behaviors Students Enhance: Decision making skill will be enhanced to create compositions- line and shape. Students will understand and use primary colors. Students will create symbols and be able to create a 2D piece with symbols based on a story.
NJCCCS (one visual arts and one non-arts):
Visual Arts- 1.3.2.D.1 Create two- and three-dimensional works of art using the basic elements of color, line, shape, form, texture, and space, as well as a variety of art mediums and application methods.
1.3.2.D.2. Use symbols to create personal works of art based on selected age-appropriate themes, using oral stories as basis for pictorial representation.
Language Arts- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
Materials: Model magic/ sculpt clay in primary colors, paper, pencils and erasers, worksheet with Aboriginal symbols and artworks, artists’ works.
INTRODUCTION: Begin class by having a sentence written in only Aboriginal symbols on the board. Ask students to think in silence for one minute about what the sentences meaning is. Ask students to turn to their partner and share their hypothesis and how they concluded it. Explain to students the meaning of the sentence and talk about Aboriginal artworks. Show samples. Have students work on creating at least 5 of their own symbols that they will use to make a story.
Art History, Aesthetics, Art Criticism: Piet Mondrian was an artist who used color, line and shape in his works. He mainly used primary colors, horizontal lines and vertical lines and squares. Do you think this is art? Why or why not? What shapes do you see? What colors do you see? Where do you see primary colors (Kandinsky, Dots)? Do you think there is a story to this artwork? Mondrian, Kandinsky.
DEMONSTRATION: Show students how to create symbols, and then create a short story or message with those symbols in a sketch on paper using lines and shapes. Show them how to create tiny, primary colored dots out of model magic/ clay and how to apply them over their lines and shapes to create final piece.
DISCUSSION: Have a final class critique and allow students to talk about each other’s stories.
ART PRODUCTION: Have students use their symbols to create a story. Make sure their composition and symbols involve line and shape. Students will then create tiny, primary colored dots out of clay to fill their final piece with.
Grade Level: 1st & 2nd
Length: Two 45-minute periods
Theme Concept(s): Color, line and shape. Symbolism. Taking a real life object or concept and turning it into a visual symbol. Communication and storytelling.
Aesthetics, Art Criticism, Art History: Piet Mondrian was an artist who used color, line and shape in his works. He mainly used primary colors, horizontal lines and vertical lines and squares. Do you think this is art? Why or why not? What shapes do you see? What colors do you see? Where do you see primary colors (Kandinsky, Dots)? Do you think there is a story to this artwork? Mondrian, Kandinsky.
Art Production Concept(s): Introducing primary colors (red, yellow and blue). Color, line and shape as art elements. Symbolism and storytelling through art.
Teaching Strategies: Introduction/Stimulation, Demonstration, Discussion, Art Production.
Creative & Critical Behaviors Students Enhance: Decision making skill will be enhanced to create compositions- line and shape. Students will understand and use primary colors. Students will create symbols and be able to create a 2D piece with symbols based on a story.
NJCCCS (one visual arts and one non-arts):
Visual Arts- 1.3.2.D.1 Create two- and three-dimensional works of art using the basic elements of color, line, shape, form, texture, and space, as well as a variety of art mediums and application methods.
1.3.2.D.2. Use symbols to create personal works of art based on selected age-appropriate themes, using oral stories as basis for pictorial representation.
Language Arts- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
Materials: Model magic/ sculpt clay in primary colors, paper, pencils and erasers, worksheet with Aboriginal symbols and artworks, artists’ works.
INTRODUCTION: Begin class by having a sentence written in only Aboriginal symbols on the board. Ask students to think in silence for one minute about what the sentences meaning is. Ask students to turn to their partner and share their hypothesis and how they concluded it. Explain to students the meaning of the sentence and talk about Aboriginal artworks. Show samples. Have students work on creating at least 5 of their own symbols that they will use to make a story.
Art History, Aesthetics, Art Criticism: Piet Mondrian was an artist who used color, line and shape in his works. He mainly used primary colors, horizontal lines and vertical lines and squares. Do you think this is art? Why or why not? What shapes do you see? What colors do you see? Where do you see primary colors (Kandinsky, Dots)? Do you think there is a story to this artwork? Mondrian, Kandinsky.
DEMONSTRATION: Show students how to create symbols, and then create a short story or message with those symbols in a sketch on paper using lines and shapes. Show them how to create tiny, primary colored dots out of model magic/ clay and how to apply them over their lines and shapes to create final piece.
DISCUSSION: Have a final class critique and allow students to talk about each other’s stories.
ART PRODUCTION: Have students use their symbols to create a story. Make sure their composition and symbols involve line and shape. Students will then create tiny, primary colored dots out of clay to fill their final piece with.
Examples of Aboriginal Art
Piet Mondrian,
Red, Yellow and Blue.
1921
Wassily Kandinsky, Dots