Presentation

Link to my VTS presentation prezi

VTS Unit Plan

VTS UNIT PLANNING GUIDE

Compiled by Mary Franco

LTC 8900-60  Visual Thinking Strategies II

Teachers Name: Derrick Gwinner

Course Title: Boy Writers Club (Group C)

Age/Grade Level of Students: 4^th and 5^th grade

"As there is a use in medicine for poisons, so the world cannot move without rogues." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

DEFINE THE BIG IDEA at the center of the Instructional Unit.

Bodacious Beasts! – An exploration of all things beastly—be it animal or humanoid—so long as it’s imaginative!

STATE THE RATIONALE for addressing this BIG IDEA  (Why is it appropriate for your students?)

Our group is composed entirely of boys, so we decided to focus on time-honored boy themes of adventure and fantasy.  After exploring the exploits and codes of samurai and knights, we caped off the year with the classic hero’s nemesis: the beast!  Hercules had Cerberus and the Hydra.  Odysseus had Scylla and the Cyclops.  Knights had dragons.  Max had his Wild Things.  And as Don Quixote knew: if there are no beasts on your path to heroism, then you must look within and bring out your own!

DEFINE KEY CONCEPTS to be addressed.

*Beasts come in many different shapes and manors.

*Beasts are not human but may have human qualities.

*Beasts often represent our deepest fears and may be expressed as horrific combinations of those fears.

*Beasts are often thought of as stronger than humans or as possessing qualities and powers that surpass those of humans.

*Beasts are usually thought to be threatening and destructive but are not necessarily so.

*Beasts have been a part of our stories and imaginations for a very long time.

 

DEFINE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS to be explored.

-What makes a beast?

-How do beasts behave?

-Where do beasts come from?

-Are all beasts bad guys?

-Do beasts have families or friends?

-How might beasts help us use our imaginations?

-How do a beast’s physical characteristics impact its beastly powers?

-What might beasts be able to tell us about ourselves?

LIST OBJECTIVES that will guide unit instruction.

-Students will look closely at a variety of works that depict beasts and participate in teacher-facilitated discussion of these works (VTS format).

-Students will imagine and create their own beasts in two-dimensional (drawn) and three-dimensional (ceramic) formats.

-Students will describe their beasts in writing and create written narratives focused on the exploits of their beasts.

-Students will photograph their three-dimensional beasts and digitally alter the photographs to be included in a film.

-Students will provide voiceover narration for a film, describing the actions of their beast in battle.

LIST ALL OTHER CURRICULUM GOALS &/OR OBJECTIVES to be addressed.

-Students will invest the beasts that they create with meaning and come to see them as unique, coherent, and continuous identities with strengths and stories of their own.

CROSS-CURRICULUAR CONNECTIONS

Language Arts: The basis of our work with the Boy Writers is an integration of the visual arts with writing activities.  We use study of visual works (VTS) to scaffold vocabulary development and the visual works that the boys create often serve as pre-writing activities, allowing the boys to brainstorm visually and providing a subject for their creative writing prompts.

LIST VTS IMAGES w/ PHOTOS that you will use in this unit chronologically in the table below.

Under “RATIONALE,” briefly note why you selected the image, how it will be used, and how it relates to the other images in the sequence (such as increasing complexity, elaboration of a theme, scaffolding of more complex concepts, transition to a key concept, etc.)

IMAGE          TITLE of the work               ARTIST / CULTURE              RATIONALE

Promo Illustration for The Dragon of Cripple Creek

Troy Howell

This was actually for the final activity of our Knights unit, but it served as a transition to the Bodacious Beasts unit, so I wanted to include it here.  Our final Knight activity had the boys imagining that their knight or squire character has "gone rogue" (PING Emerson) and wound up the subject of a wanted poster.  This image contained a unique bridge between wanted posters (generally more of a late-19th century thing) and knighthood because it also features a dragon--which, conveniently enough, is also a beast!  Another goal being considered in selecting this image was that the boys had taken to listing observations rather than developing a narrative when VTSing some of the more complex images.  So, I'd hoped that giving them a little less detail to notice might prod them into more story-based observations.

Basilisk

Unknown

Dustin found this image.  I liked it a lot, so I used it with my group as well.  This served as the introduction to our exquisite corpse monster creation activity.  This image worked well to introduce the notion of beasts as multifaceted compositions where familiar and unfamiliar elements might blend and blur.  The boys were able to pick out recognizable elements of the beast that they agreed upon (the rooster head/feet) but they were also able to debate some of the more ambiguous aspects (dragon or snake tail?).  Also, the inclusion of a setting provided a notion of scale and context and some of the boys explored these details in their observations.

Joan Miro

Harlequin's Carnival

This was used for day two of our exquisite corpse beast designing activity.  I'd initially thought of using an actual exquisite corpse drawing for our VTS this day, but most exquisite corpses consist of a figure without any contextual information/story to draw on, so I didn't think we'd get a very rich discussion from that.  I settled on Joan Miro because his characters have a strong hybrid quality, much like the Basilisk that we'd used the week before.  This particular painting includes a lot of different hybrid figures interacting within an environment and I'd hoped that the energy/movement of the figures would lead to a discussion about what narrative might be represented.  Also, having spent the past couple of weeks with fringe/visual culture works, I wanted to spend some time with something more canonical. 

Gargoyles, Dijon Cathedral, France

Photo by Jnewcomb

This image began our journey into the third dimension.  I chose this image with the hope that the boys would be somewhat familiar with the notion of gargoyles affixed to cathedrals, which would resolve the problem of needing to determine the original function/context of the sculpture.  On the other hand, I was hoping that the variety of figure types would surprise the boys and lead to speculation about their hybrid/beastly characteristics, how they related, and what their various poses might indicate.  I also felt that gargoyle figures would serve as a good model as the boys began to build with clay because they are squat and sturdy.  Finally, this image was taken by a bicycle tourist, which is a detail that I shared with the boys as a way of  also telling them a little more about myself and my own bicycle travels (I feel like students should get periodic reminders that their teachers are real people with unique and varied interests--it's a different kind of modeling).

Untitled (Chicago Picasso)

Pablo Picasso

This image began day two of our clay building activity.  The writing activity for this day had the boys creating a new story in which their beasts are re-imagined as heroes.  The people of Chicago added an Olympic medal and laurel wreath to their iconic statue as part of their campaign to host the 2016 Olympics, thus giving the image a heroic narrative spin which I'd hoped would help launch the boys on their writings.  Also again, I was hoping to provide the boys with a good model of simplified, sturdy sculptural building.

Baluba III

Jean Tinguely

This was our final image.  I chose it because it had a whimsical, beastly quality (something of resemblance to our initial Basilisk) and because I'd enjoyed working with the boys to tease out the ambiguities of form and identity in the Chicago Picasso and hoped that this would stimulate a similar discussion.  In both images, there is enough specificity in the individual components to speak clearly about the particulars but also a level of abstraction in the form as a whole to allow for multiple interpretations and conjecture.  Ultimately, with these last three sculptural images, I found that explorations of identity (what is it? what might it be?) were a more viable discussion point than issues of narrative/story (what's happening?).

VTS IMAGE RATIONALE  (How do these images enhance student understanding of the BIG IDEA?)

The images present a wide variety of beasts from different times and places, with the particulars of each image matched to the goals of that particular day's lesson.  At the same time, the sequence of images increases in complexity by way of abstraction.  Partly, this was necessitated by the move to sculpture, but overly prosaic sculptural pieces were deliberately avoided in favor of more unusual works.  Some of these choices run counter to the recommendations for VTS image selection (prominence of 3d work; prominence of abstraction; downplay of narrative) but were suggested by our distinct curricular goals and by experience with our particular group of viewers.

STUDIO / ARTMAKING activity or activities (List/Describe in order. Explain how this media exploration enhances student understanding of the BIG IDEA. )

Wanted Posters:  Photography and digital alteration.  Asks students to transition from previous heroic modes to roguish/beastly mode.  Students take the heroic identities that they've developed and pose them as outsiders.

Exquisite Corpse Beasts:  Students draw a beast in two halves (two separate sheets of paper that may be joined) and potentially trade halves with a classmate.  This format highlights the hybridity/multifaceted nature of beasts and encourages imagination and experimentation.  Students also write a description of--or proclamation from--their beasts and engage in beast battles in which the individual characteristics of their beasts are tested.

Clay Beasts:  Students build beasts from clay.  Students also write a story that turns their beast into a well-loved hero.

Beast Battle Videos:  Students engage their beasts in one last battle and record the turn-by-turn results.  Students then take pictures of their clay beasts to accompany each of these turns and digitally alter the photos to represent the action described.  Altered photos are compiled in a video for which the students provide narration of the battle.

LESSON SEQUENCE (Outline each lesson in the order that it will be taught to provide a scaffolded structure where learning unfolds. Describe how VTS will be infused into various aspects of the lesson)

I.

1. VTS 'Promo Illustration for The Dragon of Cripple Creek' 
2. Students take villainous self-portraits with iPad
3. Students compile portraits on prepared background and add text and any desired illustrations using Pic Collage app

II. 

1. VTS 'Basilisk' (day 1) and 'Harlequin's Carnival' (day 2)
2. Students draw two halves of beast (on separate sheets of paper pre-marked on one side at third and fifth inch with short lines to begin the figures)
3. Students have option of trading halves
4. Students write description or proclamation of beast
5. Students battle beasts (if done early)

 III.

1. VTS 'Gargoyles and Figures, Dijon Cathedral, France' (day 1), 'Untitled (Chicago Picasso)' (day 2), and 'Baluba III' (day 3)
2. Students build clay beasts.
3. Students write story in which beast becomes the hero

IV.

1. Students assign points from a total of 15 to one of three categories: 'Melee', 'Magic', and 'Sneak'
2. Students pair up and battle beasts, one category at a time, and record the results
3. Students take pictures of clay beasts from a variety of angles (using iPad) and choose pictures to alter for battle narrative
4. Students digitally alter pictures using Pic Collage app on iPad
5. Teacher compiles altered pictures into battle video
6. Students provide spoken narrative to battle video (recorded and added to audio track of video by teacher)

FORMATIVE & SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES with Evaluation Criteria

Due to the low teacher-student ratio in the Boy Writers Club, formative assessments are ongoing, with teachers providing continuous feedback on student work.  Student work is checked for completion and detail and students are encouraged to add to their work based on individual learning differences.  Also, the large number of teachers allows for regular teacher-to-teacher discussion and reflection about the day's (and individual students') successes and challenges.  Further, VTS discussions are recorded and consulted later to evaluate the success of these discussions.

UNIT EVALUATION & ASSESSMENT

·         Successes-  Over the year, the boys observations during VTS became richer and more assured.  The boys also came to treat the VTS session as more of a dialogue in which they agreed, disagreed, added to, and diverted from one another's comments, rather than as a disparate set of observations. 

·         Disappointments- The year ended too quickly!  We didn't get to the Lesson IV because we ran out of time and that was doubly disappointing because I think it would have ended the year on a more memorable note.  Instead, the end felt a little abrupt.  Also, we had technical difficulties and the boys did not end up having as much control of the end product on their Wanted Posters as I'd initially envisioned.  I'd hoped that the process of taking their own pictures and altering the color would be an integral part of the experience and that it all would have been handled neatly on the iPads but we had to improvise.

·         Revisions- If I had to do it again, I think I might change the Harlequin's Carnival and Gargoyles images.  In the case of Harlequin's Carnival, I think the instinct to use Joan Miro was good but I have a nagging feeling that there was just too much going on in that particular image and I feel like the boys' observations were stunted a bit by the barrage of visual information--too many variable to make sense of.  Meanwhile, the Gargoyles image had looked great on my iPad but when I put it up on the SmartBoard, I felt like it became a little too fuzzy.