Jason has 20 years of education experience including 14 years of teaching college literature.
This lesson begins by introducing an art technique, one point perspective to students. The idea is to give them some of the vocabulary needed to discuss a painting. They will learn to determine the horizon line and vanishing point of a piece of art. Next they'll use a brain-based writing/discussion technique to interpret both a painting and a poem. Finally they will compare the poem and painting to practice the skills needed to master RL.9-10.7.
After this lesson, students will be able to:
Approximately 60-90 minutes
Begin by directing students towards the Study.com lesson on One Point Perspective Drawing. Write the following text codes on the board:
Play the video. Have students read along and use the text code.
When the video has finished, have them meet with elbow partners (pairs). They should first explain what they already knew from the video. Then they should share the parts they coded with the question mark. If they can answer each other's questions, they should do so. Finally, have them choose a single bit of important information to share with the class.
Move to a whole class discussion of the video, calling on pairs to share their important facts and questions that remain.
Next, project the Van Gogh painting Bedroom in Arles. The best location to project this would be on a smart board or a white board. Ask for volunteers to come to the board to attempt to identify the horizon line and vanishing point of the painting. Explain to the class that in finding the vanishing point or horizon line in a painting, they're engaging with it in a critical way that will help them to interpret it.
Now it's time to have students walk through an analysis of the painting. The technique that will be used is a brain-based approach that begins with emotion and ends with critical analysis. While the first few steps may not seem useful, think of it as an attempt to ''rev up'' the brains of your students. Trying to uncover meaning in a painting is sophisticated thinking that the brain is not ready to tackle until after it handles some easier tasks. This discussion/writing technique will walk students through those early gears and rev up their brains to be ready to tackle the tougher analytic tasks.
For the painting, walk through the following steps with your students, asking them to first talk to their partners then call upon them to share with the entire class. You should share as well, to model the type of thinking you'd like to see from your students.
At this point in the class your students have just analyzed a famous work of art! They may not have the most profound interpretations, but they have successfully used a technique to come to meaning that could be argued and supported with evidence. Now's the time to introduce them to the poem. Hand out copies and have students read it first to themselves, then invite at least two volunteers to read the poem aloud. You could also have each student read the poem to their discussion partners. You should also read the poem, to model that skill for the class. Following the reading, students will use a version of the above technique to interpret the poem. This should be done by having students write, individually and quietly.
Collect ideas from the class on the board, focusing on steps five and six.
Finish the lesson with a formative assessment. Give each student an index card. They'll use the space on one side to create a Venn diagram. In the left circle they'll include details and ideas from the painting that only appear in the painting. On the right they'll note ideas and details that only appear in the poem. In the center they'll show what the two have in common. Use these index cards to assess student understanding of your lesson.
