As a first-time teacher, I looked into existing lesson plans from institutions and found many wonderful, comprehensive resources. This lesson is from the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Subject: Visual Arts — Photography
Grade level: 11-12
School: International School Manila
See here to read more about this lesson
See here to read more about the Visual Arts Standards
Standard chosen:
Standard #11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.
Standard chosen:
Standard #11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.
This standard stood out to me in particular for many reasons. Firstly, the school in which I will be teaching—my former alma mater—is a private international school in the Philippines. As an alumnus of the institution, I found that the students are generally disconnected from local community and largely unaware of the rich history and culture. In this unit, I intend to explore ways to get students to inquire about the country that they are living in and to connect to people that contribute, in their own ways, to society. This particular lesson plan appealed to me because while I was in high school, I often traveled extensively to areas—both remote and urban—to experience and document the lives of people who are far different from my own. (See here for my own high school photography for the 100People.org—a project I was involved in related to this lesson plan.) I believe that students will gain much more than photography skills for this assignment.
The proficiencies in this unit would include: 1) Prepare for and participate in collaboration, group and one-on-one discussion; 2) Building on ideas and expressing them own clearly and persuasively. 3) Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats (photography, written statement, and oral critique.
Throughout the lesson, I will conduct both informal and formal assessments. Firstly, students will keep sketchbooks and photography journals to document their planning, processes, and records. The entries in these materials would be checked to ensure students are properly documenting every aspect of this assignment, including their thoughts. The students will develop skills in communicating their process as well as their work. Secondly, I will discuss with each student their plans to execute the assignment while covering the safety issues, appropriate logistics, and discuss their concepts. Lastly, students will be ultimately assessed on their final photograph or series of photographs which would include specific skills or qualities (i.e. composition, angles, lines, etc.) This portion will be a presentation in a class gallery setting.
This assignment would include many immersive learning experiences both on a personal level and that in group situations. The assignment truly involves the students to seek out their subject and understand the depth and humanity of each individual. The journals will be a large factor is assessing if students can communicate their process and works while using both formal and informal art academic language. Because this is an advanced assignment, students will be able to incorporate vocabulary and knowledge of the elements of design and principles of design—another way of assessing if the students are meeting the standards. Throughout the lessons, the students will have the opportunity to discuss their process and planning with their classmates—small collaborative activity to gather more inspiration and open up discussion. Students will conduct their own informal, formative assessments during the lessons in which we review the work and identify the elements and principles.The big learning experience would be during the fieldwork—an exercising in planning, understand the concept and skills required to successfully do this assignment, and personal artistic development. After the final photographs are developed and displayed, students will be able formally to discuss their work and the work of others.
Other standards that are addressed through this lesson:
Because this lesson is for advanced students or student in grades 11 and 12, several other cross-disciplinary standards—particularly for English Language Arts—are covered, such as the following:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1.D
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
Resources
—The J. Paul Getty Museum. (n.d.). What Is Work and Who Are the Workers? - Advanced (Education at the Getty). Retrieved July 06, 2016, from http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/historical_witness/lesson24.html
Other standards that are addressed through this lesson:
Because this lesson is for advanced students or student in grades 11 and 12, several other cross-disciplinary standards—particularly for English Language Arts—are covered, such as the following:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1.D
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
Resources
—The J. Paul Getty Museum. (n.d.). What Is Work and Who Are the Workers? - Advanced (Education at the Getty). Retrieved July 06, 2016, from http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/historical_witness/lesson24.html
—Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). English Language Arts Standards » Writing » Grade 11-12. Retrieved July 05, 2016, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/11-12/