Title: Jazz / Collage Unit of Lessons (please view this lesson on power point)

Author:Artist/Teacher Woody Duncan

Rosedale Middle School

3600 Springfield Kansas City, Kansas 66103

Email: wduncan@kc.rr.com

Web Site: http://www.taospaint.com

http://www.taospaint.com/JazzCollage.html

Time Frame: The complete unit of lessons took about three weeks to complete.

Class time available is 42 minutes per day, 4 to 5 days per week.

(this unit was taught in the Spring of 2001 to an 8^th grade class)

Description / Summary: This lesson is designed to create connections in the studentís minds between music and art. Improvisation is a key element in both Jazz and Collage. Through the medium of Collage the students use improvisation to express their feelings about Jazz. Jazz is a uniquely American form of music growing out of African American culture. Collage as an art medium became famous after artists like Picasso began experiments with it, in Europe, in the early part of the 20^th century. Both forms of art

utilize improvisation as an essential part of their nature. Through collages based on

drawings made of student musicians my students utilize the art form of collage to

make the music come to life. (Please view this lesson on power point to fully understand

this lesson and the learning process my students went through)

Standards and Benchmarks available at:
           http://kancrn.kckps.k12.ks.us/sbi/

Middle School Visual Art Standards and Benchmarks available at:
           http://kancrn.kckps.k12.ks.us/sbi/art/mid_index.html
 

SBI:Standard 4 - Culture and History

Examine and critique the visual arts as 

an essential part of culture and history.

Strand

·Application/Production

·Artists

Grade 8 Advance Visual Art - Art, Self-expression and Choice Benchmarks:

8.4.1Apply information from historical and cultural sources (e.g. themes, trends, styles, periods of art and artists) 

to their own visual art creations.

              8.4.1.1      Create an original product applying 

historical and cultural sources to enhance their own artistic expression.

Objectives:The student will create an original collage using improvisation to

show a student musician playing jazz.

Lessons in this unit will include:

Creating a realistic drawing of a musician playing.

Using watercolor techniques to contrast with the collage.

Creating a collage, which shows the feeling of music.

Creating a collage that shows a musician playing.

Utilizing contrasting elements within the composition.

Showing effective use of the collage technique.

Assessment

A class critique should be held to discuss what worked and what didnít.

After completion of the collage, the students completed a written self-assessment.

The self-assessment form was as follows:

Task prompts:

Students have a new ìArtist of the Weekî each Monday.

Three major artists were selected during this unit of lessons to reinforce

concepts while art production was proceeding.
 

Performance Standard:

Due to the wide range of abilities of individual students and the desire for students to produce unique products it is difficult to set any rigid standard.

Experienced teachers of art will push all students to achieve at their highest level.

Rubric:

I am a strong believer that the only true assessment in art is

ìthe size of the smile on a students faceî.

Having said that I still use a rubric:

Student exemplars: (examples)

Formative

Materials/Resources:
 

Archibald Motley1891 - 1981ìBlues 1929î

Pablo Picasso1881 - 1973ìThree Musiciansî

Romare Bearden1912 - 1988ìThree Folk Musiciansî

I used photographic reproductions of the creations of these three artists as ìExemplarsî.

I used poster size reproductions, art books, magazines, and images from the internet.

I played Jazz CDís through out the production process.

Learning Activity: 
 

1 - Students attended a concert about the history of Jazz as an American art form

presented by the Harmon high school jazz band.

2 - Students did realistic drawings from photos of fellow students in music class.

3 -  Students enlarged their drawings onto large quality watercolor paper.

4 -  Students utilized a wet n wet watercolor technique for negative areas.

5 -  Students put salt into wet areas to create texture.

6 -  Students tore up old magazines for collage resources.

7 -  Students did pattern drawings to xerox for collage resources.

8 -  Students used Ross art paste to apply collage materials.

9 -  Students used Sharpie markers to detail finished collages.

10 - Students displayed finished work for a class critique.

11 - Students completed a final self-assessment over the finished process.

Authorís Reflection:

the series of photos in the power point presentation so you can see my students

actively involved in learning by doing. Most importantly, please observe how

different their individual solutions are from each other. I am so proud of the

work that they did and how they did it that I have chosen to show it to you.

Content Knowledge: 

Iím not sure where to begin on content knowledge. Knowing the artists and their

Work is part of art history. Seeing the connection, ìimprovisationî, between art

and music is important. Learning that we each have the ability to interpret the

world around us differently is worth learning. Learning about new techniques can

be helpful in later artistic creations. But, most important is what we learn about

ourselves as we tackle new problems and develop solutions.

Strategy Description:

When I was in New York for the national art educatorís convention I saw a presentation about the power of collage to allow students to express emotions. The lesson was around death and loss. I took a lighter route but one that allowed my

students to express their feelings. It helped that we used photos of their classmates

as resources. Yes, I would do this sort of lesson again. I might even have the courage to take on a deeper more risky topic next time.

Thank you for taking the time to read through the description of

my lesson. (please take time to view this lesson on power point)