Illustrated reading on elementary Visual Art
The following concerns elementary reproductions of primary source artifacts. Firstly, duplicating wood carved Native American masks using clay. Classes able to see, read some information, then take guided notes about a few indigenous masks also listened to me tell them about a general reason for wearing one in ritual dance, and at my discretion, proceeded to conceive their own embodiments of supernatural power. This entailed assigning children to imagine an extraordinary ability and to express it in a face covering. A conversation volunteered some initial ideas such as multiple mouths to breathe underwater, power to meet Janet Jackson, as well as carnivorous teeth.
Months after turning sketches into painted, ceramic masks with titles, a quiz prompted each student handwrite what they knew about Social Studies topics. These also included Mandan village huts, which 2nd graders were required to cast prefabricated steel bowl armatures in paper mache before painting brown to imitate sod. Upon capably reading the questions, children wrote legible but short answers. In most cases they listed brown or round to recall the organically engineered lodges, and used a sentence to explain Native American masks are for summoning supernatural power.
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| 2nd grade color pencil mask |
More fundamental drawing proceeded observing ceramic tile floors. Independently I first mimicked patterns of solid-color circles and squares with pencils in one-sixty-fourth square inch, graph paper planes. Then applying basic math, I scaled measured motifs into new unsloped areas of a larger paper, by setting up tile-to-motif length ratios and solving proportions. Intersecting Greek keys in continuous perimeter patterns required the motif lengths evenly divide into perimeter lengths. Around a hexagon tiled center are cut-out and collaged birds holding rolled up diplomas under their wings. These were digitally pixelated, scaled, and printed before titling my Cartesian picture.
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| Parakeet Diploma, 30" x 22" |
Accredited grade schools have informed training English in Visual Art. Including aforementioned art students who organized multiple mask sketches chronologically without any plot or dialogue. This led to the sculpture schematics also becoming superhuman themed comic strips. Preliminary lessons review handwriting captions and speech bubbles for pre-made panels and caricatures then storyboarding individually with rulers. Homeroom teachers have contributed to narrative prompt options plus differentiated objectives.
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| 2nd grade comic with onomatopoeia, 12" x 18" |
An eight-year-old's appeal to animate black holes on stationery instead of Native American pictographs also merited drawing with protractors for an astronomy video. Discussing potential motion pictures in outer space resulted with added inquiry about monkey test pilots. After independently reading about spaceflight history online this student scrolled “1961” for Yuri Gagarin. Another allowable text exclaimed “Oh no, a black hole,” while a more experienced sketcher tried sublimation from pressure in comet tails. Twelve-column planning sheets and pre-numbered frames helped children understand a frame rate, in addition to counting drawings of a gelatinous cube jumping up and then being weighted down as if by mass and gravity. Math or science teachers can share kinetic objectives.
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| 4th grade animation frame |
Art teachers have written developmental rationales to anticipate cluster schedules. An article titled “The First Visual Symbols” ascribes various levels of motor cognition to children in the same elementary class. It refers to a “sensory logic stage” (Burton, 1980, p.61) for linguistically conceptualizing pre-representational images. Observing diverse progressions to representing preconceived notions informed this author's lesson plans to allow pupils to form and change ideas as they practice.
The ceramic, convoke Janet Jackson mask inferred sensory logic. A preparatory drawing with carnivalesque features became less recognizable in a new dimension and material. Upon glazing then jotting down a title its maker near correctly spelled “Michael Jackson Face.” Maturity would likely make attention to cosmetic details a requirement. Meanwhile this student verbally questioned, "what happened to him?" Supposing they surveyed their peers, classmates could also try to help summon Janet through painted sculptures and choreographing.
In short–I recommend schools plan inquiry-based, interdisciplinary dialogues followed by related, problem solving art activities. Then assess if creativity motivates learning objectives. In the interests of studying art history I suggest elementary teachers prioritize literacy.
References
Burton, J. (1980). Developing Minds: The First Visual Symbols. School Arts. (October Issue), p.60 - 65.