Art Integration Unit Plan Template 1

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

LTC 4240: Art for Children

Unit Title & Big Idea: The Fifty United States Grade Level: Fourth Grade
Unit Overview/Summary:
Students will learn that each state is unique because of where it is located, the landforms that it has, and the people that
live there. They will learn this through a read aloud, discussion, art project, and writing activity.



Class Periods Required:
-Twenty minute class period
-Thirty minute class period
-Thirty minute class period

Key Concepts (3-4)
- Each state is unique based on its location
- You can represent each state through a variety of art techniques
- Each state has defining characteristics
Essential Questions (3-4)
- What makes a state unique?
- How can you represent the states characteristics using art
techniques?
- If you visited the state you chose, what would you do or see while
you are there?

Unit Objectives: (Excellent resource at http://www.teachervision.fen.com/curriculum-planning/new-teacher/48345.html?for_printing=1&detoured=1)
- Students will define characteristics of a state that make it unique based on where it is located
- Choose art techniques to accurately portray the states defining characteristics
- Craft a writing that explains what you would do, see, or visit in a particular state
- Use a variety of art techniques to accurately portray the characteristics of a particular state

Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) (3-4) (http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/)
Social Studies:
5.C. Describe human characteristics of a place, (such as
population, composition, architecture, kinds of economic and
recreational activities, transportation and communication
networks, etc.)
Art:
2.A. Build or layer materials to create a relief, apply a variety of
paper folding techniques, modeling with clay or similar material to
make organic forms
3.C. Create an original artwork that communicates ideas about the
following themes: United States, Environment, Time
Core Academic Standards (Common Core State Standards) (3-4)
(http://www.corestandards.org/)
Writing:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and
convey ideas and information clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and
organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.




Art Integration Unit Plan Template 2


Content Areas Integrated:
1. Visual Art
2.Social Studies
3. Writing

Identify & define common vocabulary/concepts that connect the art form
with the other identified subject area(s):
Relief: The projection of figures or forms from a flat background, as in
sculpture, or the apparent projection of such shapes in a painting or drawing
Folding: To bend over or double up so that one part lies on another part
Location: a place of settlement, activity, or residence
Defining characteristics: Important features that makes something unique
Post card: A small, commercially printed card, usually having a picture on
one side and space for a short message on the other.

Lesson Titles in Sequence/Order
1. What Makes States Different

2. Creating Our State Postcards

3. Greetings from ______!
Brief Lesson Descriptions (2-3 sentences each)
1. Read the book The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller.
Talk about what makes each state unique, using Missouri as an
example. Show a picture of the landforms in the United States and
have the students talk with their partner about how it would affect
what people do in that state. Show youtube video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E2CNZIlVIg) which goes
through each state and draws a defining feature of it (ex. skiing in
Colorado). While watching it have the students draw three of the
examples they see on their own blank map of the United States.
2. Have kids pick one state from the three that they chose from the
video to make a post card from. This post card will be an art project
that they will be able to choose different art techniques to create
their postcards. (Materials include: paper, media pictures, magazine
cut outs etc.)Tell them that the postcard should represent the
states important landmarks, recreational activities, architecture,
transportation, or any other defining attributes of that state. They
will be using research to find the information, drawings, printed
pictures, paper cut outs, or anything else to make their post cards.
3. On the back of their post cards they will be writing on the following
prompt. You have just returned from a visit from your state and
you have brought back a postcard to send to your family. Tell them
what you saw and what you did on your visit. Be sure to include the
important things about the state on your post card. They will be
telling their families what they did on vacation there and the things
they saw. After the unit is over, students will share their post cards
Art Integration Unit Plan Template 3

with the class by sharing their final postcards, talking about their
artistic choices, reading their post letters on the back of their post
cards, and sharing what they learned by doing this project.


What student prior knowledge will this unit require/draw upon?

- This lesson draws upon the prior knowledge that students will know that we live in the United States and that the climate is different based on the
location of the state
- They will be able to use research to find out about something.
- Students will know how to craft a letter and sequence events in their writing.
- Students will know how to use different paper cutting techniques to create artwork

What activities will you use to engage students in imagining, exploring, and/or experimenting in this unit?

The activities that allow the students to imagine and experiment are in the art part of the lesson when they are creating their post card. Students are allowed
to use any strategy to create their post card. There are suggestions of drawing, magazine cut outs, and pictures from the internet, but students can get
creative when creating their postcards. They are also imagining when they are creating their letter from their visit to the state. There are many things that
one state offers, so picking the important ones requires the students to use their imagination.

How will this unit permit/encourage students to solve problems in divergent ways?

This unit encourages students to solve problems in divergent ways by allowing them to create without limitations. Their materials for creating the post card
are not limited to drawings. They are encouraged to find the best way to represent the characteristic using the best technique.

How will you engage students in routinely reflecting on their learning/learning processes?

Throughout this unit students will be reflecting on their learning through class discussions, peer discussions, and structured decision processes. Throughout
the lesson students will be engaging in class discussions about what they already know and about their learning. They video of the states and their
characteristics allows students to reflect on the things that they learned in the lesson.

How will this unit engage students in assessing their own work and the work of peers?

Throughout the unit students will be collaborating with each other about their projects. At the end of the lesson students will be sharing their work with the
class by presenting their post cards and reading their letter about their trip. This will allow students to assess their own work before they present to make
sure it is presentable and assess the work of their peers as they present.
Art Integration Unit Plan Template 4




What opportunities/activities will students be given to revise and improve their understandings and their work?

Students are given opportunities to revise and improve their work in the unit. When they complete the blank map with drawings of defining characteristics
of certain states, they are to pick one of those states to do further research on to create their projects. After creating their post cards they are to write about
what they did on their imaginary trip, this allows students to revise their understanding and improve their work even further. The images they compiled on
their post card can be given more meaning through the writing activity.

What opportunities/activities will you provide for students to share their learning/understanding/work in this unit?

At the end of the unit students will share their projects with the class. In this presentation students will share their artistic choices, their letters that they
wrote, and what they learned through doing this project.

How will you adapt the various aspects of this lesson to differently-abled students?

This project can be adapted to meet the needs of various students. For students that are physically unable to cut out things to make the post card, they can
use the computer to digitally create the post card. The video that is included in the lesson allows students who are English Language learners to see a visual
representation of the fifty United States. For gifted students, this unit is designed to meet the needs of students on all levels. Since students are allowed to
use research, students who are gifted will be able to pull a lot of information and write a well-crafted letter on their postcards while creating a postcard that
uses a variety of art techniques to represent the state they chose.


References
Silverstein, L. B. & Layne, S. (n.d.). Defining arts integration. Retrieved from
http://www.americansforthearts.org/networks/arts_education/publications/special_publications/Defining%20Arts%20Integration.pdf
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E2CNZIlVIg
Book: Keller, L. (1998). The scrambled states of America. New York: Henry Holt.