Booktalk and Literature Plan, Samantha Davis

1. Identifcation Information: Samantha Davis, Grade 6, Art

2. Learner Outcomes:
A.Gridding can be used for systematically capturing or distorting the proportions
of things
B.A form can be examined synthetically to see how the parts make up the whole
C.Artworks contain symbolic representations of a subject or a theme
3. Intended Learner Outcomes:
A.Students will identify the basic proportions of a face
B.Demonstrate the use of a grid for transferring images
4. Resources:
A.Mingan, My Village, Poems by Innu Schoolchildren, Illustrated by Roge
* This book is a collection of poems written by Innu children under the direction of
Roge. This artist wanted to create a collection of childrens poems as a means of
giving an accessible voice to their cultural experience. He chose to pair each poem
with a painted portrait of each child to give a face to each experience.
B.Alberta, Wendy L. Mathieu
* This book is an educational resource outlining Albertas history as well as many
interesting facts about the province. It has many great pictures and visuals to back up
the literature. It is a book that could be used for many diferent age groups as well as
subjects.
5. Procedures:
* Students will be seated while the teacher reads the book Mingan, My Village out
loud to the class. As we go through the book, the illustrations of the children will be
displayed on the overhead while each childs specifc poem is read. Once the book is
fnished, we will have a refection period discussing what we felt that the poems were
about. We will discuss culture as well as identity. Questions that I will ask for this
section are, What is culture? How does your culture afect who you are as a
person? and What are some things that are part of your culture? From there, we will
discuss how the portraits of the children played an important role while paring with the
Booktalk and Literature Plan, Samantha Davis
poems. Questions that I will ask would be Why do you think the artist chose to paint a
picture of each child who told a poem? and What do these paintings tell you about
the children? We will discuss what self portraiture is and I will explain how proportion
is an important factor when drawing a face. I will explain to the class that for our next
activity we will be creating a watercolour painted self portrait. To begin, I will have a
picture of each child with a grid overlaid. The students will then create a grid on a
piece of white paper the same size as the picture. I will explain to the students that we
will transfer the image of themselves by drawing one square at a time. They will start
at the top left square of the picture and draw what they see onto the top left square on
their paper. They will continue in this fashion until they have transferred their drawing
over. They do not need to get every detail but rather, simply the main features. From
here, students will erase grid lines and begin going over the drawing with watercolour
paints. Once done, students will brainstorm symbols and words that refect on
memories or aspects of their culture. They will then fll the background of their painting
with these elements. Students will leave paintings to dry and once dry, can use a thin
tipped black marker to outline some of their lines of the watercolor paint to make
shapes pop.
6. Refections
I feel that one of the merits of this planned learning activity was having the chance to
dive into literature and fnd ways to incorporate it into diferent elements of the
curriculum. I initially found this assignment to be very challenging for I went through a
number of books and struggled to fnd ways to incorporate them into the elementary art
curriculum. I was stuck because I was searching for books that directly related to
elements found within the learning outcomes of the art program. It was then that I
realized I could fnd other ways to tie in literature. I realized that I would be able to
choose a book that would not only incorporate into the art program of studies, but that I
could also tie it into other subjects that the students are learning about. When I found
the book, Mingan, My Village, I was frst taken aback by the beautiful portraits that
accompanied the poem. It got me thinking about how I could work in something similar
within an art class and I began thinking deeper about the content of the poems. They
were all written by Innu First Nation children which led me to consider the cultural
component and how that could be incorporated within the classroom. Since each of the
poems were childrens deceptions of their memories and history, I started to think about
what this could mean for children who grew up in Alberta. I then chose the book,
Alberta, to back up my lesson. This book was incredibly factual, explaining the history
Booktalk and Literature Plan, Samantha Davis
of Alberta, as well as many facts about our province. I thought that this would make an
interesting tie to the students social studies classes by bringing in an element of our
history. I was also interested in connecting the concepts of both books together to form
an English Language Arts assignment in which students would create a poem dealing
with a memory of their past or something culturally signifcant to them. I think it is
incredibly interesting that by simply picking two books, it is possible to touch on so many
diferent programs of studies. I think that it would be benefcial to students to see how
many diferent areas can be touched upon from books, as well as to carry their thinking
and learning across diferent subject areas, all while having a similar focus. The
structure of this assignment is to create deeper thinking within students. It lets them see
how literature can be applied to areas outside of the language arts classroom. If I were
to actually use this plan, I would try to fnd a way to incorporate the books across
various subjects, if I were to teach them. I like the idea of tying in the visual aspect of
illustrations into the art program of studies, and then backing it up with a written
element, much like in our I Am From assignment. A concern that I have if I were to
actually use this plan within the classroom would be keeping the students interested in
the more factual of the two books. I would have to work to make the facts seem
interesting too.