A Children s World Developed By Suggested Length Suggested Grade Level(s) Subject Areas Willie Reid Four 50 minute lessons Three Social studies, Science, Visual Arts, Language Arts, Drama Overview These lessons examine images of Canadian children in the late 1800s and early 1900s and encourage students in the present time to make personal connections with the lives, responsibilities, thoughts, and feelings of these children through discussion, writing, art, and drama. Links to Curriculum Outcomes Students will (be expected to) explore and describe universal human rights, responsibilities, and other selected issues (Social Studies) demonstrate an understanding that views of the past are shaped by diverse perspectives (Social Studies) use various materials and processes, exploring possibilities in art making (Visual Arts) investigate objects and use appropriate language to communicate results (Science) use basic reference materials and a database or electronic search (Language Arts) demonstrate engagement with the creation of pieces of writing and other representations (Language Arts) Links to Telling Stories: Themes / Key Words caricature similarities/connections among young people rights and responsibilities of global citizens Art Works Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-664 Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-2372 Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-1875 Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-816
Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-1286 Chad Stretch Up West River, Robert Harris, CAG H-618 Context These lessons might be incorporated into the curriculum at the beginning of the school year in connection with activities and discussions around the concept of self and others. Lesson #1: Capture That Other Image! Students will, through discussion, develop an understanding of the thoughts and feelings of the children in the following portrait and photograph and will engage in artwork that represents their own thoughts and feelings. Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-664 Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-2372 Materials disposable camera (or school camera if one is available) rectangular squares (approx 11cm x 11cm) cut from washed, dried milk cartons plasticine (various colours) everyday materials to add texture to plasticine pieces (e.g., plastic knives. forks, screws) Activities 1. Prior to the day of creating the plasticine art portraits, engage students in a discussion of both the portrait and the photo, imagining who the children might be as well as the difficulties they might have encountered in sitting for a portrait. Compare these difficulties to those that children might experience in posing for the photograph. 2. Have students then take photos of groups (2 or 3) of their classmates in a pose that suggests they re not yet ready for the shot (head and chest only). 3. Students can then recreate the portraits from photos they ve taken, by pressing various colours of plasticine on the smooth surfaces of the milk carton squares to form an image. Encourage a very thin
layer for the background and, in creating the faces, a working of the clay in various ways to recreate texture of, for example, facial features, hair, and clothing. Try using key words such as children, lessons, photography, clay, or portrait to access the many valuable sites that give suggestions for art making. Suggested Resource any of a number of books by Barbara Reid Ideas for Assessment Following the discussion of the original work, ask students to prepare a speech bubble for each child in the Harris portrait to illustrate what they believe the posing child might be thinking while the artist is working. They might also prepare bubbles for their own creations. Follow-up The photos and resulting artworks will be humorous. Display in a prominent area of the school matching original photos with the artwork. Lesson #2: Extra, Extra, Read All About It! Students will, through the examination of the photographs, develop an understanding of children s jobs and responsibilities both at home and in the world, in early times and now, while creating a classroom newsletter, Daily Examiner, that depicts their own writing and artwork around the subject. Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-1875 Chad Stretch Up West River, Robert Harris, CAG H-618 Materials several copies of different newspapers pencils for sketching classroom publishing software (if available)
Activities 1. In examining the photograph, students can engage in a critical discussion around the kinds of responsibilities that children had during the time the photos were taken and similarities and differences in children s responsibilities today 2. This may serve as a springboard for the development of a class published Daily Examiner in which students each offer, according to their personal strengths and skills, newsworthy items. 3. The items could be produced in the form of comic strips, poems, interviews, editorials, photographs, or advertisements, and will center around issues of important work they, as children, can do both at home and in a global context. Students can work in pairs or small groups so that support is given to every voice for the class newsletter. Classroom publishing software if available Follow-up This can be a one-time activity that addresses children s roles and responsibilities in their worlds, or a kick-off for the development of a news and views publication in which students take turns developing facility with the various forms of writing and artwork that contribute to a news publication. They might develop a portfolio of their work to be included in the assessment process. Their publication could be distributed (or even sold for a small sum) around the community to businesses, government offices, and local organizations and citizens to illustrate the power and potential of young people as scholars, entrepreneurs and champions of change. Lesson #3: Blossoms and Symbols Students will research, examine, and represent, through artmaking, symbolic provincial flowers on a large wall map of Canada. They will, in this process, develop an understanding of the characteristics and growing conditions of each of the flowers. Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-816
Materials reference materials on Canadian provinces encyclopedia or various books on flowers large wall map of Canada or mural paper and markers tissue paper, various colours Activities 1. Have students examine the Harris drawing focusing particularly on the image of the flower. Have them discuss what the child may be thinking or feeling as he gazes at it. Students can then identify the flower and predict the season when the drawing may have been completed. 2. In pairs or small groups, have students select a Canadian provincial flower and learn about its characteristics and growing conditions. 3. Students may then create, through tissue folding techniques (cutting shapes and layering according to their flower s shape) enough flowers to cover the shape of their province on either a map of Canada or a map created by students on mural paper. Sites such as www.kinderart.com Ideas for Assessment Students will, through this activity, achieve outcomes in science, social studies and art. Have them display the Canadian mural in the school lobby. Have student groups present information on their flowers to classmates and other classes in the school. Follow-up Students might also create enough of their province s flowers as corsages for parents and friends. Another possible extension is to have students create still life sketches of their flowers, framing them with cardboard for a school gallery display. Lesson #4: Assume That Pose! Students will develop an understanding of techniques used by artists to represent a particular mood or feeling conveyed in caricature. They will consider questions regarding the central figure in the work (boy in cemetery). They will recreate, through role-play
and dramatic presentations, facial and body expressions of exaggeration and humour. Untitled, Robert Harris, CAG H-1286 Materials examples of political cartoons from newspapers found costume materials and props Explorations 1. Have students examine facial expressions in political cartoons, and discuss techniques used by artists to exaggerate characteristics to convey a certain feeling or mood. Activities 2. In looking at the Harris caricature of the small boy, they should imagine how he is feeling and what the artist did to suggest this feeling. They can respond to questions such as: Where is the boy coming from? going? How is he feeling? Why? What happened before he entered the cemetery? What is going to happen next? 1. In role-playing scenarios, have students practice exaggerated body positions, gestures, and facial expressions for various situations (e.g., walking through a door to find your room ransacked; winning the lottery; hearing strange eerie noises emanating from your attic late at night, etc.). They might begin with simple facial portrayal of a variety of emotions. 2. Students might develop and refine their role-playing by using costume and props created from found materials and present exaggerated depictions of their favorite musicians, authors, actors, etc. drama exercises from the www.sasked.ca site Ideas for Assessment Students can respond in positive ways to one another during the presentations, by immediate verbal feedback or by jotting their comments on post-it notes. Students can record their sketches and ideas in a special art journal constructed from recyclable materials and bound for personal or class sharing.
Possible Extensions Students might extend the activity by creating tableaux of their favorite characters, heroes, etc.