VTS Unit Plan

VTS UNIT PLAN

LTC 8900-60 Visual Thinking Strategies II

Teachers Name:  Dustin Shryock

Course Title: Beast Feast

Age/Grade Level of Students: 1^st – 4^th grade Ridgeway Boys Writers Club

DEFINE THE BIG IDEA: The big idea of the unit that I have developed is based on Beasts. The class that I have designed my unit for is made up of 1^st – 4^th grade boys who have trouble with writing skills. The curriculum is designed to help them develop their writing abilities by providing them with opportunities to write in relation to VTS sessions and art making activities. We look to choose topics that will be exciting for these young boys that have to do with adventures, heroes, warriors and their codes of customs. (Ex. Samurai, Knighthood, Wild West, etc.) The topics we select need to be interesting and inspiring for these young boys. Beasts have proven to be a topic that inspires a great deal of imaginative thought and dialogue in relation to the images that we have focused on and the projects that we have completed.

RATIONALE for BIG IDEA  (Why is it appropriate for your students?)

The big ide of BEASTS is appropriate for these young boys because of the imaginative nature that comes with an interaction with a beast. We are looking to inspire them to use new words and rich descriptors in their writings. Placing these youngsters in a setting where they talk and write about what it would be like to come into contact with a beast lends itself to these rich descriptions. Fears, smells, sounds, tactics, tools/weapons, and settings are all things that bring about juicy descriptive words with this topic. The images that we have come up with provide rich narratives and place these boys directly in front of a wide array of gnarly beasts. 

KEY CONCEPTS and OBJECTIVES:

* Students will learn to analyze environments and determine their effect on subject matter.

* Students will learn to talk and write about the rich details displayed in a piece of artwork.

* Students will learn to respectfully discuss their opinions and feelings about a piece of artwork

* Students will learn to create artwork within a set of limitations.

* Students will learn to create artwork in relation to a rich narrative 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

* What happens when I collaborate with another student’s artwork?

* What do I need to do to make my text relate to my artwork?

* What feelings would I experience if I encountered a beast in the wild?

* How do you create narrative within a piece of artwork?

* Can I expand my vocabulary by looking at and discussing art with others?

CROSS-CURRICULUAR CONNECTIONS:

This entire unit is designed to accompany an English writing program within a school. The opportunities to incorporate these lessons in either a writing program or an art program are the foundational goals of the unit. Students are being encouraged to write in relation to their creations. By doing this, hopefully students will find a point of personal inspiration to write from that perhaps does not exist in many other writing exercises. Perhaps there is an additional opportunity to connect this Big Idea of beasts to a science classroom investigating animal classifications or prehistoric creatures. 

VTS IMAGES :

Gladiator Vs. Lion

By Miguel Coimbra

I like this image as an introductory image due to its historical significance and has very rich narrative opportunities. It is an image of action and ferocity yet it does not contain anything too graphic or violent. Students are drawn into the role of the gladiator and encouraged to use descriptive words associated with the experience.

Basilisk

Artist unknown

I chose this image because of the combination of animal arts that are combined to create this Beast. These characteristics were helpful in getting the boys to think creatively in regards to the assignment I had created for them involving collaboration. It builds on the first image by using common animal features and expanding on the possibility of combining others.

St. George and the Dragon

By Raphael

I incorporated this image because I wanted to expose the students to a painting done by an important figure in art history and give our unit a wide range of historical perspective. I also wanted to incorporate images that have rich detail in the setting of the main figures. I wanted the boys to begin to look at the surroundings to draw conclusions about the meaning of the images.

     The Magma Beast

     By Spyders

I chose this image because once again, I hoped to continue to develop student’s focus to the surroundings of the main characters. I also hoped to expand the boys imaginations of the make-up of the beasts that we were experiencing and provide an opportunity for new descriptive words to incorporate into writings.

Doubled Back

By Bev Doolittle

My final image is one that I feel incorporates all of the characteristics that we were looking for in our images: narrative, rich environments and strong descriptive words. It also introduces another element of trickery or optical illusion that provides a very exciting surprise for the viewer. There is a possibility for an exciting, eye-opening realization for the students!

VTS IMAGE RATIONALE:

I think that the progression of images that I have chosen allows students to become involved quickly allowing them to share any prior knowledge they may have of an era/setting of familiarity with the topic of gladiators. The first image allows them to become involved with the image by imaging what it would be like to be in the gladiator’s sandals. We then move into some alternate forms of beasts giving students a wide range of beastly figures. Each image hopefully will expand their scope of viewership as they pull more and more elements out of the surroundings included in the images and relate them to what is happening to the main characters. I think that all of the images encourage the use of strong descriptive words and inspire imaginative adventures. The images encourage the students to look at the picture as a whole and figure out what is going on instead of simply listing things that they see inside the image.

In addition to the normal VTS session, we will have a vocabulary board next to the teacher where any rich descriptive words that are shared will be written for all of the class to see. This allows for students to focus on these and incorporate them into their own writings. It also reinforces the use of these words for the students who present them. Students become very excited to see their words on the board or try hard to have one of their own added.

STUDIO / ARTMAKING ACTIVITIES:

Monster Mash: This lesson is an Exquisite Corpse style collaborative project in which the students get to create beast halves and mix n’ match them with other students to create crazy new combinations. Each student is given two pieces of paper with initial marks indicating where the waist of the creature should connect on both papers. On the first page, the students create the top half of a beast and the bottom half on the other. They will then be able to trade with other students and have all of their sections match up on the original marks. They are then asked to write a descriptive profile for the beast describing its features and abilities. Finally, students will enter their beast into a class tournament where winners will be voted on by the entire class.

Clash of the Titans: In this lesson, students will create beast puppets and engage in some beastly smack talk with another student. Using paper bags, construction paper, glue, scissors, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, etc., students will create a beastly puppet. Then they will collaborate with another student to write a dialogue taking place in the midst of an intense battle between the two creatures. The students will then have the opportunity to preform their beastly smack-talk for the rest of the class.

Beast Feast:  In this final lesson, students will create a three-dimensional beast out of a wide array of snack foods. Using Rice Krispy treats, small donuts and tootsie rolls as the moldable armatures, students will then add candy, icing, and cereal to create a three-dimensional beastly creation. Once the creations are complete, photographed, and presented to the class, we will commence the unit with a Beast Feast!

LESSON SEQUENCE

Lesson #1 “Monster Mash”

This will be a three-day lesson. The first day we will start off with a VTS session using the Gladiator vs. Lion image to get the kids thinking about being in the presence of a beast and using strong descriptive words. After the VTS we will begin the art making exercise. This lesson is an Exquisite Corpse style collaborative project in which the students get to create beast halves and mix n’ match them with other students to create crazy new combinations. Each student is given two pieces of paper with initial marks indicating where the waist of the creature should connect on both papers. On the first page, the students create the top half of a beast and the bottom half on the other. They will then be able to trade with other students and have their entire sections match up on the original marks. The second day, I will show the Basilisk image and lead a VTS session to get them thinking in creative ways to create unique beasts. They are then asked to write a descriptive profile for the beast describing its features and abilities. Finally, students will enter their beast into a class tournament where winners will be voted on by the entire class.

Lesson #2 Clash of the Titans:  This will be another three-day lesson. We will start out doing a VTS session using The Magma Beast image to get the students thinking about the interactions between the two figures and how they interact with their surroundings. In this lesson, students will create beast puppets and engage in some beastly smack talk with another student. Using paper bags, construction paper, glue, scissors, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, etc., students will create a beastly puppet. We will incorporate the image of St. George and the Dragon for a VTS session on the second day, continuing to emphasize descriptive words and interactions between figures. Then they will collaborate with another student to write a dialogue taking place in the midst of an intense battle between the two creatures. The students will then have the opportunity to preform their beastly smack-talk for the rest of the class.

Lesson #3 Beast Feast:  This will be a one-day lesson to end the unit. We will start with a VTS session on the Doubled Back image. This image will get the students thinking about all of the components that we have been focusing on in the other images and also introduces another element of trickery or optical illusion that provides a very exciting surprise for the viewer. In this final lesson, students will create a three-dimensional beast out of a wide array of snack foods. Using Rice Krispy treats, small donuts and tootsie rolls as the moldable armatures, students will then add candy, icing, and cereal to create a three-dimensional beastly creation. Once the creations are complete, photographed, and presented to the class, we will commence the unit with a Beast Feast!

ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

*With all of these assignments, students will be asked to present or share their writings and creations with the class. Their willingness to share their work and contribute to the VTS sessions will be the main form of assessment.

*The student’s ability to collaborate with peers and maintain respectful classroom behavior in the VTS process will be an important component of the assessment.

*Students will also be assessed on their writing. Not necessarily their quality of writing but their attempts to use strong descriptive words that will be emphasized throughout the unit.

UNIT EVALUATION & ASSESSMENT

Success

·      This unit will be a success if students complete writing exercises using strong descriptive words found on the word bank created during our VTS discussions.

·      The unit will be a success if students are respectful of one another during their discussions and build off of each other’s ideas as they develop a knowledge base.

·      The unit will be a success if students are excited to see the new VTS image that is revealed and re eager to share their answers.

*Hindsight*

Success

·      The word board was a very big success. Having strong descriptive words spoken by classmates written up on the board in front of them really enhanced their willingness to contribute and their use of these words in their writings.

·      The images chosen seemed to be a big success. The conversations were lively and the students were drawn in to the fine details of each image. They were desperate for answers and were excited to create once the session was over.

Disappointments

·      While conducting the VTS sessions for this unit, I was disappointed in the amount of student comments I was able to get to in each VTS discussion. It seemed like many times, there were students waiting with their hands up to be called on that we didn’t get to because I was not able to keep the class comments on point and allow each student to share only one thing. Many times, students were sharing a laundry list of things and eating into the time we had leaving little time for the rest of the class.

Revisions

 After going through this unit, I would omit the exercise of having students vote on a class winner based on their writings describing their Monster Mash creations. After each student shared, it seemed much to brutal to have only one winner and a classroom full of losers.  Watching them work so hard on their writings and struggle to share in front of the class, voting on which one was better did not seem appropriate at all.