Enduring Understanding (Big Idea):

I can tell a story of my favorite character with a single image by learning how to draw said character, or characters, and using the elements of a story by planning things out with visual organization.

Essential Questions:   

How can I plan the drawings of scenes from my favorite stories, cartoons, or shows, and describe what is happening using images? How can I draw my favorite characters, and communicate what is going on in a scene?

Rationale:

It is an important endured understanding because students’ work will be better received in the future if it tells a story. In addition, it helps with planning out ideas, so it serves as learning how to visually organize their thoughts. It also helps students learn, that if there is something they don’t understand, but want to, they can always independently research things. It is relevant to this age group because it allows my students to research how to draw their favorite characters and helps them practice drawing in the future when it’s easier to draw their favorite characters. It is important to explore it through art so that my students can have another platform for understanding, and comprehension, when it comes to stories, when just doing the reading in class can feel like too much. Also, because the MPS district currently wants all teachers, regardless of field, and/or specialty, to help teach kids how to read. This helps promote comprehension, and literacy. It also gives the students a chance to draw characters that they otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to with more mundane projects.

Lesson #1:

Elements of a Story

Students will go through a presentation including a VTS with a picture that a story can easily be attached to. In the VTS we will cover who is in it, where it takes place, what is happening in it, how the characters are feeling, and when it is. After some explaining, how the image tells a story, I will give the kids a worksheet that asks them to draw a memory, using the elements of a story.

Students will demonstrate their understanding, by finishing the worksheet drawing one of their favorite memories using the elements of a story.

Lesson #2:

Tape Resistance Painting (Setting, and time)

I will demonstrate painting using tape resistance, with the tape being used for trees or anything they don’t want to be painted with the background, elaborate that each image needs a horizon line drawn over the tape, and explain color bleeds, and the colors to use to show dawn (yellow, orange, red), and dusk (red, purple, blue), and doing bleeds with complimentary colors to make the ground, and explain that this will be the setting for their stories.

Students will demonstrate their understanding by painting a picture that has used tape to cover parts of the painting they don’t want certain colors on, so that they can be used after most of the painting is done and can show overlapping. This will also take care of the “Where”, and “When” aspects of the brainstorming so students may have an easier time with said brainstorm.

Lesson #3:

Organization, Research, and Collage (Who they are, how they are feeling, and what is happening)

I will demonstrate brainstorming for the stories, talk about the characters, setting, time of day, feelings, and narrative. 

When we’ve finished the brainstorms, and possibly some sketches, I will also have the kids bring their chromebooks to engage in independent studies using How to Draws of the character or characters they want to use, and draw said characters on a separate piece of paper. I will explain that these can be characters from any pop culture franchise they want (Labubu, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Pokémon, Boondocks, etc.), as long as they’re not doing something inappropriate for school.

The evidence of the students’ understanding, will be paper with their brainstorms on them, (This will help organize what they have to research), Their actual research will be done in class, and they’ll show their understanding when they’ve drawn their character(s), The evidence of understanding, will be that they’ve cut out their characters and glued them onto their paintings. And the overall image is clearly connected to their planning.

Teacher Example: