The Day the Crayons Quit (Daywalt) offers a humorous foray into re-imagining the habitual roles we play in group activities. In this lesson, the class room teacher will mirror Duncan’s shift as the “artiste” to the “note-taker” and give the students the opportunity to shape how class activities could be run. By using contemplative art … The Day the Crayons Quit – <i>and took over</i>
This lesson plan can be used either in a classroom or online. Plot Summary: This six-minute film is about a baboon who lives alone on the Moon. Wordless and moving, the video portrays the baboon as full of longing for the Earth, struggling with feelings of sadness and loneliness. Looking wistfully out at Earth, he … Baboon on the Moon
Introduction Students should be given a week to do the following assignment (though it can be revised as needed to fit your time constraints): Pick as many “beautiful” songs as you are old. So, for example, if you are 16, you will pick 16 of the songs you feel are the most “beautiful.” Please make … What Do We Find Beautiful?
Lesson plan that explores the philosophy of art and music using 4’33” by John Cage. Students explore the question “What is music?”
Have each student draw two pictures. One drawing must be a drawing they would call art, and the other one they would not call art. Ask the students who want to do so to share their drawings. Some questions you can consider include: What makes one art and the other not? Does the intention of … What is Art?
We all love music. Some of us sing daily, if just to ourselves. It could be our favorite tune from Frozen or simply a tune we made up ourselves. What makes sound music? Let’s start with ourselves. The teacher/facilitator may wish to share this video and have the children sing along, or you may choose … Can animals make music?
The Gaze: Power and Resistance in Film Read “The Oppositional Gaze” for homework (see below) the day before class. It’s fairly long and challenging. Watch the 19-minute video. This material explores the way what Sartre calls “the gaze” operates in films and how the perspective of the camera and of the implied audience affect the … The Gaze: Power and Resistance in Flim
In 2007 an independent film came out entitled “My Kid Could Paint That.” It followed the art career of a four year old, Marla Olmstead, living in Binghamton, NY, who took the art world by storm. Many of her canvases sold for five figures and presented beautiful and engaging abstract images. The film began as … Can anyone make art?
Beauty: In the eye of the beholder or is there something more to it? This unit invites high school students to explore the meaning of “beauty.” Source Materials: Plato’s Symposium (available in many editions) Crispin Sartwell’s Six Names of Beauty (Routledge, 2004) Puzzles About Art-an Aesthetics Casebook, by Battin, Fisher, Moore, and Silvers (Bedford/St. Martin’s, … Thinking About Beauty
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