Art Institute Field trip Proposal

Chicago’s Art Institute is number one on the world’s best museum list (https://www.yahoo.com/travel/art-institute-of-chicago-wins-tripadvisor-museum-awards-97658226277.html?soc_src=mags).  With over 300, 000 pieces of art just thirty miles from Winston, it is an opportunity for our title one school to see, firsthand, original pieces from Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, and Rembrandt. The 1930 painting American Gothic (think farmer and pitchfork) is in the same building as Georges Seurat’s, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte  (1884, France). Architecture and design pieces teach perspective and precision alongside aesthetic value (think Frank Lloyd Wright).  With Instagram and Snapchat, the photography exhibits at the Art Institute can teach students the history of the medium beginning in 1839. Students can see the importance of lighting, angles, and (again) perspective while considering how images represent eras and cultures (e.g., Samuel Miller’s Frederick Douglass, 1847/52; Gustave Le Gray’s Brig on the Water, France 1856,  Charles Sheeler’s Industry, 1927, Roy DeCarava’s Dancers, New York, 1956).  And before photography, there was sculpture. The Art Institute is the home of Adam 1856) by Auguste Rodin in bronze. All of our seventh graders will have an opportunity to see, firsthand, the most beautiful and thought-provoking artifacts of humanity.

The Art Institute and Common Core

Experiences in the museum are a great way for your students to use critical thinking skills and apply concepts learned in the classroom in a new context.  “The great news is that the standards call on so many things the arts do well. The tradition of careful observation, attention to evidence and artists’ choices, the love of taking an artist’s work seriously lies at the heart of these standards,” said David Coleman, CCSS architect. CCSS emphasize the use of original sources, close examination of texts and other materials, and exploration of multiple perspectives. They encourage student-centered, inquiry-based learning in which students formulate and articulate independent responses to texts and ideas. There is a focus on information literacy skills and the arguments made in and across history through various mediums. Students must learn to compare conflicting accounts in order to create an argument about the past (e.g., What does this piece suggest the era was about versus that piece?) and to articulate and negotiate problem solving.

Cross-Content Speaking and Listening: 

• SL.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade level topics, texts, and issues building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly, following rules for collegial discussions and decision-making.
• SL.4. Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
• Objective: To closely examine a primary source, to interpret the source using valid reasoning and evidence as one perspective on the source’s subject and then to engage in collaborative discussions presenting claims and findings in a collegial manner with diverse partners.

Mathematics:

•  Processing Strands: Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof, Connection, Communication
• Content Strands: Geometry: Shapes and Geometric Relationships; Measurement: unit of Measurement  (8.G.A.1.A, B, C (lines, segments, angles, parallel lines); G.A.2. (two-dimensional figure, congruence)
• One mathematical connection with art is that some individuals known as artists have needed to develop or use mathematical thinking to carry out their artistic vision. Among such artists were Luca Pacioli (c. 1145-1514), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), and M.C. Escher (1898-1972). Another connection is that some mathematicians have become artists, often while pursuing their mathematics. - See more at: http://www.ams.org/samplings/feature-column/fcarc-art1#sthash.0lrKaim2.dpuf
• Cezanne was known for his geometric shapes: http://www.paul-cezanne.org/

History and Foreign Language: The tour, Art from Many Places, encompasses art from many geographic locations (National Geography Bee), historical eras, and varied cultures. Students will develop looking and critical thinking skills as they explore the differences and similarities among works of art throughout the museum

• Most important photographs of history: http://listverse.com/2014/03/17/10-of-the-most-important-photographs-in-history/
• Political Cartoons: http://www.politicalcartoons.com/; What is the issue in this cartoon? What is the cartoonist’s opinion on this issue? What other opinions can you imagine another person having? Did you find it persuasive? Why or Why not? What techniques did or could the artist use -- irony, exaggeration, analogy, labeling, symbolism -- http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-eg/6460?

Science, STEM: Think DaVinci. Both art and science are dedicated to the questions: What is true? Why does it matter? How do we move society forward?  “The art studio and the science lab are two places for open-ended inquiry, for failure to be a welcome part of the process, for learning to occur by a continuous feedback loop between thinking and doing” (Scientific American).

• Famous Paintings HOld Clues to Climate Change: http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2014/03/scienceshot-famous-paintings-hold-clues-past-climate

Teaching Materials

•  “Using the Museum in Your Classroom” with project-based learning and art as a vehicle for teaching math and science: “Once you put an image up [in your classroom] everybody has access to learning.”: http://www.artic.edu/learn/teachers-pre-k-12; www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW8MmHIelpI

• Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS): If students can do this up to 9 times before the museum visit, they’ll be ready for the fieldtrip (according to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). It does not rely on any art knowledge. Questioning that can be applied to any image:

• http://vtshome.org/what-is-vts/method-curriculum--2
• video with examples and rationale for this strategy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVzcknOWpaE
• What’s going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can you find?

• Build Interest: A week or so before the trip, one subject area can show this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBBOMLURSGA (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).
• Museum Etiquette and Docents:The week before the visit, we should show this video in another subject area to show what to expect.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3G85Umn4Js; model gallery teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf0XBa3-Pv8
• More to come from Mike Freitag.

Logistics

• Organizers: Sarah Donovan, Zoe Shapera
• When: Embedded content-specific art lessons from September through December culminating in a field trip in late January, departing at 9am; a guided tour at 10 am; lunch at 11:00 and 12:00; time for a scavenger hunt, writing/drawing activity, and exploration; departing at 1pm
• Who: 7th grade teachers and students; Art Institute (Victoria) approved 200 students per visit; there are 372 students; chaperone ratio is one adult per ten students. The teams will likely be determined by History teachers’ rosters because those classes do not have intervention levels.
• Docent Tour: Art from Many Places is a one hour tour of the museum with a docent; one docent for every 15 students, which means lots of opportunities for critical thinking and discussion.
• Cost: none, it’s free
• Bus: about 60 on a bus about 3-4 buses per day
• Lunch: sack lunches in education studios;group one eats at 11:00 and group two eats at 12:00pm