Art Integration Unit Plan Template

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

LTC Art for Children
Unit Title & Big Idea:

Grade Level/Class Periods Required:

Title: Family tree

Big Idea: Family and Identity

1-2 class periodsduring unit on Vietnam War,

Grade 5

Students will be investigating ideas of family and how they

play into their identity. Other concepts such as ancestry,
culture, and traditions may play into this. Students will explore
questions like: What comprises a family? Does one have to be
blood-relative to be considered family? How does your family
impact your identity? What part of your identity comes from
your family? Etc.
Unit Overview/Summary: Why is this important to teach?
What do you hope to accomplish?

Materials/Equipment/Etc:
- The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland
- Laptops/iPads and printer
- Construction paper
Students will have been learning about the Vietnam war. The
- Glue
book The Lotus Seed will give them a new perspective about
- Decorative supplies and materials (glitter,
people involved in wars and bring up the ideas that they are
peoplejust like uswho have families and important people
pipe cleaners, feathers, markers, colored
and things in their lives. The students will explore their own
pencils, etc.)
identities and families afterwards. This is important because it
- Textbook and teacher workbook, teacher
gives them time to reflect on themselves, as well as share with
should have some prior knowledge on
their peers, which would promote diversity and learning. I
Vietnam war.
hope the students will learn more about each other AND
- Genograms oil painting (to VTS):
themselves and find contentment in learning these things. I
https://artforwellness.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/
hope to accomplish this with the students and with myself,
genogram-small.jpg
and learn more about my class.
- art therapy resource for teacher: (Amy
Hautman Bates)
https://arttherapynewmexico.com/tag/family-

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

tree/
Key Concepts (3-4)
What will students learn and KNOW about art and art
making from this lesson?

Essential Questions (3-4) What questions guide the

investigation in this lesson?
-

Students will learn about the author Sherry Garland

through her book the Lotus seed. They will know that
making a family tree is an artistic method and hopefully
learn more about themselves, their families, their roots
and ancestry, culture, and traditions in the process.
Students will learn that family trees do not have to be
objective facts, but can be interpretations. They will
hear about the artists thoughts when creating her
family tree:
Family trees are all about facts around birth, death,
marriages and children. Genograms are about
relationships. That gave me much more room to lay it
out in a personal and subjective way. I painted my
family as I experienced it. No one can argue with that.
Students will also develop their visual literacy by
engaging in VTS of the family tree and interpreting the
different images they see. They will also learn about the
main events of the Vietnam war and develop their
literacy with a read aloud.

Unit Objectives:

VTS Questions (What can you tell me about this

image? What do you see that makes you say that?
What more can you tell me?)
Why was the lotus seed important to the main
character?
What kinds of things are important to your identity
or to your family or culture?
How do life experiences (such as war) influence the
way you relate to art?
How does learning about art impact how we
perceive the world?
How do some of these images (the pictures the
students printed) influence our views of the world?
How does art help us understand the lives of people
of different times, places, and cultures?
How does art (how does the lotus seed or the object
you picked) preserve aspects of life? How did it do
so in the book?
What comprises a family
Does one have to be blood-relative to be considered
family? Does anyone have any examples?
How does your family impact your identity?
Where do we get our identity from?

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

The students will create a family tree using objects of significance to them, their identity, their families or cultures.
The students will recognize that artistic portrayals of family trees are open to interpretation by different audiences
and creators
The students will VTS a picture and use peers ideas to stimulate their thinkingthey will give at least one comment
The students will participate in discussion after reading The Lotus Seed and throughout the lesson
Students will create a paragraph explaining their learning and the significance of their items in their tree.
Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) (3-4)
- Big Idea 1: PS 1 Understanding Self as an
Individual and as a Member of Diverse Local and
Global Communities, A: Demonstrate the personal
characteristics to maintain a positive self-concept.
- Big Idea 2: PS 2 Interacting With Others in Ways
That Respect Individual and Group Differences, B:
Demonstrate respect for individuals within diverse
groups
National Core Art Standards
Creating
Students will:
1. Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
2. Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
3. Refine and complete artistic work.
They will be able to complete their family trees by
conceptualizing what message they want to convey and
how they want to convey it (through what
materials/objects)
Performing, presenting and producing

Core Academic Standards (Common Core State

Standards) (3-4)
English Language Arts:
- RL.5.6: describe how a narrators or speakers point
of view influences how events are described
- RL.5.7: Analyze how visual and multimedia
elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or
beauty of a text
- RL.5.10: read and comprehend literature, including
stories, dramas and poetry, at the high end of the
grades
History/Social Studies:
- 5-7.C: understanding fact, opinion, bias, and points
of view in sourcesDistinguish between fact and
opinion and recognize bias and points of view
(CCSS)
- 5-5.C.b: Understanding the concept of place
identify human characteristics, such as peoples
education, language, diversity, economies,
religions, settlement patterns, ethnic background
and political system (CCSS)
- 5-6.E: knowledge of relationships of the individual

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

Students will:
4. Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for
presentation.
6. Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic
work.
They will be able to deliver a message and convey
meaning through their family trees, and present them
to the rest of the 5th grade.

and groups to institutions and cultural traditions

(CCSS)
5-7.B.a: knowledge to create and use various social
studies graphics and mapsuse maps, graphs,
statistical data, timelines, charts and diagrams to
interpret, draw conclusions and make predictions
(CCSS)

Responding
7. Perceive and analyze artistic work.
8. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
Students will be able to perceive and analyze others
work by looking at their peers trees. They will analyze
and discuss the work of Amy Hautman Bates through
VTS.
Connecting
Students will:
10. Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal
experiences to make art.
11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural
and historical context to deepen understanding.
They should be able to understand the significance of
the lotus seed in relation to the culture and historical
context, as well as use their personal experiences to
choose objects and items with meaning to include in
their family trees.
Content Areas Integrated:
1. Visual Art

Identify & define common vocabulary/concepts that

connect the art form with the other identified subject

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

2. Literacy/ELA
3. Social Studies

Lesson Titles in Sequence/Order with TIME and

MATERIALS needed for each portion
1) The lesson will begin with a read aloud of The
Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland. (10 minutes)
2) The students and teacher will have a discussion
about the book and about the significance of the
seed to the main character. (10-15 mins)
3) Students will VTS an oil painting genogram by
Amy Hautman Batesan art blogger. (25
minutes)
a. Done on smartboard, no additional
materials
4) Teacher debriefs the class about the piece of
artwork. (10 minutes)
a. Family trees are all about facts around
birth, death, marriages and children.
Genograms are about relationships. That
gave me much more room to lay it out in a
personal and subjective way. I painted my
family as I experienced it. No one can
argue with that.
b. Teacher will use the blog post as a resource
and explain additional ideas from her
writing to students.
The following Day:

area(s):
Significant: important to you and to others, meaningful
Geneology: ancestry, roots, where you come from, etc.
Subjective: open to interpretation, each person will have
unique outcomes
Brief Lesson Descriptions (2-3 sentences each)

The lesson will begin with a read aloud of The Lotus Seed.
The students will then have a short discussion on the
book and what the significance of the seed was to the
main character.
The students will then VTS this image (family tree):
Afterwards, the teacher will explain the authors
intent and the class will have a discussion about
interpretation of art. The teacher will then introduce the
idea of family trees and give the students their task of
creating family trees with significant items. They will
discuss its relevance to the book.

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

5) The idea of family trees is then introduced.

Students will then create a family tree. It can
include blood and non-blood relatives. This will be
created differently, however, than a regular family
tree. Instead, students will find objects and items
of significance to their family, culture, tradition,
etc. and associate each object with a person. (60
minutes)
a. Each item will be printed out and be used in
place of the individual on the family tree.
b. The class will have a discussion before
beginning the project. Guiding questions will
be used such as: What comprises a family?
Does one have to be blood-relative to be
considered family? How does your family
impact your identity? What part of your
identity comes from your family? Etc.
c. Decorative supplies and materials such as
glitter, pipe cleaners, feathers, markers,
colored pencils, etc. will be used for the
family trees as well as printed images,
construction paper, and glue.
d. Students may also bring objects from home
to use on their trees.
6) Students will then write a short paragraph to go
underneath their family tree explaining the
significance of some of the items and why it is
important to their family or identity. (25 minutes)
a. They will use their iPads and print these out
7) Students family trees will be hung around the
classroom and shared with the rest of the fifth

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

grade.
What student prior knowledge will this unit require/draw upon?
The students will have some prior knowledge of the Vietnam war from what they have studied in class. The book
The Lotus Seed will draw upon their prior knowledge of the war to understand some of the events that happen in
the beginning of the book. The activity will also require some prior knowledge of their own families and identities,
which each student will have a different set of background knowledge of themselves. Some might have more
knowledge on their roots than others, but that is something they can further investigate. Most of this requires
reflection upon oneself and ones identityand that is how students can learn even more about themselves.
What activities will you use to engage students in imagining, exploring, and/or experimenting in this unit?
The process of VTS allows students to explore ideas that they wouldnt think of, and the idea that art is open to
interpretation. They can experiment with different objects in their projects and it is up to them to create the final
product to convey a message and should be meaningful to them. The final project is the main activity that allows
them to imagine and experiment with different things because it is a very open-ended project.

How will this unit permit/encourage students to solve problems in divergent ways?
This lesson allows for the most divergent outcomes as each student will have a completely unique product. This can
help them change their thinking about the world, because exploring different perspectives, as that in The Lotus
Seed and those of their classmates will expand their mentality and allow them to understand events in different
ways, therefore helping them solve them in divergent ways.
How will you engage students in routinely reflecting on their learning/learning processes?
There are many chances for the students to reflect. During VTS, they have a lot of silence and an opportunity to just
think and take in the images they see. They will have multiple discussions throughout this lesson which also allows
them the chances to reflect with their classmates. Finally, their final product, along with the paragraph they write up
will give them the time to individually reflect on what they learned and what the project means to them. Having

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

students share and engage in class discussions is the best way to stimulate their thinking and giving them that time
to think is also helpful to their learning process.
How will this unit engage students in assessing their own work?

Their final summative assessment is the family tree and it is a self-assessment/reflection when they write their
paragraphs about what they learned and about their trees. They will show evidence of their learning by what they
include and reference in their paragraphs and description of their work. Throughout the lesson, they will have
opportunities to demonstrate their learning through discussion and participation in class reflections. (formative
assessments)
What opportunities/activities will students be given to revise and improve their understandings and their work?
Students will have plenty of time to work on their projects, which allows them to revise and improve if needed. They
can collaborate with classmates or the teacher, who can give feedback. During discussion, students will also receive
feedback from the teacher about their understandings and correct any misconceptions, especially about factual
ideas.
What opportunities/activities will you provide for students to share their learning/understanding/work in this unit?
The final aspect of this lesson is a presentation with the fifth grade. Students can also invite their parents or
relatives if theyd like and it allows them to present their learning and share with peers. It is meaningful for them
because it is about themselves and something they can share a lot aboutit is also easily and directly connected to
their learning in social studies.
How will you adapt the various aspects of this lesson to differently-abled students?
The first aspect of this lesson is that it is organically differentiated for different learners as it is very open-ended and
open to interpretation. For different-abled students, I would give them the options of working with a partner,
receiving additional support from the teacher, using technology to help create it (laptop) as well as present it, etc.

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

There is limited mobility required (walking or moving around), so that would not present a problem, but if so, a peer
or teacher can aid the students as well.

TEACHER REFLECTION: How will you know that this lesson is successful and meaningful? List indicators.
-

Students will be enthusiastic about creating the project

Students will participate in discussions and be excited to share
Students paragraph reflections will be an indicator for their learning and how meaningful they found the
project.
The lesson is organically meaningful because it is about the students. It will be successful if students can learn
and understand about each other things that they didnt know before.
References

Silverstein, L. B. & Layne, S. (n.d.). Defining arts integration. Retrieved from

http://www.americansforthearts.org/networks/arts_education/publications/special_publications/Defining
%20Arts%20Integration.pdf
https://arttherapynewmexico.com/tag/family-tree/