Kelly Art Integration Plan

Mara Kelly
Art Integration Lesson Plan Template
LTC 4240: Art for Children
Lesson Title & Big Idea: Throughout time and across cultures, man has had a connection to nature.

Grade Level: 3nd Grade

Lesson Overview/Summary:

Class Periods Required:

In this lesson, students will integrate visual arts, literacy and science. Students will learn about the ways that we
can take care of our environment through research. Students will collect 5-10 different leaves from their
neighborhoods or from school and bring them to class. We will classify (sort) the different types of leaves. The
students will then be introduced to Andy Goldsworthys art with nature. The students will then create their own
art with nature by ripping off half of a leaf and making the leaf symmetrical by drawing the other half on a
poster. The students will continue this process with 3 leaves. They will then write about different ways we can
help take care of our environment. These posters will hang in the hallway for our school community to see.

(please circle)

Key Concepts: What you want the students to know.

Essential Questions:

1. Visual Art:
Students will learn about Andy Goldsworthys art with nature.
Students will learn how to use nature to create their own art.
Students will learn about symmetry both in art and in nature.
2. Literacy:
Students will read and discuss different ways we can help conserve
nature.
Students will write ideas to help conserve nature on a poster.

What effects do we have on the environment and what are some ways
we can combat the negative effects?

Why is it important for us to advocate for our environment?

What would happen if nature ceased to exist?

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3. Science:
Students will understand that nature is all around them and there is
symmetry in nature.
Students will understand that we need to take care of our Earth and ways
that we can do so.

Lesson Objectives: What you want the students to do.

1. Visual Art: The students will be able to...
discuss how Andy Goldsworthy uses nature in art
2. Literacy: The students will be able to
write examples of how we can take care of our Earth
discuss the importance of nature
3. Science: The students will be able to
show symmetry in leaves
classify leaves based on their characteristics (ex. color, shape, texture)

Grade Level Expectations (GLEs)

1. Visual Art:
Product/Performance: 3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and
themes in artworks created for various purposes. C. Create an original
artwork that communicates ideas about the following themes: Nature

Identify & define common vocabulary that connect the art form with
the other identified content areas:

Nature: the natural scenery that is all around us

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2. Literacy:
Writing 2Ab: Write opinion texts that state an opinion about the topic or
text and provide reasons for the opinion.
Writing 2Ac: Write opinion texts that use specific words that are related
to the topic and audience.
3. Science:
2. PS1.A.1 Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify
different kinds of materials by their observable properties.

Conservation: the act of consciously choosing to protect something

else

Audience: who or what a piece of writing is addressed to

Symmetry: when one half of an object looks identical to another

Content Areas Integrated*:

Lesson Activities & Procedure(s) (please be very specific):

1. Visual Art (Inspiration Artist: Andy Goldsworthy)

Day 1:

Photographs of Andy Goldsworthy's Art: How you can use nature to

send a message
2. Literacy
Writing opinion texts to address a specific audience
3. Science
Leaves can be classified by a variety of characteristics

1. Students will bring in leaves from either their neighborhood or from

around the school. They will pick 3 leaves to keep at their desk to use
for the project. They will then bring their extra leaves to the carpet. I
will ask the students, What are some ways we could sort these
leaves? Then as a class, we will sort our leaves one of the ways
suggested.
2. After we sort them one time, I will have the students mix them back up
and sort them another way. The students will then classify the leaves
another way. We will continue this process of re-sorting leaves until we
cannot think of another way to sort them. As we classify the leaves, we
will create a class list of the different ways we sorted them.
3. After this sorting activity, we will split into groups of 2. Each group
will get an iPad and will begin to do research about different ways we

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can protect our environment. The students will use this search engine
for all research parts in this project: www.kidrex.org because it brings
up kid-friendly search results.The students will generate a list of ideas
and bring their list of ideas back to the carpet.
4. We will begin to discuss the importance of nature and ways we can
protect it. This will be a student-led discussion. As the discussion goes
on, I will write down the different ideas presented on a piece of chart
paper.
Day Two:
1. Students will pair up and get an iPad. The iPads will have a link to this
website (http://visualmelt.com/Andy-Goldsworthy) on the homepage.
Working together in pairs, the students will browse the photographs
and choose their favorite.
2. We will then come back to a whole group on the carpet and people
who are willing will show their favorite image of Andy Goldsworthy's
art and explain why they like it.
3. We will then have a class discussion about how Andy Goldsworthy
uses nature in his artwork and what message his artwork sends.
4. After that, we will begin to work on our class posters. The first thing
the students will do will be write 3-5 ways to help conserve nature.
The students will be reminded that these posters are going to hang in
the hallway; therefore, our audience is our school community. They
can use iPads to do more research or they can look at the class list we
generated the day before. The students will work with their writing
partner to do this, although they are each creating their own poster.
5. Once the students have written their 3-5 sentences, we will come back
to whole group. I will show the students one of my leaves. I will fold it
down the middle and ask them if they notice anything about it. I will

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then unfold it and ask the students if they notice anything else. If no
one has said something about the two sides looking the same, I will
introduce this idea. I will explain how all leaves are symmetrical,
which is like looking in a mirror.
Day Three:
1. To begin day three, I will explain that we are going to rip off half of
our leaves and we are going to use tools (colored pencils, markers,
crayons, yarn, construction paper, scissors, glue, or any other ideas the
students suggest) to make the leaves symmetrical again.
2. Students will then go back to their table spots and begin ripping their
leaves. They will glue their leaves onto their poster and then begin
making them symmetrical. I will walk around the room and provide
support when necessary.
3. After the students have used 3-5 leaves and have re-made them
symmetrical, we will come back whole group. We will discuss the
different ideas we found for protecting our environment, why those
ideas were important to us and we will also discuss the challenges we
faced throughout this process.
4. We will then hang our posters in the hall for our school community to
see, read and reflect upon.
Anticipatory Set (Gaining Attention):
The anticipatory set will be having the students bring in leaves from
their neighborhood/school. This will gain their attention because they
will be eager to know what we are going to do with the leaves.

Closure (Reflecting Anticipatory Set):

Through the creation of their posters, the students are able to
demonstrate what they learned about conserving the environment and
sharing that knowledge with their peers and school community.

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Formative Assessment strategy:

Summative Assessment strategy:

Formative assessment strategy will take place throughout the lesson, in

places like the discussions about classifying leaves, protecting our
environment, and Andy Goldsworthy's art. This allows the teacher to see
what prior knowledge the students already have about nature and ways
to conserve it.

The summative assessment will be the students creation of a poster.

The poster needs to have 3-5 sentences discussing the importance
nature and/or conservation. The poster also needs to have 3-5 leaves
that are ripped down the middle and their symmetry is recreated. The
symmetry may be recreated through colored pencils, markers, crayons,
yarn, construction paper, scissors, glue, or any other ideas the students
suggest.

What student prior knowledge will this lesson require/draw upon?

The students will need to have prior knowledge with sorting items based on similar characteristics. The students will need to have prior
knowledge on the purposes nature has and the benefits it brings us. The students will need to have prior knowledge with ways we can help our
environment. The students will need to have some prior knowledge of how to write to a certain audience.

How will you engage students in imagining, exploring, and/or experimenting in this lesson?
Students will engage in experimenting by classifying the leaves. This is experimenting because they may find that sorting them a specific way
doesnt work. They will also engage in experimenting when they are creating their posters. They will have to experiment with different tools to
figure out which tool will work best with what they have imagined creating. They will explore when they research about Andy Goldsworthys art
on the iPads.

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How will this lesson allow for/encourage students to solve problems in divergent ways?
This lesson will allow/encourage students to solve problems in divergent ways by having to think of new ways to classify leaves. It also
encourages them to solve problems while they are creating because they will have to decide whether the tool they choose is going to effectively
display the symmetry in the leaves.

How will you engage students in routinely reflecting on their learning?

The students will engage in routine reflection of their learning during whole group discussions. The students will be able to share what they have
learned with their peers. In addition to this, students will routinely reflect while they create their poster. They will have to recall things we have
discussed (ways to conserve, importance of nature etc.) and write those ideas in their own words. They will also reflect after they have created
their poster because they can show others what they have learned.

How will you adapt the various aspects of the lesson to differently-abeled students?
Students are not required to share in whole-group discussion. Some students may want to listen and take notes instead of participating. One
accommodation that is made for all students is that they do their research about Andy Goldsworthy and about ways to protect our environment in
partners. Students are also not required to share their favorite image of Andy Goldsworthys. Students are also given the choice in what tools they
want to use to re-create the symmetry in their leaves. Students will also work with their writing partner as they generate their poster. This will
allow all students to have support when writing.

What opportunities/activities will students be given to revise and improve their understandings and their work?
The students will be given an opportunity to revise their understandings through our whole group discussions. They may share their ideas with
their peers while also listening to the ideas presented by their classmates. They may also revise and improve their understandings when they do
research about different ways to conserve our environment. They can revise and improve their work by working with a writing partner and telling

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them what they want to write about.

What opportunities/activities will you provide for students to share their learning in this lesson?
The students can share their learning in this lesson during our whole group discussions, especially the discussion after the posters are finished.
The students are given the opportunity to explain to their peers what they have learned and show them their work.

Lesson Resources/References (please be very specific by providing links, authors, titles, etc.):

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2016). Missouri Learning Standards. Retrieved from
https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/curriculum/missouri-learning-standards

Melt. (n.d.). Andy Goldsworthy. Retrieved from http://visualmelt.com/About-Us

Plot 55. (n.d.). Plot 55: Leaves and Letterboxing [Web blog post]. Retrieved from
http://plotfiftyfive.blogspot.com/2010/11/leaves-and-letterboxing.html

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Photos of My Project:

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