Unit Title: Folk Arts, Past and Present

Class: Arts and Humanities

Author: Michelle Sanford

School: Nancy

Approximate Timeline: Two Weeks

School Level: Elementary School

Area(s) of Core Content: Arts and Humanities

Targeted Standards: 

Academic Expectation 1--Apply Communication and Math Skills:

-1.2 Students make sense of the variety of materials they read.

-1.13 Students make sense of ideas and communicate ideas with the visual arts.

-1.14 Students make sense of ideas and communicate ideas with music.

-1.15 Students make sense of and communicate ideas with movement.

  Academic Expectation 2--Art & Humanities:

-2.22 Students create works of art and make presentations to convey a point of view.

-2.23 Students analyze their own and others' artistic products and performances using accepted standards.

-2.24 Students have knowledge of major works of art, music, and literature and appreciate creativity and the contributions of the arts and humanities.

-2.25 In the products they make and the performances they present, students show that they understand how time, place, and society influence the arts and humanities such as languages, literature, and history.

-2.26 Through the arts and humanities, students recognize that although people are different, they share some common experiences and attitudes.

Demonstrators for Academic Expectation 2.22

-Explore the elements and principles of art forms.

-Create original visual art and create and/or perform original and existing works of music, dance, and drama.

-Discuss works of art using appropriate concepts and terminology.

  Demonstrators for Academic Expectation 2.23

-Observe and explore a variety of artistic styles and forms in music, dance, drama, and visual arts.

Academic Expectation 4--Responsible Group Membership:

-4.1 Students effectively use interpersonal skills.

-4.2 Students use productive team membership skills.

  Demonstrators for Academic Expectation 4.1

-Communicate a personal viewpoint verbally or non-verbally in a non-threatening manner.

  Demonstrators for Academic Expectation 4.2

-Share tools and help each other to work cooperatively on a task.

  Academic Expectation 6--Integration of Knowledge:

-6.1 Students connect knowledge and experiences from different subject areas.

  Demonstrators for Academic Expectation 6.1

-Illustrate the connections of knowledge and experiences between/among different subject areas.

-Use the knowledge and experiences from one subject aerator form an explanation and then extend that explanation by making connections with knowledge and experiences from another subject area.  

  Elementary Core Content--Arts & Humanities:

-AH-E-1.1.35  Form: call and response, two-part (AB), three-part (ABA), round, verse/chorus, repeat signs

-AH-E.1.1.36  Timbre: instrument families (brass, woodwind, string, percussion, folk), voice parts (high, low), sounds of voices and instruments

-AH-E-1.1.38  Identify and discuss simple musical forms (see list under elements)

-AH-E-1.2.31Identify similarities and differences in musical elements used in the music of Native American, American Folk, and West African cultures, including instruments unique to each culture.

-AH-E-1.2.32Identify and discuss various styles of music (blues, spirituals, popular, rock, rap, country, game songs, folk songs, work songs, lullabies, marches, patriotic, bluegrass).

-AH-E-2.1.21 With a partner or in a small group, perform a dance using the elements of dance with locomotor and non-locomotor movements.

-AH-E-2.2.21   Perform traditional folk dances, square dances, and ethnic dances

-AH-E-3.2.31  Discuss the effects of time and place on dramatic works.

-AH-E-3.2.32  Discuss specific cultures (West African, Native American), periods (Colonial American) and styles (folk tales, myths, and legends) within dramatic works. 

-AH-E-4.1.41  Create artwork using the elements of art and principles of design. 

-AH-E-4.1.31  Describe works of art using appropriate art terminology (subject matter, ideas, elements of art, principles of design). 

-AH-E-4.1.32  Art elements - line, shape, form, texture, and color (primary and secondary hues) and color groups (warm, cool, neutral) 

-AH-E-4.2.31  Identify various purposes for creating works of art. 

-AH-E-4.2.33  Identify the role of visual arts in different cultures. 

-AH-E-4.2.34  Cultures: Native American, Early American (folk/Appalachian), West African (Ivory Coast)

-AH-E-4.2.35   Recognize that artists choose to express themselves in different styles and subject matters. 

-AH-E-4.2.37  Subject Matters: landscape, portrait, and still life 

  Organizers:

 What things are defined as folk art, where did it begin and how is it still a vital part of modern day life?

  From understanding folk art and producing it, what conclusions can we make about its importance to our culture and us?

Essential Questions:

 1. How can we use our understanding of the folk arts of the past, gained through reading and listening to music to evaluate the importance of the arts to us in today's culture?

  2. Through studying and performing different types of Folk Art, including literature, paintings and music, how can I select forms I can use to enable me to be a creative artist?

  3. After studying various folk artists from the past and present, such as Jessie Stuart and Joan Baez, learning how historical events influence arts, and observing local artists Carol Esch and Mike and Elizabeth Loiacano, how can I communicate artistically the conditions in my life, where I live?

  4. How can gaining an understanding of literary folk art help me to understand and solve problems within human relationships?

  5. How can I use my understanding of Folk Art and communication skills to share my ideas of folk art?

  6. How can we work well together to deepen our understanding of arts and to produce it to share with others?

Culminating Performance:

 The students will each choose one art form; dance, music, painting or literature, and produce and example to display or perform for students and teachers.

  Knowledge:

 1. An understanding and applicable knowledge of the elements of art, drama, music and dance.

  2. A definition of folk art.

  3. An understanding of the similarities between folk arts of the past and present.

  4.  An understanding of the differences between folk arts of the past and present.

  5. An understanding of their specific strengths and weaknesses as an artist.

  6 .Examples of folk art and artists, folk drama and dramatists, folk music and musicians, and folk dances and dancers.

  7. Ways that folk arts can unify a people.

  8. Ways in which folk art and artists affect their lives.

  Critical Resources:

 Ken Wesley

Carol Esch

Elizabeth and Mike Loiacano

Storyteller

Relatives of students

Internet resources

CD's

Various books

Instructional/Assessment Activities:

 Day 1 - Students will be introduced to the definition and idea behind folk art, which is that the artist has no formal training.  This is immediately applicable to the students, as there are no schools in the vicinity that offer specific training in the arts.  I will give them an overview of the unit, talk about things they will be learning.  Next we will go to the library where they will view various web sites on the smart board, which pertain to the unit.  We will play a jeopardy-style game in order to review the  elements of the different arts disciplines, which will play a large role in the unit.

  Day 2 - To begin the day, the students will listen to two different folk songs, one new and one older.  We will discuss their similarities and differences as a group.  The students will then critique one of the songs based on the elements of music.  Nest, two friends of mine will introduce the students to several folk instruments.  They will know the history and method of playing and will hear a demonstration of each of the instruments. The  lesson will be followed by a review of the day.

  Day 3 - The third day will again focus on music.  We will open with a review of the elements of music.  The focus for this day will be on the instruments and artists.  We will talk about the roots of the folk music movement, where it started and who started it.  I will show the students some of the instruments used in popular folk music, such as the acoustic guitar and the recorder.  We will talk about some of the artists and listen to some of their music.  The students will hear short biographies of the artists and we will discuss what events in their lives might have leaded them to become musicians.  Then eat students will be given a sheet with each of the instruments in a song and they will have to listen to the song and tally how many times they heard each of the instruments.  The lesson will end with a review.

  Day 4 - This day will end the music section of the unit.  The students will write their own folk-style song, including a section covering the elements of music.  They will write the time signature, the tempo, what instruments they want to be included etc... and then they will write the lyrics.  The lyrics should be relevant to them at this point in their lives.

  Day 5 -  This day will begin the section of our unit on folk dances.  We will begin by reviewing the elements and purposes of dance and they will take notes on the modes of dance.  I will demonstrate.  We will then review what we learned about clogging from our Appalachian unit.  At this point, there will be a demonstration and background given of clogging by a member of the community.  The students will then try to repeat some simple steps.  When the demonstration is over, the students will write a reflection of the day and we will review.

  Day 6 - The lesson will begin with a review of clogging and an introduction to contra dancing.  Again we will have two guests who will give some history and key terms.  The children will then watch a demonstration and hear some music that will go with the dance.  They will then be assigned a partner to begin with and will try the dance themselves.

  Day 7-  This will begin the visual art section of the unit.  We will be studying  several different artists.  The first will be Grandma Moses.  The children will learn about her life by hearing her bio.  Then they will study some of her paintings and compare and contrast them with a painting by Monet, a classically trained artist, using a Venn diagram.  The students will then illustrate a scene that they would find from their own lives.  They will begin by drawing and finish with colored pencils.

  Day 8 - The students will study another famous folk artist, Edward Hicks.  They will hear the biography on Hicks and discuss ways in which his story is different from that of Grandma Moses.  They will look at his Peaceable Kingdom paintings and we will use this as a springboard into a discussion on how these painting are important as a reminder to us of how we should be living today.  This is important in light of all that has been happening lately.  The children will then draw and color a picture of what their own peaceable kingdom would look like.  They should be quite different from the ones that Hicks drew over 150 years ago.

  Day 9 - We see the beginning of the drama  section.  The children will review the elements of drama and learn some new ones, such as director, diction and stage directions.  They have already learned many of the elements.  This will also be a chance to review the elements of the plot.  The children will begin this day to work on several different scripts.  They will be chosen for them based on their personality characteristics and mannerisms.  For this section, Amy Black will be working with one or two of the groups.

  Day 10 - 12 These days will be devoted to practicing and preparing for the presentation of the skits.  The children will rehearse their lines and make some props for the skit.

  Day 13 - The children will perform their skits for their peers.  They will also, eventually perform for the Parent Teacher Association.

  Day 14 - Review and test.  The children will take a multiple-choice test and will answer an open response question.

Scoring Guide

  Culminating Performance:

 The students will each choose one art form; dance, music, painting or literature, and produce and example to display or perform for students and teachers.

  Level 4:

 The work is original and shows  much thought. It must be in the folk style.  If it is a work of literature, it must be free of grammatical error and show order.  If it is a painting, it should be evident that it is a work of the child's imagination and production.  The elements of art should be evident in the painting.  If it is a dance, the student should be able to explain how the dance is folk art, give terminology and demonstrate.

  Level 3:

 The work must be original, though it may rely on works studied and observed.  If the work is a painting, it should show that time was spent that it was not just thrown together.  The work should show evidence of several of the elements of art.  If the work is literary, it should have no more than 5grammatical errors.  It should be an original work and be written in folk style.  If the work is a dance, the student should be able to explain why the dance is folk art and demonstrate it, even if they don’t know the terminology for the steps.

  Level 2:

 The work may be a replica of a work in existence, with the exception of the literature.  If the works a work of literature, it must be original, though it may have more than 5 grammatical errors.  The child cannot tell why the work is a work of folk art.  If the work is a painting, it may be a replica of a work already done, but must be produced by the student.  If the work is a dance, the student must be able to perform the dance, though they may not know much about the background.

  Level 1:

The work is taken from a work in existence, though not if it is a writing.  If the work is a work of art, it shows little forethought or effort.  The student does not know what makes it a work of folk art.  If the work is literary, it closely resembles a work in existence and will have 10 or more mistakes.  If the work is a dance, it is performed poorly and is not completed. The student will not know the background of the dance or how it is folk art.