Unit Plan Overview

Week 1 Holabaugh
Sarah Benson and Lauren Shephard

Overview:
Students will design a form of transportation from the future (ground, sky, water) that
will be inspired by the following literary devices: hyperbole, simile, metaphor,
personification, and symbol. Each literary device will be used as inspiration for the visual
design of the dream vehicle as well as descriptive writing samples that enhance the
overall art piece.

Big Idea: FUTURE -
a. Key Concepts: Artists think to the future. Artists use their creativity to solve
problems. Artists use their work to improve our lives.
b. Essential Questions: Why do we plan for the future? What problems can our art
solve? How do artists make a difference?

Rationale:
Throughout this unit, students will learn about literary devices and connect them to visual
design and art making. Students will build a futuristic dream vehicle by visualizing their
descriptive writings. They will use pencil, sharpies, colored paper, collage, pastels, and
other materials to create a multi-media piece. The interdisciplinary unit combined with
consideration of the future will transport student thinking out of the normative school
setting and into the larger world.

Target Student Group:
Middle school; 8
th
grade; Exceptional Education; Urban setting

Specific Unit Objectives:

Lesson 1- Exaggerations of the Future
Objective:
The students will design a form of transportation from the future (ground, sky, water)
inspired by literary devices. The students will begin the week learning about hyperboles
and how they can be incorporated into the art making process. Students will jumpstart the
brainstorming process with a written hyperbole about their vehicle. They will illustrate
and exaggerate aspects of the vehicle with pencil using drawing techniques such as
perspective and scale.

Lesson 2- Visual Comparisons
Objective:
Students will work on furthering the design of their transportation of the future. They will
be introduced to the literary devices metaphor and simile, and will use these as
inspiration for their design, written and visually. Through writing and drawing, students
will see how similes and metaphors add descriptive information for the viewer.

Lesson 3- The Future Brought to Life
Objective:
Students continue to work on their dream vehicle. They will learn about the literary
device personification, and use it to make their artwork come to life! Students will learn
about collage, and use colored paper, scissors, and glue sticks to build their futuristic
vehicle.

Lesson 4- Logo Design
Objective:
Students will continue adding to their transportation of the future designs using the
literary devices they have learned so far. Today they will be introduced to symbol and
come up with a logo design for their vehicle using markers to create bold, bright color.

Lesson 5- Dream Vehicle
Objective:
Students will combine their ideas from their sketches, writing, collage, and logo to create
a final piece. They will use their understanding of literary devices to look to the future.
Students will describe their futuristic vehicle and analyze their peers work.

National Art Standards:
Grades 5-8: Standard 6
Content Standard: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines.
Achievement Standard: b) Describe the ways in which the principles and subject matter
of other disciplines taught in the school are interrelated with the visual arts.

Virginia Art SOLs:
8.4 The student will synthesize prior knowledge and experience to create works of art.
8.6 The student will communicate ideas, experiences, and narratives through the
creation of original works of art, using selected media.
Virginia English SOLs: (requested by Ms. Holabaugh)
8.4 The student will apply knowledge of word origins, analogies, and figurative
language to extend vocabulary development within authentic texts.

Lesson #1 Exaggerations of the Future

Objective-
The students will design a form of transportation of the future (either in the air, on the
ground, or underwater) inspired by literary devices. The students will begin the week
learning about hyperboles and how they can be incorporated into the art making process.
Students will begin with a written hyperbole about their vehicle. They will illustrate and
exaggerate the vehicle with pencil using perspective and scale.

English SOL-
8.4 The student will apply knowledge of word origins, analogies, and figurative language
to extend vocabulary development within authentic texts.
a) Identify and analyze an authors use of figurative language.
b) Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meaning of words and phrases.

Art SOL-
8.6 The student will communicate ideas, experiences, and narratives through the creation
of original works of art, using selected media.
Snapshot-
Introduce Lauren and myself.

Ask students what their favorite books are. What makes these books so great?
(Harry Potter is my favorite book. J.K. Rowling uses really descriptive language. Her
characters are so interesting!)

Authors use literary devices to make stories more interesting. They help us visualize
characters and setting, and motivate our imagination.

**Or use Holabaughs suggestion and include individual reading time (Maze Runner) as
students come into the classroom.

Hook-
This week we will be designing our own dream vehicles that could only exist in the
future! Think about what you would want your vehicle to do.

Will your transportation work on the ground, in the air, or underwater? Or will it include
a combination of the three?

What does it do? What future technologies does it include?

Ask for input. Make notes on the board.

Example:
My transportation is a small, 6-passenger plane that my friends and I can fly. The whole
airplane is invisible, or transparent. This way, the passengers can lie on their stomachs
on the floor and see the Earth passing by below them. Or when flying at night, the
passengers can lie on their backs and see the stars.

Instructional Input-
Salvador Dal
The Elephants
1948


What makes this painting interesting?
(The sky is beautiful. The elephants are really big. They make everything else seem tiny.
The elephants have really long legs!)

Do the elephants look realistic?
(No! They have long, exaggerated legs.)

Guided Practice-
Today we will be talking about a literary device called a HYPERBOLE.

A hyperbole is an exaggeration. An exaggeration is when you make out something to be
bigger, greater, smaller, better, or worse than it really is.

Hyperboles are often funny!

Literary Examples:
My backpack weighs a ton.
Grandpa is a million years old.
I waited an eternity for you.
These shoes are killing me.
She is the smartest person in the world.
I can run faster than a car.
Im so hungry I could eat a horse.

Have you ever heard anyone use a hyperbole before?

How about your parents? Did they ever tell you about walking twenty miles through a
foot of snow every day to get to school?

(Thats a hyperbole.)

Independent practice-
Students will write their own hyperbole that describes their dream vehicle to help start the
brainstorming process.

Examples:
My airplane is faster than the speed of light!
My boat is bigger than a dinosaur!
My car is lighter than a feather.
My submarine is as big as the ocean!
My jet can go to the moon and back in 10 seconds!

Students will then make sketches to show the ridiculousness of their statements.

Example:
My boat is bigger than a dinosaur.
Make a drawing that shows a monstrously large boat sailing on the ocean with tiny
dinosaurs watching from the shore.

Students will draw on white paper with pencils. These will act as preliminary sketches for
the vehicle collage. Encourage students to draw lightly with pencil and to fill the space
with large drawings. Discuss perspective (foreground, middle ground, background) to
show scale.

Closure-
Ask students to share their drawings.

How does the exaggeration in your drawing make your vehicle interesting/useful/funny?












Lesson #2- Visual Comparisons
Objective:
Students will continue designing their transportation of the future. They will be
introduced to the literary devices simile and metaphor, and will come up with ways to
incorporate those into their design, written and visually. Through writing and drawing,
students will see how similes and metaphors add descriptive information for the viewer.
English SOL
8.4 The student will apply knowledge of word origins, derivations, inflections, analogies,
and
figurative language to extend vocabulary development.
a) Identify simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and analogy.
b) Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meaning of words and phrases.

Art SOL:
8.15 The student will analyze how visual organization in works of art affects the
communication of ideas.

Snapshot:

Introduce myself and review what was taught last class (Hyperbole, Dali, transportation
of the future); Read The Maze Runner as a class

Hook:
Mad Lib Simile activity (Each student has a notecard that says to write a noun, verb, or
adjective. The students then find two partners so their group of three has a noun, verb,
and adjective. We get them to write theirs on the board and see what their combination
turned into!) Discuss how when we put words and images together, we automatically try
to find similarities between them.
As ____________as a ______________________ _____________.
Adjective Verb+ing/present participle Noun

As gooey as a sleeping kitten
As charming as a flying baby
As swift as an eating bus
(random combinations lead to funny answers)

Real examples:
As busy as a bee
As snug as a bug in a rug
Cute as a kitten
Free as a bird
As brave as a lion
As cold as ice
Strong as an ox
Tough as nails


Instructional Input:
Introduce the idea of Metaphor (definitions, images, quotes)
Metaphor: figure of speech that implies comparisons
Examples of Metaphors
The snow is a white blanket
Life is a rollercoaster
The world is a stage
You are my sunshine
They are two peas in a pod

Show Vladimir Kushs work that he calls metaphorical realism


He was inspired by Salvador Dali
Ask the students: How is his work similar to Dalis?
Each image: What two things are being compared? How are they similar? What is the
artist trying to say through this comparison?
Writers use figurative language as a way to visualize their words, and Vladimir Kush
renders these metaphors literally.

Guided Practice:
A Simile is a type of metaphor that uses like or as.
Show written examples of the metaphors of the images turned into a simile with words
Example: The elephants trunks were trumpets; the elephants trunks were as musical as
trumpets. (Put up image of the elephants again to compare the words and images)

What qualities do you want your vehicle to have and what is something that has that
quality already? We can use that to inspire our simile to describe your vehicle! What are
ways to turn your vehicle into a metaphor similar to the way Vladimir Kush or Salvador
Dali did in their images? Use your imagination!
Show the students my Demo example

Ask them how it might show Hyperbole, Simile, and Metaphor; what does this add to the
vehicle?

Independent Practice:
Students will write a simile and a metaphor using the same idea to describe their future
transportation. Then they will sketch this visually to build on their previous design. I will
guide students through the process by asking them what they want their vehicle to be like
and how we can add things to give it those qualities.
S: The boat is as ___ as ____
M: The boat is _________
Sketch out their simile/metaphor on paper for their vehicle

Closure:
Chose some examples of their work to share with the class that show the ideas we talked
about.
As a class:
1. What is the difference between a simile and metaphor?
2. Why would writers use these devices?
3. What artist did we look at today?
4. What did he call his style of work? Why?














Lesson #3 The Future Brought To Life

Objective-
The students will continue to work on their dream vehicle for the future. They will learn
about the literary device personification, and use it to make their artwork come to life!
Students will learn about collage, and use colored paper, scissors, and glue sticks to build
their futuristic vehicle.

English SOL-
8.4 The student will apply knowledge of word origins, analogies, and figurative language
to extend vocabulary development within authentic texts.
a) Identify and analyze an authors use of figurative language.
b) Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meaning of words and phrases.

Art SOL-
8.6 The student will communicate ideas, experiences, and narratives through the creation
of original works of art, using selected media.
Snapshot-
Review similes and metaphors.

What is your favorite cartoon character (that is not a human)? What makes this character
so great/funny/exciting?

Cartoonists engage our creativity and imagination by designing unusual characters and
personalities!

**Or use Holabaughs suggestion and include individual reading time (Maze Runner) as
students come into the classroom.

Hook-
Show videos of Nick Caves Soundsuits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcvfW1HNnrs
0:00-1:02
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpNcmh3rxko
all

Instructional Input-
1. Nick Cave
Soundsuits
1999-present


What kinds of objects does Nick Cave use in his sculptures?
(He uses hair, raffia, fur, toys, buttons, wood, metal, wire, silk flowers, fabric, ribbon,
balloons, sequins, etc.)

How do these objects seem to come to life?
(Dancers and performers wear the suits and use the motion of their bodies to make the
objects seem like they are alive! Sometimes the human form is hidden and it really looks
like the sculptures are moving on their own.)

Guided Practice-
Today we are talking about a literary device called PERSONIFICATION.

Personification is giving human characteristics to nonhuman objects. Can be applied to
inanimate objects or anything that is not human (animals, insects, fish, flowers, toys, cars,
computers, furniture, clouds, etc.)

Personification makes stories more interesting!

Literary examples:
The flowers danced in the wind.
The sun smiled down on the world.
The clouds cried huge droplets.
The warm house called my name.
The camera loves her!
My computer hates me.

Students will work in small groups to come up with their own examples.

Share and write examples on the board.

Independent practice-
The students will write a sentence describing their vehicle that uses personification.

Next they will begin constructing their dream vehicle based on drawings and sentences
from the past three class periods.

They will build the body of their vehicle with collage. Collage is a kind of art making that
involves mixed media and the layering of materials. Students will be told to start with
the largest shape first, and then add smaller details on top.

Students will be provided with large sheets of colored paper, scissors, and glue sticks.

Example:
To make my see-through sightseeing airplane, I would start with the body of the plane.
The cabin of the airplane is the biggest shape. Then I would add the wings, propellers,
doors, controls, etc.

Closure-
Ask students to share their collages.

What human quality does your vehicle have and how did you show that? How did you
use collage to enhance your vehicle?



Lesson #4: Logo Design
Objective:
Students will continue adding to their transportation of the future designs using the
literary devices they have learned so far. Today they will be introduced to symbol and
come up with a logo design for their vehicle using markers to create bold, bright color.
English SOL
8.4 The student will apply knowledge of word origins, derivations, inflections, analogies,
and
figurative language to extend vocabulary development.
a) Identify simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and analogy.
b) Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meaning of words and phrases.
Art SOL
8.20 The student will analyze purposes, values, and meanings of works of art.

Snapshot:
Review Personification: Figure of speech that implies human characteristics to non-
human objects
Review artists: Nick Cave

Read the Maze Runner

Hook:
We are going to look at popular symbols and decipher their meanings! Then, we will
design a logo to become the symbol of your imaginary futuristic vehicle.

The Logo Game: Play as a class! Logos on screen and guess what company/brand they
are
Ask them how they knew this logo, where they have seen it, etc.
Then split into small groups (5 groups of 3) and give them a handout of symbols and
logos to write down the brand or company of as many of them as possible to win the
competition




Instructional Input:
Introduce the literary device of using symbols
Symbol: Word or object that represents something else
Allow students to give examples of symbols they know of

Introduce the artist Ryan Mcginness
Show Powerpoint including his images, his work at the VMFA, and his technique of
screenprinting. Ask the students what they see, what it means, the colors, the design, etc.
What is different about seeing a logo on a product and seeing it on a canvas in layers?
Ryan Mcginness knows how powerful logos can be and how they make things seem
important, so he uses these in his work to catch our attention and make us think about
what they mean. He often combines ancient symbols with modern logo design.

Guided Practice:
Discuss how a symbols visual image is sometimes unrelated to its meaning, and how
we understand its meaning. Also discuss symbols that give visual clues to its meaning
and how we can use that in our logo designs.

Questions to ask:
What does a symbol or logo look like? Does its image always relate to its meaning? How
can we tell its meaning if we dont have that visual context? Does everyone take the same
meaning from a certain symbol or logo? Where do we usually see a companys logo?
Why would a company use a logo? What does their logo tell us about them?

Show how I made my example; discuss bold color, simplistic design, typeface, and
placement.



Independent Practice:
Students write down on a small notecard:
1. What quality about your vehicle do you want to sell?
2. How can you show that visually? (write or sketch this answer)

Students are given a small (around 3x3) piece of paper and markers to draw out their logo
design for their dream vehicles! Think about where the logo will go on the actual vehicle
when we draw them big for our final drawing. Students can also add their logo to their
vehicle if they finish the sketch.

Closure:
Have them share their logo design and tell the class:
1. What it represents
2. How the quality they chose is visualized
3. Where they want to place it




Lesson #5 Dream Vehicles

Objective-
Students will combine ideas from their sketches, writings, collage, and logo to create a
final piece. They will use their understanding of literary devices to look to the future.
Students will describe their own futuristic vehicle and analyze their peers work.

English SOL-
8.4 The student will apply knowledge of word origins, analogies, and figurative language
to extend vocabulary development within authentic texts.
a) Identify and analyze an authors use of figurative language.
b) Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meaning of words and phrases.

Art SOL-
8.4 The student will synthesize prior knowledge and experiences to create works of art.
8.6 The student will communicate ideas, experiences, and narratives through the
creation of original works of art, using selected media.

Snapshot-
We learned five literary devices this week: hyperbole, simile, metaphor, personification,
and symbol. Which is your favorite/the most fun to use? Why?

**Or use Holabaughs suggestion and include individual reading time (Maze Runner) as
students come into the classroom.

Hook-
Show images of Elizabeth Murrays artwork and discuss (see below).

Instructional Input-
Elizabeth Murray
Working years: 1966-2006
Colorful, individually-constructed canvases



What objects do you recognize in her paintings?
(I see hands, keys, fingers, windows, doors, shoes, worms, smoke, mugs, spoons, faces,
combs, etc.)

Which literary devices do you think Elizabeth Murray uses in her work?
(Personification How do these objects seem to come to life? She uses bright colors,
bold shapes, thick outlines, and wiggle lines to make the shapes and forms look alive.)
(Symbols. She includes simplified versions of objects from our daily lives.)

Elizabeth Murray makes futuristic artworks She enhances reality with her colorful
paintings!

Guided Practice-
Students will finish up the collage aspect of their project and then add embellishments
with oil pastels. Students will design control panels, steering wheels, and engines to show
how their vehicle works. They will add texture to help the viewer understand what the
vehicle is made out of. Also, action lines can be added to bring the vehicle to life on
paper!

Discuss oil pastel techniques. Light colors show up really well on dark colored paper
(contrast). Oil pastels blend really nicely (red + white = pink, red + yellow = orange,
etc.). Use pressure to create bold lines. Oil pastels are messy! Keep a paper towel handy
to wipe off hands and/or smudges.



Independent practice-
Students will be given collage materials (colored paper, scissors, and glue) to finish up
the main parts of their dream vehicle.

Next, they will be given time to embellish their vehicles with oil pastels. They will use
the techniques described above, considering how Elizabeth Murray also used bold color,
dark outlines, contrasting details, and action lines in her artworks.

**Not as much time spent here to allow for in-depth conclusion.

Closure-
Students will spread out vehicle collages on one large table. Students will be given a few
minutes to look at their classmates artwork. There will be one rule during the critique:
Only positive language will be used when talking about the artwork!

What literary devices do you see used in the artwork? How can you tell?





Reflection:

This unit had its ups and downs as I adjusted to teaching middle school (and
exceptional ed. English), but overall it was a really great learning experience. At first it
was a struggle trying to incorporate the literary devices they were learning along with an
art piece. Coming up with futuristic vehicles ended up being a really exciting project for
the students to work on and I really enjoyed seeing them so engaged. I was worried that
they wouldnt enjoy art, but all of the students actually had some really great creative
talent and loved drawing, which was a nice surprise! I had a little trouble getting used to
the environment of the classroom and being able to manage it, but I improved each time I
taught. This unit allowed me to really get to know the students individually, but also the
culture of their school and their classroom. If I taught this unit again, I would change the
structure of the lessons. We had the students do preliminary drawings with each new
literary device we introduced, and they only really got to work on their final product for
two days (about 45 minutes total). Although I think it was the best way to carry out the
lessons for this particular setting, I would love to be able to give the students more time
to work on their final product and I would get them started on it right away. The literary
devices were a little hard to incorporate into the finished piece because there were five
different ones we needed to cover. I think another good way we could have done the unit
would have been to start off with a vehicle that already exists, and have them add
futuristic features to that. This way they could alter it by removing things, adding things,
and building on it, which would have really pushed the future idea. It would be a nice
transition from todays vehicles to futuristic, and they really would have to think about
why something is futuristic which was kind of lacking in our unit in the end. Their
vehicles turned out wonderful though and each one was so unique! I learned a lot this
first week and I know the students had a great time making art.