Art Integration Lesson Plan Template

Art Integration Lesson Plan Template

LTC 4240: Art for Children

Lesson Title & Big Idea*: Whats Your Totem Pole?

Identity
Lesson Overview/Summary*: (This is like an abstract of the structure and procedures

Grade Level*: 4
Class Periods Required:
(please circle)

section)

In this lesson, students will integrate visual art, literacy, and social studies to create their own
totem pole. Students will learn about the Pacific Northwest Native Americans and their
craftsmanship of totem poles. Through Molly Bang, students will learn how shapes and symbols
can represent something and create different meanings. With this knowledge, students will create
their own two-sided totem pole to represent two sides of their personality. Finally, students will
explore Name Poems by writing their own to describe the symbols they used on their totem pole
to represent their personality.
Key Concepts for each area (1-2 each): What you want the
students to know.*
1. Visual Art:
Students will learn to represent their identity (such as
personality traits, physical characteristics, memories)
through symbols.
Students will understand how the use of color, shape,
position, and size affect the message an artwork
conveys.
2. Literacy:
Students will read articles about the Pacific Northwest
Native American culture.
Students will practice and write name poems describing
the meaning behind their totem pole.
3. Social Studies:
Students will study the culture of Pacific Northwest
Native Americans.
Students will learn what a totem pole is and its
meaning.

Essential Questions

(1-2)*:

How can symbols and representation be used to convey

meaning?

Art Integration Lesson Plan Template

Lesson Objectives/Goals: (Excellent resource at http://www.teachervision.fen.com/curriculum-planning/new-teacher/48345.html?for_printing=1&detoured=1): What

you want the students to do. *
1. Visual Art: The students will be able to . . .
Create symbols that represent their identity
Use color, shape, position, and size to convey meaning
2. Literacy: The students will be able to . . .
Analyze articles about the Pacific Northwest Native American culture for important information
Practice and write name poems describing the meaning behind their totem pole
3. Social Studies: The students will be able to . . .
Summarize the culture of Pacific Northwest Native Americans
Explain the features of totem poles, their importance, and their meaning.
Grade Level Expectations (GLEs)

(3-4)
(http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/)

1. Visual Art:
VA:Cr1.2.4a: Collaboratively set goals and create
artwork that is meaningful and has purpose to the
makers.
VA:Cr2.1.4a: Explore and invent art-making techniques
and approaches.
2. Literacy:
Big Idea 1: SE 1.4A: Recognize positive self-talk and
communicate personal thoughts and feelings.
3. Social Studies:

CCSS Reading Standards for Informational Text Gr 4.1:

Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining
what the text says explicitly and when drawing
inferences from the text.

CCSS Reading Standards for Informational Text Gr 4.2:

Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is
supported by key details; summarize the text.
Content Areas Integrated*:
1. Visual Art (Inspiration Artist: Molly Bang)

Instructional Strategies (Teachers approach to helping students

achieve learning)
Teacher will need to do research on Pacific Northwest Native
Americans and totem poles, in order to lead a strong class
discussion and answer any questions the students may have.
Teacher will need to be familiar with the Molly Bang
PowerPoint and how she manipulates shapes to create
meaning. She should be able to refer to slides in PowerPoint.
Teacher will need to know the format of Name Poem in order
to teach format to students.

Lesson Structure & Procedure(s) Sequence of events of the lesson

elements. (The before, during, and after the lesson, e.g.

Art Integration Lesson Plan Template

Using colors, shapes, sizes, symbols to represent two

sides of personality
2. Literacy
Using their names to create a Name Poem describing
the meaning behind their totem pole
3. Social Studies
Using research on Pacific Northwest Native Americans
and totem poles to learn the importance of symbols and
what totem poles meant

Engagement/Opening, Procedures, Guided Practice, Conclusion ,please be

very specific, walk me through step by step of the What of what is
happening with a rationale as to WHY you are doing this):

Day 1:
1. Hung up around the room will be various examples of
totem poles.
2. Students will be instructed to do a Gallery Walk around
the room, looking at each example carefully.
3. After 5-10 minutes of the Gallery Walk, I will bring the
class back together for a class discussion. I will prompt
conversation with the questions: What did you see?
What stood out to you? Did you see
similarities/differences?
4. Introduce the term totem pole, giving a PowerPoint
presentation on what they are, who made them, what
they mean
5. Using an iPad, students will pull up 3 articles:
KidzWorld American Indians Northwest Bands,
Encyclopedia Britannica Northwest Coast Indian, and
Wonderopolis What is a Totem Pole? to learn about
the Pacific Northwest Native American culture and to
add to their knowledge on totem poles.
6. Using the Notability app, students will read the articles
and highlight what they think is important information.
7. Think, Pair, Share: Students will think about which
pieces of information they think is important to share.
They will partner up and discuss their findings with
each other. After ~3 minutes of sharing in pairs, the
class will discuss as a group, making sure not to repeat
information.
8. Students will finish with writing an exit ticket,
describing something new they learned today and
what they want to learn more about.
Day 2:
1. On the projection screen, there will be slide 23 of the

Art Integration Lesson Plan Template

2.

3.

4.

5.
6.

PowerPoint How Pictures Work: a brief overview based

on the work of Molly Bang
As a class, I will lead VTS, asking the questions What
is going on in this picture? What do you see that
makes you say that? What more can we find?
I will show slides 15-19, 21, & 23, showing the
progression of the Little Red Riding Hood artwork. I will
ask students along the way How has the image
changed? How does the difference in shapes change
the meaning?
Once we have wrapped up the class discussion, I will
introduce the project. Using your knowledge on totem
poles and the style of the Pacific Northwest Native
Americans, you will create your own piece of a totem
pole. Your totem pole should represent two sides of
your personality. You should think about how Molly
Bang used color, shapes, position, and sizes to convey
meaning.
I will show the class my example, explaining my
creation process.
Students are given the rest of class time to create their
totem poles. If a student did not finish their totem pole,
they should take it home and finish it before Day 3.

Day 3:
1. When the class comes in, I will have worksheets placed
on every students seat with their name spelled out
vertically, leaving space to add a word after each
letter.
2. To begin class, I will ask the students to write a word
next to each letter in their name, making sure the word
starts with that letter. The word should be an adjective
that describes something they like or a personality
trait. For example:
Adventurous

Art Integration Lesson Plan Template

Opening (Gaining Attention, what will you show, or demonstrate)*:

Laughter
Interesting
3. Believe it or not, you just wrote a poem! This type of
poem is called a Name Poem, because it uses the
letters of your name as a format or guide.
4. To ease the students into writing more advanced Name
Poems, I will ask the students to write another Name
Poem, describing this classroom. I will remind them
that Name Poems do not need to rhyme, but they
should flow nicely.
5. I will have a few students share with the class the
Name Poems they wrote about the classroom.
6. Finally, the students are instructed to write a Name
Poem describing their totem pole and its meaning. I
will share my poem as an example.
7. They will attach these Name Poems to the back of their
totem poles.
8. At the end of class, students will be asked to present
their totem pole and their poem, if they feel
comfortable.
9. Students will turn in their projects and I will create
class totem poles!
Closure (Reflecting Anticipatory Set, how will student share what they
learned):

Students will participate in a Gallery Walk, displaying various

examples of Pacific Northwest Native American totem poles.
After looking at each example, the students will participate in
a class discussion describing what they noticed or observed.

Formative Assessment strategy: (how will you assess while the

Students will share their name poems, so their classmates

can visually connect the poem to the symbols presented on
the project. Students will stack their created totem poles to
build a few full class totem poles. We will finish with final
Gallery Walk to closely look at the students hard work.
Summative Assessment strategy*:

learning is happening?)

Formative Assessment will be in the form of class discussions.

Summative Assessment will be in the form of the Name

Poems and completed totem pole. I will assess if the poem

Art Integration Lesson Plan Template

Although I will not be able to hear from every student, I will follows correct formatting and if it describes the meaning
assess if students are engaged and listening to their peers. If a behind what they created on their totem pole. I will look on
student shares, I will assess if they are contributing valuable the totem pole for clear two different personality sides and if
information and if they are comprehending what we are they used shapes/size/color in a representative way.
learning. I can use the class discussion assessments to guide
my lesson, such as do I need to slow down? Does this student
need extra help? Should we expand on this topic?
What student prior knowledge will this lesson require/draw upon? (what do they need to already know)
Students should be able to navigate an iPad and know how to effectively look for information in an article. Some of the articles
are difficult to read, so students should be knowledgeable on how to pick out key information. Students should also know the
basics of poetry, such as what poems are and how they should sound.
Technology Instructional and/or assistive technology incorporated into the lesson to enhance instruction and student learning
Students will be using iPads to read articles and they will use the app Notability to highlight information found in the articles.
Students will be hands-on with technology by using their finger to highlight text, circle words, write in the margin however
they feel comfortable annotating the articles. The iPad allows them to switch between articles, enlarge pictures, adjust text
size, and write on the article to enhance their learning of the material.
How will this lesson allow for/encourage students to solve problems in divergent ways?
During the creation of their totem pole, students are reflecting on their personality and figuring out how to represent an aspect
of their personality through shapes and symbols. This is a challenging task and students approach it many different ways. The
process involves playing with sizes, shapes, and color to achieve meaning. They may come across many problems during their
creation process, such as how do I position this shape to make it work with this other shape? Or how am I going to make this
side different than the other side of my totem pole?
How will you engage students in routinely reflecting on their learning? (How will the students know they have learned something?)
I really hope the students have FUN with this lesson. Through creation, of their totem pole and poem, students are learning
about the Pacific Northwest Native Americans and experiencing a similar process of creating a totem pole. They are learning
about themselves and their different identities. The students will be able to step back and see this learning experience through
sharing their final product and through the ending Gallery Walk.
Differentiated/Accommodations/Modifications/Increase in Rigor To help meet the needs of all learners, learning differences,

Art Integration Lesson Plan Template

cultural and language differences, etc.

During research, students can be given the option of having the article read audibly. This will accommodate for learners who
struggle with independently reading or for English Language Learners.
Students may also work in pairs to research the assigned articles.
For students who need a visual representation of the final product, I will present my example that I made, displaying my twosided totem pole and Name Poem. They can refer to it when needed.

Lesson Resources/References (please be very specific by providing links, authors, titles, etc.):
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/1387-american-indians-northwest-bands
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Northwest-Coast-Indian
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-totem-pole/
..\Downloads\___bang_book (1).ppt

* Include this information during the Padlet/prezi/ppt presentation.

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
Bang, M. (1991/2000). Picture this: How pictures work. New York, NY: Sea Star Books.