Line of Inquiry #3: Art Forms Represented Specific Purposes for the Time Period

In this last inquiry, lessons focused on the grade ones observing and reflecting on different art eras studies, by different grades within the school.

Lesson 1

Starting with a guided discussion, I talked about why we visited different museums, hoping for students to reflect on what we had talked about before. Conversation went as follows.

Q: So why might I visit the new Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi?
A: To look at all the art….to learn about different cultures….to learn what people at different times liked….to learn what people did in the world a long time ago

I was pleased with our conversation and the ideas and thinking the students demonstrated.
I told the students we had our own museum here in the school.

Q: What do you think I mean by “our own museum”
A: There are things we can look at in the school….there is lots of different art on the walls….there are other things we can learn about….

Giving students clipboards to make sketches of the work, we headed down to our Grade 3 Peruvian Art display.
At first I had the students sit quietly in the hallway just looking at the sketches. I had them do this for a set time of 90 seconds.
We then talked about what they were looking at. Conversations went as follows.

Q: What do you notice about the masks?
A: they are a little scary looking….they are all painted gold….there are some different shapes in the faces….there are some small coloured beads or pieces of paper glued onto the masks….they are really cool looking
Q: Do these masks remind you, or make you think of anything else?
A: These look like something from Africa…these remind me of masks I saw when I went to Mexico…

That last comment opened the door to explain that these were Peruvian Masks, created by the Inca Civilization. Theo the boy who made that last statement had made a personal connection because he was actually from Peru. That was exciting.
I asked the kids why they thought the Inca civilization may have created these masks.
A: They wanted to tell others about their art…they liked creating masks….
Q: Do you think there was any other reasons why these were created?
A: To celebrate something….for important people, just like in Egypt, because they are made of gold…they must have had a lot of gold in Peru…

I was pleased with the connections students made to the masks, especially the cross curricular connections and understanding that was demonstrated when comparing the gold jewellery of the Ancient Egyptians to the Peruvian Masks.

Lesson 2

The following week, students reviewed their sketches. It is always a challenge to bring back what we had talked about the previous week, as a week to a grade one student might as well be a year. I often have to remind and review with the kids what we our learning goals were, what we had done and question them again on why we were doing this.

In this lesson, I had the students look at their sketches. We recorded some of their thinking about why the masks were created on the white board. Students were then given their sketches back, and were to reflect on their sketches and respond in writing by choosing one of the modelled sentences we had discussed and was written on the board. Students that were stronger in their ESL skills had the option of recording their own sentences if they felt comfortable with their writing levels. As they worked, I wandered around the classroom and had quiet discussions with students to talk about what they thought as well.