Literacy in Art

I am going to use this blog to show how Literacy is important across the curriculum. In the QEP is is clearly outlined that not only should be literate and use language appropriately in the Language Arts components of the curriculum, but across all subject areas. Fine arts in the subject I have chosen to study and teach, and within an art class there are many opportunities to include reading writing and communicating using all sorts of texts. Media Literacy plays an especially relevant role in the art classroom as many of the forms of media studied in school have a production value suitable for an art class.

This blog is a great example of a media text, a form of expression which accomplishes competencies in Fine arts as well as in Language Arts. The students will both be producing images in a creative way, as well as using descriptive language to explain and critique their art works. Not only are the students learning to express themselves through media images and understand the symbolic importance of the visual, they are putting to words the ideas and thoughts they have about the image they have captured. I think this is a profound experience.

The photo above is of an art work created by a student in 11th grade at my practicum school. The class created posters in the style of pop art (eg. Andy Warhol) which were to contain a peaceful message directed towards their school. This assignment came with a unit about multiculturalism and anti-racist discussion. Using a blog like this I could easily have expanded the activity with more time, asking each student to upload their work and discuss their motivations or respond to discussion questions.

Self Portrait

Here is an example of a photo shoot assignment that might have been assigned; take a self portrait and then describe the results and how the experience was.

I decided to take a little self portrait shoot of myself. I used a mirror in my bedroom to capture myself. It was really useful to be able to see the screen on the backside of the camera in order to best capture myself. I like these photos of myself because my face is well defines and my glasses form a cool contrast to my pale complexion.

Hornet on a Saxaphone

This weekend contained the first real spring day good for sitting outside and enjoying the sunshine. Along with this sunshine came the desire for Popsicles, and the interest of a hornet in them.

The hornet sat on my friend Emily's saxaphone, and much to her distress I took a picture of it before helping her blow it away. I think the light reflecting on the saxaphone and the closeness of the photo are the best characteristics of this photo.

Concert Weekend

This was an action packed weekend filled with photo taking opportunities. On Friday I went to a concert in Montreal, Great Big Sea, and it was very fun. The theater, Metropolis is a great concert venue and it was a really nice crowd. Saturday was a day full of rehearsal for a play I am participating and Sunday I worked at a Circus show and attended a St. Patrick's day parade.
The photo of the concert is my favourite that I took. I love how the lights are visible beaming down, and each of the band members is so sharp, despite my distance from the stage and my lack of flash ability.
The Parade photos really illustrate the colour and life in the parade environment. I love taking pictures of tractors, I feel like they are so bright and geometric, almost like an entity from another time.

Day One

I am creating this blog to illustrate how simple it is, and to show my students how to make one themselves.
We are working on a project for two different education classes, one where we design a unit plan using technology, that is geared towards our own teachable subject at a level of our choice. This blog is designed for high school art students. Together the class would be making a photo journal.
For the next couple of days I will journal about my activities and the photos I post.
This blog is also being used to show the inclusion of literacy in the art curriculum. I am not as involved in a classroom experiece as some of my peers right now, so I created a hypothetical unit plan to explain how I would intergrate reading and writing and communicating into my art class as well.