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N. C. Wyeth |
Social Studies Lesson
Teacher Reflections by David Sloatman
Reflection 1
When I saw that Dark Harbor Fishermen was among the works we could use I knew it was the one I had to do. N.C. Wyeth’s illustrations were a huge part of my childhood. I would study the pictures in books like Treasure Island and Kidnapped for hours, even when I wasn’t reading the books. Besides that, the painting reminded me of going to a wharf to fill up bait barrels with my uncle when I was young. Most of all, when I saw the painting I could see the connections to our curriculum and a clear and refreshingly new way to approach it. Dark Harbor Fishermen was a perfect image to use as we began studying traditional industries in Maine. It tells a story about an industry based on a resource: its uses, commerce, distribution, technology, and the people who depend on it. The class had already studied it carefully the painting in art class. They had seen and discussed it as artists, and had become familiar with the image and already had a vocabulary and a framework that we could build on.
Reflection 2
The Maine Memory Network is a website of archived historical photos of Maine life and industry going back into the 1800s. This superb resource of very accessible primary sources with succinct captions was created by the Maine Historical Society. Our study began as students did a search on the network for picture of an industry that they wanted to research. The captions are good, but the real value of the photos is in the details that can be seen as you zoom in on them. I did a lesson modeling how to be a history detective and went through several pictures with the class, finding clues about an industry by studying the pictures. My goal was to have the students develop visual images of what the industries were like. They could see the resources and technology and they would make sense of them as the students learned more through reading.
Reflection 3
About industry research, drawings, and reports by “identified reluctant writers.” This was some of the best-organized and most diligent writing that I have seen from these boys all year. They took great ownership of the industries that they chose and put a lot of effort in to their reports. Their final products explained what they learned from the photos very well. Drawing pictures seemed to organize their thinking and solidify what they wanted to write about in their report. Two of them have been using drawing as a means to pre-write other assignments with some success.
I used the students’ drawings to see if they were developing a visual understanding of the industries by using the photos. I wanted to see if they showed the resource, the technology involved, and the people working with it. I was also able to assess how adept they were composing and drawing a picture that showed what they knew. I could tell the visual learning was definitely happening, but they had a ways to go to get to museum-quality work. We were going to have to talk a lot about composition, how to tell a story, and how to highlight important details in their paintings.
The written reports gave me a more traditional way to assess what they were learning from the photos. It reassured me that what we were doing with the primary source photos was working effectively.
Reflection 4
It was important to me when putting student groups together that at least one member of the group could draw the human figure well. While the students were working on their practice drawings, I circulated and gave them constant feedback, reminding them to check their drawings against the chart to see if the proportions were even close and giving tips on how to measure the proportions. When they were finished I put the pictures into two piles, one pile showed more facility with figure drawing and the other showed less success. I then could build the student groups starting with students who could draw figures well.
Reflection 5
Assembling the groups was very important because I wanted to enhance the collaborative nature of the project. The students worked in groups of three. Besides having someone who could draw people, I wanted to make sure that each group had a mix of boys and girls and of 3rd and 4th grades. I also wanted to make sure that they were working with kids that they wouldn’t ordinarily choose. I did not really think about it then, but I was setting up a situation that really mimicked the way adults often have to work together in a job. They were put with people other than their friends and expected to work hard together to create a high quality product. They had to brainstorm, compromise, and create a shared vision of the painting and then pool their skills to take on different aspects of the project.
Reflection 6
From the moment they started the group project, I was doing nonstop assessment and feedback for five days. I would circulate and look at their paintings and ask pointed questions about things. I would send them to photos or to posters of other paintings to see how something should look. I would ask them questions to get them discussing what they really wanted to show in their painting. I did some demonstrations with watercolors to show techniques they could use with blending and shading. I was constantly asking them if they were satisfied with the way their group’s work was looking and how they could improve it. I would steer them to other groups that had figured out how to do something they were struggling with.
As we went through this week of constant assessment, feedback, and growth I realized two things. I was pushing the students to really look critically at things and paint what they see, not what they think it should look like. And I was reminded that to learn anything in-depth and to come out with an exemplary product requires an enormous commitment of time. Time is of the greatest shortage in schools these days, which means that depth of learning all too often suffers. We put six to eight hours into these paintings, which is a huge amount of class time. I also think that it was some of the best-used six hours of the year.
Reflection 7
The value of the experience was tremendous. The understanding of the industries will be indelible to these students. It has gone way beyond absorbing words that they have read, they have created an image of it in their minds and on paper with their hands. They will always feel a kinship to their industries whenever they hear about them in their lives. The picture that they created will seem like a real place to them. An intensive week of artwork forced them to develop some techniques and habits to accomplish their goals. It did more than make them better painters, it showed them that to improve at something you have to be able to practice, adapt, innovate, and grow.
Artful Assessment has been very motivating for me in many ways. It was so edifying to meet with other teachers who are creative in their teaching and are more focused on how kids think, than just what they think. The level of discussion was vibrant and uplifting and reminded me of why I went into teaching. The project brought home to me how powerful the visual image is in learning. We used images for research, for discussion, to show what was learned, and to teach others. Perhaps the most important lesson was the powerful inspiration that a painting like Dark Harbor Fishermen can provide for learning.