Words and Wire

Language Arts Lesson

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

• Describe, analyze, and interpret Roberge’s Wrathful Deities.
• Write personal journal reflections about their experiences of viewing Wrathful Deities.
• Work in small groups to write a list of ideas and descriptive words about the meanings they find in Wrathful Deities.
• Understand the form and themes of haiku poetry through group read-aloud activities and independent reading.
• Write a haiku or other type of poem that connects to the natural element (wind, water, fire, earth) that is the subject of the wire sculpture they made in art class.

LESSON ACTIVITIES

Note: Pat Reed and Cindy Rotolo were able to bring Cindy’s 3rd grade class to the Portland Museum of Art to see Wrathful Deities. They were able to team-teach the gallery discussion, as well as several of the classroom activities. The following discussion prompts can be used in the classroom with a reproduction of the sculpture.

Describing, analyzing, and interpreting Wrathful Deities (one or two 45-minute classes)

Teacher Reflection 1

• Show the students a reproduction of Celeste Roberge’s sculpture, Wrathful Deities. Ask students to look quietly, and then have a short discussion about what they see. Have students create and complete a “Know – Wonder – Learned – Question” chart about Wrathful Deities in their journals. This is a good activity prior to either a Museum visit to see the sculpture or a focused class discussion about the artwork.

Teacher Reflection 2

• Use the following questions to lead the class in a discussion about Wrathful Deities. Use chart paper to record students’ responses.  It is good to return to the questions, “What am I seeing?” “What am I seeing now?” “What am I thinking? Feeling?… Now?” as students look at the sculpture.

Teacher Reflection 3

• Description: What you see in the work of art.
• Analysis: the relationship among the things you see in the work.
• Interpretation: the meaning of the work.

• What is this?
• Is it a painting or a sculpture? How do you know?
• What is it made of?
• What colors do you see?
• What is the size?
• What textures do you see and how would you describe them?
• What different kinds of lines do you see and how would you describe them?
• How do the lines interact?
• What shapes do you see?
• How are the shapes arranged?
• How do the shapes interact?
• How would you describe the forms in this sculpture?
• How has the artist worked with and changed the materials?
• Do the tall, vertical elements seem like a group? Do they change as you move around the sculpture? Do they seem to grow out of the base or float on the surface?
• What tools did the artist use? How did she make this work?
• How do your eyes move across the work? Do they move up and down, back and forth, all around? What do you notice first? Second?
• How does the light behave on this sculpture? How does the light change?
• Is this realistic or abstract? Why do you think so?
• What sounds does the sculpture make in your imagination? How does the sculpture move in your imagination?
• What do the objects remind you of? What do you think they are?
• Does the sculpture seem to move? What kind of movement does it have? What does that kind of movement suggest?
• What do you think the artist is trying to say?
• What do you think is happening in this work of art?
• If this sculpture could speak, what would it say to you?
• Does this sculpture remind you of something in your own life?
• How does this work make you feel?
• What does the title, Wrathful Deities, mean? Does the title change how you think of the work?
• What do you wonder about Wrathful Deities? About the sculpture, the artist, her thinking and process, the materials, etc.
• What would you ask the artist if you could?

Creative Writing (three or four 45-minute classes)

• After students have spent enough time looking at, thinking about, and discussing Wrathful Deities, ask them to write a personal reflective journal entry about the work. If students had the opportunity to visit the Portland Museum of Art to see the original artwork, ask them to write a narrative about their experience at the Museum and of the sculpture.

Teacher Reflection 4

• Next, divide the class into small groups of three to five students. Ask each group to develop a list of descriptive words about all aspects of Wrathful Deities. Encourage students to think about words that reflect the natural elements, color, mood, and be sure to include strong verbs, specific nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
• When groups have completed their lists, have them share their ideas with the class. Using chart paper, have students classify the descriptive words into categories: color, texture, mood, feeling, elements, etc.
• Introduce or review the haiku poem format with students. Haiku works well for this project because it focuses on specific descriptive words, the strict syllable format, and elements of nature (which is the theme of their sculptures). Use books, poems, haiku models, shared read-alouds and personal independent reading to familiarize students with the format.
• Have students brainstorm and write a haiku about Wrathful Deities and/or the sculpture they are creating in art class, using the descriptive word lists they developed earlier. Students may also choose to write poems in a different format than haiku.
• Have students share their poems with the class and complete the Student reflection—Art and poetry sheet.

MATERIALS

• Student journals
• Paper
• Pencils
• Chart paper and markers for class discussions