Lesson: Personal Flags
Art Theory: Visual Storytelling/ symbols
A flag is more than just a cloth, it represents something: a place, ideas, values, a people, etc. The kids had learned all about flags and we got to create personal flags.
This week I tried something different, we spent more time talking at the front than every before. I had always done demonstrations or instructions as they worked. But today we did more instruction at the beginning brainstorming ideas and it went very well. They didn't have any materials and they were very focused. We talked about symbols. How a visual picture can mean something. A basketball symbolizes a game, or that that student plays basketball. Or a snowflake could mean that the student liked the snow. Almost every child had multiple ideas for symbols. When we finally gave them their paper they were busy drawing and decorating their flags with symbols. There were allowed three pieces of paper of whatever color they wanted and they could use any materials (except paint).
I was so impressed, each flag was entirely different. Some went outside the boundaries of their paper and added a flag pole! Others used well known symbols of sports teams. It was so fun to see them come to a point that they do not need a detailed demonstration. That they can create art that is unique to them. At the end we hung all the flags on the board and they loved it!
I find it amazing that every student's flag was unique, especially considering the young age of the students, and that they understood so clearly how to express themselves through symbols. Nice job with this lesson!
Diving right into a lesson and giving instruction simultaneously versus giving instruction at the beginning was something I experimented with quite a bit, and I found with my second grade class they produced better work if we sat down and discussed first. I wonder if that is across the board with younger age groups or if it's the nature of teaching arts or something else entirely.