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Unit Overview

1. Stephanie Graham

2. Passing Down Through Dot Painting and Storytelling

3. Grade 4

4. Theme: Dreamtime

By the end of the unit, students should have an understanding of the history of the aboriginal people of Australia and their distinct method of passing information from one generation to the next, through symbolic dot paintings, storytelling, and dreamtime. The students should become familiar with the vocabulary in the lessons, and should have an understanding of key elements in writing a creative story, storytelling, and techniques used by the aboriginals in creating the dot paintings. The combination of these lessons makes this a unit because I am covering the history and culture of the aboriginal people (focusing on their art and beliefs), and having the students relate what they learned about the aboriginal people to their daily lives by creating a story that is relevant and meaningful to their lives and sharing this story with others. I want students to explore how different cultures and times used art to communicate just as we do today, but the messages portrayed and the meaning within the art change from culture to culture and time to time. I also want students to understand how the arts have a role in helping a culture develop.

5. 1) Culture and Art of the Aborigines, CHP

Cultural and Historical Perspectives

2) Create a Dreaming Story, CPP

Creative Writing

3) Aboriginal Bark Painting, CPP

Visual Arts/ Dot Painting

4) Dreaming Storytelling, CPP (Extension)

Theater/ Voice

6. I will be using a Powerpoint for my instructional tool. In this powerpoint will be pictures of traditional aboriginal dot paintings as well as contemporary dot paintings. The students will keep coming back to these photos to analyze them and try to find new meaning behind what they’re seeing. They will also learn what distinguishes the traditional compared to the contemporary. Next, I will put videos in the powerpoint that shows storytellers telling a Dreaming story. This will be used to emphasize and examine how different techniques used by the storytellers can get the audience interested and keeps them paying attention.

Title: Culture and Art of the Aborigines, CHP

Discipline/Media: Culture and Historical Perspectives

Grade: 4

Identify source: XAboriginalArt.pdf

1. CONTENT SUMMARY: Students will explore the history of the Aboriginal people of Australia, and how their beliefs influenced the development of their culture. Students will become familiar with the different types of aboriginal paintings and art such as scarification, rock engraving, sand art, bark and cave paintings. They will learn the differences between these different types, and which forms are meant for which members of the tribes. Students will practice drawing some of the more common types of symbols used in the paintings, and will learn about other techniques such as x-ray style, patterning, and cross-hatching. They will learn about the uses of these types of paintings, and how storytelling is an important part of the culture. Also, how storytelling and painting go hand-in-hand to pass down lessons and stories about dreamtime and events that have happened in the past. Students will listen to an aboriginal story (link provided in resources) to practice interpreting the meaning, lesson, or information given from the story and for what reasons the story could be used.

2. ARTS STANDARDS:

• #4: Understanding the Visual Arts in Relation to History and Cultures

Achievement Standard:

a) Know that the visual arts have both a history and specific relationships to various cultures.

b) Identify specific works of art as belonging to particular culture, times, and places.

c) Understand how history, culture, and the visual arts can influence each other in making and studying works of art.

3. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• In what ways do you think the history of the Aboriginal people has an effect on the types of stories and lessons taught to younger generations? Do you think the stories changed after the arrival of the British?

Teaching Notes: Things I would highlight would be answers that discuss how maybe their feelings toward “outsiders” would have changed in their stories, their paintings could contain more about wars and massacres, maybe the stories would contain more warnings about diseases and illnesses that were brought over.

• In our culture, what methods do we use to teach our kids or grandkids lessons about history or dreamtime? Do we use similar methods as the aboriginal people of Australia?

Teaching Notes: I would look for students answering that we do use stories with morals, poems and rhymes, songs, movies that have messages, books with lessons, etc. Also, music and visual art can also play a role in communicating ideas and messages.

• How do the storytelling and dot paintings help to pass on, maintain, and develop the cultural heritage of the aboriginal people? How is this similar or different than in our culture today?

Teaching Notes: Looking for it is similar to our culture in that they’re teaching the young what their beliefs and values are, but different from our culture because their beliefs and values were much different those many years ago than they are today. Also, events shape how we view the world and our surroundings, so since more has happened to us now, we have learned from those events and can pass down our gained knowledge.

4. MAKING CONNECTIONS: Students will be asked to share stories that either they have been told in order to learn something (like a story about sharing or kindness, selfishness, etc), or an experience that they have had that they think is important and should be passed down for the next generation to learn from. The teacher should ask the students to consider things that maybe our parents didn’t know growing up, something that is more “recent”, and something that the next generation can learn from (for example: internet etiquette and being careful what you say online).

5. RESOURCES: The teacher should read one of the 6 aboriginal stories from this site:

.au/exhibitions/bunyips/html-site/abor-stories/index-abor.html

Title: Create a Dreaming Story / CPP

Discipline/Media: Creative Writing

Grade: 4

Identify source



1. CONTENT SUMMARY: Students will be asked to reflect on an experience that they learned from, or a story that someone told them that taught them something (something that they think needs to be taught to others or passed down). They will write a short story using animals as characters and what occurs in the natural environment to describe what they learned. Students will become familiar with key elements of a story (set, conflict, resolution, and theme), using descriptive language and personification, and using symbolic representation. Students will learn how creative writing can be similar and different to other art disciplines (how all art can tell stories or have meaning, can all be descriptive using different methods and techniques, etc).

2. ARTS STANDARDS: What arts content and achievement standard(s) does this lesson address?

• #1: Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes.

Achievement Standard: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

• #2: Using knowledge of structures and functions.

Achievement Standard: describe how different expressive features and organizational principles cause different responses.

• #6: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines.

Achievement Standards: Understand and use similarities and differences between characteristics of the visual arts and other arts disciplines.

3. ENGAGE & INSPIRE: How will you prepare and engage students’ interest and imaginations?

Teacher will ask students what they remember that helped them learn something- was there a song that helped you learn the ABC’s? Was there a poem that helped you learn your numbers, like “1, 2, Buckle My Shoe” or “Hickory, Dickory, Dock?” Was there a story that helped you learn a lesson, like “The Giving Tree,” or “The Rainbow Fish?” Have you ever looked at a map to help you remember how to get somewhere? Discuss how the aborigines used the dot paintings and storytelling to teach lessons and pass on stories through generations. Have students give a few examples that can be written on the board. Teacher will then tell Aesop’s story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Ask the kids what stood out in the story. What was the message? Are there other ways to tell stories without using people as characters? The teacher should point out the key elements of this story (the set, conflict, resolution, and theme).

4. SHARE & REFLECT: After students brainstorm ideas for their story (who will be the character/s, set, what the climax and resolution will be, etc.) they will share a rough draft of their story with a peer. The peer will suggest one idea (an object, character, expansion to plot) that the writer will include in their story. Once the final draft of the story is written, students will share again with their peer. Teacher will ask the students to discuss (and take note) how the story made them feel, what the theme or moral of their partner’s story was, what the key elements were, and what descriptive language was used. They will then be asked to write a couple sentences answering the following questions: Was the idea your peer provided helpful (why or why not)? What is another way that you can tell this story without writing it? What are some ways that you can make a story more interesting and easier for the reader to visualize?

5. STUDENT ASSESSMENT: Teacher will make sure students are understanding and applying the elements of creative writing in their story (set, conflict, resolution, theme, characters, descriptive words, personification, symbolic representation). Did the students use their knowledge of these concepts when reviewing their peer’s work? In their written reflection, did they provide thoughtful answers to the questions?

6. RESOURCES: Teacher should have a copy of Aesop’s Boy Who Cried Wolf, and also have other stories that have morals accessible to the students for them to read independently such as The Rainbow Fish, or The Giving Tree, or Aesop’s Fables. Teacher should also have printed copies of some dreaming stories of the aborigines such as Mother’s Helper, We Came From the Land, or The Eagle and the Crow. Dreaming stories can be obtained online at many different sites.

Title: Aboriginal Bark Painting/ CPP

Discipline/Media: Visual Arts/ Dot Painting

Grade: 4

Link to URL:

CONTENT SUMMARY: Students will create a dot painting using symbols they learned while exploring the history of Aboriginal bark paintings. They will become familiar with vocabulary such as aboriginal, symbolism, cross-hatching, and motif. The students will be asked to have their dot painting be a symbolic representation of their dreaming story (from previous lesson), and will utilize techniques from the aborigines such as patterning with dots, line structure and cross-hatching. They will also practice using skills such as creating simple animal shapes which were often used in dot paintings, cross-hatching, and creating x-ray motifs. Their painting will be created on brown paper bags, and will be outlined in black sharpie. Students can mix colors to add variety. Lastly, students will share details of the unity between their story and their painting in writing on the back of their piece.

ARTS STANDARDS:

• #1: Understanding and applying media, techniques and processes.

Achievement Standard: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

• #2: Using knowledge of structures and functions.

Achievement Standard: Use visual structures and functions of art to communicate ideas.

• #3: Choosing and Evaluating a Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas.

Achievement Standard: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

ENGAGE & INSPIRE: Teacher will hang a picture(s) of a dot painting (examples shown in resources) and ask the students to write down or draw what they think some of the key elements are. What stands out in the painting? Are there certain elements or symbols that you recognize, and could they be a part of the story? What do you notice about the colors (how do they make you feel)? Are there any parts of the painting that are hard to recognize or interpret- could they be hidden meanings? Ask students why aboriginal people may have used dot paintings along with storytelling to teach younger generations. Students will then be asked to think about and brainstorm the key elements of the Dreaming story they wrote (previous lesson), and sketch symbolic representations of those elements. Teacher should emphasize that symbolic representation does not mean that it has to look like what it is portraying. Teacher should encourage students to use cross-hatching techniques for shading, patterns, and x-ray motifs for practice, as they will be using some of these techniques in their painting. Teacher can suggest that size and arrangement of elements can have an effect of someone’s interpretation.

SHARE & REFLECT: When students are finished with their paintings, they will pair up and share their painting with a peer. They will take turns sharing their story (from previous lesson) along with the painting, and explaining why they chose the key elements, symbols, and specific techniques they used. Ask students to take note of key components of the story that are represented in the painting. Each student will need to have a question ready to ask their peer after they share their painting (For example, “why did you choose to make the lizard purple?”). Once sharing is complete, they will complete a peer “glow and grow” – this consists of each student writing two statements. The first statement is something they found interesting or intriguing about their peers painting, something they really liked and why. The next statement gives an idea for improvement or enhancement (for example, “Since there was a big storm in the story, I would have liked to see more rain symbols on the painting.”). The teacher can use “I like this because…” statements as an alternative or addition to the glow and grow.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT:

• Did the student use symbols and techniques (such as cross-hatching, animal shapes, patterns, x-ray motifs)? Student should have used at least two techniques discussed in class, and be able to describe their reasoning for using them).

• Are the elements and symbols consistent with their reasoning in their written reflection?

• Is the student communicating using the concepts and vocabulary discussed?

• Did the student successfully communicate ideas through the symbolic representations within their painting?

RESOURCES:

[pic] [pic]

Extension Lesson Plan

Title: Dreaming Storytelling/ CPP

Discipline/Media: Theater/ Voice

Grade: 4

Arts Strand focus: Creative Arts Storytelling

Identify source: roos/eest.htm

1. CONTENT SUMMARY: Students will use their story and dot painting from previous lessons to tell their story to the class (or in groups, to save time). They will learn important storytelling skills such as emphasis, repetition, transition, pause, and proportion. The students will:

• Practice using different voices and tones

• Use gestures and facial expressions for emphasis and illustration of meaning

• Pacing of speech and volume of voice

These skills will all be incorporated into their storytelling.

2. ARTS STANDARDS:

• #1: Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes

Achievement Standard: Use different media, techniques and processes to communicate ideas, experiences and stories.

• #2: Using Knowledge of Structures and Functions

Achievement Standard: Use visual structures and functions of art to communicate ideas.

• #6: Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines

Achievement Standard: Understand and use similarities and differences between characteristics of the visual arts and other arts disciplines.

3. RELATION TO OTHER LESSONS: This lesson relates to the other lessons in this unit because the students are able to create their own stories and lessons to share with and teach other students, just as the aborigines did. They begin by learning about the aboriginal people and their culture and history, then the students apply their knowledge of their culture and storytelling to create their own story followed by creating an aboriginal dot painting that represents the story they created. This lesson is the follow-up to their learning, and allows the students to tie together all they have learned by actually telling and sharing their stories.

4. RESOURCES: It would be useful for the teacher to show the students an example of a storyteller using the elements and concepts that the students are asked to use. Here is a link to a storyteller teaching how the Kangaroo got it’s pouch.

watch?v=FdZytoa12NE&feature=related

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