Lesson plan by: Judy Decker
Grade: 6 through 8 (examples are 7th grade)
Unit Plan: Design - Jazz
Project: Mixed media - Drawing /Collage - Musical instruments 
Elementary Jazz/Bearden Lesson from Tammy Willis (below)

Objectives:  The students will:
1.      Explore how artists express ideas, values through art (Art Appreciation: Romare Bearden)
2.      Distinguish commonalities, characteristics of artistic styles of expression - compare work of Romare Bearden
      and Jacob Lawrence.
3.      Discover relationships among art disciplines (art/music/dance)
4.      Perceive the environment and develop personal ideas around a theme to create original works of art
5.      Produce a work of art using established criteria:
      ·        Contour drawing from life –musical instruments
      ·        Explore color planning – develop unity
      ·        Add interest with line and pattern
      ·        Demonstrate craftsmanship in cutting and gluing
6.      Describe and analyze the distinguishing characteristics and qualities of art
7.      Interpret the meanings, beliefs, themes, and moods perceived in arts forms
8.      Evaluate art using appropriate criteria
9.      Reflect on the nature and meaning of art                                                    

Instruction:

1.      Show video “Visual Jazz” Share information about Bearden's life and art throughout the lesson, as the class  discussion suggests. Play samples of Jazz music related to Bearden's life.

2.      Introduce the concept of visual symbols by eliciting examples from students, such as a red cross, skull and crossed bones, automobile symbols, sports team symbols, or others with which they are familiar.

3.      Introduce the idea that artists often use visual symbols in their work, and Romare Bearden was such an artist. Ask students to look for symbols in Bearden's works and speculate about meanings. Ask students to give reasons for their interpretations.  Focus on the train symbol in several of Bearden's works and help students relate it to their studies of the Black migration from the rural South to urban centers in the North. Focus on Bearden’s representation of “sound” in his works

4.      Demonstrate drawing and collage techniques for unit

  Procedures:  Week One

View/discuss video -- Romare Bearden: Visual Jazz -- Make connections between art and music -- relate Bearden's work to Jazz/sounds/music

Critique works by Romare Bearden. Learn more about Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence via the Internet: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/bearden.htm 
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/lawrenc.htm

Draw musical instruments on newsprint  from observation  - place different ones at each table. Move instruments around the room so students get an opportunity to draw several. 

Music appreciation –Listen to jazz music

Drawing techniques with fine point markers- transfer drawing to fadeless paper using Seral transfer –outline with fine point permanent marker . Begin collage.

Procedures:  Week two

1.      Demonstrate collage techniques (show examples—review Bearden’s work)

2.      Select colored paper for collage—keep choices to a unified color plan

3.      Collage negative space of composition –requirements: break up into a minimum of three shapes

4.      Cut out musical instrument –add additional instruments and images to suggest sound—movement. Arrange to achieve balance, repetition, and unity. Glue with rubber cement. (Use non-toxic water base rubber cement). Accent with black marker where needed.

Evaluation:

1.      Group discussions, students' answers to questions for video and Internet activities

2.      Drawings – Musical instruments. 

3.      Color planning –unity of collage

4.      Craftsmanship in gluing

5.      Patterns and experimentation to represent music

6.      Daily participation and effort

Submitted by Tammy Willis

UNIT: Collage - Romare Bearden - Visual Jazz 

     
Adapt the lesson plan above. Tammy's students used construction paper (I recommend fade resistant TruRay). Students listened to Jazz music and talked about the life and art of Romare Bearden. You could show a PowerPoint of Jazz musicians and give students pictures of instruments. Student created these colorful collage from cut construction paper and only used black marker for some final details at the end. You could do these as self portraits, too - What instrument would you play?

      The new CD - Romare Bearden Revealed would be a good choice for this lesson - along with the Shorewood print Carolina Shout.

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