1)  What is the major objective or goal for the student learner?  To transform a discarded book into a  creative art work of art that encompasses a theme and utilizes a variety of media and techniques.

2)  What are the criteria for the artwork? See rubric (attached) can be adapted for use K-12 with as few or as many resources available

3)  What Arts standard(s) and/or benchmark(s) does the lesson support? How?                    

Content Standard: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes-the lesson requires students to select and use a variety of media and techniques to accomplish the goal of creating the themed book         

Content Standard: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas-students must develop and apply an assortment of symbols and ideas to represent the chosen theme                                                 

Content Standard: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others –students will compare and contrast works using the Venn diagram as well as critiques and  self assessment including a reflective statement                                                                                     

Content Standard: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines       
AND Content Standard: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures – these two standards can be met if the theme, for example, is based on particular culture or cultural comparison or a unit on poetry, environments or other content area

4)  What other curriculum content areas does the lesson support? How? connections include: language arts, history, social studies, science and math. Theme can be based on particular time period, culture, person, place, event, or concept (e.g. Ancient Rome, solar system, poetry, etc)

5)  What was your inspiration for this lesson plan?  I was looking for an alternative art form for students to experience that could incorporate a variety of media and techniques into one successful project.  The school was in the process of discarding old math textbooks this summer which got me thinking……………

6) What assessment strategies do you use to assess student learning? informal critiques, rubric (attached), compare/contrast works using Venn Diagram (attached)

Your teaching? brainstorming, incremental introduction of techniques and media, presentation of other artist’s work in this style, demonstration

An outline follows with the step by step process of the art lesson and please include a list of materials and resources needed to teach the lesson.

Steps to AMAZING Altered Books (geared for Middle School but adaptable for all grade levels and subjects as well as for a wide range of available resources)

vocabulary: form, function, sculpture, three-dimensional, mixed media altered, theme, others related to specific content areas that might be used as themes

1. Introduce the students to the art form using images, background/history and information from the resource section of this handout including form versus function.
2. Using the Venn diagram have students compare and contrast two of the works to help them discriminate and graph their findings.
3. Make a media chart (see materials list) to use as reference.
4. Have students select discarded books based on size, title or form.
5. To ease students into the process, have them trace their hand on the inside cover of their book. It may extend into the title page of the book (tip from art teacher Michael Austin).
6.  Fill the traced hand with patterns.
7. The remaining portion of the page is painted with tempera paint.
8. Demonstrate the tape transfer technique (see below).  Students should transfer their name using this technique and add it to the painted page.
9. Have students decide on a theme.  This can be done by

• students writing ideas on slips of paper (places, events, objects, etc) and then randomly drawing one to use
• based on particular unit of study (Ancient civilizations, poetry, ecology, constitution, etc)
• using one of the traits of character education (tolerance, commitment, responsibility, respect, etc)
• exploring a social issue such as poverty, homelessness, free speech, clear cutting, etc
• visually tell the story in the book
• visually tell a story that they create
• other means

10. Students should block (glue) individual pages together into four groups (size is determined by the number of pages in the individual book).  If the book is thick enough, a section can be glued to the back cover to create a place to cut a niche.  Other sections may be done this way also.
11. Introduce the idea that one of the sections (two open facing pages) should be done using collage techniques including the concepts of contrast and positive/negative space.
12. Brainstorm how this could be accomplished

• Magazine collage of images of the object or subject
• Cut paper collaged to illustrate the object or subject
• Collage of magazine images of the object or subject in the shape of the object or subject

13. Introduce the second section to be completed to be completed in watercolor crayon.  Demonstrate techniques including masking out text (see below).
14. After these sections have been finished as a class, brainstorm and introduce other ideas to be included (see list below).  Provide examples and demonstrations.
15. Give the students a list of general possibilities.  From these they must choose 3 to include in their book.
16. Every opportunity should be taken to reinforce the idea of exploring the theme rather than just illustrating it.  For example: a student using the them of “coffee” could do a watercolor of a woman in a housecoat drinking an early morning coffee with the paper or on the run of a hectic morning or a crowded scene at the coffee shop……not just a painting of a coffee cup!
17. Informal critiques should take place throughout the process as well as small group and individual demonstrations, reteaching and brainstorming.
18. Final class critique when the project is completed.
19. Students should decide how to best display their Altered Book and include a label with pertinent information including the “Artist’s Statement”.
20. Rubric (attached) is used for scoring which also includes self scoring, teacher scoring and an opportunity for students to write a personal, reflective “Artist’s Statement”.

SOME SUGGESTED SUPPLIES

*Books!  Various shapes, sizes and titles                 hole punches, scissors, X-acto knives
stamps and stamp pads                                                gloss medium
scissors, craft knives                                                     glue and glue sticks
assorted papers – handmade, vellum                       repositionable glue
snaps, hooks, wire, screws, brads                             crayons
stickers, contact paper                                                  oil pastels
wallpaper scraps                                                             watercolors, gesso, acrylic paint
fabric pieces                                                                     markers
ribbon, lace                                                                       Pearl Ex powder
collage items – dog tags, charms, game pieces, buttons                
Xeroxed copies of images for transfers
colorless blender pens or Citrasolv for transfers

*use one of the pages for samples/test media - make a media chart: glue page to black card stock, make lines vertically and horizontally down the page, label each and use for reference  

*Copyright notice: To follow the letter of the law,  choose hardcover books that are in the public domain or ones with no copyright renewal. How do you know if books are in public domain? How do I know if copyright has expired?  Also consider, What are the chances of a copyright holder finding out you altered a book? and What are the chances they would want to do something about it? You decide. If in doubt, write to the copyright holder/publisher for permission. Since you are an educator, you probably will not get a response. Your use in the classroom would fall under Fair Use. However, an artist who wants to display his/her work will need to consider this. See advice by Eliza Badurina - Online Art Magazine

Here is a brief history of Altered Books courtesy of ISABA:

Altered books is an art form in which existing books are reworked into works of art, often manifests in a variety of ways. The existing book becomes the canvas for the new ideas and images. Sometimes words or images from the book are retained as a part of the altering. At other times it is the books is entirely obscured to become a new idea totally.

Altered books are actually an old way of recycling. In the 11th Century Italian monks recycled old manuscripts written on vellum by scraping off the ink and adding new text and illustrations on top of the old. This was known as "Palimpsest."

In the late 19th century people used old books as a sort of scrapbook, pasting on its pages the ephemera from their society including magazine images, personal recipes, and family pictures. This is "Grangerism", a Victorian practice of illustrating a particular book with engravings torn from other books.

Today artists are exploring the form of the book along with its substance. Existing images and text become something entirely new. Tom Phillips' Humament is one of the first contemporary examples of this art. By covering, cutting, and changing the structure, altered books run the gamut from books that have become shrines to books that are transformed into colorful images totally unrelated to their origins. Source: Michal Austin, K-12 Kansas Art Teacher

SOME FORMATS

Round Robin - books are passed to different individuals, each alters a section; choose a theme (i.e. Cats, landscapes), let artists be inspired by text, or just transform as they desire

Book as Theme – develop the book to reflect the theme of the book or create artworks throughout the book that reflects the storyline

Tell a Story – create images through the book to tell a new story

Book as Art – use the book as the form/base for individual art not related to the book

Word(s) Inspired – block out word(s) from selected text to highlight visually in single or multiple sections

Found Poetry – use words on the page to make up a poem

SOME IDEAS

·        Rub linseed oil over a copy of an image or pattern (like small dotted wrapping paper). Glue w/acrylic medium over another colored image. Great translucent play on images/patterns.

·        Take tissue paper and coat it twice with matte medium. Let dry. paint dried tissue with transparent paints or inks. Let dry and resulting paper looks like stained glass.

·        Make silk paper with silk fibers meshed between two screens (like the type for windows) and then coat with wallpaper paste on both sides. Hang to dry on clothesline still between the mesh.

·        Encase an image or object in tissue or rice paper and use in window (like glass).

·        Glue down a strong image or print pattern -like a block print. Crumble rice paper and spot acrylic medium on back and place glue side down over image. Dry. Paint a light acrylic wash over rice paper and the medium acts like a resist so the result is a staining. Dry. Wash second color over parts of rice paper.

·        Wash acrylic glaze (acrylic paint + matte medium) color over semi-transparent tracing paper. Dry. Glue paper over an image or part of an image. You can still see a hazy image through the color. Like looking through the world in rose or green or canary yellow glasses.

·         Layer coat one side of tissue paper with acrylic medium. Lay over images. Coat top with medium. Tissue is very transparent.

·        Crumple tissue paper. Drip dye-based inks or watercolors onto papers and shift papers so ink runs in crevasses. Dry them coat then coat with gloss or matte medium.

·        After you lay images down, coat papers with three to five different colored acrylic washes. (acrylic paint plus medium) Use your color sense as you lay the washes down. This isn't a huge film laid over the whole picture. Let dry between washes. When finished seal color with matte or gloss varnish. Light plays with the glazes and art seems to glow.

·        Use gold leaf or gold oil crayons on work. Seal with acrylic medium, then proceed with washes and paint. Scratch through washes and glazes with sharp object and the shine form the leaf will come through.

·        Take a colored copy or regular Xerox copy and coat five times with gloss medium. Let dry between coats. Let whole thing dry overnight. Next morning gently rub paper off back of image and you have a film of your picture or image. You can glue this down, you can transfer this image to your picture by applying matte medium over back (paper-side) of image and let set up, then peel (looks like a photo transfer) or you can do this on fabric by coating image five times then gluing the last image to the fabric with the medium. Next day rub paper off back of image that is glued on fabric and seal.  

Source for above http://www.littlebit.com/ab/abtodo.html site has other hints and tips

·        Tape Transfer - Choose a picture or letters from a magazine. Carefully place the image on clear packing tape, image facing the sticky side. Wet thoroughly, allowing water to saturate the paper. Carefully rub away the paper, leaving only the ink on the tape. The tape will remain sticky and can be placed directly on your project.

·        Cut letters from scrap paper.  Coat letter backs with repositionable glue, place on page.  Paint page, let dry. Carefully removes masks.

·        Mask some words from the text, use correction tape or removable masking tape. Decorate as desired with paint, glaze, ink and then remove the tape

·        Marble or monoprint pages

·        Glue thick sections of pages together.  Use craft knife to cut windows or niche.

·        Fold, cut and tear pages

·        Cut images and glue down to pages mosaic style

·        Use envelopes or make pockets for things in the book

·        Burn the edges of the pages

·        Punch holes and paint behind them or glue vellum or colored tissue over them

·        Use paper clay on a page and stamp a design into it for a 3-D effect

·        Make slits on the page and create a weaving with paper or ribbon

·        And the list goes on and on and on!!!!  

See how to add a pop-up box - from Laurie Gatlin

Altered Book Ideas from Michaels' Arts and Crafts Store

Collage techniques - from Creativity Portal - 7 pages of ideas and resources

How-to's on background papers and more http://karenswhimsy.com/play/

RESOURCES (note links were active at time of publication of this lesson)

Examples of Linda's students work www.rrms.wlwv.k12.or.us/kielingL/Artindex.htm

See Linda Kieling's pages

Navigate to 8^th grade, then Altered Books

International Society of Altered Book Artists http://www.alteredbookartists.com/

http://www.d-originals.com/ has the following books as well as others:

Altered Books 101 by Beth Cote & Cindy Pestka

Altered Book Special Effects by Laurie Goodson & Betsy McLoughlin

Altered Book Material Guide by Laurie Goodson, Betsy McLoughlin & Susan Pickering Rothamel

Getting Started in Altered Style by Suzanne McNeill

Middle school student examples http://www.geocities.com/theartkids/

Article by Suzanne Hill http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/7131/91378  

Lisa Vollrath "how to" articles  - answers to many questions. You must now register to access the articles. Lisa has many CD's with images - very affordable - see offerings from Two-Ten Studios

Altered Book Techniques http://www.jenminnis.com/Techniques_Book.html

Creativity Portal -Altered Books - How to Tutorials and more

Reversing Vandalism  http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/news/onlineexhibits/rv/  project which
would allow artists to use damaged books to create new works of arts.

Karen's Whimsy Public Domain Images Scans by Karen Hatzigeorgiou - engravings and other artwork from a personal collection of old books, magazines, and post cards. Updated regularly. See her artwork - altered books and collage

Artists  

Altered Book Artists - International Society of Altered Book Artists (ISABA)
http://www.alteredbookartists.com/index.html

Beth Cote http://www.alteredbook.com/index.html 
Books, CDs, videos - lots of copyright free images.

Ingrid Dijkers  http://www.ingriddijkers.com/main.html

Eliece Edge - blog http://by-my-hand.blogspot.com/

Tom Phillips  
http://www.rosacordis.com/humument/index2.html  http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/humss/art317/humument.htm  
A HUMUMENT is a treated book by British artist Tom Phillips based on the Victorian novel  'A Human Document'  by W.H. Mallock.

Richard Minsky http://www.minsky.com/index.html

Karen Michel http://www.karenmichel.com/  

Karen Hatzigeorgiou - Karen's Whimsy http://karenswhimsy.com/

Teesha Moore http://www.teeshamoore.com/gallery.htm

Corinne Stubson 
http://glitz-oh.com/art/ - http://glitzoart.blogspot.com/

Jenny Taliadoros http://www.jennysartspace.com/

Book Arts Web http://www.philobiblon.com/

Aileen Roberts
http://www.outsidethemargins.com/ab.html 
Working with children
http://www.outsidethemargins.com/kidsab.html
Article on working with children
http://www.outsidethemargins.com/kidsabarticle.html

"Spirit Books" by Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord 
- amazing books using special handmade papers and nature

Boston Book Arts - many artists listed

OTHER SITES  

Altered Books Images http://www.kindredkids.com/Gallery/AlteredBook/index.htm

http://www.rubberstampsclub.com/tips/book-making.html
http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/r/drv1913/0204.html

http://www.yasutomo.com/project/June99.htm
http://members.optushome.com.au/j9/techniques/book.html
http://www.sdmart.org/education-plans.html