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School Level: Grades 9-12 High School Standard: Literary and Arts Creation and Performance
Use arts terminology descriptive of the visual elements of artworks (e.g., color, shape, line, light, texture, space).
Use arts terminology descriptive of the technical processes involved in creating various art forms.
To complement study of Henry Lewis's St. Anthony Falls, read the report about Lewis's sketching trip on the Mississippi River, discuss how a similar contemporary trip would be alike and different, and write and illustrate a journal about the latter. (See Extension Activities, "The American Land: Changing Landscapes.")
Depict a personal hero or heroine in a painting, collage, or drawing. (See Extension Activities, "The American People: Heroes and Heroines.")
After comparing selected naturalistic and abstract images from the unit, create an abstract rendition of one of the naturalistic images. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: Abstraction, Naturally!")
While listening to a variety of musical compositions, "draw" the music by using different colors and lines that suggest the rhythms, melodies, and instrumentation. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: Music and Art.")
High School Standard: Literature and Arts Analysis and Interpretation
Use arts terminology to analyze and express ideas about the unit's images and to identify the artistic traditions and styles representative of the diverse cultures contributing to the history of art in America.
Describe the visual choices that artists made in creating the unit's images by responding to questions that can be answered by looking at the images.
Interpret the unit's images by responding to questions that help explore an artist's creative intent and the reasons behind the artist's visual choices.
Describe personal reactions to the unit's images by responding to association questions (e.g., reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with artist's viewpoint).
Explain how each of the unit's images reflects a social, cultural, or historical context. As a member of a small group, select one of the unit's images and make a presentation about it to the class, explaining why the image was chosen and feelings inspired by the image. (See Preview Activities, "Getting To Know You.")
As a member of a small group, research facts about one of the unit's images (e.g., subject, medium, technique) and present the facts to the class. (See Preview Activities, "Getting To Know You.")
Research the definitions of various types of art (e.g., painting, sculpture, collage), and explain the definitions to class members in terms they can understand. (See Preview Activities, "Types of Art.")
Study a selected image to observe its details, list the observations, and then write a description of the image. (See Preview Activities, "What's Important?")
Discuss specific visual images that reflect the importance of water to early settlers in America, and also consider other natural resources that might attract settlers to a locale. Individually or in small groups, create a map of an ideal settlement location, including a key showing symbols for features such as mountains, rivers, and forests. (See Extension Activities, "The American Land: Westward Ho!")
Based on images from the unit and from other suggested sources, discuss the concept of stereotype and examine how visual materials support or challenge stereotypes of Native Americans. (See Extension Activities, "The American People: Native Americans.")
To complement study of the Acoma Pueblo Jar, identify and illustrate pottery decorations from a variety of southwestern pueblos. (See Extension Activities, "The American People: Native Americans.")
To complement study of the Connecticut Room (1740) and/or the Charleston Drawing Room (1772), work in a small group to determine 10 items to pack if emigrating to America at that period and explain why those items were selected. (See Extension Activities, "The American People--Newcomers: Home Sweet Home.")
After reviewing the unit's specific images that honor heroes and heroines, consider the definition of hero/heroine and why the people represented by the images can be considered heroic. (See Extension Activities, "The American People: Heroes and Heroines.")
To complement study of the unit's images of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, read biographies of these presidents, and compare how the biographers and the artists have emphasized personal and professional aspects of these presidents. (See Extension Activities, "The American People: Heroes and Heroines.")
As a small group activity, write and perform an imaginary dialogue that would occur with an original resident of the Connecticut Room (1740) or the Charleston Drawing Room (1772) after that person had stepped through a time machine into a comparable room in a contemporary house. (See Extension Activities, "The American People: Back to the Future.")
To complement study of the Connecticut Room and/or the Charleston Drawing Room, imagine being a resident of the original house for a day and write a corresponding diary entry. (See Extension Activities, "The History of America: Dear Diary.")
To complement study of the terms artifact and archaeologist, discuss what the unit's artifacts teach about the lives of the people who made them, and participate in creating a classroom "museum" of labeled artifacts that would reflect the contemporary life of a student for future archaeologists. (See Extension Activities, "The History of America: Archaeology.")
Choose a style of clothing, furniture, or interior design from one of the unit's pre-1910 images and trace the style to determine whether it has disappeared, been altered, or revived. (See Extension Activities, "The History of America: History Repeats Itself.")
Use the illustrated timeline to determine which artworks were created at about the same point in time, and discuss the similarities and differences among these works. (See Extension Activities, "The History of America: Timeline.")
Discuss the term portrait and various examples of portraiture within the unit, and then create a "word picture" of one of these portraits. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: Portraiture.")
Research and compare portraits painted by English and American artists during the same period. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: A Matter of Style--Adopting and Adapting.")
Compare English Chippendale furniture styles with their American counterparts. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: A Matter of Style--Adopting and Adapting.")
Based on a sampling of visual images from the unit, examine and explain how the diversity of American art reflects the diversity of the American people. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: What's American about American Art?")
Compare selected naturalistic and abstract images from the unit to determine how artists manipulate elements (e.g., color, line, shape) to create an abstract work. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: Abstraction, Naturally!")
Listen to a recording of Nina Simone's music while viewing Thompson's Homage to Nina Simone, and explore how the painting expresses the music's rhythm and melodies. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: Music and Art.")
Select an image from the unit, find a musical composition that complements it, and play it for classmates, asking them to match the music with the image. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: Music and Art.") Read one or more of the fictional or nonfictional selections correlated to images in the unit, and compare the viewpoints expressed or the artistic and literary techniques employed. (See Extension Activities, "The Arts in America: Literature and Art.")
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