Art and Literacy : Ruby the Copycat

1. Art and Literacy:Ruby the Copycat Katie Hildreth

2. Class: 4th Grade, Art Classroom, time of year does not matter Time Allocated:2 class periods Subject: Reading Ruby the Copycat by Peggy Rathmann and making a self-portrait to demonstrate what makes us each unique and special, with inspiration from the Spanish artist, Frida Kahlo’s self portraits

3. Art History • This lesson is inspired by the Spanish artist Frida Kahlo. • Her famous self-portraits show her in very unique ways. • Born on July 6, 1907 and died July 13, 1954, both in Mexico City, Mexico. • Frida was a self-portrait artist and was and still is admired as a Feminist Icon. • She married the artist Diego Rivera.

4. I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.”- Frida Kahlo

5. Supplies: • One 16x 20 sheet of paper per student (tan if available) • Side walk chalk • Colored pencils • Pencils • Erasers Equipment: Projector Screen

6. Objectives • Theoretical Goals- Cross Discipline of Literacy and Art • Practical Skills- By having students use chalk as a medium, it will help polish their fine motor skills, along with blending and smearing the chalk, which will encourage movement of the arm, wrists and fingers. • Behavioral Objectives in Art- By doing rough sketches of their portraits before doing the final piece, it helps students polish craftsmanship skills and encourages a higher level of thinking by portraying a mood or theme in their piece.

7. Benchmarks/Standards • Notice and describe different visual effects resulting from art making techniques. • Identify, select and vary art materials, tools and processes to achieve desired results in their artwork • Identify qualities that contribute to the design and meaning of their artworks and the works of others. • Determine a theme of a story, drama or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. • Describe in depth a character, setting or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character or action.

8. Learner Outcome • From this lesson, students will read Ruby the Copycat by Peggy Rathmann, learn a brief background about Frida Kahlo, share and critique Frida Kahlo by sharing their thoughts on her work, use sidewalk in a different way than they usually do, practice speaking and sharing thoughts by sharing the meaning of their work with others in the class. From this lesson, students will take away how to create meaning in their artwork by a certain theme or mood, like Frida Kahlo did in hers.

9. Safety Too much inhalation of chalk particles for those with sensitive sinus? Alternatives • Larger pieces of chalk if there is difficulty grasping chalk • Gloves if the feeling of chalk upsets them • If a student gets done early, encourage them to go back and try to do more details in their work • If student gets upset about not being as realistic as they want, offer a mirror or a grid of a picture of themselves as helping equipment

10. Procedure • Part 1 • Read Ruby the Copycat as a class • Have a group discussion of what the meaning of the story is • Part 2 • Briefly introduce Frida Kahlo • Show examples of her works • Share what feelings or mood they get from looking at her works • Part 3 • Pass out sheets of practice paper • Allow students to practice drawing their self-portrait and experimentation with chalk

11. Procedure Cont. • Part 4 • Pass out sheet of paper to each student • Pass out box of chalk to each student • Help as needed • Be sure to have examples of Frida Kahlo’s work up as a reference/ inspiration • Keep pushing the idea that everyone is unique- “What makes YOU unique?” • Work as needed • dclassperiodsclass period as needed)s unique- "he story is • ive sinus? • Put away chalk • Collect drawings • Part 5 • Spray with fixative (or hairspray) • Part 6 • Have each student write a few sentences describing their work. Ex. The mood they were going for, etc. • Have each student briefly describe what makes them unique that they put in their self-portrait

12. Student Self-Evaluation Evaluation • Did student complete self-portrait? • Did student get a general understanding of what was trying to be taught? • Did student share to class about their work? • Did student write about it on back of piece? • Was there some effort in creating a theme or mood to their piece? • Does it seem as though there was effort put into their final piece? • What can be adjusted to make the lesson better? • What were some good/bad things about the lesson? • Did students seem to enjoy or dislike this lesson? • Was the lesson too easy for some students and harder for others? • What can be added to make the lesson more challenging for students who found the lesson too easy? • What can be taken away to make the lesson easier for students that found this lesson too difficult? • Were the materials appropriate for the lesson?