Rosie Revere, Engineer - artsandliteracy.com

1 Building Grant: The Newark Art Integrated into Literacy Project is a initiative designed to implement the use of visual arts to improve reading, language arts, and literacy instruction in the classroom. It is designed to further improve classroom comprehension amongst 2nd and 3rd graders. The Newark Public Schools and the Montclair Art Museum are partnering for this last phase of the grant implementation. !This grant is made possible though the Department of Grant Art Infused LessonsLESSON 3: STRUCTURE ! ARTWORK: QUEENSBOROUGH BRIDGE, BY ELSIE DRIGGS !!BOOK: Rosie REVERE, Engineer , BY ANDREA BEATY, ILLUSTRATED BY DAVID ROBERTS Words + Shape = Concrete PoemsSummary Elsie Driggs was an American precisionist painter.

2 In her painting Queensborough Bridge we clearly see the structure of the bridge, what makes a bridge a supporting, functional and beautiful construction. Depicting a structure as a work of art was the major preoccupation of the precisionists of the early 20th century. In this lesson plan students will engage the painting Queensborough Bridge under the guidance of VTS. Students will read the book Rosie Revere, Engineer and discuss how this books theme touches upon history invoking WWII and Rosie the riveter. Students will write a concrete poem, based on a local structure or one that they are familiar with and admire. Students will then create a work of art out of their concrete poems.

3 During this lesson plan, students will become familiar with what an Engineer is, the structure that they create, and how to build a structure out of words. !NAIL grant lesson plan includes: ENGAGE 2 BUILD KNOWLEDGE 3 APPLY 3 REFLECT 4 ASSESS 5 Learning Objectives Students will: Learn what an Engineer is Learn about the history that the book is referencing Be able to write a poem about a structure Understand what a concrete poem is Be able to build a concrete poem with their words on a page Create their own personal poem Be able to revise their words in order to build their concrete poem !

4 Teaching Approach Visual Thinking Strategies Arts Integration Teaching Methods Hands-On Learning Discussion Immersion Modeling !Assessment Type Rubrics Determined by Teacher Engage Art VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES Using Visual Learning Strategies, the teaching artist will present the class a poster of the painting Queensborough Bridge, by Elsie Driggs. Give the students a moment to look in silence before inviting them to speak. Ask questions: What s going on in this picture?, What do you see that makes you say that?, What more can you find? Respond to students comments by pointing to what they are observing, paraphrasing to demonstrate understanding and proper sentence structure and accepting their comments neutrally without judgement.

5 Link answers that relate to each other and than build upon an idea to show students how thoughts evolve and change. Conclude the lesson by thanking students for their comments and encourage them to think of art viewing as an ongoing open-ended process. Engage Book After a reading out-loud of Rosie Revere, Engineer , a discussion about building will follow. Students will learn about Rosie the riveter and how her image is part of our American history. Students will be invited to discuss how the book s Rosie invents things and how she builds them. The teaching artist will discuss with the students what an Engineer is and what are the evidence of their work in the world around us.

6 Students will be encourage to share examples of different structures that they admire from their life experiences. Students will discuss how the book itself is built, with rhymes. Students will be encourage to think of the different ways books are structured. !Staff: This lesson can be taught by the classroom teacher alone or in collaboration with the visual art teacher or Teaching artist. Skills: Making Art: Producing, Executing and building Global Connections: Connecting to American history and structures around the globe. Vocabulary words: ! Engineer Hideaway Eaves Inventions Perplexed Dismayed Dynamo Baffled Raging Structure Collage Propaganda Background Precisionist !

7 !!!!!!!!Build Knowledge Concrete poems form a picture of the topic or follows the contour of a shape that is suggested by the topic. Like engineers, students will build a concrete poem to resemble their chosen structure. Students will learn what is an Engineer and how they help build things for people to use. Students will learn about the fictional character Rosie the Riveter and how her image was used during WWII to recruit women to help build planes and other war machines . Students will identify different structures from their world and they will write a poem about that said structure. For example, a ferris wheel from a fair or amusement park. Students will be instructed on how to build a successful concrete poem.

8 An important part of putting together a concrete poem is being able to match the structure, visual image of the poem, to the subject of the poem. Part of this process is revising, adding and subtracting words in order to have the shape readily recognizable. The teaching artist will demonstrate how to build a concrete poem. The teaching artist will share examples of concrete poems and facilitate in the students building of their own Poem: Building pictures with words. The words of the poem are shaped like the object is referencing or the subject of the NEEED: Watercolor paper Watercolors Paintbrushes Pencils Scissors Glue sticks Yarn Different color tapes Poem typed and printed on white paper Photos of different local structures !

9 !Apply ! Students will learn about engineering and will look for examples of engineering works locally. ! Students will identify a structure that they will write about. ! Students will look at examples of concrete poems and discuss what makes them successful. ! Students will write and revise a concrete poem. ! Students will be guided in the making of their concrete poems by the teaching artist. ! Students will complete a concrete poem that it is shaped as their selected structure. ! Students may embellish their concrete poems by painting and coloring the background of their poem as a way to have individualized artistic expression. Assess !Comprehension: How well did the student understand the story.

10 !Art making: Fine motor skills and the students ability to convey visually their ideas. !!Writing: How well did the student comprehend the concept of concrete poems. !!!ProficientAccomplishedAdvanced1 Student is not able to recall the story or lacks details2 Student recalls the story with details and somewhat sequentially3 Student recalls the story with many particular details and sequentially1 Student is able to crudely construct a concrete poem. Poem lacks details and is simplistic. Fine motor skills are still emerging2 Student is able to construct a concrete poem with details. The poem has a developed shape. Fine motor skills are Student is able to construct a concrete poem with many varying has a complex shape.