Art Integration Unit Plan Template 1

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

LTC 4240: Art for Children

Unit Title & Big Idea: Early Missouri: George Caleb Bingham paintings record Missouri life in the middle of the 19
th
century Grade Level: 4
Unit Overview/Summary:
George Caleb Bingham is called the Missouri Artist because he is best known for his genre paintings of the towns, the rivers, and the people
who lived in Missouri. Although he was born in Virginia, Bingham moved to Missouri when it was still a territory. Bingham was 10 years old
when Missouri became the 24
th
state on 8/10/1821, so he lived during Missouris early history. Bingham has recorded for all of us an accurate
representation of life during the mid-1800s in the state of Missouri. Not only was Bingham an artist, but he had a keen interest in politics. In
1848, he was elected to the Missouri legislature as a State Representative. Because of his interest in politics, he was able to describe in detail
the campaign, the voting process, and the election. As such, I believe we can teach visual art, social studies, and literacy to students. Social
studies and art can each be a separate lesson, with social teaching the history of life in early Missouri, and then we use Binghams art as an
example of a portal to the past, by showing what he saw.
Class Periods
Required:
Four or Five 45 min-1
Hour classes
Key Concepts (3-4)
Missouri was a state on the edge of the frontier. The Mississippi and the Missouri rivers
were vital to the economy and Bingham painted the many trappers, flatboatmen, and traders
who all floated downstream as well as the big steamboats that navigated the waters.
Missouri became a state in 1821, and although there were elections, not everyone had the
right to vote. All of the factors were important and contributed to the early development of
this state, drawing in merchants and politicians that wanted to get a new start in this untamed
land. George Caleb Bingham painted the everyday life of Missouri.
Essential Questions (3-4)
Who is George Caleb Bingham? What is a canvas? What is a genre
painting? What is a frontier? Why were the rivers important? What is a
flatboat? Who could vote in the middle 1800s?


Unit Objectives: (Excellent resource at http://www.teachervision.fen.com/curriculum-planning/new-teacher/48345.html?for_printing=1&detoured=1)
The unit objectives are to teach students about what Missouri was like and looked like in the middle of the 19
th
century. They will be tasked and evaluated based on
researching information resources (text or internet), writing, and using information from one subject area to help support another subject. They will demonstrate this
knowledge by reading and discussing illustrations and text, answering questions, writing fictional accounts of their lives in this time period, and illustrating what they
see.
Our primary focus will be learning about the importance of the rivers. They will look at the different types of clothes that people wore back then. They will also learn
about elections then and how they differ from elections in 2014. They will learn why George Caleb Bingham is called, The Missouri Artist.

Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) (3-4)
(http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/)
SS3 1.10, 1.6
Identify and describe the significance of the individuals from Missouri who have made
contributions to our state and national heritage; examples include Lewis and Clark, Mary
Easton Sibley, John Berry Meacham, Geroge Washington Carver, Laura Ingalls Wilder,
Mark Twain, Harry S Truman and Thomas Hart Benton

SS5 3.8
Use geography to interpret the past (e.g., why rivers have played an important role in human
transportation) and predict future consequences (e.g., what will likely happen if the
Core Academic Standards (Common Core State Standards)
(3-4) (http://www.corestandards.org/)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.7
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through
investigation of different aspects of a topic.

1. Content Standard: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and
processes
Achievement Standard:
Students
a. know the differences between materials, techniques, and processes
Art Integration Unit Plan Template 2

population of a city increases b. describe how different materials, techniques, and processes cause
different responses
c. use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas,
experiences, and
stories
d. use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner

4. Content Standard: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history
and cultures
Achievement Standard:
Students
a. know that the visual arts have both a history and specific relationships
to various cultures
b. identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times,
and places
c. demonstrate how history, culture, and the visual arts can influence each
other in making and
studying works of art



Content Areas Integrated:
1. Visual Art
2. Social Studies
3. Literacy/Writing

Identify & define common vocabulary/concepts that connect the art form
with the other identified subject area(s):
frontier---a region at the edge of a settled area
canvas---a coarse cloth specially prepared for oil paintings
Missouri--- 24
th
state to enter the Union in 8/10/1821
Lesson Titles in Sequence/Order
1. Election Series: Stump Speaking, The County Election, The Verdict of the People

2. River Scenes: Show many paintings but focus on the painting, Jolly Flatboatmen in Port

3. Self-portrait of early Missouri life
Brief Lesson Descriptions (2-3 sentences each)
1. We will look at the three paintings and discuss them. Students will
investigate our present election laws and we will discuss how The County
Election is different, such methods of information (orators instead of
media), who could vote (white men instead if everyone over 18), and how
they vote (out loud in public instead of secretly in a room). Learning will
be facilitated through analysis of the paintings and using guided
questioning to move students towards what the paintings represent,
followed by reading a textbook and answering questions. This should take
one to two class periods depending on how much time is used.

2. Using our knowledge of the time period presented in the previous
lesson, students will be asked to create a story. The first day will be our
rough draft, and the second day will be used for our revision. The story is
to be centered on the living in time period and watching Missouri turn into
a state. By using their social studies notes and answers to create a world
Art Integration Unit Plan Template 3

and describe the life they live.

3. For this visual art unit, we are drawing upon the experience students
gained in the first two questions to final create a mental image of the early
Missouri life. Using the above four images as examples as well as other
laid out in a gallery, students are to draw what they think they would like
and what they would be doing, based upon the history learned and the
activities they wrote. They will be using queues such as the clothing worn
by people, and the activities seen in the paintings.
What student prior knowledge will this unit require/draw upon?
Students should have knowledge of parts of speech (nouns, verbs and adjectives) for forming their short stories and preferably be familiar with the use of descriptive
language. They should also be somewhat familiar with how to research material (either text-based or by using a computer).

What activities will you use to engage students in imagining, exploring, and/or experimenting in this unit?
By examining paintings, students will be learning ways to cross-use their sense. Theyre taking their visual sense imagining ways to put it into words. They can also
research any aspect of the paintings or scenes that appeals to them (such as clothing, election system, relations with other groups).
How will this unit permit/encourage students to solve problems in divergent ways?
They can use writing skills, looking and talking skills, and research skills. This unit will also test students ability for research and use the information they learned from
one subject (social studies) and apply it to another field (literacy) and make connections on how they share a source (visual art).


How will you engage students in routinely reflecting on their learning/learning processes?
By asking questions: What is something new that you have learned about life in the 1850s? What are three things about life in the 1850s that are similar to life today?
What are three things about life in the 1850s that are different from today? What is something new that you have learned about George Caleb Bingham?
These question should be a tool used for and by students about the accuracy of their social studies research, and then asking whether their short stories exist in the
confines of realistic fiction. That is, Am I describing events and actions that could have really taken place?


How will this unit engage students in assessing their own work and the work of peers?
Students will be provided a rubric that demonstrates traits such as accuracy of facts and spelling grammar. However, I would also potentially use this lesson plan to
introduce the concept of footnotes. If students realize that something in their story shouldnt be there (such as plastic), they can write a footnote to explain that it wasnt
invented or became common until later to address aspects of their stories that they couldnt/didnt want to take out because it flows better. Similarly, they can note their
peers paper by asking whether the action or tools could have been present.

What opportunities/activities will students be given to revise and improve their understandings and their work?
As mentioned before, social studies and literacy are meant to have two lessons each. One day if for introduction, and the other is meant for revision. Upon completion of
their writing activity, the second social studies lesson is meant to be used as a research period to learn their historical correctness. Finally their second writing lesson is
meant to accommodate the necessary changes or improve/extend their draft.

What opportunities/activities will you provide for students to share their learning/understanding/work in this unit?
Students will be encouraged to read their works either with their neighbor, or the class if there is remaining class time available or even outside of class if they want.
How will you adapt the various aspects of this lesson to differently-abled students
Art Integration Unit Plan Template 4

It will depend on the student. I or any of their aides can accommodate by: (1) reading to student (2) writing for student (3) lowering expectations (4) describing paintings
to student (5) enlarging the text of their assignment

References
Bloch, E. Maurice (1975). The Drawings of George Caleb Bingham With a Catalogue Raisonn. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
Bloch, E. Maurice (1986). The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham A Catalogue Raisonn. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
Nagel, Paul C. (2005). George Caleb Bingham: Missouris Famed Painter and Forgotten Politician. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
McDermott, John Francis (1959). George Caleb Bingham: River Portraitist. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
Shapiro, M. E., Groseclose, B., Johns, E., Nagel, P. C., & Wilmerding, J. George Caleb Bingham. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers.
Silverstein, L. B. & Layne, S. (n.d.). Defining arts integration. Retrieved from
http://www.americansforthearts.org/networks/arts_education/publications/special_publications/Defining%20Arts%20Integration.pdf