Lesson Title: Music as Inspiration: Looking at Compositions Inspired by Sound

Grade: 6th Grade

Teacher: Lauren Hermann

Lesson Plan Rationale

1. Big Idea: Identity How does the big idea connect ideas across the curriculum?
The middle school curriculum must cater to students cognitive, social,
and emotional needs. Because young adolescents are at a pivotal
point in their development, the big idea of identity is essential in
developing these needs. Students in middle school are spending a lot
of time trying to figure out who they are and where they belong. A
curriculum that allows students the opportunity to enter into an
investigation and expression of themselves without judgement is
essential to teaching in a developmentally appropriate way; providing
opportunities for high levels of student engagement and offering
strategies for demonstrating information creatively that can be
accessed in content areas throughout the curriculum. A curriculum
bridged by identity engages students in a deepening understanding of
themselves, provides immediate connections to students emotions,
and honors the authentic student voice and role in decision making.
2. Key Concepts: (What students will know) Why is it important for students to know these concepts?

1. Music and visual arts are each unique languages for creating and
communicating.
2. Printmaking is a strategy for art making that has been explored by
artists throughout time.
3. Engaging in the process of art making pushes people to better
understand and appreciate the meanings and inspirations behind
artworks.
Young adolescents are thinking about their thinking for the first time in
their development. This new found freedom of thinking can unearth
challenges in effectively communicating thoughts and ideas.
Understanding unique languages for creating and communicating
offers students alternative methods for communicating their thinking.
Making thinking visible through artistic/musical expression gives
students an opportunity to develop their sense of identity, grapple
with exciting and complex feelings, resolve conflict, and develop
autonomy. Providing exposure to multiple methods of creating is
important to young adolescents. Choosing developmentally
appropriate methods within the artform (printmaking) allows students
to experience success with artmaking as well as a sense of pride and
accomplishment. Focusing on artists working in the same medium and
big idea elevates the legitimacy for students to want to create.
Engaging students in process the artmaking provides a unique lens on
the world. In an effort to meet students social and emotional needs,
students learn through artmaking what inspires them and what

3. Essential Questions:
1.How does knowing the contexts histories, and traditions of art
forms help us to create works of art & design?
2.How do artists and designers learn from trial and error in their
work?
3. In what ways do artists make their thoughts and feelings visible?
4. How does art preserve aspects of life?
4. Vocabulary: context, print, monoprint, composition, improvisation,
harmony, brayer, genre
5. Objectives: (what students will do)
1. The learner will effectively evaluate and interpret artworks
through looking and listening.
2. The learner will compose artworks that make thinking visible.
3. The learner will justify the relationship between art and music.
inspires others. This provides meaningful connections artist to artist
and promotes empathy and a celebration of diversity.
How are these questions meaningful to the student?
Through understanding the essential questions, students enter into an
investigative discovery of how artists over time have used their
identity and the world around them to create meaningful artworks
that visually communicate a the artist's thoughts and feelings. They
see that artists over time have persisted through their artform;
figuring out how to solve creative problems and refine their ideas and
how each artwork provides an account of a moment in time, a thought,
a feeling, an experience. These very ideas are essential in the
development of young people and give them concrete strategies and
models for developing the the skillset needed to be successful in their
own lives and in the their futures.
How do the objectives fully support learning across the curriculum and
how do they connect to the students lives?
The objectives listed build upon the lessons that came previously while
simultaneously preparing students for the lessons in the future.
Students will be able to better connect with others through art as well
as through collaborating with their peers. The process of visually
describing your thinking about what you are feeling and hearing,
provides a level of autonomy for students to guide their own
discovery, which directly impacts how they feel about themselves and
their connections with others.
6. Standards: Please select a standard from each: How the standards support each other and the learning taking place
Creating The standards I chose support each other as a natural progression of
Presenting learning that includes diverse curricular content as well as the
Responding application and transfer of that knowledge to materials. The format of
the lesson allows for the discovery of multiple standards as well as
Connection emphasizes and supports students using artistic practice to make
meaning in their lives and the world around them.
NVAS:
1. VA:Cr2.1.6 - Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas,
materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art.
2. VA:Pr.4.1.6 - Analyze similarities and differences associated with
preserving and presenting two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and
digital artwork.
3. VA:Re7.1.6 - Identify and Interpret works of art or design that
reveal how people live around the world and what they value.
4. VA:Cn11.1.6 - Analyze how art reflects changing times, traditions,
resources, and cultural uses.
7. Teaching Resources: Rationale for each and HOW they work together
Art: (Artists, please insert thumbnail photo of examples shared)

Wassily Kandinsky: Composition No. 8

The Kandinsky piece was chosen because it best describes the idea of
visually representing music. Kandinsky describes perfectly that effect
of synaesthesia where the senses connect in ways that provide
profound discoveries. Kandinsky investigated sound in a lot of his work
and was very descriptive in his explanations which will provide
students with a great perspective and understanding as they navigate
the effect music has on their life.

* Paired with Wagner Lohengrin

Lohengrin Act III
James Whistler: Nocturnes in Black and Gold

The Whistler painting was chosen to give students another unique

representation of art inspired by sound. When looking at the painting
while listening to the music, students are transported on a journey that
takes them into understanding how to visually communicate mood and
emotion. This particular pairing is a beautiful example of mood and
emotion.

*Paired with Debussy Nocturnes

Nocturnes
Georgia OKeefe: Music, Pink and Blue
OKeefe has a heavily documented history of her inspiration with
music. She listened to classical music while painting and museums
have created exhibitions that display the love she had for classical
music with her beautiful paintings that explored shape, form and color.
This piece was chosen to give students a more contemporary
perspective visualizing music. her contemporary practice paired with
Beethovens piano sonata offers a juxtaposition of two seemingly
disparate parts.

* Paired with Beethoven Sonata No. 5

Sonata No.5
Jackson Pollack: Autumn Rhythm (No.30)

The Pollack piece was chose as a way to show students how artists
visually communicate ideas through different genres of music. Just as
Pollack created in a unique genre of painting, improvisational jazz was
a new genre of music (at the time). Students will be able to visually
see what improvisation looks like and how it sounds.

Paired with Dizzy Gillespie Be Bop

Be Bop
Andy Warhol: Velvet Underground Cover I chose the Warhol cover because it exists as one of the most iconic
album covers and use of high art in a way of mass communication.
Pairing this with the Velvet Underground tack off the album is a way
for students to understand how an artist may use an image to elicit
feelings or emotions about what they are hearing in a contemporary
way. This piece also acts as a bridge to what the students will be
exploring for the remainder of the lesson series in the unit.

The artworks and music selections work together to give students a

wide perspective and understanding of how artists over time have
communicated visually using music as an inspiration. Students
discover how important music is individually, what we learn from
understanding musical taste, and how music and art over time make
statements about society, culture, history , and identity. Students are
also introduced to a few different genres of music which provides
some additional background knowledge they will ned as they progress
through the lesson series.

*Paired with: Velvet Underground Sunday Morning

 Sunday Morning
8. Lesson Plan sequence (This will be lengthy and may span several
days)
1.Bellringer: Think-Pair-Share...In your sketchbook answer the
following two prompts...What is your favorite TYPE of music? Draw a
quick sketch of what this type of music looks like. Share your ideas
with a partner. Would anyone like to share out to the class what
they drew?
2. VTS: Students will VTS the painting Composition No. 8 by
Wassily Kandinsky. Students will begin by looking quietly at the
painting for one minute. After observing, the students will be asked a
series of three questions as they begin to interpret the painting.
What is going on in this painting? What do you see that makes you
say that? What more can we find? Students will process this for a
few minutes, then will be introduced to Wagners Lohengrin opera
which they will be listening to as they look at the painting. One
additional question will be asked; What do you hear that makes you
say that? After a few minutes, students will compare and contrast
the differences between only seeing the painting against seeing AND
hearing the painting.
3. Music and Art Inspiration: Artists across time have used music to
inspire them to create. Name that artwork! See if you can hear the
painting in the following music selections.
Listening sheet
4.Introduction to unit on printmaking journey: Investigation
portfolios Students will be introduced briefly to their adventure in
printmaking. What do you know about making prints? Is a print real
art? Why or why not? How might prints change the way people think
about art? Think back to the bellringer question; what is your
favorite type of music? Let's brainstorm some different genres of
Share rationale for choices in each step. Be sure to identify specific
areas of creating, connection, presenting and responding.
1. The bellringer activity gives students the time to orient themselves
to the artspace. Middle School settings operate on a bell schedule
with only a few minutes to transition from class to class. The bellringer
helps students adjust, transition and provides inquiry into what might
be taking place in the art room that day. The process also provides the
teacher with bits of background information to begin to tailor the
lesson to the unique needs of the class.
2. VTS is a powerful way for students to respond to art. Through the
series of the VTS questions, students are pulled into a cycle of looking,
listening, interpreting and communicating their thoughts and ideas
about what might be happening in the artwork. The reaffirming
facilitation by the educator in a VTS discussion provides students a safe
and stable environment to discuss their thoughts. The VTS discussion
allows deep relationships of trust to form between student and
teacher and student to peers through respectful listening. Students
become experts at using speaking and listening skills adding to their
confidence and ability to think about art and meaning and connect it to
their lives. In this instance, the addition of the music add a unique
textural layer to the experience and again provides background
information for future artistic exploration.
3. Creating engaging experiences for students at the middle school
level is essential for buy in. Teachers must elevate content material in
exciting ways if they want engaged students. This activity provides a
fun way for students to test out their newly acquired skills of looking
and listening without judgement. It also allows the opportunity for ALL
students to participate in the learning.
4. The introduction to the activity is important and should have some
discussion element. Roundtable discussions are a great way to engage
young adolescents who are beginning to investigate their world and
are capable of incredibly complex thoughts. This section of the lesson
provides some downtime after the game activity to process thoughts
on what has been learned so far and enter in some new material.
Introducing some parts of the unit as a whole (investigative portfolios)
keep students in the loop without overwhelming them with the broad
scope of the unit. Brainstorming exercised provide ways in which
music and write them on the board (jazz,blues,pop,country,classical,
instrumental,rock,reggae,hip hop,electronic,disco). We will be
creating investigative portfolios over the course of the next few
weeks of our unit. Some items will go in your sketchbook, some
items will go in your investigative portfolio as research and some
items will be created for exhibition.
5. Analog printmaking: A demonstration. What is a monoprint? How
do you set up your personal art station to create a foil monoprint?
Each student will have an apron (smock), several foil sheets for their
prints, white paper (half sheets), pencils, q-tips, and a brayer.
Students will be grouped at tables. Each table will have a selection
of acrylic paints in mini squirt bottles. First, students will put their
names on 5 sheets of paper. Students will watch teacher
demonstrate the process: 2-3 colors of paint will be squirted on the
foil (not too much...just small dots of color). Use the brayer to roll
the paint out into the foil surface. Its OK if the colors blend
together! Roll prayer on test page to remove excess paint. A musical
selection will be played. Listen for a few seconds to feel the music
and what is trying to tell you. Use your q-tip and draw onto the successful print.
paint on your foil to create lines, shapes, designs, pictures..whatever
is inspired by the music. We have to work quickly before the paint
dries!! Quickly, grab a piece of paper and lay it down on top of the
foil. Press down and rub the paper to transfer all of the paint!
Carefully, peel back your paper and see your print! Place on the
drying rack! We will complete 5 prints. After they are dry, four prints
will go into your investigative portfolio, and one print will go into
your sketchbook!
6. Clean up: Students must do the following things...Make sure all
work is in fact on the drying rack with name. DO NOT TAKE OFF
APRON UNTIL CLEANING IS COMPLETE! Check the board for your
group's responsibility. Group 1: Busboys (girls): Make sure you take
all of the brayers to the sink and remove the trash from the tables
students can collectively contribute to the knowledge base and provide
a safe and stable framework for learning (they dont have to be
responsible for knowing all of the answers).
5. This activity of analog printmaking is important for several reasons.
This is the first experience with art in a middle school setting which can
be overwhelming for some. The idea behind analog printmaking is that
there is no right or wrong way to do it. This sends the message to the
students that however they work through the challenge is the right
way. It takes pressure off of the students and gives them the time and
the space to explore and become familiar with materials and process.
The foil printing is a great segway into a more formal method which
comes later on in the lesson sequence. Students get practice making
their thinking and emotions visible, while gaining the confidence
needed to successfully progress to the next level of printmaking.
Working at table groups also provides students with collegial
camaraderie (we are all in this together, learning together and making
together). This activity also provides students with valuable skills in
understanding how a process works and the many parts that go into it.
Students will need to follow the process directions to ensure a
6. This offers students a way of continuing to refine art room
procedures such as retrieving supplies and cleaning up after
themselves which is part of being respectful of their creative space,
materials, the teacher, and each other. Teaching responsibility is
important to middle schoolers social and emotional development.
Being proactive with lining out procedure is an excellent classroom
management strategy.
 (foil, table liner paper, q tips, etc). Group 2: dishwashers: Make sure
the brayers are clean and free from paint, dried and placed back into
the brayer bin. Group 3: Organizers (Set station trays for next
class...new foils, paper, q-tips, paints, etc..) Group 4: Clean-Up Crew:
Use wipes to clean tables and check floors for any remaining trash,
paint cleanup, etc.. Everyone can place spron either in the back of
their chair or in bin when complete!
7. Exit ticket: Tape one of your foil monoprints into your sketchbook.
Answer the following questions: Which musical genre was this one
composed for? What was one thing that really excited you about this
activity? What was one thing that was challenging? How did you
overcome the challenge?
9. Differentiation/Accommodations/Modifications
Art is a naturally differentiating content. Students will be allowed to
work at their level and will be facilitated by a certified art specialist.
Accommodations will be given through extra time needed, modified
assignments, larger print, paraprofessional support and one on one
assistance. Modifications will be made in coordination with
teachers, parents, appropriate support staff and LEA representative.
7. Exit tickets are a great formative assessment strategy. In this case it
allows students to process all they have learned. being able to make
mental checkpoints throughout the learning process gives students an
opportunity to reflect, ask new questions, and work through
challenges. It also increases retention of content material in the
revisiting of the elements of the day's lesson. This particular
assignment asks students to reflect personally, which shows a
developmentally appropriate teaching method.
Share rationale for each
The beautiful thing about art is that it meets students where they are.
Students naturally work at their own levels with which they feel the
most comfortable. Because art celebrates individual learning
experiences, all elements can be modified to suit specific students
needs. Students having difficulty will have modifications made within
the parameters of their individualized plans. Students who have
mastered material can extend their activities by increasing the
complexity of their prints. This is facilitated best during teacher
rounding. The important issue here is that ALL students have access to
a high quality art experience.
10. Assessment Strategies:
There are several formative assessment opportunities throughout
this lesson.
Bellringer: provides an opportunity for pre-assessment with making
thinking visible.
VTS: Interpreting art/music through a combination of
observation/listening-Teacher observational data
Matching Game: Students continue to practice skills of listening and
looking and interpreting.
Introduction and Brainstorming: teacher observational data, thumbs
up/down
Share rationale for formative and summative assessment
Formative assessments are important part of a student's learning
experience. They hold both the student and teacher accountable for
the learning. The teacher's responsibility is to design checkpoints to
ensure the content is being learned and digested. When it is not, it is
up the teacher to revise the activity to meet the students needs and
ensure mastery of the standards.
The bellringer, VTS, matching game, brainstorming session, monoprints
and exit tickets are all strategies the teacher can use to check in with
students and evaluate progress and growth. Using multiple methods of
formative assessment allow the teacher mutiple data point to draw
from which allow teachers to fully triangulate data and get a good
picture of student growth and understanding.

Mini monoprints: Formative

Exit Ticket: Sketch book Formative

11. Insert photo of teacher created exemplar here: Rationale here should discuss the significance of what was created and
prior knowledge across the curriculum that students will need in order
to understand the lesson content.

The foil monoprints are significant for a few reasons. While some
might believe that foil monoprinting is an elementary concept that
doesnt belong in 6th grade, used in this fashion, it becomes a
scaffolding tool that helps students feel successful about creating
without pressure for it to look like anything. The very idea of
analoging requires students to let go of control and focus on the
process. It's almost as if the hand holding the art tool is a direct
extension of the brain. The brain, through the hand, is reacting to what
it is hearing in the music. As evidenced in the teacher exemplars, all of
the analogs contain lines and shapes composed in various ways.
Depeche Mode:
Test print 6th grade students are in the midst of a huge transition in their life.
I just cant get enough They have just been in elementary school and are thrust into a new
 environment that comes with a lot of responsibility. Students in middle
school also become very self-conscious about their art particularly if
they havent had positive art experiences in the past. Starting with a
printmaking unit immediately draws students in as it typically deals
with more abstract thinking and imagery. This feels doable to students
and they enjoy the work of printmaking because it is fun and is always
like a surprise when you pull your print. Most students probably have
some experience with printmaking so this is a great way to dip your
toe in the water, gain some skills and background knowledge and have
fun in a low pressure environment. The addition of the music in this
case adds a unique element that middle school students will respond
to. However the foil prints end up is exactly the right way!
Charlie Parker Bob Marley
Three Little Birds Students will need little prior knowledge to be successful in this lesson
Nows the time other than basic academic behavior. The wonderful thing about this is
that this lesson creates a level playing field for ALL students to
participate and be successful.

Andy Grammar
Rachmaninov Smoke Clears
Symphonic Dances,
Op.45:Andante
12. Materials/Tools/Art supplies needed Prior knowledge students will need to effectively use materials
Foil, Acrylic paint, mini squirt bottles, brayer, q-tips, white paper, Students will need some knowledge about basic artroom processes
pencils, apron before this lesson. Students will need to understand the protocols of
VTS, organizational information and cleanup procedures. While some
students may be familiar with printmaking processes, we cannot
assume that all students elementary experiences are the same.
Therefore, all information, artmaking processes and use of materials
will be demonstrated to reinforce those who have the prior knowledge
and appropriately scaffold those who do not.
References: (Sources of resources)
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/1924
http://www.jamesabbottmcneillwhistler.org/Nocturne-In-Black-And-Gold-The-Falling-Rocket.html
http://www.georgia-okeeffe.com/okeeffe-pink-and-blue.html
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/57.92/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/velvet-underground-banana_n_4170126.html

*All music selections are referenced throughout the document.