ALEX Learning Activity

Students will respond to a work of art by writing a narrative. Teachers will need a way to display the work of art to the entire class--either through digital resources or a printed version. 

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.

I can determine the message communicated by an image. 

I can write a narrative story with descriptive details. 

Display a piece of artwork such as Van Gogh's Starry Night, Picasso's Science and Charity, Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, or any piece of the teacher's choosing.

Students will record what details they notice on sticky notes with guidance from the teacher to pay attention to details. 

Students will share their details. The teacher will ask the students what story the painting is trying to communicate. Record answers for students to view. 

Students will turn what they have noticed into a newspaper headline that grabs a reader's attention and makes them want to view the artwork. The headline should capture the meaning of the artwork. 

Students will then use their headline to guide the writing of a narrative story about what events they see happening in the art. Students will focus on descriptive details that they notice in the painting. 

For Example: If you used the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch, the details recorded could be "dark colors, scared face, boardwalk..etc.." The students could say the artist is trying to communicate the feeling of being panicked. The painting looks like it is painted outside--maybe they are on vacation.

Sample Headlines could be:

"Vacation Takes a Scary Turn"

"Man Sees Terrifying Figure"

Students would then take that headline and create the story that would be attached to it. 

The teacher will grade the writings to ensure students:

-included descriptive details in their narrative writing piece.

-are able to explicitly refer to the painting for their details. 

-included a headline that captured the meaning of the artwork.

The teacher will need to access a work of art and have a way to display the work to the students. The teacher will need chart paper or white board to record student thoughts. 

Students will need sticky notes and writing paper.