ALEX Learning Activity

Students will read an article on Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream.The class will discuss the message Edvard Munch was trying to convey. The students will then be given an emotion to portray in a painting or sketch. The class will discuss which emotion each work of art conveys.

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

I can analyze components in visual imagery that convey a message.

I can evaluate more than more work of art.

I can refer to details in the text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. 

The students will read the article "Forms of Art: Symbolism" on ReadWorks.org. This article has questions at the end that can be used to guide a class discussion. The teacher will need to guide the class discussion to analyze components in Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream that convey a message. 

After reading and discussing the article, the teacher will assign an emotion to each student to portray in a painting or sketch. The students must use the emotion to send a message to the audience. Examples of possible emotions are anger, fear, excitement, happiness, sadness, frustration, disgust, etc. You might want to place parameters on the paintings or sketches, such as it must be a self-portrait. 

The students will end the learning activity by trying to identify the emotional message the student artists were trying to convey. You can allow the students to go on a gallery walk or just discuss each painting or sketch as a whole group.

Students will analyze components in visual imagery that convey a message and refer to details in the text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text through class discussions. The given discussion questions at the end of the ReadWorks article can be used.

Students will evaluate more than one work of art to identify the emotional message the student artist is trying to convey. 

The teacher and students will need ReadWorks.org accounts. ReadWorks is a free online resource that includes a variety of reading passages. Students can simply use their Google account to create a ReadWorks account. The teacher will need to create student accounts if the students do not have Google accounts. Once the teacher has created his or her account, simply create a class and give the class code to the students to join. The teacher can search for the article "Forms of Art: Symbolism" and assign it to the class.

The students will need a device with Internet access to view the article. If students do not have access to a device with Internet, then the teacher can use a classroom projector to display the article or print and copy the article for the students.