“Storyline” including Collage and Tableau
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
A Storyline including Collage and Tableau Introduction to Storyline The storyline method is a student centered and student activating pedagogical method mainly used in primary schools. The approach -
builds upon, what students already know and upon their interests lets the students be active in their own learning turns students into problem solvers prompts students to create, produce , and visualize forces students to do all sorts of things - math, writing, reading, making speeches, and working together - all that 'good stuff' that you want them to do and they love doing
A storyline consists of 3 elements • • •
People – the people-participants-actors can be classmates, family members, musicians, shopkeepers, scouts, sportspeople etc. Place – the place-environment, where these people live, meet, work, perform, camp, or travel to Plot – something unexpected happens - positive or negative such as a conflict or a happy surprise, and the people must take action
The plot is in fact the main idea – the theme - and must be relevant, generate curiosity and engagement. Students pretend • •
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They are a music group, which is invited to participate in a music contest, and…... Hereby you set focus on choice of music, clothes, fashion, contesting etc. The mayor in town makes a competition about creating the best playground and your class wants to participate in the completion and visualize their suggestions in tableaux. Hereby your students develop ability to take responsibility and be active citizens. Your family wins a month exchange with a family in another province, and wants to prepare. Hereby you set focus on cultural diversity in crafts, language, traditions, and living
The teacher’s role When implementing the storyline method you - as their art teacher - are the creative and flexible designer of the process, who manage the situated learning style, where you do the classroom management on your background knowledge and on what occurs in the learning and playing process. You are project manager, entrepreneur, and conductor of an “orchestra”. All at the same time, but you choose. • •
You can start letting students create figures and turn them into people with identity. You can also start by creating the place or sharing the plot.
You select relevant material for each episode. You link the elements into a logical story. You plan each activity in which the students are creators of content, are engaged and have ownership of the story. You facilitate with open questions and encourage students to share TNTTC, NUAE & UCSJ & K Fugl
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
existing knowledge. This provides the necessary basis for helping students to construct their own learning process by linking the known to what has to be learned. You know the targets and the general route to be followed while the students feel confident because of the strength of the context and the relevance of the activities. The storyline method according to Steve Bell is a cross-curricular and thematic approach. You can – alone or together with your colleagues - become designers of education that encourage students to be independent learners. You are responsible for education in art as well as education through art. You can find inspiration for further study* Material In a storyline process you can introduce and implement material and methods relevant for your students and the content • • •
The people are individual work made as cut out drawings, collage, sculpture, puppets, and in this process cut and paste figures The place is created by painting, making collage, constructing a tableau as group work or as a whole class The plot is visualized, presented or dramatized as series of tableaus, a play created from an idea/theme/plot from a verbal story line to visual story line combined with words
Organization of process You have different ways to organize the storyline depending on curriculum content and your students. Included here are 3 examples A. Students create the people, you introduce the plot and students will define and create the place. • An example can be found under Example 1 B. You can invite your students to create a place for living and then introduce the plot, after which students create people to solve the problem • You can find inspiration for that under Example 2 C. You can start with the plot and create people that create a place. Look under Example 3 D. You can extend and create new designs as in Example 4 You will adjust events and plot for different target groups according to age, interest and curriculum content to be covered. Through the following aesthetic learning processes students learn • • •
To create a figure and give the figure a personal character and identity To establish and define relations and living conditions for the figures To create, express, and visualize ideas and visions
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
To cooperate and meet challenges and solve problems related to a plot
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Example 1. Environmental and cultural diversity People – plot – place You and your colleagues want to broaden students understanding and respect for cultural diversity and strenght
Phase 1. Create a figure of geometrical shapes – cut and paste Objectives The teacher will
Outcomes The student will be able to
Stimulate the students’ experience and observation of the different moving parts in a human body Challenge the student to create the relevant shapes and proportions for the different parts of a human figure Challenge the student to share and discuss with the other group members what they are creating
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Observe and understand the elements of a human figure Make relevant and differentiated shapes for the different parts of a human figure Communicate and involve group members in selecting proportions Experiment with movement in figures
Organization and start of the process The tables are arranged for group work with 4-7 members - Relevant material is placed in the middle of the table - The students take their seat and get the short instruction to the process - The students create and discuss about their figures tearing/cutting/pasting colored paper/cloth/found material
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Questions to stimulate awareness of shapes, proportions, and movement -
Which geometrical shapes do you consist of? Circle, square, triangle, rectangle? Other? Proportions? Size? Etc. How can you make movement? Where do a person bend when you e.g. walk, dance etc.?
On an A4 white paper each student construct a human figure by adding different shapes together and creating a person.
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
The stimulating environment is established and the relevant frame for content is revealed, so students know, whether the figure they are creating is a family member, classmates, a music group, teachers, politicians, scouts, engineers. The groups share knowledge and ideas through lively discussions and dialog. At last students tear or cut away the white paper around the figure and a person comes alive!
Phase 2. The fictive family members get identity and personality Objectives The teacher will • • • •
Stimulate the student’s ability to describe a human being. Challenge the student to give his/her person identity. What you know. Motivate the group members to establish a family Stimulate the student to present in front of audience
Outcomes At the end of this element the student will be able to • Make a differentiated physical description • Give a person identity • Discuss and integrate the created persons in a family with family name • Present family member in front of class
You can include the topic “Family” in relation to a plot: family preparation of birthday, festival, summer holiday, daily-life activities etc. Using the visuals of an imaginary family as part of a storyline makes room for fantasy, dreams, and maybe the unspeakable. Children with only one parent at home can create the family they have or the family they would like to have. The relationships between father and son, mother and daughter etc. can be explored, and family rules designed. Friendships can be developed and dislikes and embarrassing things can be discussed openly and in an unthreatening atmosphere. Organization of the process - The students continue to work in the established groups - Their work is guided and stimulated by open questions from you and the group - You provide each family with a “frame” for presentation –e.g. different colored background - The family chooses family name, visuals are further developed, and characters created. Biographies written, and fictive personalities developed. NB! Time allocated for this process depends on cooperation with other subjects or not. Key questions related to A physical description includes what you can observe and witness without asking TNTTC, NUAE & UCSJ & K Fugl
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
What can you see/tell about the person’s gender, age, race, height, weight, hair color, style, clothes, accessories, etc.? NB! You can still add to your figure to strengthen the visual expression
A personal identity is what you find out when asking the person. A Biography. - What is your name - first and family name, age -date of birth, address, phone number, education, job, hobbies etc.? Write a bibliography on A6: - Personality: Give 3 words that describe the person’s personality. NB! This will give meaning when the family members later on react to the plot. The created families and their members are introduced to each other in class.
Illustrations of a halfway presentation of a character, a layout process, and examples of how you can start creating interaction between the figures by moving them around
Phase 3. The plot is introduced Outcomes The student will be able to
Objectives The teacher will -
Create curiosity and engagement in class by introducing a plot Stimulate awareness of different living conditions Challenge students to search for knowledge Challenge cooperation and activity in class
Discuss and develop possibilities in a plot Imagine other ways of living Search for new knowledge Work concentrated and keep focus on task Cooperate and respect other’s ideas
You want to introduce your students to environmental and cultural diversity. Therefore you decide to let each family win a one-week exchange of homes and jobs with a family living under different environmental and cultural conditions. The students brainstorm on differences such as living in the mountains, on an island, in a capital. Each family selects where to go. You guide them to select different destination to broaden and visualize the differences in their own country TNTTC, NUAE & UCSJ & K Fugl
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
The students will before and during the process discuss, imagine, explore, and collect knowledge and ideas about their new destination in order to create a vision of the place they are going. How does it look? Houses, environment, clothing, animals, transportation, etc.
Phase 4. Imagination and collected knowledge about the selected destination are combined for presentation and play
The students can create the environment/place for the figures by -
making a collage and glue the figures to it painting the background and make a ”Living picture”…… building a tableau and present making a theater backdrop and make a play with the figures
Phase 5. Presentation and evaluation
Example 2. Environmental awareness People – place - plot In this process you and your colleagues want your class to aware of their environment and how vulnerable it is.
Phase 1. River people Objectives The teacher will -
Outcomes The student will be able to -
Encourage students to study different environments and select where to move with their families. Encourage students to create a family member and establish a family with name etc.
Discuss and select an environment for a process Create a person in wax Communicate and agree on the roles in the family
You have brought pictures of different environments. Mountains, countryside, cities, ocean, and rivers are included. The whole class discusses in groups or in common where they want to live. They have to agree, so first they start creating the families in wax while discussing for and against living under different conditions. See “Spatial Tableau” for inspiration on sculpture work
Phase 2. Building houses according to environment TNTTC, NUAE & UCSJ & K Fugl
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
Objectives The teacher will -
Outcomes The student will be able to -
Encourage students to build their home and establish a community with small tableaux linked into a panorama
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Create houses and other items relevant for their community Combine elements to a panorama
The class might share and develop ideas and draft together on the board Organization of the process Students and teacher make relevant material available for the class and the teacher facilitates the process and outcome of the process. See “Found Objects” and “Spatial Tableau” Key questions related to creating ideas and -
Where is your family going to live? Where will each build their home? Will they build their home by the river or on the river? How do they cross the river? How is their daily life? How do they earn for their living? How do they get around?
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Phase 3.The families are CHALLENGED by an EVENT Objectives The teacher will
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Outcomes The student will be able to
Stimulate awareness of environmental protection ? ?
Discuss and pay attention to protection of their environment ? ?
The families are established in their homes in the River Village. It is time to explore the dayto-day life in the village. You can introduce birthdays, anniversaries, and national holidays. You can set focus on happy or sad incidents. In grade 5 you want to set focus on river pollution. “One morning the families leave their home to discover dead fish floating on the surface of their river.” - What has happened? - What could cause this? What tests should be made? - Who is responsible? - What you do Other subjects take over and continue writing, studying, investigating and innovating. There are many ways to continue this process such as a phase 5 or more •
Designing solutions for clean water
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
• •
Making posters Etc.
Example 3. Natural disaster Plot – people – place In this process you also work with environment, but you and your colleagues just turn the process around and start with a plot. A terrible flood has ruined a river village and the government calls for assistance. The students create engineers, architects, bankers, citizens and urban planners in order to 'rebuild' the River Village after the flood. …….. 1.Plot 'Rebuild' the River Village after the flood
2. Person Engineers, architects, bankers, citizens and urban planners
3. Place A river village that can stand the next flood.
Examples 4. New neighbors People – place – everyday life – plot – event Choices of topics create focus on various aspects of life. In this case you will generate interest in how the neighbors can engage themselves in creating good living conditions for newcomers. Each group creates a family. The families are neighbors living in the same street. They build a house, display their homes on a street frieze, and establish everyday life. One day the students discover that there is an extra site/space between two of the houses (made by the teacher). The empty site is waiting for new neighbors, occupants or common activities. The students discuss what activities they want in their street. You set up a competition. The families are invited to come up with suggestions for how to use the empty site. Many different ideas are explored and tableaus are created to visualize the ideas. 1.Person Family members
2. Place Neighbor houses are created
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3.Everyday life Link the houses together in a frieze and give life to the town with cars, bikes, animals etc..
4.Plot A huge site is vacant between two of the houses and the families enter a competition on designing a new place for all people in town
5.Event Presentation of all the suggested designs at a meeting in the town hall. The best suggestions are combined into a plan to be realized
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Teacher Education in Art for Primary Schools - draft
Conclusion The greatest aim for any student is to learn how to learn. The measure of success for teachers is how well the students can operate as learners on their own. In integrated art processes art teachers and students model the study process together, when they: start from the known design and find answers to open questions facilitate and create a new expression find inspiration and knowledge in many sources adjust the expression according to new knowledge and experience review and reflect upon what they have done
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