Winning with art.

Developing learning experiences around real-world scenarios engages students in hands-on, authentic learning that promotes skills such as: research methods, collaboration, workplace skills, persistence, information organization and application, and self-reflection practice. The final work, new skills, and knowledge may then be demonstrated to an authentic audience. This type of process also allows for alternative approaches, variations in learning styles, intelligences, abilities, and disabilities. Students may be creatively different, yet participate in the same steps required for project-based learning. Art provides one of the best situations to develop a project-based learning experience.

I teach in a small rural school with a student population of 120, K to 12. Due to tong distances between large towns, our school is isolated in the southeast corner of Arizona. To provide an opportunity for my students to connect to the bigger world, I used a state poster contest as the basis for this project. Sending the finished work into a selection committee sponsoring the event helped increase student motivation and awareness. The posters would also help raise awareness and impact others by communicating an important health issue.

Introduction

To connect to art careers, I explained to students that they had been hired to develop a poster with a slogan for a contest and it would be submitted, along with other students' work, for judging. I related this experience to that of an illustrator or graphic designer. We then discussed the theme, deadline, and criteria for the project. The theme for this particular poster was how to prevent skin cancer. Students were also required to use baseball to visually communicate the theme.

Essential Questions

Students needed to know how to illustrate a theme, develop slogans, effectively communicate through visual art to inform the public, combine two entirely different concepts, and gather information about the causes and prevention of skin cancer.

Technology

I found the software program Inspiration produced by Inspiration Software, Inc. to be especially useful for organizing brainstorming activities conducted for skin cancer and baseball. This software allows the user to create visual organizers with various formats. I used the Idea Map and projected it from my computer onto a large screen in my room. After researching skin cancer, students were organized into small groups to brainstorm causes and prevention. I then projected the Idea Map, and as a whole class students developed categories from the central concept, skin cancer. Words could then be linked to categories and we discovered that subcategories were required for some topics. This map was then printed and displayed on the class wall for resources. I used the same steps for developing the visual organizer for baseball. The maps can be organized and color-coded, and clip art can be added and resized for printing. Students used their idea maps to combine concepts and create slogans.

Process

Before creating the posters students helped design requirements for an effective poster. The posters needed to be informative, eye catching, demonstrate good layout techniques, successful use of color between text and images, and communicate information easily and understandably. I used this opportunity to teach cartooning techniques. We used the Internet, newspapers, magazines, and TV as resources to examine basic cartooning techniques. Students then practiced independently. During this time, I also conducted demonstrations on crosshatching, stippling, and varying line thickness. Students were strongly encouraged to closely observe professional cartoons to understand how these techniques are applied. Once they were comfortable with cartooning, I brought in the slogans and required students to Choose four different slogans to illustrate using cartoons. From these, students selected the best illustration for a final draft. This was then transferred onto quality drawing paper for the final project.

Scanning a rough draft onto the computer helped students to resize it in an image-altering program if needed. When the transfer was complete, lettering was added using lettering guidelines or the computer and arranged on the illustration. Students discussed what letter styles worked well with cartoons before lettering. The rough drafts could also be used to practice color before adding it to their final drawings. When students completed color, they used a thin, black marker to draw the contour lines. Evaluation was an on-going part of the process. Students helped each other critique work so that improvement could be made or mistakes corrected.

Evaluation

Using the poster requirements, I developed rubric to grade student work. Students used the rubric to grade their own work and I found that they were usually harder on their work than I was! The posters were then sent into the competition for state judging.

Results

Twenty semi-finalists and a state winner were selected from 3,100 entries received from all over the state of Arizona. Five of my students were semi-finalists and one was the state winner. The winning student threw out the first pitch of the game. His artwork was enlarged and presented to us at the beginning of an Arizona Diamondbacks game. The poster was reproduced to be distributed to health agencies, doctors' offices, and school health offices.

I encourage art and classroom teachers to take advantage of opportunities within the community, state, and country to make learning an authentic experience. Not only are these type of projects motivating for students, but they provide positive reinforcement and help build self-esteem in our students. Two big components of student success!

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students compare multiple purposes for creating works of art.

Bethany Walter is a K-12 art teacher at San Simon School in San Simon, Arizona [e-mail]