Lesson by Gloria Shelton
for
The Center of Renaissance and Baroque
Studies Summer Institute 3
Discipline: Art 3, 4, AP or Grade Levels 11- 12

LESSON:

Create Wire Sculptures to express emotional or behavioral concepts portrayed in Othello by William Shakespeare, Act 1 scene 3

Rationale:

Students often fail to see a correlation between the Art and Literature of THE Renaissance and Contemporary Art and Literature and how the social and cultural issues of society can influence the Arts of either/any era. This unit serves as a bridge to understanding that behavioral and emotional concepts and social and cultural issues that appear in Literature of the Renaissance, specifically Shakespeare’s Othello, are the same concepts that appear in contemporary society and thus all Art forms. At the conclusion of this unit students will not only be able to visually interpret the concepts mentioned in Othello but have the ability to visually interpret the same concepts found in contemporary prose; such as that which appears in POP or RAP that is so much a part of contemporary life.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

How do complex relationships represented in Othello illuminate the behavioral and emotional concepts and the issues of value versus usefulness?

ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS:

Essential Learning Outcome 1

Students will demonstrate that they are able to listen to Othello and visually interpret some of the behavioral or emotional concepts that are represented such as the love between Othello and Desdemona.

Essential Learning Outcome 2

Students will understand the significance of the historical and cultural issues in society and how to visually interpret that understanding. (Would society be more accepting of Othello’s relationship to Desdemona now than in Shakespeare’s time?)

Essential Learning Outcome 3

Students will use listening, perceiving and interpreting skills along with artistic abilities and imagination to create works of Art. (Are all concepts illustrated the same by all students or do we hear and interpret differently.)

Essential Learning Outcome 4

Students will able to analyze, interpret, critique and judge works of Art through group and peer evaluations. (Do we all see the same way or can there be many ways to interpret the same concepts.)

OBJECTIVES:

• Students will read and listen to the words to Othello.
• Students will understand the significance of the historical and cultural issues in society and how to visually interpret that understanding.
• Students will understand the behavioral and emotional concepts of the play.
• Students will visually interpret some of the behavioral or emotional concepts that are represented such as the love between Othello and Desdemona.
• Students will use listening, perceiving and interpreting skills along with artistic abilities and imagination to create works of Art.
• Students will able to analyze, interpret, critique and judge works of Art through group and peer evaluations.

WARM UP(s)

Day 1

Students will be given a section of the play and asked to read it with a partner.

Day 2 and every day until the end of the unit

Students will write a journal entry telling what they learned the previous day and/or any problem they have with the assignment

MATERIALS:

• Copies of reading material
• Metal coat hangers
• Wire cutters
• Pliers
• Scrap wire
• Fabric scraps, feathers, beads, old jewelry, or what ever you desire to add to make the sculpture interesting (encourage students to bring in recycled materials)
• Scissors, glue, thread and needle (optional)

PROCEDURES

• Teacher will give each student five lines of Othello and tell them to read the lines and discuss them with the person sitting next to them.
• Teacher will then lead a discussion and have students discuss the readings.
• Teacher will write concepts discussed on the board.
• Teacher will ask students to choose concepts from the board that they understand.
• Students in groups of 3 who have the same concepts listed will be asked to pose for gestures drawings to illustrate without touching how they interpret the pose. (give students a couple of minutes planning time before they posing)
• Students seated will be asked to draw the pose and guess the emotion displayed in the pose
• As one group finishes the next group will pose until all groups have posed.
• Teacher will then have the student groups choose one of the gesture drawings that they created and reproduce it in a 3-dimension form as a wire sculpture.
• Teacher will explain and demonstrate the steps for making a wire sculpture.
• Teacher will check for understanding before instructing students to get materials for the assignment.

STEPS to GUIDED PRACTICE:

1. Choose 2 wire (metal) coat hangers for each figure.
2. Use wire cutters to score hangers on the middle of the horizontal section of both
3. Attach the hangers to each other with scrap wire based on the directions given.
4. After two hangers have been secured with wire as directed your figure should now look like a stick figure.
5. Bend and pose your figures in the poses of the gestures that you selected and add additional wire as needed or desired. You may choose to use pliers to help your straighten or bend your figure.
6. Now you may embellish your sculpture with other found materials.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:

Students will work independently or with a small group to share materials.

DAILY ASSESSMENT:

Daily assessment is ongoing as students document progress in their journals and students and teacher dialog as teacher circulates the room helping individual students as needed.

FINAL ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION:

Students work will be displayed. Each student will be asked to do a self evaluation based on the rubric given and a peer critique with a team mate.

Each evaluation will be given to the teacher as she assesses based on rubric given.