Crossing Borders/Breaking Boundaries
The Portuguese Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
July 16-24, 2007
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I. Unit of Study:                                  Ceramics

II. Lesson Title/Length of Time:       Mosaic Tiles in 16th and 17th Century Style
                                                            Three days

III. Author/County:                            Valerie Poole

Prince George’s County, MD

IV. Grade Level/Subject Area(s):     Art 1, Grades 9-12

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V. Abstract

In this lesson students will explore the history and usage of tiles in the Portuguese Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries.   They will compare the influences of the Portuguese Empire on the styles of Brazil, Africa and Macau, China ceramic tiles.

VI. Background

VII. Materials

  • Notes
  • Visual aides
  • Chart paper
  • 6” x 6” tiles (ready for painting)
  • Pencils
  • Ruler
  • Circle templates
  • Underglazes
  • Clear Glaze
  • Plates for glazes
  • No. 2, No. 6 and No. 8 flat; No. 3 pointed round, fan; and a No. 5 round brushes
  • Paper towels
  • Water
  • Examples
  • Cone 5
  • Handouts

VIII. Standards/Learner Outcomes

A. Fine Arts Standards  

  • Outcome IID: The student will create artworks that are inspired by and reflect the philosophical values and cultural ideas of specific historical movements.
  • Outcome III: The students will demonstrate the ability to organize knowledge and ideas for expression in the production of art.

B. Content Standards

World History Core Learning Goals

  • Goal 3: Geography
    • The student will demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities throughout history.

IX. Objectives/Skills

A. Fine Arts Objectives

  • Critical Response: The student will use a study of historical periods to identify shared underlying philosophical values and cultural ideals that influenced the artists, authors, poets, and musicians, who contributed to a specific stylistic movement.
  • Creative Response: The student will create artworks that are inspired by the philosophical values and cultural ideals of specific historical movements.

B. Content Objectives

  • Expectation 3.3  The student will assess the impact of technology in shaping regional and global cooperation, conflict, and interdependence.
    • Indicator 3.3.1  The student will explain the role of transportation and communication in linking world regions. Content to achieve this indicator includes:

(a) Impact of trade routes.

X. Keywords/Vocabulary

  • Portuguese Empire – The beginnings of Portugal's empire: 15th - 16th c. AD   The Portuguese, in their bold exploration along the coasts of Africa, have an underlying purpose - to sail round the continent to the spice markets of the east. But in the process they develop a trading interest and a lasting presence in Africa itself.
  • Pedro Cabral - (c. 1467 - c. 1520) was a Portuguese navigator and explorer, generally regarded as the first European discoverer of the sea route to Brazil (April 22, 1500).
  • Brazil - one of the world’s largest and most populous countries. It is the largest country in South America, occupying almost half of the continent and extending from north of the equator to south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Its largest city is São Paulo, and its capital is Brasília. Brazil’s large size and diverse population provide great variety in the natural environment, culture, and economy.
  • Majolica- or maiolica - A type of earthenware which originated during the Renaissance. It is coated with a tin glaze which produces the effect of a rich, enameled surface. Majolica is often lustered. Although the name majolica is derived from Majorca (an island east of Spain from which Italy imported early specimens from Islamic Spain), the name is often reserved for Italian examples
  • Tiles - A slab of hard material such as baked clay or plastic, laid in rows to cover walls, floors, and roofs. It is thin, and either flat, textured or in low-relief. It may either be single or considered as a group.
  • Ceramic - Pottery or hollow clay sculpture fired at high temperatures in a kiln or oven to make them harder and stronger. Types include earthenware, porcelain, stoneware, and terra cotta.
  • Earthenware - pottery or other objects made from fired clay which is porous and permeable. Earthenware is fired at relatively low temperature, may be glazed or unglazed, and is usually but not always buff, red, or brown in color.
  • Iron oxide - Its reddish-brown oxide, or rust, is a permanent, inexpensive, and commonly used pigment.
  • Underglaze - applied prior to glazing: describes decoration or pigment applied to a piece of pottery before the glaze is put on.
  • Glaze - A term used in ceramics to describe a thin coating of minerals which produces a glassy transparent or colored coating on bisque ware. Typically applied either by brushing, dipping, or spraying, it is fixed by firing the bisque ware in a kiln. This makes the surface smooth, shiny, and waterproof.
  • Kiln - A special oven or furnace that can reach very high temperatures and is used to bake, or fire clay. Kilns may be electric, gas, or wood-fired.
  • Firing - A process of applying heat to make hard pottery in either an oven or an ovenlike enclosure called a kiln. Also the means of fixing colors to ceramic surfaces.
  • Composition - The plan, placement or arrangement of the elements of art in a work. It is often useful to discuss these in reference to the principles of design, as well as to the relative weight of the composition's parts.
  • Elements of art - The basic components used by the artist when producing works of art. Those elements are color, value, line, shape, form, texture, and space. The elements of art are among the literal qualities found in any artwork.
  • Principles of art - Certain qualities inherent in the choice and arrangement of elements of art in the production of a work of art. Artists "design" their works to varying degrees by controlling and ordering the elements of art. Considering the principles is especially useful in analyzing ways in which a work is pleasing in formal ways. How any work exhibits applications of these principles can further or modify other characteristics of a work as well.
  • Criticism - The description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment of works of art.
  • Description - A statement creating a mental image of something experienced, description is identifying the literal qualities or realistic presentation of subject matter, along with the elements of art found.
  • Analysis - Analysis is a stage in art criticism, following the description of an artwork, and preceding its interpretation and judgment, in which one focuses on the relationships between the elements of art and principles of design in hopes of gaining an understanding of the work's design qualities, or how well the work is ordered, or put together.
  • Interpretation - a stage in the work of art criticism following the describing and analyzing of an artwork, in which one identifies the work's expressive qualities, or the meaning, or the mood, or idea communicated to the viewer.
  • Judgment - In art criticism, judgment is carefully thought out decision making in which one makes a personal decision about an artwork's success or lack of success (not like or dislike), preparing reasons to support this judgment.

XI. Motivation

Students will respond to the creative process of creating decorative tiles.

XII. Scope and Sequence

 Day 1

A. Teacher Directed

The teacher will present vocabulary words and have students to copy the list and meanings in the notebook/journal.  Encourage students to add visuals to help reinforce the meaning(s).  Students will come to understand the influence of the Portuguese Empire on Brazil, Macau and Africa through trade routes.

B. Guided Practice

The teacher will:

  • Display the vocabulary in the room
  • Distribute visual handouts (grouping/no-grouping)
  • Review historical facts
  • Have student explore interactive website
  • Have students make notes in their notebook/Journal
  • Show examples using visual aid

C. Independent Practice

The students will:

  • Take notes as prompted
  • Complete response handout
  • Analyze visuals for good composition/design
  • Prepare rough draft(s)

Day 2

A. Teacher Directed

The teacher will review vocabulary words and have students to add to the list and meanings in the notebook/journal.  Encourage students to add visuals to help reinforce the meaning(s).  Students will come to understand the influence of the Portuguese Empire on Brazil, Macau and Africa through trade routes.

B. Guided Practice

The teacher will:

Display the vocabulary in the room
•           Distribute visual handouts (grouping/no-grouping)
•           Review good composition using sample design
•           Have prepare tile
•           Monitor designs for good composition
•          
c. Independent Practice

The students will:
•           Use a pencil to prepare tile
•           Apply underglazes to design
•           Apply clear glaze (dabbing) two coats
•           Clean up supplies
•           Help stack kiln

DAY 3

a. Teacher Directed

The teacher will review all vocabulary words and have students to correct their list and meanings in the notebook/journal.  Encourage students to add visuals to help reinforce the meaning(s).

B. Guided Practice

The teacher will:

  • Display the tiles (they may still be hot)
  • Distribute critique handout (grouping/no-grouping)
  • Review good composition using sample design

C. Independent Practice

The students will:

  • Evaluate their project using check list
  • Write an evaluation of their project using the format provided.

XIII. Assessment

Day 1:

  • Use of Notebook/Journal to record vocabulary and notes
  • Completion of Handout (group or non-group)
  • Preparation of 6”x 6” rough draft

Day 2:

  • Additions to Notebook/Journal, recording vocabulary and notes
  • Completion of Handout (group or non-group).
  • Preparation of 6”x 6” tile using glazes
  • Application of clear glaze as directed

Day 3:

  • Notebook/Journal checkup
  • Student completed critique handout (group or non-group).
  • Written evaluation of project using format

XIV. Closure/Reflection
Day 1:

  • Review good composition
  • Evaluate rough drafts

Day 2:

  • Be sure glaze is not on sides (clean up with water)
  • Stack tile in kiln

Day 3:

  • Complete checklist
  • Write about project following format

XV. Resources

Lisbon: Reliquary of Portugal's Golden Age By ROBERT D. KAPLAN; Published: March 1, 1992; New York Times

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Sponsored by
the Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies
and the Maryland State Department of Education