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Below
is the Teacher's Guide to the Mural Venture, designed for easy printing.
Specific instructions for students are suggested throughout.
You may also want to consider using the set of instructions
written for students. |
Overview
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The
Mural-venture activity is a project-based learning experience designed
to engage students in the politics, history, and culture of Nicaragua
through learning about its murals.
The activity is designed for high schools students of
- Art
- Social Studies
- Latin American
History
- U.S. History
- Foreign
Relations
- World History
- Spanish
Language Arts
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Learning
Goals
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By completing
this activity your students should achieve the following goals:
- learn about
Nicaraguan culture and politics through the stories told by Nicaraguan
murals
- gain an
increased sensitivity towards the politics of art production in
Nicaragua
- develop
an interest in the study of murals.
- increase
their understanding of the distinguishing characteristics of murals
- understand
the context in which murals are produced (social, political, historical)
- build tools
for a systemic process for understanding any form of visual art
through its formal elements including (line, color, movement,
texture, light, subject matter)
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Activities
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Below is a
summary of the activities for Mural-Venture in the suggested sequence.
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Suggested Steps |
Description of Activity |
| 1. |
Exploration |
Here students are invited to explore
individually, at their own pace, the murals available in the
mural tour. Through looking on their own they will draw upon
their own experiences and increase their interest in murals. |
| 2. |
Selection |
Students pair up and
select one mural from the tour to look at in depth. In this
activity students communicate to each other their understanding
of the mural. |
| 3. |
Background
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To begin a deeper discussion into
murals, students walk through a background activity with discussion
questions and interactive activities to learn about context
and the visual elements of Nicaraguan murals. Students
are guided through questions and on-line activities to increase
their mural expertise.
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| 4. |
Reinvestigation
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Students
now return to the mural(s) they chose originally and reinvestigate
it (them) using the skills they gained from the background
activity. The questions they will use to reinvestigate their
work is called the "toolbox."
Either jump to the toolbox below or
see the toolbox summary
sheet for students.
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| 5. |
Presentation |
Students
can present their mural to the class in pairs, or individually
and can describe how they saw the mural before using the tools
in the toolbox, and then after. What did they learn about context
and visual elements that helped them to look at the work more
closely?
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| 6. |
Brochure
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As
a class, they can put together a brochure of all the murals
they selected for an audience of their choice (ex. tourists
going to Nicaragua). It will be up to them how they connect
each of their murals to each, what links they make, what the
comparisons bring out, and why they think these murals together
forma valuable subject for a tour.
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| 7. |
Make a Mural |
Finally, students can look at making
a mural themselves. By inviting students to make their own mural
and talk about what they would want to express, we hope students
will better understand the expressions of others and as a result
reach the learning goal "students
gain an increased sensitivity towards the politics of art production
in Nicaragua." |
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Exploration
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 Description
Here students are invited to explore individually, at their own pace,
the murals available in the mural tour. Through looking on their own
they will draw upon their own experiences and increase their interest
in murals.
Rationale
Students learn best from starting with their own understanding, rather
than being told Learning Theorist Eleanor Duckworth suggests introduce
the concepts after students have had a chance to notice things on
their own and they begin to form questions.
Resources
Mural Tour
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Selection
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 Description
Students pair up and select one mural from the tour to look at in
depth. In this activity students communicate to each other their understanding
of the mural. Students
can find a partner to complete this activity with in your class. Just
as murals are not completed in isolation, so too this activity is
designed to be done with groups of at least two.
Rationale
Through communicating to another student students will be encouraged
to assess their own understanding. Collaboratively the students can
build on each other's observations and questions more deeply than
the students could reach in isolation.
Resources
Mural Tour
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Background
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 Description
To begin a deeper discussion into
murals, students walk through a background activity with discussion
questions and interactive activities to learn about context and
the visual elements of Nicaraguan murals. Students
are guided through questions and on-line activities to increase
their mural expertise.
The background activity has two parts:
Discussion Questions
In this area students answer questions and compare their answers
about the context of a mural by comparing murals with billboards.
Suggested ways you could approach the discussion questions:
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Full class discussion with a projector
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Students continue working in pairs at their
own machines
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Four teams. This way each group can tackle one
of the four contexts. They could then come together as a class
and compare and contrast the different kinds of contexts. This
is a recommended because it can help students understand the
overlap that exists, as well as the differences between the
different kinds of contexts.
Interactive Activities
In this area students learn about the both physical context and
the visual elements (light, color, shape, and scale) and how these
influence one's interpretation of a mural. Students can use the
mouse on their computer to experiment and change things on the screen.
Suggested ways you could use the interactive activities:
Rationale
The questions and interactive activities are designed to scaffold
the learning, building student cognitive skills one at a time through
student comparison making and experimentation.
Students make comparisons in the discussion questions to isolate
the concepts of context. Through comparing a billboard with a mural,
students can start their understanding of Nicaraguan murals with
their prior knowledge of billboards, a medium that is likely to
be more familiar to them. The interactive activities were designed
to promote learning by doing and to maximize student engagement
and feedback.
Resources
Start Background Activity
Discussion Questions
Interactive Activities
Glossary of Terms
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Reinvestigation and Presentation
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 Description
Students
now return to the mural(s) they chose originally and reinvestigate
it (them) using the skills they gained from the background activity.
The questions they will use to reinvestigate their work is called
the "toolbox." Either jump to the
toolbox below or see the
toolbox summary sheet for students.
Students can present their mural to the class in pairs, or individually
and can describe how they saw the mural before using the tools in
the toolbox, and then after. What did they learn about context and
visual elements that helped them to look at the work more closely?
Rationale
Students will be given an opportunity to exercise their new looking
skills by reinvestigating their murals. When they present them to
the class they are given opportunity to assess their own understanding
while contributing to other students' understanding.
Resources
Toolbox
Summary Sheet
(student worksheet designed for this activity)
Making
Effective Oral Presentations
Presentation
Checklist
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Brochure
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 Description
As a class,
they can put together a brochure of all the murals they selected for
an audience of their choice (ex. tourists going to Nicaragua). It
will be up to them how they connect each of their murals to each,
what links they make, what the comparisons bring out, and why they
think these murals together forma valuable subject for a tour.
Rationale
Through creating a brochure for an audience, students can participate
in an authentic task. Through working on an authentic task, the learning
becomes more meaningful and as a result more motivating for students.
The motivation for creating a quality brochure will increase when
with your students you can find an appropriate authentic audience.
In addition, through collaborating students benefit by communicating
their learning with each other, comparing their observations, and
drawing deeper conclusions about the murals and their relationships
to each other.
Resources
Making Brochures
with ClarisWorks
Political
History of Nicaragua (from Expressions of Central America)
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Making
a Mural
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 Description
Finally, students can look at making a mural themselves.
Rationale
By inviting students to make their own mural and talk
about what they would want to express, we hope students will better
understand the expressions of others and as a result reach the learning
goal "students
gain an increased sensitivity towards the politics of art production
in Nicaragua."
Resources
Film about Mural
Making (from PBS)
Make
a Mural (from the Science Museum of Minnesota) |
Evaluation/
Feedback
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The
methods below suggested how the goals mentioned earlier can be assessed.
The forms of assessment can be used to assess learning of the content
as well as the affective learning goal of increasing cultural understanding.
Students' Increased Understanding of Content
Suggested
Forms of Assessment
Student Self-Assessment
- Students
can compare their answers to the discussion questions to those
on the site.
- Students
receive feedback and make comparisons with the interactive activities.
Student Peer-Assessment
- Students
assess each other's understanding as they explain to each other
their understandings of their murals during the presentations
- Students
assess their work and that of the rest of the class when they
communicate to put together the brochure.
Teacher Assessment
- Teachers
may use the suggested rubric to assess the student brochures.
Student Brochure Rubric
- Teachers
may use this suggested rubric to assess the presentations
Student
Presentation Rubric
- Teachers
may use this suggested rubric to assess student collaboration
Student
Collaboration Rubric
- You may
also ask your students to participate in creating a rubric.
How
to create a rubric WITH your students. Read here about empowering
students through negotiable contracting to draft rubrics for authentic
assessment
Why rubrics? Read here about why rubrics are used.
Students' Increased Cultural Sensitivity
- To evaluate
how students are increasing their cultural understanding or awareness
through this activity, pay close attention to the language students
use in communicating with each other, in their presentations,
and in their brochures. The best way to measure their increased
sensitivity is through knowing your students and finding out what
their feelings are before the activity begins. You may start by
asking students what their perceptions are of Nicaragua at first
and then follow through by asking students to write a letter to
a Nicaraguan (muralist, teacher, etc.). Once our e-pals area is
complete, there will be contacts in Central America for students
to send their letters to.
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Conclusion
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More
Murals
Now is a great time for students to think about what they learned.
With your students you can find some ways they can use these tools
in other contexts. For example, you can make plans with your class
to visit a mural in their neighborhood. Have students find out about
who produced those murals, who funded them, and what they mean to
their community.
Students
can read about what it is it like to be a Nicaraguan muralist by
listening in on an interview with muralist artist Julie
Aguirre.
More Nicaragua
Now that students have looked at Nicaragua through understanding
its murals, they can learn more about it by visiting Expressions
of Nicaragua.
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Resources
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Web
Resources
Mural Tour
The History of Nicaraguan
Murals This history gives an overview of the history of Nicaraguan
murals from 1939 to the present.
Types of Nicaraguan
Murals This page describes the murals produced by children in
Nicaragua.
Social
and Public Art Resource Center shows works of muralists based
in Venice, California
Murals of the
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, shows twelve murals, fashioned
by eleven talented Pueblo artists from 8 separate pueblos
Mural
Art : The African-American Murals of L.A.
Also, to learn more about murals look at the following books
Print
Resources:
Michael Capek Murals
: Cave, Cathedral, to Street (Art Beyond Borders)
Capek writes for grades 5-8. Capek begins this informative history
of mural painting with chapters on cave paintings and goes on to
describe murals by the ancient Romans and Egyptians, the early Christians,
the Renaissance Italians, and Mexican artists from Aztec, Toltec,
and Mayan painters to Diego Rivera, and the twentieth-century US
David Kunzle, The
Murals of Revolutionary Nicaragua, 1979-1992
David Kunzle's book is the comprehensive authority for understanding
Nicaraguan murals.
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Glossary
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| composition |
the
arrangement of parts that together form a unified whole |
| context |
the
parts of the environment (physical, environment, historical,
etc.) that surround something such as a word, passage, or work
of art and can throw light on its meaning |
| depict |
to
represent in a picture |
| facade |
the
face of a building |
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to
place side by side |
| historical
context |
Historical
context reflects the time in which something takes place or
was created and how that influences how you interpret it. In
other words, it is the events that took place around something
through which you understand that thing.
Historical context can be found by answering the following questions...
- When
do you think the billboard was made?
- What
was going on at the time?
ex. Think of something in your life that you once treasured
(such as a toy, clothes, a game, etc.) but now you've gotten
rid of. Think about how when you were younger it was SO
important to you. Now think about that thing in your life
today. It doesn't seem so important now, because you are
in a new time, a new historical context with different values
and priorities than when you first got that treasure. Similarly,
art that was once interpreted in one way later in time can
be interpreted differently.
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| Impression |
an
effect, feeling, or image retained after an experience |
| media |
forms
of expression determined by materials or creative methods |
| physical
context |
The
physical context reflects the space around something and how
that influences how you see it.
ex. Think about how a photograph of a woman's face looks different
when it appears framed in an art gallery and when it appears
in your friend's photo album.
Physical context can be found by answering the following questions...
- Where
is it?
- What
does it have to do with the place in which it can be found?
- What
is the piece and the community in which it is found
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| political
context |
Political
context reflects the environment in which something is produced
indicating it's purpose or agenda
Political context can be found by answering the following questions...
- What
is the agenda of the creator?
- Why
was it made?
- Does
it help people?
- Does
it promote ideas?
ex. Often political messages are intended to persuade
one way or another. Knowing who created the message and
what their relationship is to others reflects how you interpret
that message.
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| Sandinista |
a
Nicaraguan guerrilla group that overthrew Anastasio Somoza Debayle
in 1979; named for CÈsar Augusto Sandino, a hero of Nicaraguan
resistance to US military occupation (1927-33) |
| social
context |
The
environment of people that surrounds something's creation or
intended audience
Social context reflects how the people around something use
and interpret it. The social context influences how something
is viewed.
Ex. Think about how you see different things in different social
contexts. For example, when you see a movie at the theater with
your friends, how does it seem different than when you watch
a movie your teacher created for you in class with students?
One may seem more like entertainment and the other may to ask
you to do more thinking. Depending on where you see each one,
you will experience them differently.
To find the social context answer the questions
- Who
created it?
- Who
was the audience?
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the
main theme of a work of art |
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