Audra_Final Project

Action Marbles by Audra

Grade Level: Fourth and Fifth

Materials

Different sized marbles

Bowls

Plastic Spoons

Tempera Paint

Water

Aprons

Cafeteria Trays (can also use a box with an open top)

Paper

Optional: sand, glitter, etc

Activity

Discuss how art is often a form of expressing emotions. Talk to class about different techniques used by contemporary artists. Jackson Pollock was an American abstract expressionist painter who was famous for innovative "action paintings". Read Action Jackson. Discuss the use of color and strategy for each of the paintings (located in the back of the book) Discuss how it makes the audience feel and what the artist may have been feeling.

Have students spread out in the classroom and prompt them to use their bodies to convey the following emotions: Happy, sad, surprised, grief, loneliness, excitement, proud and so on.

Tell the students to think of an object or event that makes them convey emotion. Then explain that they will be using marbles and any color paint they want to make in order to convey that feeling. Describe some different ways to create a feel such as using less or more marbles at a time, show them how the marbles may slide around the tray differently during the second color round, and above all be creative.

Setting up the materials

Give each student one piece of paper in a cafeteria tray.

Have student groups pour different color paints into separate bowls, they can also create their own colors using the primary colors.

Place their marbles into the different colored paints.

Use the spoons to get the marbles onto the tray.

Have one bowl filled with only water for cleaning the marbles.

Marbles can be cleaned and reused.

3 Goals

Students will be aware of the different techniques of artists such as Jackson Polluck.

Students will look at different works of art and discuss what feeling or story could have inspired it.

Students will create a piece of art inspired by an emotion using a marble splatter technique.

Resources to include a connection to a contemporary artist:

Jackson Polluck-

http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

Go here to create your own splatter paintings online- No mess!

http://www.beatmuseum.org/pollock/jacksonpollock.html

Explore this site for a biography of Jackson Pollock as well as images of his works.

http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/ja/Jackson_Pollock

This site is great for a bookmark on the classroom computer. I have pasted the link to the encyclopedia after typing in Jackson Pollock. The site is designed with kid friendly definitions.

http://www.ehow.com/way_5172238_splatter-painting-techniques.html

This site lists a few different ways to splatter paint using different tools.

Connection to literature

Action Jackson

Authors: Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

Illustrator: Robert Andrew Parke

An imagined sequence of events in the life of Jackson Polluck, based on some true reports of the artists, how he dressed, walked and talked, and how he painted. This book is inspired by the summer of 1950 when he created the infamous Lavender Mist. Brief paragraphs in the back of the book explain each page more fully

Tell Me a Picture (2001)

Author and Illustrator Quentin Blake

A walk past 26 works of art in a museum. After each, a collection of cartoon children point out details and wonder about the story behind each which prompts for discussions. Brief paragraphs in the back of the book explain each picture more fully. This book could tie into the lesson by presenting it the day before.

Quotes

On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting. –Jackson Polluck
I chose this quote because it describes a bit about his technique and why he chooses to it.

Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is. –Jackson Polluck

I chose this quote to inspire independent thinking when creating art.

Criteria for evaluations and or questions for discussion

Teacher will prompt students to write what feeling inspired their painting. They will describe why they chose the colors in their paintings and use of marbles. For example, a student may have used dark colors and many marbles at a time to express how they felt during a stressful time. They will give their work of art a title and present it to the class.

Option- the writing exercise can be done before the marble splattering creation.

Lesson inspired byArt House at:

http://www.storyboardtoys.com/gallery/Jackson-Pollock-lesson-plan.htm