Have A Sense of Humor is a unit stressing the connection between art, humor and the five senses. Hoo In and I explored the sense of sound in connection to the visual this week. Since we wanted the kids to explore pure sound (no voices or story lines) we introduced them to abstract, non representational art. Our first painting we showed them was of organic green shapes with red dots in the middle. We asked them what they thought this painting could be of, most said representational things (a turtles stomach, a dinosaur's skin, plankton etc. )We then asked what type of sound this picture would make. The room went silent and for 3 seconds 20 students stared blankly at Hoo In and I trying to comprehend a silent abstract picture making a sound. Some offered up a faint noise but most just stared. Hoo In and I shared what we thought the picture would sound like, we clapped in a circle snapped our fingers and made a popping noise with our voices.
Hoo In continued on with the lesson and split the students into groups. She gave each of them a portion of a Kandinsky and told each group of students to make up a noise that best represented their image. Most groups compiled and thought of fitting sounds, however we had one group that did not have a sound when it was their turn to present. Which lead me to my first incident and question for reflection, What happens if you put students into a group and they cannot seem to come up with a finished product? Is there another way to gauge their learning? I think this could go either way, if you are assessing the students on being able to collaborate and work in a group, this group would surely not have fulfilled the task but if you are assessing what sound this particular painting makes, it may be more beneficial for the teacher to talk to each individual of the failed group to assess the learning that is being done by each individual.
Once the students were done presenting their ideas about Kandinsky and sound they did a Rothko. Students were able to automatically compare the quietness of Rothko to the chaotic-ness of Kandinsky. Their sounds were much more toned down. The students were then asked to draw what a sound would look like. Hoo In played a clip and had students draw and paint what the sound looked like. This bring me to the second incident that I think is worth mentioning. We showed student purely abstract paintings and discussed abstract paintings in detail and yet when we played the sound most students did not make an abstract piece of work. Most students created a story line based on the sound. In my opinion I think representational was easier to work with than abstract. I do not think this means the lesson was a failure in anyway I think this means that a deeper understanding of connecting line and shape with sound was needed in order to make their own abstract paintings.
It sounds like a comparison between two paintings helped your students understand what you were hoping that they would about abstraction and sound a little bit better. Was this concept too abstract to expect them to grasp right away? Did they need more scaffolding before they were asked to translate the concept in their own way?
ReplyDeleteSometimes we expect our students to understand things as soon as we teach them, but often that is just the beginning: Learning takes many different steps, lots of experiences and perspectives, and multiple introductions. How can we layer learning experiences so our students have opportunities to internalize what we hope to teach?
Are there some concepts that are easier or more natural for students at some points in their lives and learning than at others? Can we teach some concepts and techniques more easily at some ages than at others?
It was definitely a difficult lesson for both students and the teachers. When we thought of this lesson incorporating the sound into the expression, we thought it would be a new and exciting way to let students understand the abstract artwork. However, I was very frustrated during the lesson to see the students not fully understanding what I was explaining. Although we tried to teach in step-by-step order and go from a simple sound and a line and a shape, I saw how students were confused about what abstract expression is. I am not worried about them expressing representationally because abstract idea might be something difficult to understand at once, but I hope to see students understanding little by little about how they could incorporate sound into the artwork.
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