Teacher(s) Melissa Miller

Subject group and discipline Arts: Visual arts

Unit title

MYP Year

Drawing and Scratchboards

Unit duration 5 weeks (25 hours)

Grade 9, Grade 10

Inquiry: Establishing the purpose of the unit

Key concept

Related concept(s)

Aesthetics

Communication

Arts: Visual arts

Composition
Style

Global context
Expression

Personal and cultural expression

Exploration to Develop: Artistry, craft, creation,

beauty

Statement of inquiry
Style enables us to express ideas and thoughts, but an understanding of composition and aesthetics aids us in successfully communicating those ideas.
Inquiry questions
What are attributes of a successful
composition?

Why are the elements and principles

important to communicate ideas?

Objectives

Summative assessment

B: Developing skills
i. demonstrate the acquisition and development
of the skills and techniques of the art form studied
ii. demonstrate the application of skills and
techniques to create, perform and/or present art.
D: Responding
i. construct meaning and transfer learning to
new settings
iii. critique the artwork of self and others.

Outline of summative assessment task(s) including assessment

criteria:

Factual

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Conceptual

Task
September

23
Tuesday

9:00 AM

Mid Unit and End-of-Unit Peer

Critiques (A, D)
Students will analyze the work of
their partner and table mates and
explain their use of elements and
principles in their drawings. In
addition, they will respond to their
piece and learn to give critique that
is both constructive and positive,
which will be imbedded in the
knowledge of the elements and
principles from class.

How do we get the attention of an

audience in order to convey thoughts?
Debatable

Relationship between summative assessment task(s) and

statement of inquiry:

Students will be creating strong compositions and

studying the effects of strong compositions. They will
see this first hand as they look at the work of others in
the classroom and their ability to form opinions and
articulate their ideas will demonstrated their
understanding of of compositions. They quiz will also
demonstrate their ability to talk about art using the
appropriate vocabulary so that students are wellequipped to voice their opinions and ideas. Lastly, their
artist statement gives them a place to reflect on their
own work and explain how the artwork is a
manifestation of their ideas and ability to communicate
using the media studied.

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Task
October

10
Friday

9:00 AM

They will write an artist

statement specifically
addressing this question at
their end-of-unit artist
statement. They will also
reflect on their ability to
incorporate elements and
principles of design, which will
assess understanding of those
concepts. (A, D)

Approaches to learning (ATL)

Arts
B: Developing skills
i. demonstrate the acquisition and development of the skills and techniques of the art form studied

Communication

Self-management

Thinking

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I. Communication skills
Exchanging thoughts, messages and information
effectively through interaction
Give and receive meaningful feedback

Learning Experiences
Students will have a written component to their peer
critiques and self reflections as we prepare to improve
our pieces with the use of the feedback and prepare
to write artist statements and conduct an in-class
verbal critique.

IV. Affective skills

Managing state of mind
Perseverance
- Demonstrate persistence and perseverance
V. Reflection skills
(Re-)considering the process of learning; choosing and
using ATL skills
Keep a journal to record reflections

Learning Experiences
As many of the students will not have had much art
background, they will be drawing for longer periods of
time, and we will read an article on perseverance in
the art world. They will be expected to push through
challenges as they draw. Students will also be
sketching out ways to problems solve and think
through compositions in their DW.

VIII. Critical thinking skills

Analysing and evaluating issues and ideas
Practise observing carefully in order to recognize
problems
X. Transfer skills
Utilizing skills and knowledge in multiple contexts
Apply skills and knowledge in unfamiliar situations

Learning Experiences
Students will find many obstacles while drawing a still
life. They will find that drawing is the art of observing
and they will think through ways to problem solve as
a group, and also by looking at the drawings of
others.

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Action: Teaching and learning through inquiry

Content

Learning process

Knowledge & Skills:

Learning Experiences

Students will be able to:

-Draw an image with the use of a grid.
-Draw a still life image with the use of a viewfinder
-Add values to drawings with the help of value scales
-Use a variety of media to create art
-Find and discuss the elements and principles in their
own work and the work of others
Standards:

Writing
Production and Distribution of Writing
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and
style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience. (Grade-specific expectations for
writing types are defined in standards 13
above.)
Range of Writing
10. Write routinely over extended time
frames (time for research, reflection, and
revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks,
purposes, and audiences.

Rubrics will be provided for anything students are graded on and they will be given feedback both from me and
from their classmates. When writing their artist statements, I will prompt each part of the statement so that they
know what is expected, and also remind them of vocabulary from the unit and that they are expected to use the
language of the arts in their artist statements.
I have been assessing during their first week of school on their drawing skills and their understanding of the
elements and principles coming in. I have found that overall, not all students have experience with these terms,
so we will be focusing on just a few. Some have a strong understanding of
Below are the activities that we will be working on throughout the unit:
- Grid drawing with the entire class
-Black and white individual grid drawing
- Preassessment with concepts of scratchboard and drawing and the vocabulary related to them
-Value Scales in pencil and charcoal
- Popcorn drawings in charcoal
- Vocabulary scavenger hunt lesson
- Finishing a drawing in only four values
- Building a viewfinder grid
-Drawing a still life using a viewfinder focusing on contour lines, shapes, and space
-Filling in the still life drawing with a conversation on value
-Self Reflection/ Peer Critique
-Exposure to scratchboard (visiting artist)

Middle Years Programme Unit planner

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- Value scales with scratchboards

- Grid drawing with scratchboards
- Still life drawing on a grid with scratchboard (and possible construction of scratchboards)
-Self Reflection/ artist statements
-Critique with class

Task
September

19

Vocabulary Quizzes (A)

Students will take a quiz on the vocabulary that we will be using in class to ensure they
understand the language we use to talk about the arts.

Friday

9:00 AM
Describe how you will differentiate teaching & learning for this unit?
Students with hearing impairments in this class will have preferential seating. I will also check in with them
frequently.
The amount of objects in the still life drawings will decrease for students who need to have less. They will also
be able to think though values with less variations of those values. They are also provided guides for
measuring. There is an aide for this class to work with them one on one, and they are given more examples. I
have worked with the SPED department and come into resource classes to provide extra explanation of
assignments. They are creating templates for students to fill in for their writing assignments.
Learner Profile
Thinkers: Again, students will need to be observant and think through how what they are observing can be portrayed and how they will need to problem solve through
challenges.

Middle Years Programme Unit planner

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Risk takers: I will challenge students to take risks and try new ways of drawing. It may be different than they are used to, but they will be encouraged to try and learn from
new techniques, new media, and new art.
Reflection: Considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry
Prior to teaching the unit

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During teaching

After teaching the unit

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