Sarah Pinnell

Art Integration Unit Plan

LTC 4240: Art for Children
Art Integration Lesson Plan
LTC 4240: Art for Children
Lesson Title: Creative Communities
Big Idea: Communities

Grade Level: 3rd

Class Periods Required: 3

Lesson Overview/Summary: This lesson plan is designed to teach

students what it means to be a part of a community. Students will start
by learning about communities and more specifically, what makes a
community. They will talk about what and who are involved in a
community and why this is important. Students will then work in
groups of four to create their own three-dimensional model of a
community using various materials. They will come up with a name for
their community and then work together to build their community,
including buildings, roads, and more as needed. When they are
finished, they will reflect on what they have learned and created and
will get an opportunity to share their communities with the class.
Key Concepts:
1. Visual Art: The students will know how to create a threedimensional model using various materials.
2. Literacy: The students will know how to write about
communities as well as write reflective materials.
3. Social Studies: The students will have a deeper understanding
of and awareness of communities that exist around them and
communities that they are a part of and know how they can
take initiative in their own communities.
Essential Questions:
1. What is a community? Give examples.
2. How can you be involved in your community?
Lesson Objectives/Goals:
1. Visual Art: The students will be able to create a threedimensional representation of a community.
2. Literacy: The students will be able to write about communities
and reflect on what they have learned.
3. Social Studies: The students will be able to identify and
describe communities and develop ideas for how to take an
active role in their own community/communities.

Grade Level Expectations:

1. Visual Art: Students will generate and conceptualize artistic
ideas and work.
2. Literacy: Students will describe the contributions of a variety
of jobs in the community.
3. Social Studies: Students will demonstrate personal
characteristics of a contributing member of the school
community.
Instructional Strategies:
The teacher can implement the following instructional strategies:
Guided questions
Discussion
Use of Examples
Encouraging creativity
Asking students for explanations of their work
Content Areas Integrated:
1. Visual Art: (Inspirational Artist: Ira Watkins) This lesson will
include two Visual Thinking Strategy exercises. One will be of
a painting titled Scenes of the City, by Ira Watkins. The
other can be any photograph that includes a community
leader, such as a police officer. The main emphasis of both
works will be community. Watkins painting will be a
representation of a community as a whole, while the
photograph including a community leader will reach a deeper
message of what being involved in a community really means.
Students will also be creating a three-dimensional
representation of a community of their choice, after viewing
these images and examples of their project.
2. Literacy: During this lesson, students will have two
opportunities for writing. The first assignment will be to write
a description of what a community is and why it is important.
The second is to write a reflection at the end of the lesson
about the communities that they created. They will be asked
to describe how they created their communities, what
community they created, and what they included in their
communities and why, and what their big take-away is. This
will be in an exit slip format with questions for the children to
write responses to.
3. Social Studies: This lesson plan includes social studies content
implemented through discussion of the topic of community
and in the literacy and visual arts activities of this lesson. The
students will display their knowledge and understanding of

communities through their visual art, writing, and class

discussions. Students will also be asked what they know about
the topic at the beginning as a pre-assessment.

Lesson Structure and Procedures:

Session One:
1. The teacher will administer a formative assessment with
questions designed to discover what each student already
knows about communities. These questions can include the
following:
What is a community?
Who or what make up a community?
What are two examples of communities?
2. The teacher will lead the student in a Visual Thinking Strategy
of the picture Scenes of the City, by Ira Watkins. The
teacher will as the students the following questions:
What is going on in this image?
What do you see that makes you say that?
What more can we find?
3. The teacher will lead the students in a Visual Thinking
Strategy of a photograph involving community leadership.
4. The teacher will discuss the topic of communities with the
students, being sure to address the three main types of
communities and what are involved in each:
Urban Community
Suburban Community
Rural Community
And also being sure to address the following questions:
What is a community?
Who and what make a community?
What are some examples of communities?
How can you be a part of your community?
5. As a formative assessment, the teacher will have students
write a paragraph using the following prompt:
What is a community and why are communities
important?
6. The teacher will introduce the project to the students,
informing them that they will be creating their own threedimensional communities.
Session 2:
7. The teacher will form groups of four students for the project.

8. The students will decide what type of community they will

create, what they will name their community, and who and
what will be a part of their community.
9. The students will then gather their materials for building their
three-dimensional community models.
10.
Students will begin the construction of their communities.
Session 3:
11.
The students will continue work on their communities.
12.
Once the three-dimensional communities are finished, the
teacher will give each group three to four minutes to present
their communities to the class.
13.
The students will be given an exit slip as a summative
assessment to help them to reflect on what they learned from
the lesson. The exit slip will include the following questions:
What community did you create and why?
How did you create your community?
Who and what did you choose to include in your
community?
How can you be an active member in your community?
What is your big take-away from this lesson? What did
you learn that you didnt know before?
Formative Assessment Strategy:
The formative assessment will be ongoing throughout the lesson. It will
be implemented through a pre-assessment (questions for the students
to answer before the lesson), ongoing observation, class discussions,
and descriptive writing.
Summative Assessment Strategy:
There will be one form of summative assessment during this lesson,
which will be implemented at the end of the project. The students will
complete an exit slip to determine what they learned and to help them
to reflect on their finished project.
What student prior knowledge will this lesson require/draw
upon?
This lesson will draw upon some existing knowledge of citizenship and
civic duty. Discussions on the topics of citizenship and civic duty will
occur in more depth during this lesson as the teacher and students talk
about what it means to take an active role in their communities.
Technology:
A smart board can be used by the teacher to display materials for the
visual thinking strategy exercises, as well as for the display of other
important information and examples of communities during the lesson.

How will this lesson allow for/encourage students to solve

problems in divergent ways?
This lesson first allows for group work, which will require students to
work together in order to create a community. This means they will
have to work through differences in opinions in order to finish their
project. Students will also determine as a group what materials to use
to build their communities.
How will you engage students in routinely reflecting on their
learning?
Once the students finish building their communities, they will be asked
to present them to the class, being sure to talk about what kind of
community they build, how they build their community, and what they
included and why. The students will also be given an exit slip with
questions that will help them to reflect on what they have learned.
Differentiated/Accommodations/Modifications/Increase in
Rigor:
For students who need it, a safe space can be offered to create a quiet
area for students to escape if they are getting overwhelmed, or need
to work alone for some time. There can also be an opportunity for
classroom buddies for students who need extra help with explanations
or need questions to be answered. In this case, they can ask their
buddy before asking the teacher. There can also be classroom jobs to
give students some initiative and a chance to help the teacher. Other
accommodations and modifications can be easily implemented
depending on the student.

Visuals that can be used for Visual Thinking Strategies:

Photo: Columbia Heights Police Department

Scene of the City, by Ira Watkins