Arts throughout History
In our unit on Arts throughout History, we looked at the development of art and how these developments have changed from simple to complex forms of expression and communication. My students visited the studio of a National Artist for Sculpture to learn more about how art sends out messages and we also invited an artist/professor to talk about the ways art communicates. At the end of the unit, my students realized that art conveys not only a message but is a representation of the cultures, beliefs and values of a particular group or individual.
Messages
In our unit on Messages, my students looked at how messages influence the way people act and behave, the way we respond and evaluate to the media that is presented. As my students inquired further into the unit, we interviewed a news producer to talk about how messages are used to influence the way we behave. My students were able to create varied responses to what they found out and they realized that through every interaction (verbal and non-verbal) these send out messages. These messages may be interpreted and responded to in a variety of ways.