Title: A Field Trip to the Textile Museum
Strategies applied to accmodate the needs of ESl students on a visual arts field trip.
This particular trip was for students in grade 11, but it can be applied for the other high school levels.
Students have the possibility
to understand design principles and apply them on their own art piece. Moreover, they can value textile works from their own cultures.
· THV.01-use appropriate visual arts terminology to describe art concepts, principles, styles, content, material and techniques.
· THV.02 -demonstrate an understanding of art of the Western World, Canada and other world cultures
· CRV.01- produce art works using a variety of materials, tools, processes, and technologies in ways that are appropriate to the content of their work
· CRV.02- produce a body of creative work that represents a progressive record of their studio development in both technique and expression
TH1.01- explain how the application of the elements and principles of design supports the concepts and ideas expressed in their creative work
· CR1.03- use personal imagery that relates to the themes and issues explored in their work
· CR1.02- select elements and principles of design that best express their ideas
· CR2.03- produce fine art, applied design, or craft works that explore specific themes or issues, using appropriate subject matter, techniques and designs
Prior knowledge and skills
· CRV.01- produce a work around specific objectives and challenges
· CRV.02- demonstrate the ability to take varied and creative approaches to using materials, tools, processes and technologies in studio activities
· CR1.02- use tools, materials, processes, and technologies safely and appropriately
Students will be grouped with more proficient language speakers for assistance.
The field trip consists of two components:viewing two exhibitions ( in this case
" Dance of Pattern" currated by Patricia Bentley and " A Terrible Beauty" by Sarah Quinton) and a practical activity that is creating their own textile piece using hot iron press techniques and a decorative pattern inspired by the exhibitions.
The practical activity is considered a formative exercise and it is assesed for completion.
"A Terrible Beauty" is an installation consisting in thousand of insects pinned on walls to create amazing decorative designs.
"Dance of Pattern" is an exhibition of various textile pieces from around the world that have decorative patterns as a common element.
Prior to the field trip the teacher will inform the students about the field trip and will explain the main aspects regarding this activity. The curator from the museum will also be notified about ESL students and will be asked to talk slowly and clearly and use visual aids for terms that will be unknown to the students. Moreover, the ESL students will be paired up with more fluent English speakers that will offer linguistic support if necessary. The peer assistance will be offered during the curator’s presentation and the practical activity.
The teacher will spend some extra time before going on the trip, providing the ESL students with a glossary containing terms that will most likely be used during the field trip. The glossary will contain a series of words with their explanations, pictures (from a picture dictionary and science book on insects). The teacher will also explain all the words using definitions, visual aids, re-phrasing and concrete examples. Concepts like –embroidery, woven, reflection, pattern, translation, twist, collage- will be exemplified trough definitions, pictures and real examples. Processes will be briefly demonstrated using final products (pieces of textiles that have been manufactured following the explained procedures) and short, hands-on demonstrations.
During the field trip, the teacher will make sure that ESL students understand what is explained, offering clarifications if necessary. Connections will also be made with the students’ cultures as many of the exhibited pieces may belong to their national heritages. If the teacher observes that some of the students do not understand exactly the explanations, he/she will ask the curator to repeat, rephrase, or offer appropriate support. During the practical part of the field trip, the teachers will assist the ESL students answering any questions and making sure that the peer partnership will be working. The teacher will observe activities closely and will be ready to provide assistance whenever needed. Here is a sample of a glossary that will be handed to ESL students prior to the field trip. As mentioned before, definitions will be accompanied by pictures and verbal explanations.
Cicada-large insect with transparent wings, common in hot countries, that makes a continuous high sound by rubbing its legs together.
Gnat-small fly with two wings that bites
Termite- an antlike insect that lives in organized groups, mainly in hot countries
Grasshopper- insect with long back legs that can jump very high and makes a sound by robbing its legs
Beetle- insect with a hard case covering the wings on its back, in different shapes and sizes
Ladybug- small flying insect, usually red with black spots
Moth- flying insect with a long, thin body and four large wings, flying mostly at night, attracted by large lights.
Weave- to make fabric by crossing threads or strips across, over and under each other by hand or in a machine called loom (show)
Embroidery- patterns that are sewn onto fabric using threads of different colours- embroidery- fabric decorated in this way.
Pattern- regular arrangement of lines, shapes or colours as a design on various materials
Rhythm- strong regular repeated patterns, sounds, movements, colours or designs
Symmetry- exact match in size and shape between two halves
Aesthetic- concerned with beauty and art; understanding and appreciation of the beautiful things
- made in an artistic way and beautiful to look at
Collage- a picture made by sticking pieces of paper, photos, fabric and other materials onto a surface
- the act of doing this
Stripe- long, narrow line of colour
Checkerboards- a board with squares of alternate colours
Diamond- shape with four straight sides of equal length and with angles that are not right.
Twist- bend or twist into a particular shape- sometimes the position is not natural
Reflection - an image in a mirror or any shiny surface
- the process of sending back light or sound from a surface
- careful thought about something
Rotation - the action of an object moving in a circle around a central fixed point.
- a complete movement in a circle around a fixed point.
Translation - changing into a different form.
Ragans, Rosalind. Instructor’s Guide and Teacher’s Resource Book. Art Talk. Mission Hills: Glencoe, 1988.
Roukes, Nicholas. Art Synectics. Worcester: Davis Publications Inc., 1982.
Sparkes, Roy. Exploring Materials with Young Children. London: B T Batsford Limited, 1975.
Walker, Sydney R. Teaching Meaning in Artmaking. Worchester, Davis Publications Inc., 2001.
Wilde, Judith and Richard Wilde. Visual Literacy. A Conceptual Approach to Graphic Problem Solving. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2003.
Picture dictionaries and images on insects.
All materials for practical activity are provided by the museum.
Submitted by: Radu Prelipcean