Activity Introduction

Quick summary: Students create a review (either written or podcast) of an exhibition for an online newspaper. Students will load their articles or podcasts onto a blog and will then assess the articles or podcasts of other students.

CLIMARTE-logoThis lesson is part of the CLIMARTE unit. The unit is designed to help students build their knowledge of climate change by exploring the topic through the arts. By harnessing the creative power of the Arts, CLIMARTE aim to inform, engage and inspire real action on climate change. Following this lesson plan is an ideal way to expose your kids to climate change through the medium of art.

Learning goals:

  • Students will analsye how artists communicate artistic intentions.
  • Students will recognize visual conventions used by artists.
  • Students will understand how to write an online article or create a podcast, and how to assess the articles or podcasts of others.
  • Students will think about what environmental issues are important to young people and how well these issues are represented in environmental art.

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Literacy, Ethical Understanding.

Australian Curriculum content description:

Year 7 and 8 Visual Arts

  • Analyse how artists use visual conventions in artworks (ACAVAR123)
  • Identify and connect specific features and purposes of visual artworks from contemporary and past times to explore viewpoints and enrich their art-making, starting with Australian artworks including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACAVAR124)

Year 9 and 10 Visual Arts

  • Evaluate how representations communicate artistic intentions in artworks they make and view to inform their future art making (ACAVAR130)
  • Analyse a range of visual artworks from contemporary and past times to explore differing viewpoints and enrich their visual art-making, starting with Australian artworks, including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and consider international artworks (ACAVAR131)

Year 7 English

  • Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subject matter and particular language, visual, and audio features to convey information and ideas (ACELY1725)
  • Use a range of software, including word processing programs, to confidently create, edit and publish written and multimodal texts (ACELY1728)

Year 8 English

  • Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that raise issues, report events and advance opinions, using deliberate language and textual choices, and including digital elements as appropriate (ACELY1736)
  • Use a range of software, including word processing programs, to create, edit and publish texts imaginatively (ACELY1738)

Year 9 English

  • Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio features (ACELY1746)
  • Review and edit students’ own and others’ texts to improve clarity and control over content, organisation, paragraphing, sentence structure, vocabulary and audio/visual features (ACELY1747)
  • Use a range of software, including word processing programs, flexibly and imaginatively to publish texts (ACELY1748)

Year 10 English

  • Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues (ACELY1756)
  • Review, edit and refine students’ own and others’ texts for control of content, organisation, sentence structure, vocabulary, and/or visual features to achieve particular purposes and effects (ACELY1757)
  • Use a range of software, including word processing programs, confidently, flexibly and imaginatively to create, edit and publish texts, considering the identified purpose and the characteristics of the user (ACELY1776)

Syllabus Outcomes: EN4-4B, EN5-1A, EN4-2A, EN5-2A, VAS4.3, VAS4.7, VAS4.8, VAS4.9, VAS4.10, VAS5.7, VAS5.8, VAS5.9, VAS5.10.

Topic: CLIMARTE

Time required: 2 x 48 mins (plus time for viewing exhibition)

Level of teacher scaffolding: Low – oversee activity.

Resources required: Access to an environmentally themed exhibition, computers or tablets, Internet access, Student Worksheet, Peer Assessment Rubric – Writing, Peer Assessment Rubric – Podcast, Tips for making a great podcast, Tips for writing online.

Digital technology opportunities: Blog creation and editing (e.g. Edublog, WordPress), digital sharing capabilities.

Homework and extension opportunities:

Keywords: Art, climate change, exhibition, review, article.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

Teacher preparation

Overarching learning goal: By participating in this activity students will understand how artists communicate artistic intentions and will recognise visual conventions used by artists. Students will also understand how to write an online article or create a podcast, and how to assess the articles and podcasts of others. Finally, students will recognise what environmental issues are important to young people and how well these issues are represented in environmental art.

Teacher content information:

CLIMARTE harnesses the creative power of the Arts to inform, engage and inspire action on climate change by:

  • Producing, promoting and facilitating Arts events.
  • Providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on sustainable Arts practice at an individual and organisational level.
  • Creating an alliance of Arts practitioners and organisations that advocate for immediate, effective and creative action on climate change.

To learn more about CLIMARTE, v

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Student Worksheet

Thought starter: Who is your favourite young artist?

Your job is to prepare a review of the exhibition for the youth arm of CLIMARTE. You should analyse both the art and message of the exhibition, and in particular how the art featured in the exhibition relates to young people.

You will need to address the following points:

  • Main/stand-out themes represented in exhibition;
  • Main/stand-out mediums and visual conventions used;
  • Which were your favourites and why;
  • Are any of the works in the style of anyone else? Who and how do you know?
  • Have the artists chosen to represent art that is about the environment or a personal relationship or a statement? How can you tell?
  • What are the main messages of the exhibition and how do they relate to young people?

Your article should be written for an online newspaper or created as a podcast for your school blog.

FOR WRITTEN ARTICLES: You will need to be aware of English language and grammar conventions, and of conventions for writing

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