New Formalist Theory Lesson Plan

Brett Baldry, Brittany Crowder
New Formalist Geometry Lesson
4th
30-45 minutes
Exploration: Students will explore the New Formalist Theory.
Objective: When finished with the lesson we want kids to be able to understand New Formalism and how it relates to life through geometry.
State Standard:
Grade 4 Visual Arts
Standard 2: Objective 1- Analyze and reflect on works of art by their elements and principles.
Grade 4 Mathematics Core
Standard 3:Objective 1 Identify and describe attributes of two-dimensional geometric shapes.Question of Inquiry: How could you critique art using the New Formalist Theory.
Arts Discussed: Michelangelo, Olivia Gude, Lee Quinones

Other Subject Connections: Geometry
Teacher Visuals/ Supplies:Power Point on New Formalism
Preparation: Cut out different shapes for kids to create a mosaic using these shapes.Student Materials
Scissors,
glue,
8*11 sheet of paper for each kid
Pencil Crayons
Lesson Sequence:Start by asking the class the question “What is Formalism?” Once they have an idea of formalism move onto the question “what is new?” From there form a definition of the New Formalist Theory
Then have two opposing pictures. One being a piece of New Formalism art and one being Formalism. Have the class see if they can pick out which piece of art would be the New Formalism.Ask the class questions that will get them thinking more about the context and history behind the piece of art that you have chosen. Once again explaining that New Formalism brings in new features other than line, color…
Show pieces of Olivia Gude’s Art or Lee Quinone’s art. They are New Formalists. Discuss with the class how their art brings in more context or meaning.
Ask the class what are some other things in our lives that have good form but also have great meaning to us… Religion. Open the class up for discussion.If you wanted to tie in other cores you could talk about geometry. Talk about how in formalism you use simple geometry like shapes. But in more advanced geometry classes you start to give these shapes meaning by giving them angles and lengths. By giving them more detail we can then use them as a mathematical tool in our lives.Assessment:-Class discussion about the artists (what did they like? how did each artist’s culture influence his/her work?, ect.)- have kids volunteer to discuss their mosaic, and what it means to them.

Resources: Formalism, picture of formalism:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formalism_(art)Michelangelo’s David:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)Olivia Gude:http://www.uic.edu/classes/ad/ad382/sites/Olivia/OG_01a.htmlLee Quinones:http://ps1.org/exhibitions/view/147http://www.leequinones.com/index.php?page=abouthttp://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Lee_QuinonesDC Temple Pic:http://www.foulgerpratt.com/const_projects/washingtondc_temple.php



Reply by Mandy Turner
Great lesson!I loved doing the mosaic so much that I put it up on my fridge!One thing I love about this theory of art is that instead of just passively viewing a piece of art as good or bad, you are able to look at each element it contains. For kids who are just building their confidence in their artwork it's good to emphasis the fact that certain elements were considered essential previously and that they themselves can decide on elements that mean something to them. Mosaics allow a lot of creativity without the frustration of mastering a paint brush. For my own class I would have the kids look at different shapes and think of what emotions they invoke, (Circle-happy, relaxed, Rectangle-powerful) and then have them create a mosaic using those shapes to emphasize that emotion.

Reply by Brett Baldry
To change this lesson to be more effective I think that next time I would make it more of a community involved activity instead of just individual mosaics. I think that it reflects more on the meaning of new formalism.

Reply by Nancy
You girls did a great job with this theory.Another really fun thing to do would be for the whole class to create a mosaic design together. I think this would be a great lesson to teach how art has other meaning besides being great art and this could make for a great discussion even in an elementary classroom.

Reply by Ellen Funch
I am actually really excited about this idea and theory! For another spin on the lesson, I would have kids find their favorite piece of artwork and bring a picture of it into class. In class, i hope we would have already talked about Formalism and the themes behind that so they will already know about line, shape, color, form, and texture. By having them bring in their favorite picture, I would have them analyze what characteristics they liked about their picture but I would have them use other descriptive words besides the themes for Formalism. Once the kids used a couple of new terms to describe their artwork I would try and collect all of the new standards as a class in a discussion and we could make bulletin boards from these ideas. On one side of the room, we could have Formalism and those characterizations and on the other side, we could have New Formalism and our new descriptives for criticizing art and have our favorite pictures on both sides! Hopefully that makes sense because it sounds super fun to me! Great job girls!

Reply by Rebecca Ferguson
I thought this lesson was so interesting. I loved the mosaic idea and really thought it went so well with the points being made in the lesson. I think an idea to make this lesson more applicable to students is making the mosiacs more meaningful. I think it would be interesting to pose a question like "what is important to you about your community" or "what do you think of when you think about your friends".. and then respond by making a mosiac.

Reply by Mandy Turner
Great lesson!I loved doing the mosaic so much that I put it up on my fridge!One thing I love about this theory of art is that instead of just passively viewing a piece of art as good or bad, you are able to look at each element it contains. For kids who are just building their confidence in their artwork it's good to emphasis the fact that certain elements were considered essential previously and that they themselves can decide on elements that mean something to them. Mosaics allow a lot of creativity without the frustration of mastering a paint brush. For my own class I would have the kids look at different shapes and think of what emotions they invoke, (Circle-happy, relaxed, Rectangle-powerful) and then have them create a mosaic using those shapes to emphasize that emotion. Sometimes kids can feel their classes are irrelevant if they can't see the connections. By connecting geometry and art, two subjects that may not be enjoyed, students can feel like the information is worth something. In my class I would take the geometry connection a bit further by examining New Formalism in architecture throughout various ages so that I could tie in history.

Reply by Tiffany Baum
For this lesson I wouldn't really change much, they did a great job of presenting it. Really the only thing that I can think of that I would do differently is I would stick with maybe one artist and focus on their type of work, and after the kids grasped that artist give them another and see if they can see the differences but also see the similarities.

Reply by Kim Brown
I really enjoyed this lesson. To add to the lesson I really like the idea of a class cooperative mosaic. Maybe do it in small groups of 4 or 5, and the words or pictures they create for the mosaic can be a message they want to rest of the class to know, or something for the school at large. I would also have students discuss a piece of artwork using the vocabulary of Formalism, and then have them describe the same artwork without that vocabulary, in a different way, so they can participate in New Formalism.

Reply by Brooke Stevenson
Good job teaching a hard theory. I loved making the mosaics. To adapt this to my classroom I would have students decide what formal criteria is most important to them in art, not including the basic formal elements. Then they would use their own standards to judge different art pieces shown to them. For example, one student might choose to look at brightness, balance, denseness, and radiance. They could also use these elements in creating their mosaics.

Reply by Nichole Mahas
What an interesting lesson. I think I would have the students pick two works of art, one traditional formalism, and one that they think is new formalism. I would then have them share with the class the differences between the two works and why they placed them in the categories they did. I would be sure to encourage the students to explain how line, form and theme of the work adds to weather it is formalism or new formalism.

Reply by Brittany Crowder
In order to change this lesson, or make it better, I would definitely still keep the mosaic project, but have them make it more meaningful to them in their community. In order to do this I could have them brainstorm as a class feelings they have at school and being a part of this. They could each make a part of the mosaic and then combine them into one large mosaic.

Reply by Jessica Morgan
Hard theory! But I thought you did a great job explaining it. I would like to extend the mosaic area of this lesson a little more. I would go into the history of mosaics and study the different shapes that have been used. I would show my students different kinds of mosaics so that they could get an idea of how they want to put together their mosaic. I think it would be good to tie in another subject with the mosaic as well.

Reply by Amanda Morgan
This theory was very interesting! But you girls explained it very well!! I loved the idea of posing the question of what formalism is to the class and what the meanings are to it. Children may have a hard time understanding this theory but I think with examples that we talked about in class, they would understand it better. I loved the Mosaics that we did in class. It would be fun to make one as a class, or as a school, or even as a town. There could be one theme around the whole piece of art that would or could describe the town or the school. It would show what is most important to them. We did this in my home town except instead of a mosaic we did a mural painting. It was amazing and beautiful and everyone got to help out! It would be fun and interesting if the children thought of ways to describe the piece of artwork without using the regular terms for it. Having them come up with their own vocabulary words would help them to remember it and apply it more to their art criticism.

Reply by Karyn Alvey
Great job girlies! I thought your lesson was really good. What an interesting theory! I really like the idea of this new way of thinking. It's interesting that we've all learned the basic qualities in art, but maybe we're missing something just as important. Also, I loved the mosaic idea. They were really fun to make. Everyone's were very individual and unique. It was cool to see the different meanings and thoughts we each focused on. An adjustment I would make to the lesson would be to apply it to English. An idea could be to read a book as a class, have a group discussion about what main points the author was trying to teach. After getting the main points, figure out some not so obvious ones. Relate these lessons to the students' lives to help make it more meaningful. Great Job!

Reply by Natalee Biggs
Nice work girls! I would show the students pieces of art from a wide variety of different styles and ask them what stands out to them in regards to the form. We would have a discussion about how they would describe the art pieces and what kinds of words they would use to describe their form. The mosaics were really fun and I think they could be used in any subject. I really like the ideas that others have said about making a class or community collage. The students would learn a lot about unity and cooperation from doing a project like that. I also liked the idea of making a mosaic that was more personalized for the student. The teacher could provide an open ended prompt to help the students make a mosaic that represents them or their families. After the mosaics were created the students could write a poem, a story, ect. describing the mosaic using some of the new vocabulary.

Reply by Nayelli Concha
This class was great! I think since this theory only focuses on the formal properties of art just like color, shape, lines, rhythm, I would have many students create any crazy sculpture they want having in mind this idea of shape and movement then I will have them express why they chose to do their artwork with the rest of the class to add a social component to it. The mosaics were an excelent idea! Good job!

Reply by Brielle Romney
yall did a really good job explaining this theory! i really felt like i knew what you were talking about, and could easily teach kids this theory using your lesson. during class, i noticed there were some different opinions on what was "new formalist" and what wasn't. thats the great thing about art - it means something different to everyone. i think i would have kids look at different forms of art, and then give them one art piece to write a paper on, explaining why they think it is or isn't new formalist. i'm sure the kids would come up with different answers, and as long as they back up their answers well, i think they could all be right in their own way. i really loved the lesson!