Name: Rosie Case
Title: Action Figures in COMMUNITY unit
Grade Level: K-6

RATIONALE:
This lesson will help students to understand the formal concept of movement by making personal connections with action figures. Students will also think abstractly and create their own ideas about what it means to take action. This lesson will encourage problem solving, creativity, and the idea social activism.

KEY CONCEPT: By integrating formal and big idea approaches, students can learn about movement and connect it to their everyday lives and passions about an issue in their community.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION(s):
What kind of action figures are you familiar with?
What kinds of special powers do they have?
What do they do to help people, their communities?
If you created your own action figure, what would they do to help? What problems would they solve?
If you had to draw them in action, how could you show movement?
What characteristics would they have in common with the problems that they solve?

SELECTED ARTIST EXAMPLES
Duchamp “Nude Descending Staircase”
Roy Liechtenstein “In the Car”
Toulouse-Lautrec “Dance at the Moulin Rouge
Degas “The Rehearsal”

RELATED STUDIO ACTIVITY
Key ideas: Create an action figure in movement to solve a community issue
Sub-ideas: movement

Choice of media, subject matter, formal limitations: acrylic paint, colored pencils, markers, collage.
Personal connections: Students will be able to relate the cartoon action figures they come into contact with everyday to ones that they illustrate.
Description of the activity:

In this lesson, students will be challenged to formally understand how to depict movement. They will also be presented with the abstract idea of action. Students will be encouraged to choose an issue within their community in which they want people to know about and raise awareness for. Students will then create “action” figures in movement to represent a call for action to their issue. Decisions must be made on audience, an important issue, a leader “spokesperson” action figure to represent their issue, and a creative way to illustrate this person in action (movement). The final illustrations will be displayed in the community of learners.
OBJECTIVITIES:
The student will actively participate in an open discussion about what it means to be in movement, what an action figure looks like, and what they do.
TSW brainstorm by first sketching an idea of their action figure.
TSW participate in group brainstorming and share their ideas.
TSW illustrate their action figure in motion to demonstrate their knowledge of movement.
TSW write a reflection of their final work to describe movement, action, and the issues they have chosen to promote.

AREA OF INTEGRATION:
ART AND (your emphasis of area: Literacy because of the integration of reading and writing the students will be able to integrate many aspects of language arts literacy.

PREPARATION, RESOURCES AND MATERIALS:
Presentation of artists who depict motion
Present a list of issues to take action on in community
Prepare materials
Sketch paper
Large illustration paper
Magazines-if students decide to collage
Paint- for older students
Markers/Colored pencils for younger students
Writing reflection worksheet
Grading rubric

PROCEDURE:

Day 1

Introduce movement through artists
How do we capture movement in illustrations?
Gesture studies
Use students as movement models and have class sketch poses

Day 2

Introduce action with issues
Discuss community issues
How does this relate to movement?
Create an action figure/super hero to combat the issue that you think is most prevalent in our community-Make sure to illustrate them with movement techniques as discussed last class.
Brainstorm –sketches

Day 3
Group critique
Begin illustrations

Day 4

Finish illustrations
Reflections and grading

FOLLOW-UP:
Hang final projects in hallway or in public places along with written explanations of personal action figures.
Invite a community leader to speak to the class about real life action figures.


EVALUATION AND RUBRICS:
Assessment Rubric
NAME:
ASSIGNMENT: DATE:

Grading Scale Excellent = 10 Good= 9-8 Average=7 Below Average=6 & below	Rate Yourself	Teacher’s Rating
1.) Participation-class discussion & attendance
2.) Effort- personal best
3.) Brainstorming Sketch
4.) Completed Project
5.) Reflection Writing
Final Grade

Student Comments:

Teacher Comments: