Jessica Brackett

Art Integration Unit Plan Template

LTC Art for Children

Unit Title: Changemakers: Creating a Community of Fairness

Big Idea: Fairness
Throughout this unit, students will evaluate how major figures in
American history have fought for what was fair, and connect this
idea to how they themselves can do the same for their own
community. Creating an abstract portrait that combines their
inspirational historical figures identity and their own identity will
symbolize the students power to be equally as impactful as their
historical role model.

Grade Level: 3
Class Periods Required:
Approx. 18 days

Unit Overview/Summary:

Materials:
- Any materials needed for your personal/school
curriculum on American Civil Rights
- Suggested: documented accounts of Rosa Parks
arrest incident, and transcript of MLK Jr.s I have
a dream speech
- Read Aloud option: Child of the Civil Rights
Movement by Paula Young Shelton
- A teacher resource for more information on using
trade books about fairness in Civil Rights
curriculum: http://www.tolerance.org/blog/civilrights-all-about-fairness
- Links to photos of the following works of art:
- Herbert Blocks Pray keep moving, brother
political cartoon
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblockshistory/fruits.html
- Norman Rockwells New Kids in the
Neighborhood painting
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/witn
ess_civil_rights/new_kids.php
- Pablo Picassos Nusch Eluard and Girl With a
Boat and
Portrait of a Young Girl

In order to empower students to stand up for what they believe is

right and fair, they will study inspirational figures in American Civil
Rights movements. Through the process of researching their chosen
activists, students will make personal connections and discover that
they have the ability to make an impact on their own community
and change history. The big idea of fairness is one that will continue
to impact all of our lives beyond the classroom. I believe that this
lesson will have a lasting impact on my students, and create a
mindset within each of them that they hold the power to fight for
fairness.

Jessica Brackett

Key Concepts
- Artists can use their artwork to express and share a message to
the public.
- Color can be used to express emotion, convey mood, or symbolize
an idea.
- American Civil Rights movements were driven by activists who
pushed for change in what they knew was not right or fair.

http://artexpertswebsite.com/pages/artists/picass
o-gallery.php
White paper
Construction paper
Oil pastels (not soft pastels!)
Photos of civil rights activists (to reference for
portraits)

Essential Questions
-How do artists use their work to send messages? Why
might they do this?
-What does it mean to be fair and unfair?
-How have people in American history pushed for
change in things that were not right or fair? Which
types of methods were successful in bringing fairness?
Which were not successful?
-How can color hold meaning?
-In what ways do you relate to the civil rights activists?
What can you learn from their efforts? How did they
make a difference in their community? How can you
make a difference in your community?

Unit Objectives:
The student will
- Analyze the political messages portrayed through visual artwork during the African American Civil Rights Movement.
- Select an inspirational American civil rights activist to research, and explain the ways in which they contributed to creating
positive change in the U.S.
- Propose a plan of action to solve an issue of unfairness in his or her own community.
- Create a symbol of his or her feelings about the chosen issue of unfairness through the use of color and juxtaposition to a
civil rights activists identity.
Grade Level Expectations (GLEs)
3.SS.2.A peaceful resolution

Core Academic Standards (Show-Me Standards)

*Note: no S.S. standards currently exist in Common
Core.

Jessica Brackett
3.SS.3a.G contributions of Martin Luther King Jr.
3.SS.7.A using primary and secondary resources
3.VA.I.1.A layering 2 or more colors using oil pastel
3.VA.V.1.B compare and contrast two artworks on their use of color

S.S. 6 Goal 3.2

S.S. 2 Goal 3.3
S.S. 2 Goal 2.5

National Core Art Standards (http://www.nationalartsstandards.org)

10. Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to
make art.
11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and
historical context to deepen understanding.
6. Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.

Content Areas Integrated:

1. Visual Art
2. Social Studies

Sequence of Lessons
1. African American Civil Rights Movement
(Five to Six days)
- Materials:
- Social Studies textbook
- Historical reference books about the Civil Rights Movement
- Primary and secondary resources related to the African
American Civil Rights Movement
- Herbert Blocks Pray keep moving, brother political cartoon
- Norman Rockwells Negro In the Suburbs painting

Identify & define common vocabulary/concepts that

connect the art form with the other identified subject
area(s):
- Symbolism: using something that is visible to
represent an abstract idea
- Bias: a preconceived tendency or opinion in favor
of something, usually without logical reason
- Activist: a person who takes action for a specific
cause
Brief Lesson Descriptions
1. For approximately one week, use your Social Studies
time reading about and discussing the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1960s. Keeping in mind the
movements goal of ending racial segregation and
discrimination against Black Americans, students will
learn about the major events including: Brown v. Board
of Education, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, MLKs I
have a dream speech, sit-ins, and the Civil Rights Act
of 1968.

Jessica Brackett

2. Fighters for Fairness

(Five days)
- Materials:
- Research tools (computers, library access, and or books about
American civil rights activists)
- Lined paper
- Pencils

Within the first two days of the lesson, students will

view and analyze a political cartoon by Herbert
Herblock Block titled, Pray keep moving,
brother depicting the unfairness of segregation.
At the end of the week, after learning about the Civil
Rights Act, students will interpret Norman Rockwells
Negro In The Suburbs painting. As a class,
discuss what progress seems to have been made from
the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement to the time
of Rockwells painting (if any).
2. Once the lesson on the African American Civil Rights
Movement has concluded, present students with a short
compilation of the activists names that have been
discussed thus far in class. (This should include Martin
Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and any others covered.)
Ask students what these people have in common. Guide
the discussion to conclude that all of these people
stood up for what they believed was right when they
saw something unfair was happening.
Students will then collectively define the word fair.
Open the floor to a discussion about times when
students have experienced or witnessed something that
was not fair. Consider why fairness is important. (The
teacher may choose to use shoulder partners for this
discussion so every students is ensured time to share.)
On the following day, announce to students that they
will get the chance to choose an American to research
who has fought for what was fair in history. Provide a
list of civil rights activists, not only from the African
American Civil Rights Movement, but also from any civil
rights movement in U.S. history. A suggested list:
- Fredrick Douglass (abolitionist movement leader)

Jessica Brackett
-

3. Connecting History to Community Issues

(Two to Three days)
- Materials:
- Lined paper
- Pencils

4. A Comparison of Capability

Susan B. Anthony (womens rights activist)

Eleanor Roosevelt (civil rights activist for several
causes)
- Jackie Robinson (first African American to play in
the MLB)
- Martin
Luther
King
Jr.
(fought
against
discrimination)
- Rosa Parks (fought for desegregation)
- Helen Keller (advocate for people with
disabilities)
After presenting the list of options and providing brief
descriptions of each historical figures cause, students
will decide which activist they would like to research.
For the remainder of the week, provide students with
resources
(books,
laptops)
to
research
their
inspirational Fighter of Fairness. They will each write a
short essay (three paragraphs) answering the following
questions about the activist:
- What cause did he/she stand for? Why was it
important to them?
- How did he/she take action?
- Was this method of taking action effective? How
so?
3. Return to the big idea of fairness in our own
community. Ask the class to take a few super-silent
minutes to think about issues at school, at home, or in
the community that dont seem fair to them. Students
are free to write their thoughts down or to simply think
for a moment. Once everyone has had a chance to
brainstorm, have students share their ideas in table
groups or clusters of four to five.
Later in the day (given students have had some extra
time to consider the issues discussed), at the top of a

Jessica Brackett
(Three to Four days)
- Materials:
- Oil pastels
- White paper
- Construction paper
- Lined paper
- Pencils
- Reference photos of civil rights activists

fresh sheet of paper, each student should write which

issue they feel most passionate about and feel that
theyd like to see changed.
Prompt the whole class with the question, Is it possible
for any of us in this room to make a difference like
those people we researched?
The answer is YES! The teacher must express to
students that he/she fully believes that each of them
has the power to make as much of an impact on their
community as any of these famous activists have
made.
On the following day, ask students to think about the
person they researched again. Considering what they
admire about their inspirational Fighter of Fairness,
students will write an explanation of how they can learn
from their chosen activist and apply it to their
community issue. This should be written on the sheet of
paper from the previous day that has their chosen issue
written on the top.
4. Inform students that they will be creating portraits
using oil pastels!
However, they may not be like portraits they have seen
before. Introduce them to the work of Pablo Picasso,
who creates abstract portraits using a multitude of
different colors.
Discuss each work as a class. Encourage students to
share thoughts on why Picasso may have chosen the
colors he chose. How can color hold meaning?
Allow time for students to experience using the oil
pastels freely on paper. Ask students to describe each
color with emotion words and characteristic words.
(Example: Red feels angry Blue is noble and strong.)

Jessica Brackett

5. Plan of Action
(Two days)
- Materials:
- Lined paper
- Pencils
- Black pen (optional for final copy)

During writing time, students will create a T-chart. With

their researched Fighter of Fairness name on one side,
and their own name on the other side, students will list
adjectives. Beneath the activists name, students
should list characteristics of the person and emotions
they think they probably had about the issue they
fought for. (Example: Rosa Parks brave, sad about
inequality, angry about being treated unfairly) From this
list, they will then choose 2-3 colors that capture the
overall feeling of the Fighter of Fairness. Beneath the
students own name, they should list positive
characteristics of themselves and how they feel when
they think about the issue of unfairness in their
community. They will choose 2-3 colors that capture
their own overall feeling on the issue.
Showing an example portrait created by the teacher,
show students the general product they will be
creating. Their abstract portraits will be split in the
center so that one side of the face is their Fighter of
Fairness face, and the other side is the students own
face.
Provide students with a brief overview of how to draw a
face (placing the features in the correct places), but
remind them that the portrait is abstract so they are
encouraged to create a face that is not anatomically
correct.
Ask students what significance this project holds. Be
sure that students see the symbolism of comparing
their capability for changing their community to that of
their historical figure.
Using the colors they chose with their T-chart, students
will create two halves of a portrait to be joined with a
thin strip of construction paper.

Jessica Brackett
5. Finally, students will create a written plan of action.
Each student will propose how he or she plans to
change the unfair issue they have been focusing on for
the last couple of weeks. The final copy may be
displayed along side the finished portrait.

What student prior knowledge will this unit require/draw upon?

- Students will need to have background knowledge about American history prior to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s
and 60s. They will draw upon their prior knowledge of using visual art to convey a story.
What activities will you use to engage students in imagining, exploring, and/or experimenting in this unit?
-Before engaging in the making of the abstract portraits, students will have the opportunity to play with and practice using
the oil pastels in order to become familiarized with how they are used. This also gives them a chance to experiment with how
the different hues of the oil pastels convey emotion or characteristics.
How will this unit permit/encourage students to solve problems in divergent ways?
- This lesson is centered on problem solving as students examine how American civil rights activists have addressed problems
in order to restore what was right and fair. Students apply their new knowledge to design ways that they themselves might be
able to solve an issue that seems to be unfair in their own community. Additionally, creating visual art with media such as oil
pastels naturally lends itself to require problem-solving skills. Students may run into problems where their portrait does not
look just how they would like, and therefore they must find their own unique solutions.
How will you engage students in routinely reflecting on their learning/learning processes?
- Opportunities for students to discuss their reflections and connections to the big idea of fairness are built in throughout the
lesson.
- Students are engaged in evaluating political messages that are sent through political comics and popular art published
during the time period of the Civil Rights Movement. As visual art and images are encountered throughout the unit, students
are encouraged to consider how artists use their work to send messages and convey meaning. This is built upon in the later
phases of the lesson when students are pushed further to consider how artists utilize color to convey meaning as well.
How will this unit engage students in assessing their own work?
- Students have many opportunities to check their understanding with partners or the whole class during discussion time.
Students are able to assess whether they have been successful in completing their short research essay on their Fighter of
Fairness if they have answered and provided evidence for the following questions: What cause did he/she stand for? Why was
it important to them? How did he/she take action? Was this method of taking action effective? How so? As students create

Jessica Brackett
their abstract portraits, they can assess whether they are properly utilizing color by explaining to the teacher and/or a peer
their reason for choosing each color. If the student can successfully articulate their reason for choosing each color, then they
will know that they have grasped an understanding of the use of color as symbolism.
What opportunities/activities will students be given to revise and improve their understandings and their work?
- As it is very important for students to understand the role of civil rights activists in American history, the teacher will review
each students research notes prior to writing the short essay. They will be given a chance to correct any misinformation or
add any missing pieces to their research.
Because the materials for the art-making process in this lesson (oil pastels and paper) are not extremely expensive, students
who feel the need to abandon their first portrait will have one additional chance to re-create their portrait. Otherwise, students
may find artistic solutions to aesthetic concerns with their portrait using oil pastels and/or construction paper.
What opportunities/activities will you provide for students to share their learning/understanding/work in this unit?
- Once students have completed their abstract portraits and plans for action, they will publish the finished pieces side-by-side
to express the meaningful connection between their portrait and their very own plan for activism. If possible, a publishing
party will be held for all of the third grade classes to explore other students work and for students to present their work to a
larger audience. Parents and past teachers should also be invited to celebrate the students hard work and thoughtful plans for
making the community a better place.
How will you adapt the various aspects of this lesson to differently-abled students?
- For students who struggle with seeing color (color-blind or otherwise differently abled), the portion of the lesson that requires
students to use color symbolically may be modified. Rather than asking the student to choose colors for their abstract portrait,
the teacher can discuss the use of shape as symbolism in art. Students will then be assessed on their ability to articulate
reasoning behind their choices of shape in their portrait rather that choice of color.
- Students who have more experience with this type of art making or who finish early may do an extension activity in which
they choose two civil rights activists to either compare similarities or contrast differences through creating another two-sided
portrait.
Teacher Reflection: I will know that this lesson is successful if
-

All students have contributed to discussions of the ways messages can be portrayed through visual artwork.
Students have made a personal connection to the civil rights activists studied and have expressed this connection
through their writing and art making.
Students create ambitious yet attainable plans of action to address the issues of unfairness that matter to them.

Jessica Brackett
-

Students display an attitude that they are capable of making a difference in the community when they stand up for what
is fair.
Students are able to articulate the meaning behind their artistic choices in color.
References

Silverstein, L. B. & Layne, S. (n.d.). Defining arts integration. Retrieved from

http://www.americansforthearts.org/networks/arts_education/publications/special_publications/Defining%20Arts
%20Integration.pdf