Problem-Based Lesson Plan ARTE 203

Title of Lesson: Postcard Printmaking

Teacher: Zoe/Elizabeth
School: Stratton Elementary
Grade Level[s]: 3-5
Date to be Taught: 10/23/17

Big Idea that drives Lesson/Unit:

• We will be exploring “Where We Stand” through creating prints that are meant to be distributed. The
distribution of art can connect a community together. The students will also be reflecting on
themselves, as we are asking them to remember or imagine a place that they have gone or want to go.

Key concepts about Big Idea:

• The distribution of art - how we can reach our work to many people
• Straying from the idea that art only belongs in museums
• Learning the printmaking process
• Communicating the idea of a place through simple imagery

Fine Arts Goals Met by the Objectives:

• Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experience to make art
• Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work

3-4 Essential Questions:

• What is the purpose of creating many of the same image?
• How does sharing/distributing multiples of your artwork change the meaning of it?
• What is the significance of a postcard?

Vocabulary Acquisition:
• brayer: tool used to apply ink to printing surface
• sketch: preliminary drawing of ideas for final work
• trace: following the outline of a previously drawn out plan
• printing foam: a thin piece of foam used to transfer a design with ink onto paper/the final surface
• printmaking: making pictures or designs by printing them onto a surface using ink
• landscape: the visual features of a space

Key Artistic Concepts:

• Combining text and image
• Sketching
• Distributing art
• Creating multiples
• Choosing imagery that represents a place/idea

Artmaking Materials Needed:

• block printing ink
• sketch paper
• pencils
• brayers
• paper plates
• cardstock
• printing foam

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Problem-Based Lesson Plan ARTE 203

Contemporary/Historical/Multicultural exemplars:
• Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, Henri Toulouse Lautrec - a print that represents a place
• The Evening Gong at Mii, Hiroshige - postcard-like, shows a landscape like the students can
utilize in their postcard
• Along the Waterway, Doris Lee - simple style that can show the students their work does not have
to be realistic, just representational of an idea

Procedures:
• DISCUSSION: (~15 minutes)
o Introduce ourselves
o Ask the students to introduce themselves - go around and say names
o Ask the students to create name tags they can where in order for us to get to know them
o Go over the project we are starting - explain printmaking, why we make multiples, why
we are making postcards, they can create either a place they love to go or a place they
have imagined going
o Start sketching their ideas - we will go around and help students that are stuck coming up
with something as well as reassuring the ideas students have already come up with
o They will finalize their sketches and draw on a paper to scale
o They will trace their design onto the printing foam using a pencil tip
o Apply ink onto the foam and press it onto the cardstock
o Continue to make multiple prints
o Clean up
• DEMONSTRATIONS: (10 minutes)
o These are the techniques we will be using on this projects
▪ We will both show them our different designs and what they look like printed
▪ We will then do a simple demonstration where we apply the ink to our already
made design and print it
▪ Show teacher made exemplars
o Show Historical/Multicultural exemplars - they will see the many different styles and
ways they can represent a place in their postcard
▪ These works give the viewer a feel for the space they represent, so we can
encourage the students to show how they feel in their place through their design

• DESIGN/WORK SESSION: (40-45 minutes)

o Where are some of your favorite places to go? These can be everyday places, vacation
spots, or places you’ve imagined
o Motivate them to think about things they like to do to help them reach a place they want
to draw
o Students will get done with their sketches at different times, so we will have a separate
station for them to roll the ink on their design and start printing
o Remind the students to put their name on their foam and on each of their prints
o We can also motivate them by sharing that we are distributing these works to their family/
friends
▪ think of a place you go with your family, so when they receive the postcard, they
can see how much it means to you
o They can use multiple colors to print in
• CLEAN UP: (7-10 minutes)
• CLOSURE: (1-3 minutes)
o Explain that we will start the process of sending our prints out as postcards to family/
friends
o Also introduce that we will be creating a large community print that every student’s
design will be printed on
o Restate that artwork can be shared in many ways, and it doesn’t just have to be hung up
in a space
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Problem-Based Lesson Plan ARTE 203

Assessment:
• We will evaluate their understanding by assessing their ability to create a design that clearly represents
a place, effectively apply ink and print their image, and reflect on the idea of distribution.
• We can compare their first sketches to their final sketches to see where they made improvement in
their work
• Students who are able to create multiple clean prints will show their understanding of the process

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