Visual Literacy Lesson Plan Assignment

Go back and look at the visual activities we read about, or experienced so far, this also includes
the VTS critique about the scream we did together as a class. You are going to come to class next
week with a lesson plan for the activity you’d like to do with your students that involves visual
literacy. If you have your own idea that you’d like to try and develop by all means do that and
bring it in. We will be peer reviewing these lesson plans in our next class.

The Lesson Plan Format will be this …

1.) Objective/Goal of the lesson:

Students will be able to identify principles of art in the painting Starry Night By: Van
Gogh’s.
Students will be able to identify elements of art in the painting Starry Night By: Van
Gogh’s.
Students will be able to reflect on the art piece Starry Night By: Van Gogh’s using
VTS/art criticism.
Students will be able to write a short statement about the piece when it is finished.

2.) Any art standards you think this lesson hits:

5.5.2.4.1 Create artist statements to describe choices in artmaking, using art vocabulary.

3.) A list of materials

The art piece Starry Night By Van Gogh
The piece Fourteen sunflowers in a vase By: Van Gogh
Painting supplies

4.) The procedure and timing of the activity (Give the step by step structure of how you will
present the lesson. Be sure to write down how long you think each step in the lesson will take to
do. Remember to be very specific in how you will present the material to the students.)
I would do this lesson after your students have learned the principles of art and elements of art.
1. Show students the picture of Starry Night By: Van Gogh.
2. Ask the students to tell me about it? (20-30 minutes)
a. What can you see?
i. Color concept?
ii. Where does the painting make your eyes go?
iii. Textures?
iv. Shapes?
v. Lines?
b. Other elements and principles you can see?
c. How does it make you feel? And why?
i. Sad, mad, happy, confused
d. What is the image trying to tell us?
3. Teacher then explains what the artwork is about to help the students further dig deeper on
what they think this painting is about. (2 Minutes)
a. Van Gogh painted Starry Night in 1889 during his stay at the asylum in Saint Paul
de Mausole near Saint-Remy-de-Provence. Van Gough lived well in the hospital.
He had been diagnosed with epileptic fits(uncontrollable jerking and shaking,
losing awareness and staring into space) . It seemed that his mental health had
recovered. Unfortunately, he relapsed. He began to suffer hallucination and have
thoughts of suicide as he plunged into depression.
4. What do you think this piece is about now that you know about Van Gough? (10
minutes)
5. Tell the students what the piece is about? (2 Minutes)
a. Van Gogh painted Starry Night in 1889 during his stay at the asylum in Saint Paul
de Mausole near Saint-Remy-de-Provence. Van Gough lived well in the hospital.
He was allowed more freedom than any of the other patience. If attended, he
could leave the hospital grounds to paint, read, and withdraw in his own room. He
was even given a studio. While he suffered from the occasional relapse into
paranoia and fits. Officially he had been diagnosed with epileptic fits. It seemed
that his mental health had recovered. Unfortunately, he relapsed. He began to
suffer hallucination and have thoughts of suicide as he plunged into depression.
Accordingly, there was a tonal shift in his work. He returned to incorporate dark
colors from the beginning of his career and Starry Night is a wonderful example
of that shift.
b. Is this a successful piece of why or why not. (5 Minutes)
c. Show students of his artwork at the beginning of his career and at the end of his
career. (5 Minutes)
5.) Assessments:
Students will write a short reflection about the piece of artwork using principle and vocabulary.

6.) An explanation of how this activity exercises visual literacy skills and how it could relate
to a larger unit of study:
The basic definition of visual literacy is the ability to read, write, and create visual images. My
lesson plan is an example of that by having my students talk about a piece of artwork, read about
the artist, write a reflection about the piece, and visualize all the different art concepts by picking
out the concepts that they see in the art work. Another way to incorporate the visual image would
be having your students make a similar piece by painting and learning the different types of
strokes that Van Gough did to create the piece.