Field Trips

Make Your Own Monument!

Grade Level:
Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Subject:
Math,Science,Social Studies
State Standards:
NATIONAL/STATE STANDARDS:
Creative Expression and Communication.

Analyzing and Responding.

Celebrating personal and public achievements by interpreting and developing visual symbols.

Objective(s)

Students will be able to interpret and develop visual symbols to celebrate personal and public achievements.


Visual Art Standards: Creative Expression and Communication
Benchmark: Demonstrate knowledge of visual art materials, tools, techniques, and processes by using them expressively and skillfully.

Visual Art Standard: Analyzing and Responding
Benchmark: Apply comprehension strategies to respond to works of art. 

Materials

Materials for this plan include sketch paper, pencils, ModelMagic, sculpture tools

Procedure

The group will assemble in front of the ceramic mural in front of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park. The instructor will lead a discussion in which students are asked to identify the symbolic images in the mural, and to guess what those symbols are supposed to mean to the viewer. Some of those symbols might include a printing press, a quill pen, an inkwell, a bicycle, and a book. The group should also discuss the individuals depicted in the mural.
If the group is looking at pictures of the monument, they might also look at pictures of the sculpture of Orville Wright holding a propeller, the Wright Memorial in Dayton, Ohio, and others. Students can be asked to dissect these monuments in terms of their symbolic imagery and the historical references they contain as well.

Following the conversation, the group will assemble in an art space. The instructor will ask all students to select their own historical hero. If students like, they can use Paul Laurence Dunbar, the Wright brothers, or another local hero. Students will need to reflect on the contributions that their hero has made to society, and to develop a symbol or symbols to express their contributions.
Students can sketch ideas for a monument on paper first, or begin sculpting their ideas in ModelMagic. The group will be given 20 to 30 minutes to work on a small model of their own memorial to a local hero.

Assessment

The success of this project can be ascertained through the quality of the artwork. The instructor can also ask a series of questions regarding the objectives of the lesson to determine how well students have comprehended the material.


Alternatively, the rubric below can be used to rate each child's performance during the working period. 

Art Rubric  
Category Possible Points  Earned Points 
Craftsmanship  20   
Time on Task  20   
Following Assignment Guidelines  20   
Use of Materials  20   
Clean Up  20   
 

Additional Resources

Children Make Sculpture, by Elizabeth Leyh


Make Sculptures!, by Kim Solga

1, 2, 3 I Can Sculpt!, by Irene Luxbacher 

Vocabulary

Hero, Monument, Symbol.

 

Materials

Lesson Plans

Last updated: March 25, 2020