Sample Lesson Plan

Poetry Inspired Watercolor Paintings*

I.                Objectives:

A.     Cognitive:  Students will be able to review basic color theory practices, understand and use various watercolor techniques and be able to know when and how particular watercolor artists used these techniques successfully.

B.     Presentation:  Students will be able to successfully use chromatic color schemes through washes and gradients to create their composition. 

C.     Conceptual:  Students will be able to take reference from chosen poems and depict the mood and meaning visually through the watercolor medium.

D.    Connecting and Responding:  Students will learn about and respond to William Turner’s and William Blake’s use of color and response to paintings of poetry.

II.             Subject Matter

A.     Historical*

1.     Students will learn about William Turner’s progressive use of brushstroke and color to display strong lighting and mood of paintings in the late 1700’s. 

2.     Students will learn about William Blake’s creative talents in poetry as well as artistry during the Romantic period.  They will contrast his bold use of color with Turner’s. 

B.     Technical*

1.     Students will review basic color theory involving mixing colors and using specific color sets.

2.     Students will practice different wash, line and gradation techniques for watercolor.

3.     Students will practice using monochromatic and chromatic scales for displaying light and mood.

C.     Vocabulary

1.     Primary Colors

2.     Secondary Colors

3.     Tertiary Colors

4.     Complementary and Split-Complementary Sets

5.     Analogous Color Sets

6.     Overlays

7.     Gradations

8.     Chromatic Color Scale

9.     Monochromatic Color Scale

III.           Materials

A.     Watercolor Paper

B.     Watercolor Palettes

C.     Set of flat and found brushes

D.    Watercolor tube sets

E.     Wood boards

F.     Gum tape for stretching paper

G.     Pencil

H.    Eraser

IV.            Motivation

A.     Students will see how contemporary and historical artists have used reflections of poems as direct influence for their paintings.  This can be in more realistic depictions as well as abstract. 

B.     Students will lead through understanding how to use watercolor and color step-by-step so as to give confidence during the time of their final project.

C.     Teacher observation is offered during time of the process. 

D.    Peers are encouraged to offer help and support to one another during the time of the creative process.

V.              Practice

A.     Activity 1:  Color mixing and color wheel with basic watercolor line techniques.

B.     Activity 2:  Demonstration of stretching watercolor paper

C.     Activity 3:  Monochromatic and chromatic landscape use for comparison of mood and lighting

D.    Activity 4:  Research of William Turner and William Blake for inspiration and understanding of historical references for using color in watercolor painting as well as reflections of poetry for points of inspiration.

E.     Activity 5:  Poetry inspired painting based on chosen poetry

F.     Activity 6:  Peer Critique

VI.            Evaluation*

A.     Teacher observation is repeatedly used throughout the time of all activities

B.     Written evaluation for assessment of vocabulary and analysis of artwork

C.     Written analysis of watercolor artwork

D.    Peer critique in pairs for enrichment of understanding of how the artwork communicated its intended mood and portrayal of poetry

E.    Rubric for graded assessment

*Click for Examples