Lesson Plan: Our Guam Art Museum 1

Print version of this lesson plan or all four.

The importance of sharing art (Part 1 of 4)

Subjects

Art, History, Social Studies, Music

Grade-level

Elementary, 3-5
Middle School, 6-8
High School, 9-12

Time required

50 minutes (This can be expanded and separated into two days.)

Materials required

Flipchart or chalk board
Markers or chalk
Classroom internet connection (optional)
Classroom computer and projector (optional)

Lesson Plan

Description

With this lesson students will learn about the numerous places to view artwork on island, and begin discussing the importance of sharing and preserving artwork.

Note: This lesson series will work well following the Art Around Us lesson series, also available on the Guampedia website.

Objectives/Skills

Students will learn about the numerous places to view artwork on Guam.
Ideas of art preservation and art accessibility will be discussed.
Students will discuss the importance of having artwork available to the larger community.

Questions or Assessment

Where should I go to view artwork on Guam?
Is it important for a community to preserve and share its artwork?
How does/has Guam preserved its artwork?
How would I preserve and share Guam’s artwork?

Procedure

Teacher prep
Set-up a projector to a laptop with an internet connection. (optional)

Introduction to Art Galleries on Guam (10 minutes)

Consider, along with your with students, the numerous places they can go on island to view artwork.
Ask the students to share if they have been to any galleries.
- If some students have been to galleries, have them share their experiences in regards to:
  - What did it feel like to be in the gallery?
  - What did you learn?
  - Did you have any good questions while in the gallery? (e.g. “why is this painting so abstract?”, “why does this picture have only dark colors?”).
  - Did you see any artwork that moved you? If so, describe it.
  - Who did you go with? Did they enjoy it as well?
  - What was the student’s favorite part of the gallery? Least favorite part?
  - Would the student want to go back? Why or why not?
- Do not necessarily have the students answer all these questions. These are more guidelines for eliciting thoughtful responses.

Discussing the Importance of Preserving and Sharing Art (15 minutes)

Having learned of the places on Guam to view artwork, ask students to discuss the importance of having art galleries and museums. Some possible prompts to ask of the students are:

Is it important to preserve our culture’s artwork? Why or why not?
How does artwork affect us? Can art change our minds? Make us feel emotion? Teach us?
What can we learn from artwork?
Is it important for all people have access to museums and galleries?
Do you think there are enough galleries on Guam to preserve our cultural artwork? Is an art museum needed? Why or why not?

Introduction to Our Class Guam Art Museum Project (10 minutes)

Tell students that they will be creating their own art museum.
In this art museum, students will curate examples of artwork on island, and include profiles of local artists.
Have students openly discuss what types of artwork they may want to include in the class museum.
- List the art forms on the board.
- Ask the students to group these art forms under common themes. These themes are up to you and the class, but you should aim to create groupings that will allow for some clear categories.
  - For example, if the class listed “CHamoru music”, “spoken word”, and “Kantan Chamorita”, you may want to group these topics under “Aural Art”. This will eventually be used by the students to organize their reports and presentations into themes for the class museum.
- Ask students to begin brainstorming on artists they would like to include in the museum.

Homework Assignment (10 minutes)

Ask students to go home, research artwork present on Guam, and to choose an individual to profile. Remind students that these profiles will be included in the classroom Guam Art Museum.

Remind students of the resources available to conduct research, including:
- Direct interviews of subjects or expert
- Textbooks, newspapers, and encyclopedias
- Internet (including Guampedia)
- Libraries
If students have completed the “Art Around Us” lesson series, have them expand upon their earlier presentation by profiling a second artist who does similar work. Or, have the students write longer profiles on the same artist they profiles earlier.

Recap (5 minutes)
Recap what we’ve done and learned in the lesson:

“We’ve learned about the numerous art galleries on Guam, and we’ve discussed the importance of having them. We’ve delved into questions about the significance of preserving and sharing our cultural art, and we’ve begun to create our own classroom Guam Art Museum. Please spend some time at home further developing your artist profiles, for we will be soon including them into our museum.”

Ask students for their favorite parts of the lesson.