MYP unit planner

Unit title
/
Reflect on This!
Teacher(s) / White
Subject and grade level / Art-Level 1
Time frame and duration / 9 weeks
Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit question
Area of interaction focus
Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this? / /
Significant concept(s)
What are the big ideas? What do we want our students to retain for years into the future?
Health and Social Education- Health and social education focuses on developing skills that enable them to function as effective members of society. Part of functioning in society involves reflecting and growing as a person to adapt to changes in life. / Evaluation includes reflection, which leads to personal growth.
MYP unit question
How does reflecting help me grow?
Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
B, C and D-Still life work of art
A-Elements and Principles Quiz
Local Tasks-
Fall 2011
· Sketchbooks 1-4
· Warmups Weeks 1-8
· Baseline
· Bookmarks for binder
· Origami Star
· Drawing and labelling of elements/principles
· Table review for elements/principles
· Quiz on elements and principles (Use Rubric A)
· Tessellation
· Gesture Sketches
· Value Scale
· Drawing of a person
· Still life (Use Rubrics B-D)
· One-point perspective
Fall 2010-
· Sketchbooks 1-8
· Warmups weeks 1-8
· Quiz on elements and principles
· Pinwheel for peace
· Gallery Walk
· Origami star
· Tessellation and country facts
Fall 2009-
Warm-ups and exit questions about definitions of evaluation, things that students had evaluated in the last 24 hours, strengths and weaknesses of his or her work
Thumbnail sketches for the collages- students evaluated each thumbnail sketch by writing one strength and one weakness of each collage
Artist statements about collages
To try next time- sticky notes or other written comments to students as they work on projects (this will help immensely with students being able to later justify how they used or did not use feedback from others), mini-critiques by table group, where each student writes down strengths and weaknesses for each person, or stand in two lines and each student gives feedback to the person across from them
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
A-Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the art form studied in relation to societal, cultural, historical and personal contexts
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the elements of the art form studied, including specialized language, concepts and processes
Communicate a critical understanding of the art form studied in the context of their own artwork
B-Develop an idea, theme or personal interpretation to a point of realization, expressing and communicating artistic intentions
Apply skills, techniques and processes to create, perform and/or present art
C-Reflect critically on their own artistic development and processes at different stages of their work
Evaluate their work
Use feedback to inform their own artistic development and processes
D- Show commitment in using their own artistic processes
Demonstrate curiosity, self-motivation, initiative and a willingness to take informed risks
Support, encourage and work with their peers in a positive way
Be receptive to art practices and artworks from various cultures, including their own
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
A, B, C, D
Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning activities through inquiry
ContentWhat International Connections are being made throughout this unit?
What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the significant concept(s) for stage 1?
Fall 2011
· Students will use international inspirations to incorporate into their still life
· Students will use origami, which originated in Japan
· Students will see, sketch, and discuss works of art from Africa via warmups
Fall 2010-
· Students will participate in Pinwheels for Peace project and will attend an “International Day of Peace” assembly at Northview on September 21, 2010, hosted by the arts department.
· Students will see examples of what woven products look like in different countries around the world, and will discuss differences and similarities between them
· Students answered questions about and discussed Day of the Dead through the use of warmup images and questions.
· Students discussed characteristics of African masks, after seeing an example on a warmup question.
· Students will make an international connection through doing weekly sketchbook assignments. Every week, students will also explain (through writing) how their sketchbook assignment shows something about another culture or country.
· Students participated in a Gallery Walk, which included viewing work by artists from around the world.
Fall 2009-Students will look at artwork created by a variety of artists, including artists from around the world. Students will be exposed to these works of art through the use of warm-up discussions (small group and whole class).
Students will use knowledge of the elements and principles of art to create products during this unit. Students will have hands-on experience with various art mediums. Students will then reflect on their portfolio of work for this unit to answer the unit question.
6.CX.1.1
6.CX.2.1
6.CR.1.1
6.CR.1.2
6.V.1.1
6.V.1.2
6.V.1.4
6.V.2.1
6.V.2.2
6.V.3.1
6.V.3.2
6.V.3.3
Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
Students will learn to reflect on their own work, which is essential for a student embodying the IB Learner Profile. Students also will acknowledge the fact that evaluation skills are used daily in the content area of art through. Students take responsibility for the depth of his or her own learning and personal growth, based on how they reflect on the criteria of what makes art “good.”
Students will collaborate with each other throughout the brainstorming and art-creating process. Through this collaboration, students will learn to be open-minded and accepting of different viewpoints, as well as learning from each other in a group setting.
Learning experiencesHow will students know what is expected of them? Will they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise the skills required? How will they practise applying these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will we know? / Teaching strategiesHow will we use formative assessment to give students feedback during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have we made provision for those learning in a language other than their mother tongue? How have we considered those with special educational needs?
Students will see examples, non-examples, checklists and rubrics for tasks.
Students will acquire the knowledge based on demonstrations and hands-on experiences.
Prior student knowledge will be assessed with a warm-up at the beginning of the unit. Further formative assessments will be conducted verbally and through observation, and will continue for the duration of the unit as new skills and concepts are introduced. / Reading/Writing Integration: Students will create an elements of art and principles of design foldable. Students will also create a different foldable for gesture/value scale/still life vocabulary.
Verbal and demonstrative formative assessments will be used to give students feedback during the unit. The teacher will give group and one-on-one demonstrations and will discuss how given examples are examples or non-examples of the desired product.
The teacher will employ various teaching strategies, including: demonstrations, discussions, collaborative work and peer feedback in a group setting, and through a culminating chance for students to present products to the class.
Instruction will be differentiated as needed during every class period. Further examples, demonstrations, and reminders will be given to individual students and to the class. With these additional supports in place, all students will learn the concepts of the unit. For those learning in a language other than their mother tongue, handouts will be given in the appropriate language. Students with special educational needs will receive differentiated instructions for tasks and additional scaffolding as needed.
Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during the unit?
The internet
Various art mediums
Examples of famous works of art to discuss and critique
NC Standard Course of Study
Students will use the first three resources to have hands-on experiences in order to later reflect on his or her artwork. Through this series of problem-solving and reflection, students will be able to answer the unit question. The NC Standard Course of Study will be what guides the tasks during this unit.
Ongoing reflections and evaluation
In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are further stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for teaching and learning” section of MYP: From principles into practice.
Students and teachersWhat did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
·  Students were very critical in their self-evaluations. Most students could easily identify personal weaknesses in his or her art skills, but had difficulty identifying strengths.
·  Students had trouble thinking in reverse order on one of the tasks during this unit (not on the assessment task). Students had a pre-conceived notion that a collage is just a bunch of pictures thrown together, not necessarily creating a picture, but rather just filling space. Some students had a hard time identifying shapes, colors, and textures that could be used for certain objects in their collage.
·  Observation skills were enhanced as they began to notice textures everywhere around them, from walls, to shoes, to hair textures. Some students really grew in their awareness of “textures” being not just an art term, but a part of every-day life.
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
·  Students inquired about the meaning of the word “evaluation.” It was surprising that very few 6th graders could define that word. Warm-up activities resulted, where students defined the word “evaluation,” and gave examples of things they had evaluated in the last 24 hours. We had several discussions about what people evaluate every day, and what criteria we use to make our evaluations. This led to more in-depth discussions about the importance of evaluating our own artwork in order to improve. Students were also asked to share other things in life they evaluate. Further discussions could be had about how students grew from non-art related personal evaluations.
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
·  Students filled out the reflection sheet at the conclusion of the unit. Students gave very honest answers for numbers 2 and 3, but some students had trouble identifying ways to enhance learning as an entire class. I could focus more on encouraging students to help each other take responsibility for his or her actions and how they affect the learning of the class. Simple comments, such as “Because you are being too loud while you are working, how do you think that is affecting Sam’s ability to concentrate and produce his best artwork?”
·  In further units, I would like to have more verbal feedback after students fill out the reflection sheet. Having a discussion would be productive and would help tie together all the students’ reflections. Time was an issue as this was the last unit of the first semester and everything had to be thoroughly explained since it was this class’s first IB unit.
·  Since students already had a simple understanding of evaluating their own artwork, some of the “most significant learnings” were not based on reflection and evaluation, but were facts about artists we studied or processes we studied. It was clear from the beginning of the unit that students had already been evaluating their work all semester, but we hadn’t spent a lot of time discussing the fact that that is what we are constantly doing in class.
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated action?
·  Students had to be able to clearly verbally COMMUNICATE their strengths and weaknesses to the class at the critique at the end of the unit. Communication was also practiced through the writing of the collage artist statements and the journal entry as the assessment task.
·  Students had the chance to be CARING when they offered verbal feedback to peers during the critique.
·  Students were REFLECTIVE when they participated in the warm-ups, discussions, and written tasks throughout this unit.
·  Students had the chance to be PRINCIPLED when they scored themselves on the IB rubric and when they had to honestly list weaknesses of their art.
Possible connections How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
·  Mrs. Ward said that she had taught a unit on Romare Bearden before, so in future years, collaboration with that unit would be very possible.
·  I could collaborate with the band or choral teacher to teach our “reflection” unit at the same time to reinforce the importance of self-evaluation.
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
· Students had the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of evaluating themselves artistically, but writing the journal at the end of this unit. Some students showed a deep level of understanding by how they described strengths and weaknesses. Some students had very generic answers like “I am a good artist,” with not supporting evidence. In those situations, those students A. Did not successfully communicate that they knew how to evaluate themselves or B. did not evaluate themselves.
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
· The assessment task (journal) had prompts that addressed each MYP learning objective for this unit, as well as the unit question. If students thoroughly answered every question of the journal prompt, they would be able to show their learning of reflection and evaluation.
Are we prepared for the next stage?
· Some students could thoroughly communicate to others their strengths and weaknesses in art. Some students struggled with identifying “areas of growth.” I think that all students increased their awareness of that fact that evaluation occurs on a daily basis in art, and in other areas of their lives as well.
Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?
· The data collected was: daily written warm-up responses, some verbal exit question responses, sentences about thumbnail sketches, paragraphs analyzing student collages, and paragraphs analyzing their three best works of art for the semester (because this unit happened to take place as the last unit of the semester). Of course, the last piece of data collected was the journal entry in which students were asked to describe strengths, weaknesses, areas of growth, how they used feedback, and answering the unit question.
All of the data was useful to see how students increased awareness of evaluation from the beginning of the unit to the end of the unit. The paragraphs were important to identify which students needed more guidance in being able to evaluate themselves. The end of the unit journal entry showed to what extent students could communicate their evaluation of themselves.
NOTE: The first time this unit was taught during 2010, only one Criterion was used for assessment. For the 2010-2011 school-year, all criterion and rubrics will be used in this unit.

Figure 12