Jillian Keyes

My Dream House

 

Unit Theme: Expressions of My World and Me

Lesson Title: My Dream House

Media: Drawing

Grade Level: 10-12

Number of Sessions: 1

Date: Fall 2014

 

Lesson Content: This lesson is about designing and drawing a house that represents who the student is through their idea of where they would dream to live.

 

Materials Needed:

• Drawing paper

• Pencils

• Erasers

• Black Sharpies (both thick and thin)

• Sketchbooks

• Rulers

 

Resources: (PDF downloads!)

• PowerPoint introducing “My Dream House” Download

  • Frank Lloyd Wright

    • Fallingwater

    • The Guggenheim (NYC)

  • Le Corbusier

    • Villa Savoye

    • Notre Dame du Haut

  • Antoni Gaudí

    • Sagrada Familia

    • Casa Batlló

• Artist biographies Download

• House, roof, door & window styles handout Download

 

Skills/ Objectives:

PRODUCTION:

The students will design and draw their dream houses in graphite pencils. The students will go over their graphite lines with a black Sharpie.

ART HISTORY:

The students will participate in a conversation about the history of architecture. The students will view architecture examples by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Antoni Gaudí.

AESTHETICS:

The students will consider whether or not they think architecture is a form of art.

ART CRITICISM:

The students will participate in a conversation about the architectural designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Antoni Gaudí.

STANDARDS ADDRESSED:

• Standard 2: The student will use composition and the elements and principles of design to communicate ideas.

• Standard 3: The student will examine the content of works of visual art and use elements from them in creating his or her own works.

 

Extension Activity:

The students will finish painting their totem poles if they have not already done so. The students who are finished with everything will write a brief description of their houses in their sketchbooks to explain their ideas behind the designs of them.

 

Materials Needed for Extension Activity:

• Acrylic paint

• Paint brushes

• Pencils

• Erasers

• Sketchbooks

• Totem Poles

 

MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES:

1. The teacher will introduce the lesson with a PowerPoint titled “My Dream House”

• Slide 1: Introduce the theme again

• Slide 2: Ask the students:

  • “What is architecture?” tell them the definition: the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings

• Slide 3: Ask the students:

  • “Is architecture considered to be a form of art?” “Why or why not?”

  • “What is the main difference between architecture and a painting?” Tell them: architecture is built to have a function.

  • Then ask, “Why should a building be beautiful?”

• Slide 4: Introduce the first artist- Frank Lloyd Wright: He is an American architect. His architectural style is organic (which means his buildings are usually not using geometric forms), open, flowing, and his buildings relate to their natural surroundings

• Slide 5: Examples of Wright’s architecture

  • Fallingwater: house built for a family in Pennsylvania, built around a waterfall (relates to its natural surroundings), and was a vacation home but now is open as a museum.

  • The Guggenheim: famous art museum in New York City, curved shapes are organic

• Slide 6: Introduce second artist- Le Corbusier: He is a French architect and painter. His architectural style includes columns, buildings on stilts, and flat roofs (for gardens)

• Slide 7: Examples of Le Corbusier’s architecture

  • Villa Savoye: building in France, built on stilts, simple texture

  • Notre Dame du Haut: chapel in France

• Slide 8: Introduce Antoni Gaudí: He is a Spanish architect famous for his extravagant, colorful buildings; Examples:

  • Sagrada Familia: famous building in Spain, it was never finished

  • Casa Batlló: building in Barcelona

• Slides 9&10: Building examples

• Slide 11: Introduce lesson: The teacher will show her example and explain requirements:

  • Draw the front view of the house (can be more than one perspective, but NOT an aerial view), Use the whole page, Have a roof, Door(s), Window(s), Texture, and an appropriate environment or space for the house

1. The teacher will distribute the architectural styles packet and briefly show what is in there and explain that these are just examples and can just be used as inspiration.

2. The teacher will distribute the paper, pencils, and erasers and the students will design and draw their dream houses in pencil.

3. The teacher will distribute black Sharpies as the students finish their drawings and the students will go over their pencil lines with the black Sharpies.

4. If there is time, the students will do the extension activity- finish painting their totem poles OR write in their sketchbooks about the styles of architecture in their dream house drawings.

5. The teacher will conclude the lesson and ask questions:

6. Why is architecture considered art?

7. What makes architecture different from a painting?

8. Who was one of the artists we talked about and what was their style?

 

Vocabulary/ Definitions:

• Architecture- the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings

• Perspective

• Form

• Shape

• Texture

• Organic

• Stilts

• Composition

 

Assessment/ Evaluation:

• The teacher will circulate around the classroom and see that the students are doing what was asked of them. The teacher will decide whether the student is ready for Sharpie or not by judging the amount of detail attempted or clearly displayed.

• The students will be able to discuss their houses by the choices they made about the details displayed.

• The students will be able to write a description of their house if they finish early.

 

Checklist:

• Frontal view

• Use the whole page

• Roof

• Door(s)

• Window(s)

• Texture

• Environment or space (placed on the ground)

• Well-planned composition

• Original design

 

 

REFLECTION/ SELF-EVALUATION:

 

This week was my 1-day lesson, “My Dream House.” It was Halloween, so we had five kids absent and the rest of them showed up pretty late. My presentation went well and the kids responded and answered questions that I asked about architecture. We’re lucky to have the majority of the class willing to participate in our conversations about art and the lessons we have prepared for them. When I introduced what we were doing today, I got a couple of groans, but most of them were just ready to get started. During the art making, they stayed pretty focused for the most part. I only had a couple of them race through the drawing, but they happened to be the ones who I needed to paint their Totem Poles, so they got to finish that as well. Almost everyone finished their drawings in time and picked the color they wanted to mount them on. Some of them were confused because today was just a one-day lesson instead of a two-day like they’ve been doing for the past month. A couple of them asked, “So, what are we going to do with the drawings next week?” I did tell them that this lesson was only for today, but I think they still assumed we would do something more with the drawings, like paint them or color them. It would have been nice to have them color them, but I was right in assuming they wouldn’t have enough time to get that done. One of the kids who finished early and finished his totem pole did some prints with Alli because he wasn’t here last week to do that, which was perfectly fine. I think the lesson was successful and it was very helpful having the time to do a little catch-up for the other projects as well.