Interpreting Ancient Art in Social Studies Transcript
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:00:05 If you watch people look at art, most people, this is how they look at art. They take about five seconds. Today I’m going to give you a technique that you can use any time you’re looking at an object. And really what we’re working on is we’re working on interpreting art. So choral read the learning target for today for me, please.
CLASS
00:00:30 I will interpret art.
00:00:33 [TITLE: See, Wonder, Think]
[TITLE: Interpreting Ancient Art in Social Studies]
DAVID COOPER
00:00:36 I teach 6th grade Social Studies. That Social Studies covers prehistoric time through ancient civilizations, all the way up to the Roman Empire. Incorporating that cross-curricular approach where art is the basis from which they learn the curriculum is such a terrific way to engage students.
00:00:54 So, this unit focuses from the beginning on Greek mythology. First step in the unit is researching Greek god and goddess attributes. We move from there into Greek mythological stories, giving them some more background on some of the gods and goddesses.
00:01:09 The lesson that I taught today was See, Wonder, Think. It’s designed to allow students a strategy to observe art and to foster an inquiry-based learning process. We want them to look at something closely and create a thoughtful interpretation of what they’re looking at.
00:01:30 And so, we give ‘em a process by which to do that.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:01:34 I am going to project a work of art on the board. And what I want you to do is to look at that art for 60 seconds.
00:01:44 [TITLE: STEP 1 – SEE]
[TITLE: Observe closely.]
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:01:48 You’re not going to write anything. I want you to focus only on what you can observe. We are not making any inferences here. Who can tell me what an inference is?
LIGHT BLUE SWEATSHIRT
00:01:59 An inference is a guess about what you’ve seen so far.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:02:04 An inference is a guess, absolutely.
DAVID COOPER
00:02:06 I tell the students that they are going to look at an image for 60 seconds. The image is an image I’ve downloaded from the Getty’s website. They’re not supposed to be guessing anything about the object that they’re looking at, but that they’re limiting themselves to visual observation – things they can directly see.
00:02:24 This is a Getty lesson from the Getty’s education section of their website. All the items in the See, Wonder Think lesson are available online. All the images are available for download in large file format and it is free.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:02:40 Fifteen more seconds. Alright. I want you to take two minutes. Then in that two minutes I want you to write down three things that you detected. Three things that you saw. Please remember, no inferences. Go.
00:03:02 Go ahead and put your pen or pencil down. Okay, now I’m going to have you share with a partner one thing that you saw. Go.
TIMOTHY
00:03:10 I saw a broken forearm of the man’s. Like it was right here. Like the rest of his arm was broken.
ANGELICA [sync]
00:03:19 I saw a man sitting on a throne.
ANGELICA
00:03:22 It’s teaching us, like, to pay attention that you look at everything. Don’t just look at the whole thing. Try look at the small details.
DAVID COOPER
00:03:31 Once they’ve had a chance to share with a partner, I have them share out with the class. Now, I’m getting a chance to assess them as a group.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:03:37 Alright, what did you detect, Angelica?
ANGELICA [sync]
00:03:39 I detected a man missing many parts of the body.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
Missing many parts of the body. Well, can you give me an example?
ANGELICA [sync]
The foot.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:03:47 Okay, can you give me an example, please.
ANGELICA [sync]
The foot.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
We answer in compl- We answer in complete sentences.
ANGELICA [sync]
00:03:52 Oh.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
Give me an example of something missing.
ANGELICA [sync]
00:03:54 An example-
[TITLE: Common Core Standard ELA]
[TITLE: Adapt speech to the context, demonstrating command of formal English]
ANGELICA [sync]
00:03:56 -that is missing is the foot.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
Yeah. There’s a foot missing here. Alright, terrific. Now, you’re going to wonder about the things that you saw. Write down three questions about what you can observe.
00:04:11 [TITLE: STEP 2 – WONDER]
[TITLE: What do you wonder about what you see?]
DAVID COOPER
00:04:15 Then we move on to the Wonder section of this lesson, allowing them to make inferences, to wonder about things that they can’t see, based on things that they can see.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:04:25 Go.
GLASSES
00:04:33 One of the questions I had was, “What about if his shirt was on?”
00:04:36 [TITLE: Common Core Standard ELA]
[TITLE: Pose detailed questions that contribute to the topic under discussion]
GLASSES
00:04:38 If he had a shirt on.
JASON
00:04:39 What was he made out of?
TIMOTHY
00:04:41 Who was the artist?
WHISKERS
00:04:43 Is this sculpture a symbol of something important?
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:04:46 Thank you. We’ve got a bunch of different questions about things that we can’t observe. Our next step is to think. And for this part I don’t want you to write anything down yet.
00:04:57 [TITLE: STEP 3 – THINK]
[TITLE: What can you infer about your observations?]
DAVID COOPER
00:04:58 The Think section requires them to think about what might answer the question they posed, help them create those thoughtful interpretations, see if they can find an answer to their own question.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:05:09 Try to figure out if there’s any evidence in this object that might help you answer your question.
00:05:17 [TITLE: Common Core Standard ELA]
[TITLE: Interpret information and explain how it contributes to the topic]
BLUE SLEEVES
00:05:21 I think the statue is pretty old because the arm and some of the foot is dissolved.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
Dissolved. So, let’s zoom in on this object a little more closely.
DAVID COOPER
00:05:31 The images are such high resolution I can zoom in and the students can see the detail of that from across the room.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:05:37 This is what you’re gonna do – you’re going to share out one question with everyone at your table. Then I want you to pick one question and I want you all to think of what the answer to that question might be.
00:05:49 [TITLE: Aphrodite]
[TITLE: unknown artist]
[TITLE: 200-150 B.C.]
ANGELICA [sync]
00:05:51 My question is, “Is she a goddess?”
JASON
00:05:54 My question was, “Who is she?”
TIMOTHY
00:05:57 My question was, “Why does she wear such an old dress? Is she an elder or something?”
JASON
I think the best question-
STUDENT [off-camera]
00:06:06 Who is she?
ANGELICA [sync]
It could be Persephone or Hera.
TIMOTHY
Yeah, is it- It could be Hera or Persephone.
STUDENT [off-camera]
So, who is she?
TIMOTHY
Who is she? Okay, there- Who is she? We all agree?
DAVID COOPER
00:06:15 I could give students a worksheet of Greek gods, what they’re they god of, and what their attributes are and have them study it and give ‘em a quiz on it, but if they’re identifying those attributes in actual art objects and facing that challenge, it hooks them in ways that I haven’t found anything else does.
STUDENT [off-camera]
00:06:31 Alright, let’s discus.
ANGELICA [sync]
And our answer will be Hera because the pomegranate.
TIMOTHY
00:06:34 Yeah, but we don’t know. Hera, her symbol was a pomegranate, too.
STUDENT [off-camera]
[unintell]
TIMOTHY
00:06:39 But Persephone was the queen of the Underworld.
ANGELICA [sync]
But she would probably wear, like, darker clothes because she’s an Underworld [unintell]
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:06:46 Were Persephone and Hera the only Greek gods or goddesses that were known to have a symbol that was round and they could hold in their hand? Because I will tell you that this is neither Hera nor Persephone.
TIMOTHY
So, “Who is she?” is a perfect question.
ANGELCA [sync]
Yeah, but we don’t know.
DAVID COOPER
00:07:01 One of the groups, their interpretation was incorrect. I stepped in and pointed out that while their interpretation was potentially correct, in truth, it turns out that it- it was not the right direction and I redirected them.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:07:14 Now I’d like to focus on the identification of who is in your object. So, I’m going to start with Table Two.
BLACK & WHITE STRIPES
00:07:22 Well, we think that that goddess is Artemis because Artemis always wears a short tunic and in the shoes, it looks like there’s a crescent moon there.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:07:29 Terrific. Alright, this is the goddess Diana, which is the Roman version of Artemis. Often shown wearing a short tunic. Look at the placement of her hands. What in gen- If somebody is doing this, and they’re not scratching their back, what else might they be doing? Genesis?
GENESIS
00:07:47 Artemis must have been reaching for her bow.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
Artemis might have been reaching for her bow. Maybe her bow was back here. Absolutely. Or maybe her bow was here…
DAVID COOPER
00:07:54 When I do See, Wonder, Think with students, I’m hoping to teach them something that they can use for the rest of their lives. This is a strategy that helps them slow down and notice things.
ANGELICA
00:08:09 I use See, Wonder, and Think in math class because sometimes I don’t understand things, so I look at the whole page of the math assignment and I think of the questions and I look in the focus boxes and examples to see if I can my answer easier.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:08:26 What are the three steps we use when we interpret art?
JASON
00:08:29 Three steps we use to interpret art were See, Wonder, and Think.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:08:33 See, Wonder, and Think. Absolutely. Terrific. Who can tell me what we do when we See?
GENESIS
00:08:38 When we see an object we inspect it, look for big details or small details.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
Absolutely. When we Wonder, what are we doing when we’re looking at a piece of art and we’re Wondering?
BLUE SHIRT
00:08:49 We wonder about the details and what had happened to them.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:08:52 Absolutely. And the last step- What’s the last step?
GLASSES
00:08:56 Our last step is to think.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
The last step is to Think. What do you do when you Think?
GLASSES
00:09:01 When we Think, we- we answer the questions that we- that we were Wondering of.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
00:09:09 Right. When we Think, we answer the questions that we came up with during our Wonder. Based on what?
WHITE SHIRT & GLASSES
00:09:16 What we focus on is the details of the art.
DAVID COOPER [sync]
The details in the art. Absolutely. What we can visually observe is what we focus on.
DAVID COOPER
00:09:26 The See, Wonder, Think lesson is gonna help them when they see these Greek and Roman gods in art form, but it’s also going to help them understand the mythology and learn why the Greeks included these mythological figures in their art and their culture.
00:09:48 [TITLE: See – Wonder – Think is adapted from the Visible Thinking Routines developed by Harvard University’s research group PROJECT ZERO.]
00:09:57 ***FILE END***
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