Activity Example: Introducing Guernica
Having discussed the nature of Activities, let’s look at a specific example: Introducing Guernica. This activity is a knowledge based learning activity, that introduces an evocative painting by Picasso, and takes students on a guided journey of the work’s visual language.
Introducing Guernica
Objective:
Students will understand the visual language and historical context of Picasso’s Guernica
Activity:
Guernica is a highly evocative painting. In this activity, students will work to decode the visual language and historical context.
The teacher will show Picasso’s Guernica on the projector.
In this activity, instead of lecturing the class directly, the class will uncover the meaning of the painting by answering a series of questions directed to them by the teacher.
The teacher should guide students to the answers, without doing the thinking for them.
The following questions should directed at the class:
Q. This painting was made in 1937, how advanced do you think photography was then?
A. Must mention black and white, can prompt this answer if necessary
Q: Why would Picasso paint this in black and white?
A: Must make the link between painting and b+w photography as news documentation, can prompt this with ‘what other kinds of images are in black and white?
Q: How many men, women and children are present?
A: must realise that this is a civilian population as opposed to a military one
Q: Describe the emotional content of this work?
A: student must get to ‘horror’ or similar. Direct attention to the horse’s scream if they students are struggling.
Q: What is the woman on the left doing?
A Holding a baby
Q: What do we think has happened here?
A: We’re looking for ‘explosion’, or ‘terror attack’
Q: Where do we think this has happened?
A: use the bull and horse to make the connection with Spain)
At this point the students should have pieced together that this painting represents a terrible attack on a civilian population. However they may not know about the Spanish Civil war. The teacher may at this point spend 5-10 minutes filling in the historical blanks about the attack on Guernica
Learning Assessment:
Answering questions: the teacher should ensure that the questions in the activity are directed across the class. Do not ask for hands in the air - direct them to the students, and make sure they are spread across the whole class. Use the questions to judge the ability to interpret visual language in the room.
500 word summary: each student will complete a 500 word summary about the visual language and historical context of Picasso’s Guernica in there Art History sketchbook.
In Introducing Guernica, we see that the Activity and the Learning Assessment can work in tandem, and a classroom can move fluidly between the two. The students must pay attention and answer questions directed to them by the teacher. In so doing, they can give the teacher rapid feedback about their ability to read visual language.
Underneath each question is a specific point the students must get to. The teacher can guide the class to this point - but making the students do the mental work is key in this activity.
Deciphering Picasso’s work can be tough, but tough problems have potential for a sense of achievement. The teacher should not rush the activity by giving too much information to the students as doing so can deny the students the chance to feel the satisfaction of solving a difficult problem.
In this activity there are two Learning Assessments, a fast one (the teachers questions) and a thorough one (the written summary). Before the summary writing begins, the teacher should feel confident that every student in the room has gained the knowledge required to write the summary. This is accomplished by directing the questions across the whole class, for this reason we choose not to take hands in the air - but to direct where the questions will go.
If you like this activity and would like to use it in your lesson plans, you can find it at: https://lessonstack.net/activity/5b46c810-8a6b-443d-90c8-de323b56b069
Where to Find More Information on Learning Assessment
In this text we have taken a very brief look at Learning Asessment, but for an in-depth look at how to write great checks for learning, Doug Lemov’s book Teach Like a Champion is an excellent text, going to great lengths to track down teachers who have created highly effective checks for understanding.
