Grade 3 - What is a picture book?
Central Idea:
Stories can be used to express emotion and meaning through artistic expression.
This Unit occurred during an online learning period. During this period, art classes were organized in synchronous sessions where students engaged in observation and discussion of the essential knowledge, and a weekly asynchronous learning activity posted on the Seesaw platform. The individual feedback on students' progress formally occurred when they submitted the weekly assignments. This implied a greater structuring of learning engagements to allow students to work more independently.
This Unit started with an interesting discussion of what is the role of an illustrator. The discussion was guided by questions such as:
- What is job of an illustrator?
- What are the differences between an illustrator and a writer?
- Differences between an illustrator and an artist?
- Can an illustrator also be a writer? How can the two collaborate?
After this discussion students were already guessing that we would be creating picture books. The excitement kicks in when they are addressed as authors and illustrators. The feeling of self-fulfilment that this project creates is an engine that moves students throughout the Unit. At these ages, students naturally engage in hands-on projects that involve creating some sort of product. The idea of putting together a book from scratch is extremely attractive.
Know, Understand, Do - Unit learning goals.
From the start, students get familiar with the necessary steps to develop this project. The learning engagements are structured in two parts:
1. Inquiry into the role of an illustrator/author: Responding
- What is an illustrator?
- What are the differences between illustrator, writer, and artist?
- Can an illustrator be a writer?
- How can they collaborate?
- Relevant examples of illustrators and writers: Quentin Blake, Judith Kerr, Axel Scheffler, Julia Donaldson
2. The formal elements of a Picture book: Creating
- What is a Picture book?
- What makes a picture book different from other kinds of books?
- Introduction, Build-up, The Problem,Solving the Problem, Conclusion.
In this Unit phase, each week is dedicated to a specific part of the picture book structure. Students start by drafting their characters and decide what the overall plot of their picture book is. To support this process, students are guided by the following questions:
- WHO are they?
- WHERE do they come from?
- HOW do they look like?
- WHEN is the story taking place? (past/present/future)
After defining the characters, we discuss how creating a plan is a fundamental part of the work of authors/illustrators. Gradually, students are introduced to the work of different authors and watch how they talk about the creative process, studio work and how their ideas arise and are developed until a final product. These discussions are very rich and allow the students to establish connections with their own work.
The mountain diagram is a story-structure used to support students in creating their original stories. Another important point of this Unit is the understanding that text and images can be combined to create interesting page compositions. This point allows us to explore connections with transdisciplinary learning:
- Narrator's writing
- Visual communication
- The graphic composition of the page
The assessment of this Unit is organized into two parts:
1. The ability for students to combine text and illustrations to create original, structured stories;
2. The ability to purposefully select and use a variety of materials and techniques for drawing and colouring.
