Title – Thomas Jefferson Stamp

By – Lisa Hill

Primary Subject – Social Studies

Secondary Subjects – Art

Grade Level – 8th

Lesson Objectives:

• Students will demonstrate how Thomas Jefferson can be commemorated on a stamp.
  
• Students will understand art media and how it can be used effectively.
  
• Students will research the life and accomplishments of Thomas Jefferson and demonstrate their knowledge through symbolism.
  
• Students will be assessed on their knowledge of Thomas Jefferson by designing a stamp commemorating his life and accomplishments using the Principles of Design.

Connections:

• To create a commemorative stamp of Thomas Jefferson in order for students to understand his historical influence on American History.
  
• To understand the principle of design and how it is used to create effective pieces of art.
  
• To understand art media and to display that knowledge through a completed stamp of Thomas Jefferson.

Academic Expectations:

1.13 Students will make sense of ideas and communicate ideas with Visual Art

2.26 Through Arts & Humanities, students recognize that although people are different they share common experiences and attitudes.

Program of Studies:

AH-8-VA-10 Students will analyze characteristics and purposes of art that represents various cultures, historical periods and artists.

Core Content:

AH-M-4.4.1 Students create art for specific purposes using the elements of art and principles of design to communicate ideas.

AH-M8-4.4.2 Students use a variety of art media, processes and subject matter to communicate ideas, feelings and experiences.

National Content Standards:

Visual Arts Content Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes

Visual Arts Content Standard 3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

Visual Arts Content Standard 4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

Context:

This lesson will be a culminating activity in which the students will end a 1 week unit on Thomas Jefferson by creating a commemorative stamp on his life and presidency. The students will learn about his political career, historical contributions, his talents and family life and display their knowledge by creating a 9×12 replica of a stamp. In addition to this, the students will also be reviewing their knowledge and understanding of the elements of art, principles of design and art media. Throughout this lesson, students will have a choice of media and will also reflect on this lesson with an explanation of their design.

Resources:

Internet:



http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/art/presart-1.html





http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/tj3.htm

“History Alive”:

Constitution


Creating America: A history of the United States



Understanding Art

by Gene Mittler, Ph.D. and Rosalind Ragans, Ph.D.

Procedures:

1. Students will research the library, internet and textbook to find as much information on Thomas Jefferson as they need in order to write an obituary on Thomas Jefferson and design a stamp to commemorate his life.
   
2. Students will gather information, take notes, pre-write and draft a one page obituary on Thomas Jefferson. This information will also be used to create symbols, designs, color, etc. in order to create a stamp.
   
3. Before creating their design, students will be given a description of the principles of design and art media. Students will be instructed to use these processes when designing their stamp.
   
4. Students will have class time and additional time at home to complete their stamp project. A deadline of 5 days will be given.
   
5. Once the project is completed and turned in, students will be given a prompt to respond to in their notebook. This will be a reflection of the knowledge gained during this lesson, an explanation of the choice of media and the principles of design in their art piece.

Student Assessment:

Students will be assessed on how well they communicated their knowledge of Thomas Jefferson through a written obituary and a clear design of the commemorative stamp. The reflection of the lesson will also be used to assess how well the students planned, researched and implemented their ideas through a creative design.

E-Mail

Lisa Hill

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