Story Time at the DMA

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

At the DMA the education staff is given the opportunity to lead a story time which takes place every Tuesday in the summer from 1-1:30. Story time is in the galleries and engages with pieces in the DMA’s collections. Today was my day to lead story time!

Usually there is a theme or focus for story time, so I chose to teach on place and perspective. The first piece of art that I chose to read in front of was Robert Delaunay’s Eiffel Tower in the European galleries.

The book that I chose to read with this painting is Leslie Kimmelman’s Everybody Bonjours!, illustrated by Sarah McMenemy.

       

The second painting I focused on was just around the corner: Fernand Leger’s The Divers.

The second book that I read was called Hey, Little Ant, written by Phillip and Hannah Hoose, illustrations by Debbie Tilly.

One of my goals this summer was to learn how to write lesson plans, and although story time does not require a very structured outline, I decided to try it out on this anyway. I used Leah Hanson’s lesson plans for an Arturo’s Art & Me lesson (a preschool program at the museum) as a guide for my own lesson plans. Here is a copy of my lesson plans:

Story Time: Places and Spaces

June 10, 2014

Introduction

•  Welcome the families and review the rules about behavior in art museums.
•  Let families know that we will be spending time in the European galleries for story time.

Introduction and First Story

• Today we are going to explore how artists look at place and space and how they change them.
• The two paintings/artists we are going to focus on come from France, a beautiful country in Europe!
•  In order to learn more about a very specific place (Paris, France) we will read a story about an American girl that travels to Paris. As we read, notice the different places and spaces she discovers.
• Read Everybody Bonjours! By Leslie Kimmelman.
• What kind of spaces did the girl visit?

Art Discussion

• Have the children look closely at Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay.
• Do you recognize this place form our book? It’s the Eiffel Tower—the tallest building in France. It was originally built to be a temporary entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair, but they liked it enough to keep it permanently.
• Show the group a photograph of the Eiffel Tour. Ask how the two are different and how they are the same.
•  Color—the colors are not realistic, so why would the artist choose these colors?o   Perspective—where would you have to be or what would you be doing if you saw the Eiffel Tower from this point of view? You might be in an airplane or maybe if you were flying! 
• Perspective is how a person views or sees something. When we look at art, artists help us see new or different perspectives—or they help us look at the world in new ways.

Second Story

• In this book, we are going to learn more about perspective.
•  Read “Hey, Little Ant” by Phillip and Hannah Hoose, illustrated by Debbie Tilly.

Art Discussion & Group Activity

• Ask the kids if they think the boy should squish the ant. Why or why not? Did the ant’s perspective help you make up your mind? Why is it important to consider other peoples’ perspectives?
• Look up at Fernand Leger’s The Divers.
• If this was your painting, what would you name it? What is going on in the painting? Is it a happy or sad painting?
• This painting is called the The Divers and was painted by Fernand Leger. Fernand was swimming in Marseille, France, which is very beautiful. While he was swimming he saw people diving off the docks and was interested in them. He would swim underwater and open his eyes and memorize what the divers looked like. When he got home he painted his memories of them?
• If you were painting divers would your painting look like this? Would you use the same colors? Would you use the same shapes? Maybe a different medium?
• Leger’s perspective is different than yours and mine. We all see the world a little bit differently, and as an artist it is Leger’s job to help us see the world in a new way! Did he do a good job?

·         Gallery activity

•       Ask for a few volunteers.
•       Have 3 kids lay on the ground in front of the painting, and have them try to look like the divers.
•       Ask for a few more volunteers to help place on the floor abstract shapes that look like the shapes in the painting. Have the other children suggest where the pieces should go.

      Overall, I think story time was very successful! The kids were engaged and participated in the gallery activities, and I was able to get more comfortable teaching on my own. Of course Emily, Amanda, and Leah were there to cheer me on, too! The group grew up to 38 kids, and no one touched the art!This activity has gotten me excited for my next teaching opportunity.