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Building Community Harmony (Stages 2 & 3)

Making
All outcomes for each stage are covered in this unit
Appreciating
VAES1.4,VAS1.4, VAS2.4, VAS3.4

This is a visual arts unit of work to support the Harmony Day Poster Competition 2009. The theme for 2009 is Building Community Harmony. For more information about the competition visit Moving forward together

"Australia is a country of diversity, in both its natural environment and its human landscape. Australians come from this country and from many countries around the world; we live in urban and rural settings; we have different colours, cultures, religions and beliefs. Our strength is in our diversity and commonly shared Australian values, which unite us. We are part of one people, infinitely varied in our secondary characteristics.We need to work towards achieving harmony and ultimately unity in our society."( Moving forward together)

Students investigate ways of representing the concept of Building Community Harmony visually, using both images and words. The A3 poster can either be portrait or landscape. In developing an image and text students will be engaging with the idea of community harmony and how it's achieved.

Links to Other Areas of the Curriculum
H.S.I.E., English
Racism. No way! lesson plans

Learning Experience 1:

Understanding the slogan.
Students brainstorm slogans that could relay the message of building community harmony. Discuss what this means and how building community harmony is done at a very practical level. It is essential that the students have a good grasp of the idea of building community harmony to present a response to it.
Students discuss images communicating building community harmony. What could signify building? What could signify community? What could signify harmony?
http://www.racismnoway.com.au lesson plans and activities could be helpful for students to begin to think about this subject.

Teaching Notes
Image Resources (possible)
http://www.allposters.com
Work together, Caring, Communication, Diversity
http://www.racismnoway.com.au posters, lesson plans, [eg.Culture of Peace, Investigating Our Multicultural world] Games Room, Grafitti Wall

Learning Experience 2:

Appreciating Artworks
Students discuss posters and their message. Consider what the picture is saying. Consider what the words are saying. How is it said? Directly, using visual metaphors? Students discuss the posters in terms of visual elements line, colour, space, shape, balance and movement. Refer to Curriculum Support K -6 Visual Arts Feature Site
Students play with their own ideas and should be encouraged to explore more than one idea and share ideas.
Simplicity is key. The less involved the more direct the communication.

Teaching Notes
Materials
A3 scrap paper a variety of pencils and markers
Image Resources
http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/

Learning Experience 3:

The Plan - Text
Students are encouraged to decide whether they wish to make their words or picture tell the message. It is important that they choose [although not necessarily at this stage], so that their message is clear and immediate. Their poster may involve both words and pictures, but one needs to dominate. Students need to plan their work. It is easier if they use several pieces of paper and arrange them for optimal effect.
Refresh students understanding of visual elements [Learning Experience 2] so that they are aware of maximising their message.
Students could consider novel ways to include text as suggested in "Texts in Portraits" [TaLE] (curving it around an image etc.) By the end of this experience students should have at least one catch phrase that they could use and some idea of how it will look on the page. It does not matter if several students have the same phrase as they will present the phrase differently.

Teaching Notes
Teacher may decide to concentrate on Pictures (Learning Experience 3) first rather than Text (Learning Experience 2) Materials A3 scrap paper, pencils/black and coloured, felt markers, coloured papers.
Resources
http://www.tale.edu.au TaLE Virtually Archibald Gallery "Text in Portraits"

Learning Experience 4:

The Plan - Pictures
Students need to look at visual ways of presenting the message. What does building community harmony look like literally and metaphorically? If students have an idea but not the drawing skills to realise their idea they can be encouraged to trace or copy elements they find on the net or in magazines and put them together.
For a poster the most important aspect is clarity. Students need to look at ways to make their work clear such as outlining, simplifying, contrasting colour choices, boldness, size, and placement for greatest visual impact and highlighting. Students may, at this stage, need to discard some aspect of their work for greater clarity. Anything that does not add to their message takes away. Because the final work needs to be clean and clear it can be advantageous for students to work on differing pieces of paper and then paste them on to the sheet or copy or trace. At this stage students should work on the differing aspects of their poster with a view to putting them together.

Teaching Notes
Materials
A3 scrap paper, pencils/black and coloured, felt markers, coloured papers.
Resources
http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/
Note
Cool colours recede and warm colours come forward.

Learning Experience 5:

Layout
Many students tend to work too small for the paper and leave spaces that detract from their design and message. Students can be encouraged to fill their page by working on a larger sheet then cropping their poster to A3 size. Refer to posters that the students discussed in Learning Experience 1 to discuss layout, size, and use of colour to enhance the message.
Students gather their words, pictures and decide on the final layout. At this stage work may need to be scaled up or down in size. NB Usually larger rather than small images will have greater impact.
Students should consider the background colour. Do they want their poster to be on white paper? If not, what colour would be appropriate? If A3 paper is not available in colours students could consider painting or dying the paper first. They need to be careful that this colour adds to their posters impact, rather than takes over. Remember cold colours recede.
Coloured papers can have greater impact due to the fact that they are solid colour and cutting produces hard edges, so collage is appropriate for both text and image but may be used in combination with other media.

Teaching Notes
Materials
The best quality A3 or larger cartridge paper available, pencils/black and coloured, felt markers, paint, coloured papers, edicol or food dyes and paste.
Resources
http://www.allposters.com
Work together, Caring, Communication, Diversity
http"//www.racismnoway.com.au posters
Note
Sometimes an image can be so large that it does not fit the paper and yet be more effective with pieces cropped off.

Assessment
Did the student

• Develop a message through experimenting with differing phrases and images

• Create a clear message

• Use visual elements to express their message

Supporting Units
http://www.tale.edu.au Teaching and learning Exchange TaLE
Virtually Archibald Gallery

"Text in Portraits"

Further Resources
Curriculum Support http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/

Right Here, Right Now: Teaching citizenship through Human Rights
http://www.tale.edu.au Teaching and learning Exchange TaLE
http://www.allposters.com
http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/