T3 Visual Art

Weeks 1 and 2 - TEACHING NOTES - Create a Brighter Future Creative Competition

About the Create Your Mark for a Brighter Future Creative Competition

This year (2023) Faber-Castell launches the Create Your Mark for a Brighter Future Creative Competition that invites students to unleash their creativity. The purpose of the competition is to inspire creative and sustainable thinking (including social and environmental) in primary school-aged children. Faber-Castell seeks to encourage young minds to engage with visual arts and invites them to consider how they can make a positive ‘mark’ on the future, all whilst enjoying and exploring the potential of the Faber-Castell product range.

Learning intentions: Students will...

… explore what it means to dream about the future
… use stimulus materials to inspire their own dreaming
… use structured brainstorming to develop and refine unique ideas.

Success criteria: Students can…

… think creatively and innovatively about the future
… create an artwork that represents their dream for a brighter future
… give and receive constructive feedback.

Entry guidelines:

Entries should be inspired by the theme, ‘Create your mark for a brighter future'.
Entries open on July 4, 2022, and close on September 23, 2022. Winners will be announced on October 7, 2022.
Entries must be handmade and use at least one Faber-Castell product.
Entries can be A4 or A3 size.
Entries must be submitted as a photograph or scan of the original artwork in PNG, JPEG or PDF format.
Parent permission is required for student entries.
Bulk submissions are available using the Teacher Entry Form.
For more details and to upload entries, please visit the competition microsite here or go to www.createyourmark.com.au.

Recommendations from the Faber-Castell product range:

Part A: Making Your Mark

Note: For details about the Create Your Mark for a Brighter Future Creative Competition, refer to the teacher content information.

Step 1. Begin by explaining to students that they will be planning and creating an artwork that will be submitted to the Create Your Mark for a Brighter Future Creative Competition. Give students some of the details of this competition.

Step 2. Explain to students that the first step in creating this artwork will be to understand what is meant by ‘create your mark’.

Explain that ‘create your mark’ references the idiom, ‘make your mark’, which means to do something important, meaningful and/or memorable. Ask students:

Why do you think the organisers changed the word ‘make’ to ‘create’? What does that say about their thinking?

Allow students to suggest ideas. Clarify any questions they might have about the idiom ‘make your mark’. If students don’t arrive there on their own, guide them to the idea that ‘create’ (even though it could mean the same thing as ‘make’) is linked to the word ‘creative’, so it could be that the organisers really want these artworks to show creative thinking, creativity and/or hand made creations.

Step 3. The next step is in thinking about the words ‘brighter future’. Invite students to share what they think this means.

Step 4. Explain to students that we can sometimes dismiss our imaginings as being unrealistic or just daydreams. But only by imagining something can it become possible. Nothing has ever been created by humans that wasn’t imagined first (unless it was a pure accident - like penicillin).

Imagining a brighter future can give us something to work towards - we can start making plans about how we could reach that vision of the future.

Step 5. Our vision of a brighter future can be funny, realistic or totally wild. The kids in this clip are coming up with all sorts of ideas for the future:

Watch this video

Once complete, take a moment to discuss this clip with your students and explain that in the rest of this activity, students will have the chance to explore what they imagine for the future and to turn these ideas into an artwork.

Part B: Imagining A Brighter Future

Step 1. Explain to students that they are now going to work collaboratively to respond to the following statement:

When I imagine a brighter future I see…

They will in particular be thinking about how they could make the future brighter for people and the planet.

Break the class into four groups (or a number of groups divisible by four) assign each group one of the following topics:

Food
Buildings
Transport
Technology

Give each student a copy of the table and have them highlight the group topic they have been assigned.

Step 2. Explain to students that they are now going to watch some clips and record as many words and terms that they can think of when they envision the future this way:

Record these words on the board, and invite students to list these words in Column B of the table, for example:

Hovering
Solar-powered
Wind-powered
Waste-generated
Airborne
Supersonic
Micro/nano
Jet-powered
Biodegradable

Step 3. Each group can then spend some time matching up words from Column A with words from Column B and seeing what they come up with. They should record their ideas in Column C. Each group should try to come up with three ideas. Encourage students to be as creative as they like: the words that have been provided in Columns A and B are really just there to kick-start the ideas! The key to brainstorming is to remember that no idea is too big, silly or wild - all ideas are valuable and can be considered.

Step 4. The next task is to take a look at the ideas that students have come up with and recorded in Column C. They can now work together to think about how this idea could be added to or refined in a way that might create a brighter future for people and the planet. Students can then write these ideas out in full sentences in their workbooks or on another piece of paper.

Once the brainstorming time is complete, students could take a few minutes to discuss the ideas they have come up with. Each student should take note of the ideas that most interest or excite them.

Each student can then share some of the ideas that stood out for them the most with the class.

Step 5. Invite students to put their heads on their desks or lay on the floor. Play the song below and ask them to focus on listening to the lyrics at the start. They can then let their imaginations run wild while they listen - picturing their ideas for a brighter future.

A Million Dreams Reprise (The Greatest Showman Soundtrack) (https://youtu.be/akdkEh-fzes)

Part C: Create Your Artwork

Step 1. Explain that they are now going to create an artwork about the idea that they have selected. In this artwork, they should show how this idea creates a brighter future for people or the planet. Students can show themselves in the artwork if they want.

Step 2. Explain the details of the competition (find these in the teacher content information section, or on the Create Your Mark for a Brighter Future Creative Competition website).

Note: You will need to submit completed student artworks to the Create Your Mark for a Brighter Future Creative Competition using this link: https://createyourmark.com.au/

Step 3. Students are encouraged to create a rough draft of their artworks before they create the version they will submit to the competition. This rough draft can be as simple as a few rough sketch lines or as complicated as a portfolio including the colours and materials they wish to use.

Remind students that this artwork isn’t about creating something perfect - what is important here is sharing their creative ideas. It doesn’t matter if it doesn't work out exactly how you want it to; all the best artists, designers and inventors are always experimenting, trying things out, making mistakes and doing the best they can. However, creating a draft of the artwork you want to produce can help you address some of the visual or structural challenges in the artwork, ensure that your idea is being well communicated and means you can get some feedback from your peers before you submit your artwork to the competition. In addition to improving the quality of your final artwork, this might also increase your chances of winning!

Step 4. Allow students the time to create a rough draft of their artwork.

Once complete, invite them to share their draft artwork with a classmate. Students should provide feedback on each other's artworks, remembering to be kind, helpful and specific when providing feedback.

Students could use the following prompts to guide their feedback:

One thing I like about your artwork is…
One thing I’m unsure about is…
One thing I think might improve your artwork is…

Step 5. Now provide students time to create the final version of their artwork, incorporating feedback where appropriate.

Step 6. Once students have completed their artwork, they can work independently to write a description of their artwork. Again, these can be shared with a peer for feedback (including spelling and grammar).

Note: Try to keep these short and definitely below 150 words.

Step 7. Artworks and statements can then be photographed or scanned and uploaded in preparation for submission.

Reflection

It is also important for students to reflect on their successes and failures in conceiving and creating their artworks. Depending on the age and ability of students you could invite students to have a discussion in groups around the following questions or to work independently to answer the following questions in writing:

What did you enjoy most about creating your artwork?
If you were to do it again, what might you do differently?
What do you like about imagining a brighter future?
Can you see yourself creating a positive mark on the future one day? How?

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

Some students may wish to write a full artist statement or tell a story about their artwork. You could extend this further by allowing them to make a speech or presentation, or write a longer creative piece about their artwork.

Provisions for Learning Support -

Some students may find it hard to manage thin pencils, markers and brushes. You might encourage them to use larger drawing tools such as thick paint brushes, markers and crayons.
Some students may struggle to create a written description of their artwork. Encourage these children to use their voices to describe their artworks where possible or else make this component optional.

Weeks 3 - 4

DESIGN A PROMOTION AS PART OF YOUR HISTORY PBL.

As a group, choose the best way to promote your PBL.

Promote your celebration's key features.
It could be a multimedia presentation and even have characters giving an interview, maybe a very short movie promotion
Have each team member focus on a different part of your celebration.

Students are to produce artwork with iPads or cardboard and colours on one of the below, which can be used with the History display:

advertising - you could persuade viewers to see your celebration stand and include admission and item prices
posters - you could use Canva to create something great for people to come and see
cultural art - you could create a piece of artwork to showcase your PBL
Keynote could be used to display your booth in a digital form

Week 5-6

Father's Day Art

Your teacher will give you instructions for how to make a rosette for your Dad.

2. Choose one of these ideas and use it as inspiration to create a Father's Day card.

Week 7-8

Create a quilt piece, including sewing a button, to create a class quilt. Use the symbols from the Underground Railway quilt legend.

This coincides with the two books "Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt" and "My Name is Lizzie Flynn", studied in Reading.

FreedomQuiltSymbols-1.pdf

Week 9

Bring an old artefact from home to draw. At home you may have something of importance that is old, or may have a story attached to it. The artefact is an item that has some meaning to you.

During class, your teacher will help you with some starter points if you need to get your drawing started. You could draw a 3D angled view, or a top and side view (think 3D shapes in Maths class!)

Sketch your main object on A4 paper in pencil and use shading and colour to enhance it.

At the bottom of the page, WRITE an explanation telling:

- the history of your artefact

- why you have chosen it

- why it is important to your family.

Collage of home artefacts to create a house/heart picture.

From catalogues and other magazines supplied by your teacher, choose pictures that will help build ideas and a story about artifacts from your home. You could even Google search on your iPad to find an artefact to draw.

IDEAS...

You could draw a big heart in the centre of your page and put the pictures inside/around the heart.
Print photos of items from home and bring them in to add to the collage
You could draw a sketch outline and place artefacts on your picture to help it look more realistic.
Something specially made that has been in your family for generations? A table, coat rack, sewing machine, tea set, book case, lounge, furniture?

Draw a sketch of ideas to plan out your collage. Each student needs a list of items to bring in.

OR

If you have completed your sewing then...

Look up on your iPad, an old household artefact from the 1800s to draw.

You could draw a 3D angled view, or a top and side view (think 3D shapes in Maths class!)

Sketch your main object on A4 paper in pencil and use shading and colour to enhance it.

At the bottom of the page, WRITE an explanation telling:

- the history of this artefact

- why you have chosen it

If you click on this video below and watch from 1.50 you will get some good ideas to help you draw!

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