Title of Project: Bicentennial Mural

Grade Level: 6-8

Number of Students Participating:

Contributed by:

Teacher: Kimberly Batts

School: Hopkinsville Middle School

District or County: Christian County Schools

Overview/Description of Project: This unit will include sharing the complete process of making a historical mural design for the community. The unit will also help students recognize the historical values and cultural heritage of their county.

 Goals:

To help students understand:

-this historical values and heritage of their county

-that clean areas will improve the visual quality of the city

-how their work will contribute to the revitalization and historical restoration of the downtown area

-how revitalization of the area will improve the economy of the county

Core Content Areas:

Communication/Math Skills: 1.1, 1.12, 1.11, 1.13 Students researched and read about the history of their community. They write about their feelings toward the mural project.

Math: 2.9, 2.10 Students learn to use math to convert small designs to a grid, which is then transferred onto a larger surface.

Social Studies: 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.20 This project provides many opportunities for the students to learn about the government, history, and culture of their community.

Arts and Humanities: 2.22 Students learn a variety of design techniques as they develop the final design for their mural.

Vocational Studies: 2..36 Students lean about the career of a historian.

Self Sufficiency: 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7 Students lean resourcefulness as they look for information regarding the history of their community. They use creativity in the design of their mural.

Responsible Group Membership: 4.2 Working on the mural requires all the students to use teamwork and cooperation to complete the project successfully.

Thinking about Problem-Solving: 5.2, 5.4, 5.5 Students make decisions and solve problems as it relates to the mural project.

Integration of Knowledge: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 Students use their existing knowledge throughout the project and continually develop new knowledge about the subject matter they are studying.

PARC MODEL STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

PREPARATION:  

STEP ONE:

1)      Explain to the group that they will be involved in painting a mural portraying the history of their county on a building downtown.

2)      As a large group, brainstorm what students already know about their county.

3)      Invite the local historian to be a guest speaker

STEP TWO:

1)      Divide the students into groups, with each group assigned a different area to research for local history information. Have students spend time in the library conducting their research.

2)      Encourage students to interview their grandparents to get additional information about the history of the town.

3)      Spend time allowing students to share the information they have obtained.

4)      Using productive thinking, sift through images that could be used in the mural. Through a democratic process, let students vote on the images they would like to use. From this, have one of the students ( or the teacher) develop a master design of all the images.

5)      Have students answer the following prompt:

You have learned about the historical significance of your county. Explain the research techniques you used to find this information. Describe two historically significant events that occurred  in your community and draw a timeline of the history of your community with at least four events featured.

Make comparisons between what life was like 200 years ago and what life is like now. 

STEP THREE:

  1)      Discuss the composition process through drawings of the master design.

2)      Cut the design into exact squares.

3)      Have students render an enlarged version of their square on a large square of watercolor paper. Explain that dividing the picture into a grid provides students with an easier way to transfer the small painting into a large mural.

ACTION: Paint the mural on the designated building. This may take several trips to complete

REFLECTION:

1)      Have students make presentations to civic groups about the project and the knowledge they gained.

2)      During the work on the mural, continually reflect on what the students have learned about the history of the county.

3)      Have students write an overall reflection narrative about their feelings toward the project.

4)      Have students answer the following prompt:

You are a designer of murals who is teaching a group of students your techniques. Begin by giving a definition of a mural. Explain the composition process and describe the steps of how designs are transferred onto a larger scale for painting.

CELEBRATION: