The students will have just completed reading the 1998 Newbery Award winning book, Out of the Dust. They will have an understanding of events surrounding the period in United States history of the early 20^th Century.

Additionally, the student will have prior knowledge on a) the procedures for using oil pastels to produce a work of art, b) using technology to do research and investigation to gain a better understanding of a topic.

To accommodate students with special needs, I will provide these students with larger oil pastels so they can work easier with the larger instruments. I will also provide these students with actual examples of oil pastels so they can touch them and feel the texture of the paper and the pastels. By providing the larger pastels, I hope that these students will be better able to apply the pigment to the paper.

In lesson 1, we will review the information discussed during our literature focus unit for Out of the Dust written by Karen Hesse. We will discuss the period of time in United States History relating to the draught of the 1920’s and the depression that followed. The student will be asked to respond to their feelings on how they can express themselves using Free Verse poetry. I will introduce artist, Georgia O’Keeffe, to the students. We will explore her works of art using samples that I will provide. The students will be assigned to use their computer time for the day to explore the life of Georgia O’Keeffe by reviewing two web-sites that provide background on the artist. These sites are: http://ellensplace.net/okeeffe2.html and http://www.okeeffemuseum.org 

In lesson 2, I will engage the students in a grand conversation about the information that they read about the life of Georgia O’Keeffe. I will ask them to complete a character map for her. I will discuss that we will be creating a free-verse poem that depicts a day five years in the future when Billy Jo travels to New York with her step-mother, Louise, and they visit a gallery that is showing the works of Georgia O’Keeffe. The poem will be written from Billy-Jo’s point-of-view. I will instruct the students that they must choose one of O’Keefe’s works as the inspiration for their free-verse poem. We will brainstorm ideas on what we might include in the poem and the students will break up into their writing groups to do a pre-writing activity. The students will pick one of O’Keeffe’s works to use during their assignment.

In lesson 3, we will devote most of the period to review how to work with oil pastels. I will provide oil pastels for each student and we will explore how to use the oil pastels to create a line, color and value in a piece of art. I will provide paper and ask students to investigate how color families can be used to create the value in their drawing. I will demonstrate the use of the color families on the easel in the room. During this review, we will also, continue our discussion of Georgia O’Keeffe. I will ask the student to predict what they think the center of interest is in the works that we review. Students will be asked to select a center of interest that will be used to create their own interpretation of O’Keeffe’s work that they chose. Students will be given time to create the lines for this assignment. The students will begin drafting their poem from the notes that they took during the brainstorming in Lesson 2.

In lesson 4, the students will be allowed to choose what activity the will work on during class. As an opening activity, I will read a sample of my interpretation of the free-verse poem assignment and show them the O’Keeffe work that I chose. Then, the students will have the choice to continue drafting their free-verse poem or they can begin to work on their oil pastels pictures. Students must be prepared by the next lesson to be at the revise phase of writing. The must be prepared to share their interpretation of O’Keeffe’s work to make sure it coincides with what was written in the free-verse poem.

In lesson 5, students will start in their writing groups. They will receive comments about their poems as well as how it relates to the picture they have chosen. Then, they will break up to work on their oil pastels for the remainder of the lesson. Students must be prepared by the next lesson to be at the editing phase of writing and they must also be prepared to share an almost completed picture.

In lesson 6, students will start in their writing groups and provide editing comments. Next, students will be encouraged spend the remaining period of time completing their pictures. They must be prepared to exhibit a completed picture and share their poem by the next lesson.

In lesson 7, students will present their completed poems and pictures. They will be on display in the schools exhibit area for the next week.