Class/Level: GED Writing Class

Topic: Traditions/Art

Objectives:

To produce a short biography

To produce a description and critique of an art piece

To produce a description of a family tradition to be written and added to the del Corazon Website

Web Site:

del Corazon

http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/webzine/featpage.htm

Steps for Learners (a description of the process)

Group Discussion

Write the word tradition on the board. Ask students what comes to mind when they hear/think about that word and write their responses on the board. You can help things along by sharing your own traditions as examples ­ family rituals, songs, family artifacts handed down from generation to generation, family gatherings. Discuss other meanings of tradition ­ as related to work, manufacturing, roles of men and women, music and art.

Internet Exploration and Group Writing

a. Divide class into three groups.

b. Ask students to go to the del Corazon Website: http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/webzine/featpage.htm

c. Assign each group one of the featured artists: Agueda Martinez, Carmen Lomas Garza, Irvin and Lisa Trujillo

d. Have groups use the Artistaspages from the site to read about their artist. Each group must write a short biography of their artists. The biographies will be presented to the class later. (You may need to give suggestions on what to include: ages, where artists live, what their crafts are, how long they have been working at that craft, how they use their work, their other interests, etc.)

e. Each group should then explore their Artistas pages further, looking for links to pictures of the artists' work. Each group should choose one piece and write a short description and critique of the work.

f. Finally, have the groups explore the Family Traditions page(s) for their artists. Have them discuss what part the artists play in the carrying on of family tradition(s).

Class Discussion

Bring class back together. Have each group present their artist to the class. They can make their presentation however they choose -- read their biographical summary, discuss only the artwork, etc. Discuss the artists' connections to family traditions. Discuss the artists' connections to each other and to tradition in general. Return to the original "tradition" brainstorming on the board. Ask students to make connections between their original ideas and the work they've just done. How are their ideas about tradition similar to/different from the ideas they've read about on the Web site?

Individual Writing Exercise

Ask students to write about one of their family traditions -- stress again that the traditions can be work-related, rituals, crafts or skills taught or stories passed from one generation to the next, etc. Students can use the del Corazon pages as a model, but need not feel bound by that model.

Sharing/Publishing

The sharing can be three-fold - students can share their tradition stories with the class; students can add their stories to the del Corazon Webpage of reader traditions: http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/webzine/knapp1.htm ;student stories can be published in a chapbook.