Using art in the classroom
by Jamie Keddie
Part 1: Using art at face value
In this first part of the series, we start by looking at art on a superficial level. In the example lesson plan,
below, we will see how to make use of the aesthetics and content of a piece of work to generate language.
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Lesson plan: Art adjectives poems
Level: Elementary upwards
Aims: To choose the best adjectives to describe an artist’s work
Time: 45 minutes
Materials: Several pieces of artwork from the same artist (example: Marc Chagall)
Preparation
It doesn’t matter what a teacher wants to achieve. It doesn’t matter which subject he or she teaches. It’s
all the same: Students learn better when they are uplifted and one way to uplift is by aesthetically enhancing
the learning environment. This may involve nothing more than decorating the classroom walls with images
from an expired art calendar.
Classroom art galleries can be created using any of the following:
• art postcards
• art wall calendars (these provide 12 good-sized, good quality prints)
• art posters
• art images downloaded from the internet and printed off
Marc Chagall: Birthday, 1915 © Digital image (2010)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence
Procedure
1. When your students walk in the room, ask them if they notice anything different about the classroom. Find out
if they like the artwork on display and perhaps ask them if they know anything about the artist.
2. Tell students that they are going to think of adjectives which could be used to describe the work on display.
Give a few examples of your own. For example, if you decided to use work by Chagall, you could say that
it is:
• haunting
• colourful
• surreal
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Using art in the classroom
by Jamie Keddie
Part 1: Using art at face value
If necessary, define the adjectives you have chosen and explain the reason or reasons behind your choices.
3. Ask students to walk around the ‘gallery’ (in pairs if they like) and consider the eight adjectives that they feel
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best describe the artist’s work.
Note: This will work best if your students are given access to bilingual dictionaries, because some of the
language may seem beyond the reach of your students’ abilities (eerie, captivating, etc.). Students can be
encouraged to think creatively in their own language first. As a teacher, your job can be to guide students with
their choices and make helpful suggestions.
4. Once each student or student-pair has chosen eight adjectives, ask everyone to sit down. Pool all of the
adjectives and write them on the board in alphabetical order. Do this by asking if anyone has any adjectives
beginning with the letter a, then move onto b, then c and so on. Don’t forget to add your own suggestions.
5. Once you have progressed through to the end of the alphabet, ask the students to each choose their 16
favourite adjectives from the board. You should do the same.
6. Ask everyone to tear up an A4 piece of paper into 16 pieces. They should then write each adjective onto a
different scrap of paper.
7. Demonstrate how to make an adjective poem by shuffling the words around until you are happy with the
outcome. Read out your poem, paying attention to the rhythm, and then invite students to do the same.
For example:
Marc Chagall
melancholic, colourful, eerie, warm
abstract, dark, busy, haunting
dreamy, surreal, disturbing, sinister
captivating, fantastical, happy, sad
Variations
1. Prior to the class, you may decide to compile a list of adjectives for your students to choose from. If you are
using Chagall, the list might look something like this:
abstract emotional realistic
beautiful erotic religious
bright feminine sad
charming happy sensitive
childlike haunting sinister
colourful intense surreal
dark lively symbolic
disturbing masculine ugly
dreamy melancholic unforgettable
eerie mysterious warm
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INTEGRATED SKILLS / Using art in the classroom / Part 1: Using art at face value
Using art in the classroom
by Jamie Keddie
Part 1: Using art at face value
2. Rather than write poems, students could use their adjectives to create word clouds for the classroom wall at
www.wordle.net. For example:
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3. Another way to create adjective poems is by pairing up adjectives and adding either the word and when pairs
are complimentary, or the word yet when they are seen to be contradictory. For example:
Marc Chagall
happy and fantastical
abstract and busy
captivating and dark
haunting yet warm
melancholic and sad
sinister and eerie
disturbing and surreal
colourful and dreamy
4. This activity does not have to be limited to adjectives. Students could be asked to write words or phrases to
describe what they see in the paintings.
Other ideas for using art at face value
Picture dictation
In a picture dictation, the teacher describes an image in detail and students will draw what they hear. A picture
dictation can be done in colour or in black and white. It will often work better if you prepare a descriptive text
beforehand. For example:
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Using art in the classroom
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Part 1: Using art at face value
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There are two people in this painting – a man and a woman. They are in a
room in a house. It could be a bedroom or it could be a sitting room. It has a red
carpet and a chalk-white wall. The man is wearing black trousers and a green
jumper. The woman is wearing a black dress and she is holding a bunch of
flowers. The woman’s body is facing left and the man’s body is facing right. The
man’s feet aren’t touching the ground – he seems to be floating in the air. They
are kissing.
I prefer to describe the picture in full before allowing students to start drawing. During the listening process, you
should stop for any problematic words or structures which can be written on the board. Repeat the description
two or three times if necessary before, or during, the drawing process.
This particular painting, Marc Chagall’s Birthday, works well with this activity as it provides a logical problem that
students will engage with: How can the couple be kissing if the woman’s body is facing left and the man’s body
is facing right?
Finally, ask students to reconstruct your description beside their drawings as accurately as possible before
showing them the picture.
What do you remember?
Choose a painting for your classroom wall. The one referred to above would work well for this activity. Make no
reference to the painting unless your students decide to do so themselves.
After a week or two, remove the painting and ask students if they notice anything different about the classroom
as they enter it. Put students into pairs or small groups and ask them to remember and write down as much as
possible about it. Let pairs or groups merge and share ideas, then conduct feedback before taking the painting
back out and returning it to the wall.
Mixed gallery: Comparisons (for advanced learners)
Turn your classroom into a gallery in which a number of different artists are represented. For example, you
could choose:
• three pieces by Edvard Munch
• three pieces by Paula Rego
• three pieces by Francis Bacon
It is important that you put the paintings up on the walls randomly.
Let your students browse the gallery and ask them to decide how many artists are represented and then ask
them to rearrange the paintings by positioning artist A’s work together, artist B’s work together, artist C’s work
together, and so on. This process will ensure that students mentally identify features of the art on display.
Once this has been done, ask students to consider how they were able to complete the task. Ask each student
to write three paragraphs:
• Paragraph 1 should compare the work of artist A with the work of artist B.
• Paragraph 2 should compare the work of artist B with the work of artist C.
• Paragraph 3 should compare the work of artist A with the work of artist C.
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Using art in the classroom
by Jamie Keddie
Part 1: Using art at face value
As an alternative task, ask students to consider the work of each artist on its own merit. Ask them to choose one
artist and write a paragraph which draws attention to:
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• colour
• shape and composition
• subject matter
• symbolism
• mood
Students can then read out their paragraphs while the rest of the class decides which artist is being described in
each case.
In the next article, we will see how to make use of students’ personal tastes in art as a resource
for the language classroom.
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Using art in the classroom
by Jamie Keddie
Part 1: Using art at face value
Marc Chagall: Birthday, 1915 © Digital image (2010) The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence
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