M2S: Looking at Young People in Art

The Haggin Museum
Museum2Schools Art:
Looking at Young People in Art

Who: 6th grade students What: One hour workshop Where: Your classroom

Trained museum Docents will come to your classroom to present the lesson. Students practice skills of artistic perception and aesthetic valuing by looking at images from a variety of cultures and times. They also create an expressive piece of art.

Docents will:
• Introduce the theme of Young People: Family, Friends and Feelings using images of paintings from the Haggin Collection and other museums. Docents lead an interactive discussion looking at art elements and principles of design as the building blocks of meaning
• Provide the opportunity to practice art-specific vocabulary and develop critical thinking to support their interpretations
• Lead students in an expressive self-portrait project using simple materials

Classroom requirement: white board or screen, darkened room, 8.5 x 11” white paper, colored pencils or markers. To arrange for a Museum2Schools Art program at your school, call the Curator of Education at (209) 940-6315 at least three weeks in advance of your desired program date. Teachers are to remain present in the classroom during the presentation and are encouraged to participate.


Looking at Young People in Art was developed by the Haggin Museum Curator of Education and Museum Docents using the following California State Content Standards for the Visual Arts for Grade 6:

1.0 Artistic Perception
Students perceive and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations.
Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary
1.1 Identify and describe all the elements of art found in selected works of art (e.g. color, shape/form, line, texture, space, value).
1.3 Describe how artists can show the same theme by using different media and styles
Analyze Art Elements and Principles of Design
1.4 Describe how design principles are effectively used in a work of art

2.0 Creative Expression
Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art
Communication and Expression Through Original Works of Art
2.4 Create increasingly complex original works of art reflecting personal choices and increased technical skill.

3.0 Historical and Cultural Context
Students analyze the role and development of the visual arts in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting human diversity as it relates to the visual arts and artists.
Role and Development of the Visual Arts
3.2 View selected works from a culture and describe how they have changed or not changed in theme and content over a period of time

4.0 Aesthetic Valuing
Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.
Derive meaning
4.1 Construct and describe plausible interpretations of what they perceive in works of art