Blog #10

                                   La Soupe, Picasso


The Gourmet, Picasso


How was the experience different from the traditional VTS discussion of one image for you? For your students?

 By placing two images side by side, I knew I would be leading the students to compare and link, so I had to try to guess what connections they would make before I chose the art-making lesson. My students hesitated briefly in choosing which picture to address; a few addressed both in connection to each other.

What positive or negative challenges did the “side by side” image approach create for you? For your students?

The negative aspect for me was knowing that I was setting up the students to make certain connections, that maybe in the guiding I was somehow being manipulative.  I don’t know if they could figure out that these are two works only related by artist; that the artist did not intend a narrative between the two images. Six year olds see images mostly in a narrative sequence, and this mind set might guide or limit their comparisons/contrasts.

Another challenge for me was to find good but simple images that could be read and compared within the 10 minutes I have to discuss with them before they get unmanageable. Even though they can VTS a more complex image singly, I was looking for images that would be accessible for first time kindergarten VTS students because they were being compared side by side.

I notice some of the students paused briefly before they spoke, as if they were deciding which image to talk about. I would mark this as a positive because I could sense that they were thinking and making decisions. Some students who accepted a narrative link between the two images had to come up with justifications for the discrepancies between the two images. There was a lot of narrative built around behinds the scenes actions.

Did the compare contrast strategy enrich instruction/learning in any way?

The duplication of a girl using a bowl reinforced the concept of a child their age using a bowl. Which lent it self to the art-making activity.

Would you use this compare/contrast strategy in the future? If so, what purpose might it serve? What alterations in the environment or instructional approach would be required to make it successful?

 If the purpose of a unit was to have this age group construct narrative to achieve meaning, I would compare/contrast images again. I could see this strategy being used with older students to transition from one artist to another in a unit that explored a big idea. The VTS questions have to be tweaked to make such a comparison successful. “What is going on in these pictures?” Also, additional questioning that prompts comparisons if the students do not do so naturally.

Are there any cautions you might offer your classmates?

The placement of two images guides and limits the students in making meaning.