Elementary School Unit (Grade 5)

This unit was created with Arizona Arts Education Research Institute funds and includes specific theater and dance performances that were available at the time, but videos of similar performances can easily be substituted. The unit was team-taught by the classroom teacher, the school's music teacher, and visiting teacher/artists in dance, theater and the visual arts from ASU. We intend the whole unit or separate lessons for use by specialists or classroom teachers.

Possible Standards met:

Language Arts: Students will:

• analyze and compare and contrast the elements, structure, and cultural context of art works
• use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, along with varied sentence structure and paragraph organization, to complete effectively a variety of writing tasks
• use own words to develop ideas accurately and clearly with supporting details, facts, examples or descriptions
• use personal interpretation, analysis, evaluation or reflection to evidence understanding of the subject

The Arts: Students will:

• use the process of description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation as a means to interrogate an art form
• using appropriate terminology, compare art works--use of symbols, elements, materials and themes from different periods or styles

Theater Arts: Students will:

• use their bodies expressively to communicate meaning
• choose characters appropriate to the environment and problem
• play out characters' wants by interacting with others in a scene, maintaining concentration, and contributing to the forward movement of the event being performed

Visual Arts: Students will experiment with wire sculpture to communicate a caricature of a person

Music: Students will:

• improvise simple harmonic accompaniments and melodies
• analyze the uses of dynamics, pitch, duration, melodic contour, timbre, and tempo in aural examples representing diverse genres and cultures
• discuss diverse functions which music serves

Dance: Students will:

• demonstrate understanding of the dance elements
• develop increasingly more sophisticated personal, social, and physical skills to create dances and communicate intended ideas
• improvise dance movements in the classroom demonstrating increasing levels of confidence and communication
• create short dances
• evaluate their work and the work of others using the inquiry system of description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation

Assessment: Social Studies: Compare actions and motivations of characters caught in unjust situations (e.g. slavery for Harriet Tubman and deportation for a young Mexican/American boy) from a dance and drama with the actions and motivations of self and acquaintances dealing with injustice

DAY ONE PRETEST

Activity: Have the students write an essay comparing and contrasting two pieces of sculpture, one realistic, the other more abstract.
Then have the students write a second essay comparing the more abstract piece of sculpture to an excerpt from a movie. (We used 1) a 3D realistic sculpture of a cat and 2) a wire sculpture, by Mary Stokrocki, of a horse rearing on its hind legs and (see the two images in this unit) 3) a scene from Robert Redford's HORSE WHISPERER in which Tom Booker's family and Grace and her mother watch the Horse Whisperer confront Pilgrim, the horse, in the pasture.)

Our Lesson Plans to the students were: A) Carefully look at the two sculptures on the table. Then write comparing and contrasting the two, considering the subject, the art elements included, the principles of construction and the meaning you make of the pieces by:

1. describing what you see in each
2. then comparing and contrasting the two. Tell how they are similar and different.

B) Please look at the wire piece on the table. Then please watch the scene from the video of HORSE WHISPERER. (Before this scene, the girl, Grace, and her horse, Pilgrim were seriously hurt in an accident. Grace's best friend died. Grace lost part of her right leg. Pilgrim had major cuts and bruises and has not allowed anyone to work with him since. Grace's mother, Annie McClean, has taken Grace and Pilgrim from New York to Montana to see if Tom Booker, a horse whisperer, can cure Pilgrim--and if Pilgrim's recovery will help Grace recover from the loss of her leg and the death of her best friend. During this scene, the young boy and the others watching are Tom Booker's family.)

After you've looked at the video, please think about the how the wire sculpture and the video are the same and different. Now write comparing and contrasting the sculpture and the video. Consider the relationship of the art elements in the wire sculpture and the drama elements in the movie, the style of each and the meaning you make of the two works of art. Write:

1. describing what you see in the sculpture and what you see in the video
2. then by comparing and contrasting the sculpture with the scene from the video. Tell how the two are similar and how they are different.

(See post test for scoring suggestions.)

The teachers kept the tests until they were corrected at the end of the unit and then both the pre and post tests were returned to the students for inclusion in their portfolios.

DAY TWO

Review "compare and contrast," introduce art criticism, and create living statues

Indicators of Achievement: Students will:

• use the process of description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation as a means to interrogate an art form
• demonstrate the ability to use complementary shapes and interesting use of space in the creation of living statues
• analyze, compare and contrast the visual arts elements and meanings of their living statues
• use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, along with varied sentence structure to complete effectively a writing task

Materials:

• a notebook for each student
  
• notebook inclusions:
        a copy of a compare/contrast diagram (see end of lesson)
        a vocabulary page to be completed
        a Visual Arts Criticism form
  
• Duane Hanson super realism sculpture images
        http://museum.oglethorpe.edu/Hanson.html (8 images)
        http://www.lowemuseum.org/82.0024.html (football player)
  
• a camera and film for pictures of student "statues"

Vocabulary:

• statue - a three dimensional form with length, width and thickness
• symbol - something that represents something else, a visible object that suggests hidden meaning
• realistic art - life-like, detailed
• abstract art - simplified, reduced to lowest terms of lines, shapes and primary colors; stylized but the "things" in the art work are still recognizable

Preparation: Review compare and contrast with the students. Give them the notebooks, pointing out the compare/contrast diagram.
Introduce the new unit that will have them creating drama, dance, music and art as well as attending arts performances and comparing and contrasting the experiences.

Share Duane Hanson images with the students. Choose one that includes "props" that gives clues about the statue, e.g. the football helmet for the football player. Have the students describe and analyze what they see (use questions from the Visual Arts Criticism form). Discuss the pose of the statue. Discuss symbol and what symbols Hanson has included to tell us about the character of the statue. Discuss the students' interpretation of the piece, how they feel about the kind of person the statue portrays, etc.. Discuss realism and why these statues are realistic.

Activity: Tell the students that they will now get to create their own living statues. (If possible move to an area that will give the students room for movement. If not have them find space within the classroom that will allow some movement without disturbing the desks and equipment.)
Lead the students through a stretching exercise. (See the "Wiggle and Shake" and "Stretch" exercises in the dance lessons that follow the theater unit for very good ideas.) Have them shake out and freeze into a statue of themselves doing an activity that represents them. Have students select an object from the classroom and create a second statue of themselves. Discuss how the object became a symbol of their typical activity or interests.
Divide the class into pairs. (There can be one group of three, if need be.) Have one partner shake and freeze into a pose. Have the second partner create a shape that closely interacts with that shape (without touching). Have students note the interesting shapes created. They are molding space as a sculptor does. Repeat the exercise with the partners changing places.

Discuss what "freedom" means to them; ask the whole group to move freely, to shake and freeze into a pose symbolizing freedom. Have the students form groups of four (one group of three or five is perfectly fine). Have each group create a group statue symbolizing freedom. With the other students relaxed, have them look at the statues one at a time, commenting on the lines and shapes that suggest freedom. Photograph the statues. Discuss with the group the differences between these poses and the more realistic poses they started with when they created a statue of themselves doing an activity. The freedom poses are "abstract" rather than "realistic."

Next discuss with the group "oppression." Discuss how it is different than "freedom." Have the groups create a statue that symbolizes oppression. Photograph the statues. Share the poses with the group. Have them describe what they see.

Put the compare and contrast diagram on the blackboard and complete with student responses to the similarities and differences they see between the "freedom" and "oppression" statues they created. Help them to use visual arts vocabulary-- line and shape, positive and negative space, symmetrical and asymmetrical, as well as noting facial expression, etc.. Reflect on the meaning each had for them.

Download Compare and Contrast Diagram .pdf (Requires Acrobat Reader)

DAY THREE

Achievement Indicator: The students will analyze, compare and contrast the visual arts elements and meanings of their living statues

Materials:

• a portfolio page headed LIVING STATUES

Distribute the photographs to the students so that each student has a picture of the two statues he was a part of.

Assessment: Have the students mount the pictures on the top of the portfolio page and have them complete the following:

Comment on your work for the two:

• Describe the similarities and differences in the lines and shapes and facial expressions you and your group created
• Analyze your choices--why you and your team chose those positions
• Interpret the meaning the statues have for you (the feelings you have); what are the similarities and differences in the meanings of the two statues?
• Evaluate your work; if you were to do it again, what would you keep, what would you change? Why?
• Write in complete sentences; check your spelling and punctuation.

The classroom teacher read the work, commenting on the writing. Students then edited their responses.

Lesson by Lin Wright, ASU Department of Theater, and Darlene Johnson, Broadmor School, Tempe, AZ

DAY FOUR

Calder wire sculpture (abstract gesture)

A Calder show was at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts and the students attended the show after this lesson.

Indicators of Achievement: Students will:

• compare and contrast Calder's wire sculpture with a flat drawing of the same thing and with a realistic sculpture of an animal
• compare and contrast with Hanson's sculpture
• discuss abstract elements in Calder's Horse. These elements include contour line and movement.
• express themselves personally by creating an abstract figure in wire
• evaluate their own sculpture for evidence of movement, details that suggest a role (who the statue represents and what they are doing)

Students learn:

• that people make sculptures to capture feeling, motion, and things they value
• how to use simple line in space to communicate an idea
• how to shape and fasten wire sculpture
• why artists make abstract sculptures to communicate ideas

Materials:

• a copy of Art Criticism for each notebook
• examples of Calder's wire sculptures from CALDER'S CIRCUS, or check on www.nga.gov/exhibitions/calder/realsp/roomenter- foyer.htm for images and text from this Calder retrospective. (See the wire horse image Dr. Stokrocki constructed for the art criticism portion of the lesson.)
• 1 piece of 24" wire (hook-up wire, 18awg, 3 colors, 15' rolls @ $4.49 + tax. Teacher must precut wire.) from Radio Shack, or use coated telephone wire or long pipe cleaners
• 3 precut 1" square, corrugated cardboard pieces, and a 3x4" square for a base for each student
• wire cutter, staple gun, strong scissors, assorted felt scraps
• tags to title the creations, markers, white glue, stapler

Vocabulary:

sculpture: Mold, an additive method, to shape (push or pull) by hand or to model as in clay or wax

Model, Calder used wire to build up the form.

Cast, a form made in wet clay then covered with plaster to make a mold; the clay is scooped out and the mold is then filled with metal

Carving, a subtractive method as in wood carving

• in-the-round: Sculpture is exciting to look at from all sides
• concave: Recessed like a cave or convex, pushed out like a bump
• negative space: Space that is background, a dent or hole, a see through
• symmetrical:Equal on both sides--like scales or
• asymmetrical:With balance unequal and needs a counterweight to stop the object from falling over
• form:A line in space that touches itself; organic (free form) or geometric (definite math form)
• abstract:To simplify into basic shapes and colors
• movement:To animate, show action (the arms and legs of the wire sculpture should show action)

Preparation: (10 minutes) Direct the students to describe, analyze, and interpret a wire sculpture of an animal. (I used the horse I created, but images can be used as well.) Compare this more abstract wire sculpture with one that is more realistic. (I had found a cast cat.) Explain about Calder as a young artist. Share other examples of Calder's wire sculpture.

Have the students stand and do a quick series of stretches. Have the students shake and freeze into a statue that shows movement. Direct the students attention to those who have used their arms, legs and torso to show movement. Discuss who the statues might be. Have the students shake and freeze into a statue of a specific person in motion. Have volunteers share who they are.

Activity: (45 minutes) Distribute paper and pencils. Have the students sketch someone in motion.

Next lead the students through the process of making a figure with wire. Distribute the materials.

• Take a single 16" color wire and divide it in half.
• Pull it through a 1" piece of corrugated cardboard. Put each leg of the wire through adjacent parts of the inside zig-zag material. This will be the head.
• Twist the wire at the bottom of the cardboard square for the neck
• Pull out an arm on one side and double over; pull the remaining wire through the next 1" cardboard square to make the chest area; do the same on the other side.
• Twist the wires below the chest area for the waist.
• Pull the wires through the last 1" cardboard piece and pull out two legs.
• Double back and twist the wire for feet and around the legs for strength.
• Add a face, hair, and felt clothes.
• Give the statue/person movement.
• Staple to a strong cardboard base. Title with the label.
• Pose the figure with two others to make a scene or communicate meaning.
• Photograph the statue groups.
  

Self Evaluation: (5 minutes) Students reflect on their art making by explaining what figure in motion they made, who the figure is and what he or she is doing. Have them list the materials they used (technical features) and the process they used. Have them identify positive and negative spaces their statue creates. Have them explain how their statue is abstract, a simplification of the 3D person. Have them explain what problems they solved and what they might do differently if they were to make the wire sculpture again.

DAY FIVE

Assessment: Next day give each student a copy of the photo of his wire sculpture. Have the students paste the photo into their notebook and complete the following.

Write an essay on your work.

• Describe what you see--the sculpture technique you used; the kind of line, shape, texture, color in your sculpture
• Analyze your choices--the kind of balance (symmetry or asymmetry), the kind of motion you used, whether your work is abstract or realistic
• Interpret the meaning of the sculpture for you--feelings, symbols
• Evaluate--if you were to do it again, what would you keep, what would you change
• Write in complete sentences. Be certain that you have an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph. Use examples to support your ideas. Check your spelling and punctuation.

(The classroom teacher had the students work with a partner to edit their essays.)

Lesson by Mary Stokrocki, Art School, ASU

As part of a similar unit, Jacqueline Andes at Gila Bend Elementary School had her students create a Cat Mobile. The students looked at Calder mobiles and discussed balancing points. Then they cut out a cat head, body and tail and attached them with thread to wires to create mobiles.

DAY SIX SISTER MOSES

Next students were prepared to see SISTER MOSES by Desert Dance. In addition to discussing the elements of dance and dance criticism (see Dance Criticism), they saw the PBS documentary of Harriet Tubman. When they returned from the dance concert they discussed the performance and then wrote in their notebooks, comparing the documentary with the dance using the following instructions.

Compare and contrast the documentary "Harriet Tubman" with the dance "Sister Moses."

The documentary was created to deliver information about Harriet Tubman. Why was the dance created? (Consider what you were thinking and feeling after seeing the documentary; what you were feeling and thinking after seeing the dance.)

How did the choreographer (the person who created the dance and taught it to the dancers), the dancers, the costume designer and the music composer create feelings for the audience?

How was this dance similar to and different from the documentary?

Write in complete sentences. Be certain that you have an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph. Use examples to support your ideas. Check your spelling and punctuation.

Include your essay in your portfolio.

Lessons by Lin Wright, Theater Department, ASU and Darlene Johnson, fifth grade teacher at Broadmor School, Tempe, AZ

DAY SEVEN

Music Achievement Indicator: Students will explore African American Spirituals and how they relate to the Harriet Tubman story

Materials:

• Fifth Grade music book and CDs, SHARE THE MUSIC, MacMillan, McGraw-Hill

Activity: Listen to "Go Down Moses" (p.145) and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (p. 162) note the verse and refrain and the group solo. Read the text about a better life in heaven.
Read the brief history of Harriet Tubman (p.144)
Listen to "This Train" (p. 58), one of the many spirituals that was used as a work song. Have the students note the strong beat and discuss why it was used. Also note that the music is optimistic and up-lifting.
Listen to "Over My Head" (G-A-B) (p. 15), "Good News" (G-A- B) (p.340) and "Roll De Ole Chariot Along" (F-G-A) (p.341). Ask the students, "Each uses just three pitches. How are they the same? Different? and How do they show emotional expression?"

Assessment: Discuss how the African American Spirituals compare with the recently studied Mozart, Handel and Tchaikowsky.

Lesson by Bev Hamilton, music specialist at Broadmor School, Tempe, AZ

DAY EIGHT DRAMA DEALS WITH THEMES

Indicators of Achievement: Students will:

• create a drama based on the theme of injustice
• select appropriate characters, environment and action to communicate the theme
• play out characters' wants by interacting with others in a scene, maintaining concentration, and contributing to the forward movement of the event being performed

Materials:

• a copy of Theater Roles for each student

Vocabulary:

• characters - the people in the play
• environment - everything that creates where the play takes place
• action/problem - the story of the play, based on the problem the characters must solve
• actor's tools
  thought
  voice
  body/movement
• concentration - actors being deeply involved in the drama
• interaction - actors listening, watching and responding to their fellow actors in a scene

Preparation: Discuss how the Harriet Tubman documentary compared with the dance. Discuss how art simplifies real life by selecting special moments to focus on and by selecting symbols to represent emotional meanings. Discuss how the props and costumes in the dance heightened the meaning of the dance.

Discuss the injustices Harriet Tubman endured and her triumphs; discuss injustices for other "immigrants" in the United States. Discuss injustices in daily life.

Activity: Do a warmup of stretching and deep breathing. (See the "Wiggle and Shake" and "Stretch" exercises in the dance lessons that follow the theater unit for very good ideas.)

Initiate a dialogue with the leader in role and with several students to illustrate a daily injustice. Discuss what could be done to remedy the injustice.

Distribute theater vocabulary and discuss playwright's choice of character, problem, environment; actor's use of thought, voice and movement.
Divide the class into small groups. Have each group choose characters and a problem that will illustrate an injustice and a solution. Have volunteers share their scenes. Discuss content and communication, e.g. what characters, problems and solutions were believable; when was the actors' concentration complete, and when they could be heard, etc..

DAY NINE

Materials:

• copies for all students of a poem that reflects the theme of their work on "injustice/prejudice." (I chose phrases from Langston Hughes' TOO BLUE.)

Activity: Start with stretching exercises and deep breathing plus a quick diction exercise.
Introduce choral reading. Help the students practice reading the poem, giving some lines to individuals, a few lines to the whole group.
Next, plan with the students how to introduce their "drama" with the first lines of the poem, and then present the improvisations they created the day before, with lines of the poem between some of the scenes.
Introduce the concept of concentration and actor interaction. Help the students rehearse the work. Video tape and have the students watch to see when their "story" was communicated, when they concentrated and listened to their fellow actors. Discuss any changes they would like to make in their drama.
Rehearse the whole one more time; then video tape their piece.

DAY TEN

Theater Standard: Students will use the process of description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation as a means to interrogate an art form

Language Arts Standards: Students will:

• use own words to develop ideas accurately and clearly with supporting details, facts, examples or descriptions
• use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, along with varied sentence structure and paragraph organization, to complete effectively an essay
• use personal interpretation, analysis, evaluation or reflection to evidence understanding of the subject

Materials:

• a critique form for each student to guide the evaluation of their classroom drama

Assessment: Show the students the video tape. Have them write a short critique of their work.

Vocabulary:

• symbol - something that represents something else, a visible object that suggests hidden meanings
• horizontal drama - the play follows the expected use of time, with the story moving logically from beginning to end
• vertical drama - having scenes from different times and places following one another, but linked by the idea of the piece. This is like our thoughts that flit from one idea to another. The play piles scenes based on the theme one on top of the other.

Preparation: for attendance at Childsplay's THE HIGHEST HEAVEN. This is a play about a young Mexican boy, Huracan, and his protector, El Negro, dealing with the injustice of the American society of the 30s that deported Mexican/American citizens to Mexico because of lack of jobs. This play is full of symbolism, flashbacks, scenes based on the characters' thoughts. To prepare the students for this non-linear drama the students were reminded about the THEATRE ROLES form. The role of the audience was discussed.

Next we discussed "horizontal" story dramas using examples from their favorite tv dramas. Then we discussed their drama about injustice which did not have a time-line that followed one action. The idea of "vertical" action was introduced and related to their drama about injustice where the theme remained constant, but it was communicated through many mini-stories. The word "symbol" was put on the board and the students were reminded this was a word that we used when we first started and were doing visual arts. The meaning was discussed. The students were told that the play they were to see the next day had much symbolism in the stage design and in the dialogue of the play. They were told to think about what the butterflies meant and the suitcase that El Negro, the black man, carried. The plot of the play was quickly summarized.

DAY ELEVEN

Attend a PLAY or see a MOVIE about "injustice." It would be interesting if a movie were available that challenged the students to decipher symbols and deal with a vertical plot.

DAY TWELVE

Materials:

• a copy of Theater Criticism for each notebook

Assessment: Orally critique the play or movie. Compare and contrast with the dance that had a similar theme.

Lessons by Lin Wright, Theater Department, ASU and Darlene Johnson, fifth grade teacher at Broadmor School, Tempe, AZ

Extension: The teacher used the butterflies from the play, HIGHEST HEAVEN as a motivation to do a science lesson on butterflies.

DAY THIRTEEN POST TEST

The students were asked to compare and contrast two paintings with a similar subject and then to compare the more abstract of the paintings to a scene from a movie. Our Lesson Planss were:

A. Carefully look at the two paintings, the one by Claude Monet and the other by Wassily Kandinski. (We used an early Monet work from the Argenteuil "Boat" series. One of the images at www.intermonet.com/oeuvre/bateaux.htm would work. For the abstract work we used "Improvisation 31 [Kandinski and Sea Battle]. It can be found at http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/psearch )

Then write an essay comparing and contrasting the two:

1. by describing what you see in each, and
   
2. then by comparing and contrasting the two. Tell how they are similar and how they are different, considering the subject, the art elements included, the principles of construction, and the meaning you make of the pieces. Be certain you have an introductory and concluding paragraph. Write in complete sentences. Check your spelling and punctuation.

B. Please look again at the picture by Kandinsky. Then please watch the scene from the video tape of Mutiny on the Bounty. (We used the Marlon Brando version, the scene when the captain finally decides to turn the ship around when they can't get around Cape Horn. Before this scene, the Captain has been very cruel to his men as he has tried to take the ship around Cape Horn--an almost impossible way to reach the Pacific Islands from England. Saving time was his reason for risking the men's lives. Two men have been killed so far.)

After you've looked at the video, please think about how the Kandinsky picture and video are the same and different.

Now write an essay comparing and contrasting the picture with the video:

1. by describing what you see in the picture and what you saw in the video
   
2. then by comparing and contrasting the picture and the scene from the video. Tell how the two are similar and how they are different. Consider the relationship of the art elements in the painting to the drama elements in the movie, the style of each and the meaning they have for you.

POSSIBLE SCORING SCHEME FOR FIFTH GRADE ESSAYS

The students were given points for:

Description of the works for:

Visual Arts
1) subject matter (1-2 points for each work of art) (1 point) for listing, e.g. a cat, a horse (1 point) for listing a characteristic about the object, e.g. a horse that is rearing up, a cat that is laying down

2) art elements (1-5 points for each work of art), (1 point) for each element listed and described e.g. curvy lines, organic or geometric lines, rough texture, red color, circle shapes, concave or convex shapes, positive or negative space

3) principles of design, (1-3 points for each principle described for each work of art) e.g. symmetrical/asymmetrical balance, proportion, pattern

4) materials (1 point for each work of art) use of materials, e.g. brush strokes

5) style (1 point for each work of art) realistic or abstract

6) symbols (1 point for each work of art) labeling the sculpture or something in the painting as a symbol, (2 points for each work of art) if the symbol is explained, e.g. the horse is a symbol for freedom, he is rearing up in an effort to escape; the red color (in the Kandinsky painting) symbolizes war and anger

7) meaning/interpretation (1 point for each work of art) a labeling of an emotive quality for the work (2 additional points) if the painting is given a theme, e.g. the horse could represent our efforts to seek freedom

Theater
1) story/action/problem (1-2 points) with more credit for the more complete descriptions

2) characters (1 point) for each character listed, an additional point if include explanations of the characters and listing of their emotions and/or motivations (Pilgrim, the horse, was considered a character)

3) environment/setting (1 point for labeling) in a pasture, on a boat (1 additional point) for a description of the setting

4) listing of genre (1 point) e.g.film

5) style (1 point) e.g. realistic

6) symbols (2 points for each item listed and labeled) labeling any item of clothing or the setting as a symbol, e.g. the dark sky and ocean are a symbol for the anger and hatred between the captain and his men

7) meaning/interpretation, (2 points) for a simple statement of theme, e.g. This is a story about Grace learning to face her problems. (3 points) if the theme is elaborated, e.g. As Grace watches Pilgrim overcome his fear, she begins to realize that she can still have a full life even if she has a wooden leg (4 points) if the theme is related to the broader world and/or the viewer, e.g. This is a story about facing problems and learning to overcome them; or this is a story about facing problems and learning to overcome them, just as I am. . .

Comparison
received credit for pointing out similarities/ differences in: 1) subject matter (2 points) e.g. both are animals, but one was a horse, the other a cat; both paintings include ships and water; the movie and the painting include ships in a bad situation

2) art elements (2 points for each element compared) both the Monet and Kandinsky have a lot of blue (2 additional points if the comparison includes detail) e.g. the soft blue color in the Monet contrasts with the bright reds, blues and yellows in the Kandinsky; the lighting and colors in the film are dark and frightening, the Kandinsky is bright and frightening in a different way

3) composition/arrangement (2 points) e.g. horse is asymmetrical and the cat is symmetrical

4) materials used (2 points) e.g. one is a film, the other oil paint on canvas

5) meaning (4 points) The wire horse sculpture made me happy; Pilgrim in the movie made me sad. The Kandinsky painting looks like a battle at sea; the film has the sailors battling the captain. They both look angry to me.

Writing Skills
1) punctuation, spelling (4 points, deduct points for errors)

2) sentence structure (2 points) if only simple sentences but no sentence errors (4 points) if written in complete sentences and includes some complex/compound sentences

3) use of an opening (1 point) and closing paragraph (1 point)

4) logical organization of the paper (2 points)

5) use of examples to support ideas (1 point for each example)