Editorial Cartoons - A Blend of literacy, art and humor
I was thrilled today with the Advanced Placement Studio class lesson. Over the past years, I have had my students participate in the Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartoon contest, but this year I have bumped it up. Usually I focus on the design aspect of the cartoon in class, but as I have been working on incorporating literacy and specifically visual literacy into the heart of the curriculum it has changed this year.
I worked closely with the English department chair and some of the senior teachers to take a good art production lesson and make into a great lesson. The integration of the higher order thinking questions developed by the senior teachers and the addition of a multimedia presentation provided to me by the chair added a fresh perspective to an old lesson. The students found the additional rigor in questioning pushed their thinking as well as their editorial cartoons. (I will attach pictures later.) I also found that the collaboration with the English department pushed my thinking; again, I find collaboration a key to teaching old dog new tricks.
The focus of my work the past two years is looking for new and exciting ways to incorporate the analysis of visuals (as this is a component in all four parts of the TAKS test). This editorial cartoon lesson illustrates collaborating with others (English Department), pulling in additional resources and theory, and reflecting on my practice to make me a better teacher for my students.