by Jon Stern

New Paltz Central School District

New York

Unit Objectives
Expand knowledge in Aboriginal culture and art.
Describe the way of life for an Aboriginal person.
Express personal stories as Aboriginal artwork.
Use symbols, lines, and dots to create a visual story.
Describe sights, sounds, and smells around us.

Do any 5 C activities, 3 B activities, and 1 A activity
Day One
All Students
Watch the video “Australian Dreaming” and write down 5 interesting things that you learned. (C)

Students choose two
1.    Look at the page of symbols and think about why they were used to represent each item.  Explain a few of them to the teacher. (C)
2.    Invent 10 of your own symbols for important things in your life. (B)
3.    Create flashcards that show drawings for each of these words: dreaming, ancestor, sights, sounds, smells, dot, line, symbol (C)

Day Two
All Students
Listen to an Aboriginal story and look at examples of Aboriginal art. (C)

Students choose one
1.    Write about the story that you believe the artist of one of the drawings was trying to tell. (B)
2.    Think about a scene from the story that was read.  Draw how you believe the Aboriginal people dressed and what their surroundings were like. (B)

Day Three
All Students
Take a brief walk around the inside and outside of school without any talking, paying close attention to the sights, sounds, and smells experienced. (C)

Students choose one
1.    Write words describing sights, sounds, and smells from the walk. (C)
2.    Create symbols that represent the sights, sounds, and smells from the walk. (B)

Students choose one to do at home
1.    Write a story about an imaginary journey.  Be sure to include a detailed description of the sights, sounds, and smells in the story. (B)
2.    Ask one of your ancestors about a journey they took.  Ask them to describe the sights, sounds, and smells from their journey.  You may record your conversation, write about your conversation, or describe your conversation to the teacher. (B)

Day Four
Students choose one
1.    Draw an imaginary journey on paper.  Use symbols to represent sights, sounds, and smells.  Use the stamped painted dots to follow lines. (A)
2.    Use the PC Paint program to create an Aboriginal style artwork based on your imaginary journey or your ancestor’s journey. (A)
3.    Create an x-ray style scratchboard relief print of an animal. (A)

For any of the A assignments be ready to answer these questions when you talk to the teacher:
-What does my artwork show?
-What do I like about my work?
-What would I do differently next time?
-What do others have to say about my work?