Teamwork - Art Relating to the Lewis and Clark Expedition

William Kloefkorn

Presenter Information
Lesson Information
Pre-Lesson
Tele-Lesson
Post-Lesson
Standands & Assessment

Presenter Information

Presenter: William Kloefkorn, Nebraska State Poet

Email Address: NA

Presentation Date: March 17, 2005

Web site URL: http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/kloefkor.htm

Meet Your Presenter:

WILLIAM KLOEFKORN was named the Nebraska State Poet by proclamation of the Unicameral in 1982. He is a professor of English at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. His many collections of poetry include Alvin Turner as Farmer, Platte Valley Homestead, Uncertain the Final Run to Winter (Windflower Press), Drinking the Tin Cup Dry, Covenants, and a collection of fiction, A Time to Sink Her Pretty Little Ship. His poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Georgia Review, Poet & Critic, and elsewhere. New collections of poetry include Among the Living (Sandhills Press) Welcome to Carlos (Spoon River Press), Loup River Psalter (Spoon River). and Fielding Imaginary Grounders (Spoon River). In addition to his many publications and honors, he won first-place in the 1978 Nebraska Hog-Calling Championship. He recently retired from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. His most recent is a collection of poems narrated through the voice of a sergeant on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

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Lesson Information

Grade Level Audience
6-8
Curriculum Targets

Creative Writing

Social Science

Language Arts

Visual Arts

Lesson Description:

The Lewis and Clark Expedition marked the adventurous and historic opening of the American West. "Teamwork &endash; Art relating to the Lewis and Clark Expedition" is a vehicle to help students better understand the journey, as well as see how teamwork was not only vital to the success of this unprecedented expedition, but also equally important to their success in the world they live in. After being exposed to several diverse works of art related to or inspired by this time period, students will choose a work of art, explore the impact of teamwork as well as their personal connection to the piece, and write an original composition communicating these ideas to others.

Mr. Kloefkorn leads a lesson connecting creative writing with art. Mr. Kloefkorn will share excerpts from his book "The Travels of Lewis and Clark"

Lesson Objectives:

  • Students will explore a personal connection between their lives, the concept of teamwork and a work of art, inspired by or related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, by identifying how and why the piece speaks to them.
  • Students will organize their thoughts on this personal connection by depicting them in an original composition.
  • Students will determine the effectiveness of their composition by evaluating it with the help of their instructor.

Resources and Websites:

  • http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/kloefkor.htm Provides background information on the instructor for this course, Dr. William Kloefkorn, as well as links to his bibliography, a selection on his work, some commentary on his work, etc.
  • Kloefkorn, Dr. William. Sergeant Patrick Gass, Chief Carpenter: On the Trail with Lewis and Clark. Granite Falls, ND: Spoon River Poetry Press, 2002. &endash; A series of imaginative poems written by Dr. Kloefkorn (instructor for the webcast) based upon the actual journal entries of Sergeant Grass, as well as the entries of William Clark and Meriwether Lewis.
  • http://monet.unk.edu/mona/ After accessing, click on artists, and then look for and click on the specific artist you are searching for. After finding the specific artist's background information, click on the small works of art above the artist's name to view an enlarged example of the piece.
  • www.lewis-clark.org/ Conceived in 1993, and online since 1998, Discovering Lewis & Clark® is a hyperhistory in progress. It is enhanced by at least one new interpretive episode each month, employing a variety of multimedia techniques. It focuses on issues, values and visions relating to the Lewis & Clark Expedition, its preludes, and its aftermath up to the present time.
  • http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/ The official National Geographic site offers interactive maps, and actual journal entries from the historic expedition.

Art Exempliers: (Links for art pieces and/or artists are connected to MONA site)

Title: Funeral Scaffold of a Sioux Chief
Artist: Karl Bodmer
Media: aquatint
Plate/Date: July 1, 1839

Title: The Steamer Yellowstone
Artist: Karl Bodmer
Media: aquatint
Plate/Date: 1839 (the event itself took place on the morning of April 19, 1833)

Title: The Rocky Mountains
Artist: Albert Bierstadt
Media: steel engraving
Plate/Date: 1866

Title: Passing Cultures
Artist: John Falter
Media: tempera
Plate/Date: no date

Vocabulary:

  • aquatint : An intaglio, etching, and tonal printing process in which a porous ground allows acid to penetrate to form a network of small dots in the plate, as well as the prints made by this process. Aquatints often resemble wash drawings. Any pure whites are stopped out entirely before etching begins, then the palest tints are bitten and stopped out, and so on as in etching. This process is repeated 20 to 30 times until the darkest tones (deepest recesses in the plate) are reached.
  • engraving: the art or technique of carving or cutting into a surface
  • oil paint - Slow drying paint made when pigments are mixed with an oil, linseed oil being most traditional. The oil dries with a hard film, and the brightness of the colors is protected. Oil paints are usually opaque and traditionally used on canvas.
  • tempera: any type of binder such as oil, water, or egg that makes pigment workable as a paint form.
  • watercolor: Any paint that uses water as a medium. Paintings done with this medium are known as watercolors. When made opaque with white, watercolor is generally called gouache or bodycolor. Tempera is another exception. Watercolor is the American spelling. Watercolour is the British spelling.
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Pre-Lesson

Taught by classroom teacher prior to the webcast (may be used as a culmination for a study of The Lewis and Clark Expedition.)

  • Students need not be experts on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, but should know the basics (years that the expedition took place, reason for exploration, key players, results of the expedition) prior to starting this component of the distance education event.
  • Share background information with students on Dr. William Kloefkorn and examples of his poetry from his book, Sergeant Patrick Gass, Chief Carpenter: On the Trail with Lewis and Clark. (See Resources/Websites section).
  • Present the chosen works of art to the students (see Resources/Websites section). Other than viewing the works, share only the name of each piece, the artist, as well as discuss the medium that was used on each piece &endash; see the Vocabulary section of lesson. (Do not instruct students to do so, but some may want to search out more information on the piece/artist/time period on their own.)
  • Allow students to explore each individual work at length, and instruct them to find the piece that speaks most to them personally, the piece that they have some sort of a personal connection with, and/or the piece that exemplifies the concept of teamwork. The connection may be with the subject matter of the piece or the mood conveyed in or through the artwork, but should be center on the concept of teamwork. The only stipulation is that the student must be able to convey their connections through writing.
  • Instruct students to write an original composition describing their personal connection, as well as how the concept of teamwork is conveyed with and through their chosen piece. The composition may take the form of their choosing (poetry, a paragraph or two, or a combination), but it must focus on their connections with the work of art, not on critiquing the work or the artist's technique.

Students need to be prepared to present and receive suggestions on a rough draft of their composition from Dr. Kloefkorn on the day of the webcast.

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Tele-Lesson

Dr. Kloefkorn will present a work of art (not one that was included in the works presented to the students), as well as a composition by a famous author/writer who was inspired by the work.

Students will take turns reading their compositions to the other students involved in the webcast and Dr. Kloefkorn, who will evaluate the effectiveness of their writing and offer suggestions for improvement.

Dr. Kloefkorn will close by presenting another work of art, as well as a composition that was inspired by the work.

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Post-Lesson

Students will use the experience and the suggestions from Dr. Kloefkorn to edit and revise their composition into final draft form. The students' final drafts will be sent to ESU 10 (jstritt@esu10.org), to be posted on the website.

Allow students to view all the works of art again, this time, sharing background information on each artist (see Resources/Websites section). Also, as a class, discuss the compositions that were shared at the webcast.

Have students write a journal entry on whether or not any of the other compositions, or the artists' background information, changes or strengthens their connection with the piece they chose, or whether they are now drawn more to another piece. Also have them refer to how this entire experience has impacted them personally or as a writer, their understanding of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and their view of art and the connections that can be created through art.

Extension/Related Activities:

Art Activity Ideas

  • Activity 1
    • Create a shadow box of articles that represents the Lewis and Clark Expedition
    • Write a short descriptor for each item included.
  • Activity 2
    • Create a piece of original art inspired by, and utilizing similar techniques as, the artist/piece you most connected with.

Social Studies Ideas

  • Activity 1
    • Plan for an imaginary journey of your own to the location of your choice.
    • Locate the destination on a map (possibly use mapquest.com to print a small map of the location).
    • Draw an illustration (or cut pictures from magazines to make a collage) of the five things that you will need most on the trip.
    • Write a journal entry or two from their "journey."
    • Display the map, illustration/collage, and journal entries together for others to enjoy.
  • Activity 2
    • Work in pairs to write directions for a "journey" from one place on the school/schoolyard to another.
    • Emphasize the use of cardinal (N, S, W, E) and secondary (NW, SW, NE, SE) directions, landmarks, and distances (feet, yards, etc.).
    • Draw maps (using a map scale) of your "journey" with icons (that you have designed) showing landmarks that need to be looked for.
    • Have another group of students follow the directions, with an emphasis on teamwork.

Research Ideas

  • Activity 1
    • Research the artist or other artists from the same movement or time period. How are their works similar or different to the piece that you connected with most?

Oral Presentation Ideas

  • Activity 1
    • Choose an entry from Sergeant Patrick Gass, Chief Carpenter: On the Trail with Lewis and Clark.
    • Practice the entry of your choice.
    • Present the entry of your choice to the rest of the class, putting emphasis on the fluency of the piece.

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Assessment and Standards Connection

Assessment Option

Dr. Kloefkorn will give students suggestions on the effectiveness of their composition on the day of the webcast.

Teachers may also score their own students' final drafts using their own Write Traits or 6-Trait rubrics (there are also many rubrics found through a search of the web). Students may also self evaluate using the rubric. Ideas, Voice, and Word Choice lend themselves very well to this activity. If a rubric is to be used in scoring the completed compositions, it is suggested that students have access to the rubric prior to beginning writing.
Nebraska L.E.A.R.N.S. that apply to this lesson

Nebraska Reading/Writing Standards:

  • 8.1.7/12.1.8 &endash; Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze literary works, nonfiction, films, and media.
  • 8/12.2.1 &endash; Students will write using standard English (conventions) for sentence structure, usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.
  • 4/8/12.2.2 - Students will write compositions with a clear focus, logically related ideas, and adequate supporting detail.
  • 8/12.2.3 &endash; Students will revise and edit descriptive (persuasive) compositions.
  • 4/8/12.2.4 - Students will use a variety of forms to write for different audiences and purposes.

National Visual Arts Standards:

  • Understanding the visual arts in relation to culture and history.
  • Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.
  • Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines

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