TPACK for Virtual Tour

3rd Grade Visual Arts Core Curriculum: Standard 1, Objective 1
a. Explain possible meanings or interpretations of some significant works of art.
b. Invent possible stories that may explain what is going on in these same works of art.

The content I'll be covering in my virtual tour will be analyzing art and trying to figure out the meanings of various works of art. In order to do this, we will focus on 4 famous European works of art. The students will read background information on each of the artists who painted these works. Then, they will look at each of the paintings and try to find meaning in them. They will try to come up with possible stories of what might be going on in the images.

The pedagogy I'll be using in the virtual tour will include knowing how to word the explanations of the backgrounds of the artists in such a way that the children will be able to easily read them and understand the meaning. Also, I will need to know how to organize the activity in such a way that it is easy for the children to complete. I will help the children as they work through the activity and be available to answer questions as they go along. Also, I will discuss the paintings and painters with them throughout the activity in order to scaffold their learning and make it more meaningful.

The technology I will be using in the virtual tour is Google Earth. This fits well with the pedagogy and content for this activity because Google Earth will provide the children with a great way to really visualize where these paintings were painted. Also, it will help them to recognize that these painters grew up in completely different cultures and had very different backgrounds than they have had. Therefore, they will need to really think about the perspectives of the painters when they analyze the paintings. As the children use Google Earth, I will be able to increase their learning by asking them questions and guiding their learning. This technology will work very well with the pedagogy and content of this lesson.