Crafting Urban Stories Through Mixed Media

Gloria Brinkman, Visual Arts, North Mecklenburg High School

Final Unit (PDF)      Implementing Common Core Standards (PDF)

200 Word Synopsis

In this unit adolescent students will consider that social and cultural influences on their identity are formed by their physical surroundings, in particular, the places where their youthful, formative years are spent. Authentic places in our world of experience while growing up are full of story, color, life and memory imbibed with cultural identity that defines who we become. Through the provocations of literary selections in this unit from Hispanic and African American writers on the theme of growing up students will find inspiration for creative expression in art and writing.
Students will enter the unit topic through the reading of select literary passages about growing up in Hispanic and in African American urban cultures. Through creative expression of their stories, students will grow in awareness of the way lived experience contributes to the culture of the classroom. An important goal of the unit will be that students gain confidence and skill in their ability to make connections between literature and visual expression. This unit provides students a literary entry point through which to investigate their own culturally rich heritage while providing for meaningful creative expression of their story growing their understandings of art and literature in their own lives.