Mayor for a Day Election Poster
SCHOOL PROGRAM LESSON PLAN – Grades 4-6
Mayor for a Day Election Poster
Final Project Description:
A poster made from torn, multicoloured tape. A self portrait consisting of face and shoulders will be made from tape as an alternative drawing material. A speech bubble will be cut and pasted to the poster’s top corner with a campaign slogan written in marker, sharpie and pencil crayon.
Description:
Students will make graphic, colourful posters of themselves with a mayoral campaign slogan attached. They will consider themselves as chief decision makers and make up a slogan promoting something they think is important that they would implement if they were the Mayor of Kamloops. Buttons with their slogan (or one word that encapsulates their slogan idea) can be made with the button maker to be pinned to the shoulders/shirts of their drawings (through the paper, if they finish early).
Theory:
Students will (taken from the BC Curriculum PLOs):
-create images that show the use of contrast (short and long lines, warm and cool colours)
-use a range of processes to create images
-describe a variety of reasons why people make and use visual arts (in this case, for promotion of ideas and ideals that could benefit society)
-identify distinctive styles of visual images from various historical, cultural and social contexts (protest and political art)
-interpret their response to artworks or exhibitions
Creation & Analysis:
Show students examples of political poster art from the Occuprint website: http://occuprint.org/ to get ideas about political statement and design elements used in posters. Contrast this with examples of campaign posters, especially the Obama posters, which were replicated a lot and featured single, declarative words. Explain what mayors are responsible for and the kinds of decisions they make
“A mayor is an elected person who serves as the head of a city’s government. He or she has many responsibilities and follows a goal of making that city a great place for its residents to live. Mayors decide how to spend money on local programs, construction projects, parks, city streets, and other things. At city council meetings, where local officers discuss current and upcoming plans for their areas, the mayor listens to everything and has the power to vote on which plans should be put into practice. A mayor is also responsible for making sure that city services, such as the fire department and police department, work well and are helping everyone who needs assistance.”
Have students brainstorm the kinds of things they would advocate if they were the Mayor of Kamloops. What is important for this area? For your family? School? Community? What kinds of services need improving? Explain that we’re using tape to make lines that can be built up to create texture and a different way to draw with an unexpected material. Explain how to lay down tape in smaller pieces to make curves and create ways to layer and use tape. Oil pastels can be used to finish works and/or add color and detail to the negative space of the paper.
Duration:
45 minutes in the studio – 5 mins brainstorming, 20-25 mins creating their portrait and speech bubble, 15 mins creating and pressing buttons with the button maker to put on the lapel of their drawings.
Materials:
Multicoloured tape, various thicknesses and colours
Construction or other heavy weight paper
Decent quality paper for speech bubble cut out
Scissors
White glue
Pencils, erasers
Button maker paper circles for pressing
Markers, fineliners, sharpies
Oil pastels
Look & Discuss:
Lay out paper to act as the ground of their poster. Ask students to consider the area they have to work with and plan to have room for their head, neck and shoulders to be made from tape as well as space to glue their speech bubbles on in the top corners of their page (recommend that they leave ample room – their bubbles can ‘go off the page’, but leave enough room so the bubble can be supported by the ground paper.
Have students lightly sketch their portrait in pencil, these lines will be covered by tape later.
Students will tear pieces of tape to build up their image. Have them consider line, texture, form, colour and shading with a material that is linear, but not a usual drawing mark maker. Explain that the image will be rougher and more expressive as they have to work with the properties of the material.
Have students write, in creative, graphic script, their slogan onto a sketched and cut out speech bubble. Have them take some time with this writing and either use a single word or simple phrase and use graphic, dynamic script to give their words some personality. Explain that different fonts can communicate different feelings and show some examples of expressive fonts from the Occuprint examples (print these out in colour, 11x17 size to pass around). Have them paste their speech bubbles on in an appropriate place that doesn’t obscure the other elements of their poster – have them consider this placement ahead of time.
If students finish the activity quickly, have them write single words on the button templates to press and pin onto the lapel of their portrait (through the paper, like on a shirt). Press one button per child and only more if you have time. Students can draw into their work with oil pastel to create a different effect in the poster’s negative space also.
Prep:
Find all handout examples online and print off
Cut good sized poster paper
Count out speech bubble paper and set aside in a stack
Set out drawing materials in containers
Have tape rolls out and divided into colours. Have a good mix of thicknesses, etc. Encourage kids to share and ask to borrow materials they want to use from others.
Have glue ready
Have button maker and templates ready, be ready to help kids press buttons – have them do it themselves, only help when absolutely necessary. Explain the process to kids and have one child who’s good at it guide the process.
Take it further:
Ask students to have a look at each other’s work. Talk about different ideas about what’s important and discuss that election is a democratic way to decide who has the best ideas – explain the concept of democracy and voting and the role mayors have in a city and how government is organized in different administrative levels. Ask them if they think their slogans would change in 2 years, or five, or ten…Why? Why is it important to have regular elections?