Lesson Progression

remembering that this project launches into the middle of the study of Aztec's  worldview, the students will have a chance to review about various aspects of their lives.  If you feel this review is too brief, feel free to add or review more information. once the review is completed, an art lesson is in order.  Students will be given information on what a collage is - there is a PowerPoint presentation for this. It is assumed that the students are somewhat aware of the principles presented, however, some more explanation will be required on what elements are needed to make the collage complete.  For example, the PP lists texture as an element to be considered. A further discussion on what texture is and how that can be achieved through collage will be necessary.  a sample of an Aztec god is provided (link on the teacher page). Discuss how the gods were an integral part of the Aztec's life and how they shaped their worldview. the students will then proceed to decide which four aspects of Aztec life will most clearly depict their worldview. A planning page for this stage is provided, which the students can download and print off or work directly on the computer and save their work to a special file. in their designated groups, the students will then settle on how a collage for each of these areas will look.  at this point they should make sketches of what the collages will look like, before continuing on.  The students will submit these  four sketches for approval. once the collages are ready, the students are ready to move on to the next stage. A sample of a digital story should be shown before the students are given the next step.  A good one to show is from this digital storytelling website, called The Lost Lemon Mine.  This is a good  digital story to use as a demonstration because art work is used instead of the typical historical photographs. For further ideas on digital storytelling, you may wish to show a few more of the stories presented on that page. Windows Movie Maker, the tool the students will be using to make their presentation, will need to be taught to the students.  The tutorials/internet sites provided on the teacher page will help you through this. Once the students have been taught what the process is, they can scan their collage images onto their computers and get started with this program. A very valuable hint is given here about working on one computer. Check out what this page has to offer about digital story telling. Continue to work on this project, giving deadlines as necessary for each step.  Once the project is complete, a showing to the class and parents would be a good celebration of learning.