Visual & Performing Arts · 12th Grade

Active learning ideas

Modernism: Abstraction and Innovation

Active learning works well for this topic because modernism’s ideas about abstraction and innovation demand hands-on engagement. Students absorb irony, parody, and appropriation best when they manipulate and discuss art directly rather than only reading about it.

• Common Core State Standards
• NCAS: Responding VA.Re7.1.HSAdv
• NCAS: Connecting VA.Cn10.1.HSAdv

• 30–75 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Jigsaw
• 60 min · Individual

Cubist Collage: Deconstructing Form

Students will select a photograph of an object or person, then cut it into geometric shapes. They will then reassemble these pieces onto a new surface, creating a fragmented, multi-perspective representation in the style of Cubism.

Differentiate the core tenets of Cubism from Surrealism.

Facilitation Tip

During the Remix Lab, set a timer for each rotation so students remain focused and the energy stays high.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Jigsaw
• 30 min · Pairs

Surrealist Automatism: Unconscious Creation

In pairs, students will engage in a timed drawing exercise where one student describes a random object or scene, and the other draws it without looking at the paper. This encourages spontaneous, subconscious mark-making, mirroring Surrealist techniques.

Analyze how abstract art communicates emotion without representational forms.

Facilitation Tip

In the Appropriation vs. Appreciation debate, assign roles in advance so introverts and extroverts both contribute meaningfully.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Jigsaw
• 75 min · Small Groups

Abstract Expressionist Action Painting

Students will work with large paper or canvas and various paint application tools (brushes, palette knives, sponges, even their hands). They will focus on gestural movement and color to express emotions, without representational goals.

Evaluate the impact of technological advancements on early 20th-century art movements.

Facilitation Tip

At each station in Post-Modern Techniques, display a model response on the board so students see the expected level of analysis before they begin.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this topic by modeling deconstruction out loud—think through why an artist might invert a familiar image or borrow from pop culture. Avoid presenting modernism as a rejection of rules; instead, frame it as a shift in the rules. Research shows that when students physically manipulate images, they grasp subversion faster than when they only analyze it verbally.

Successful learning shows when students can explain how context and media shape meaning, cite specific techniques like intertextuality or irony, and connect these strategies to contemporary visual culture. They should also articulate the difference between copying and transformative appropriation with clear examples.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Collaborative Investigation: The Remix Lab, watch for students who dismiss post-modern art as 'random' or 'lazy.'

  Redirect them by asking them to trace the source image and describe how the new context alters its original meaning, using the lab’s visual worksheets.

• During Structured Debate: Appropriation vs. Appreciation, watch for students who conflate copying with appropriation.

  Pause the debate and ask each side to hold up an example from their research that clearly shows transformation, not duplication.

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Methods used in this brief

• Jigsaw