Visual & Performing Arts · 9th Grade

Active learning ideas

Modernism and the Avant-Garde

Active learning works for this topic because the shift from traditional representation to abstraction and conceptual art is not just historical but experiential. Students need to grapple with the same questions that drove artists: what counts as art, how form communicates meaning, and why artists break rules. Hands-on activities make these abstract ideas concrete and memorable.

• Common Core State Standards
• NCAS: Responding VA.Re8.1.HSProf
• NCAS: Connecting VA.Cn11.1.HSProf

• 25–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Philosophical Chairs
• 40 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Lab: What Makes It Art?

Display images of Duchamp's 'Fountain,' a Malevich black square, a Pollock drip painting, and a Warhol Brillo box alongside a classical sculpture and an Impressionist painting. Students individually rank them from 'most art' to 'least art' and write their criteria. Small groups compare rankings and criteria, then the class builds a shared definition of art that either accommodates or explicitly excludes each object. There is no correct answer, only a productive argument.

Why did modern artists move away from representing reality in favor of abstraction?

Facilitation Tip

During the Inquiry Lab, circulate with a notepad to jot down student arguments and use their statements to build the class rubric for 'What Makes It Art?' on the board.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If a urinal can be art (Duchamp), what qualities does it possess beyond its original function?' Facilitate a class discussion where students reference specific artworks and historical contexts discussed in the unit.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Philosophical Chairs
• 50 min · Individual

Studio Investigation: Cubist Portrait

Students create a small Cubist-influenced portrait by drawing the same face from three different angles on tracing paper, cutting the sheets into sections, and reassembling them in a single composition. After completing the study, they compare their process to analytic Cubist works by Picasso or Braque, identifying which spatial conventions they had to violate to achieve simultaneous viewpoints.

How does abstraction invite the viewer to participate in the meaning-making of a work?

Facilitation Tip

For the Cubist Portrait studio, provide mirrors so students can observe their own faces from multiple angles before deconstructing their features.

What to look for

Provide students with images of artworks from Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism. Ask them to write one sentence for each, identifying the movement and explaining one way it departs from traditional representation.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Philosophical Chairs
• 45 min · Small Groups

Found Object Design Challenge: Ready-Made

Students bring or select a common household or classroom object and, working individually, decide how to reframe it as an artwork. They must make three decisions: title, context of display, and one modification (if any). They present their 'ready-made' to a small group with a one-minute justification. The group evaluates it using criteria developed in the Inquiry Lab activity.

Critique the notion of 'what makes a found object into a piece of art' in the context of Dada and Surrealism.

Facilitation Tip

In the Ready-Made challenge, limit the found objects to one room to prevent overwhelm and encourage close observation of everyday items' formal qualities.

What to look for

Students write a short paragraph explaining how the devastation of World War I might have contributed to the rise of art movements that rejected traditional forms and ideas. They should name at least one specific movement.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Automatism and the Unconscious

Introduce automatic drawing: students draw continuously for two minutes without lifting their pen, without planning, and without looking at the paper. They examine the resulting image and write what they see in it (not what they intended to draw). Pair discussion connects this experience to Surrealist methods like automatic writing. What does this suggest about the relationship between conscious intention and artistic meaning?

Why did modern artists move away from representing reality in favor of abstraction?

Facilitation Tip

During the Automatism and the Unconscious Think-Pair-Share, set a strict two-minute timer for the 'think' phase to prevent over-intellectualizing and keep the exercise spontaneous.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If a urinal can be art (Duchamp), what qualities does it possess beyond its original function?' Facilitate a class discussion where students reference specific artworks and historical contexts discussed in the unit.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teaching this topic effectively requires balancing historical context with hands-on experimentation. Avoid presenting Modernism as a series of isolated movements; instead, emphasize the shared pressures that led to diverse responses. Research shows students retain more when they create within the constraints that defined each movement, rather than just reading about them. Also, be explicit about the technical skills behind radical innovations—Picasso’s Cubist portraits still show mastery of line and composition, just reorganized. Finally, address the emotional weight of the historical moment by framing the avant-garde as both a rejection of the past and a search for new meaning after trauma.

Successful learning looks like students moving beyond surface definitions to articulate how historical pressures shaped artistic choices and how those choices reject or extend tradition. They should be able to identify specific techniques, justify their own creative decisions, and critique artworks using movement-specific criteria rather than personal preference alone.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Cubist Portrait studio investigation, watch for students who dismiss their attempts as 'bad drawing' and assume Modernism requires no skill.

  Use the provided mirrors and ask students to first render a realistic self-portrait using traditional techniques. Then have them analyze Picasso’s preparatory sketches for *Les Demoiselles d’Avignon*, which show how his academic training informed his radical break with perspective. Point out that the 'skill' here is not in drawing realistically but in deciding which rules to break and how.

• During the Inquiry Lab: What Makes It Art?, watch for students who conclude that 'anything can be art if an artist says so,' leading to a loss of evaluative criteria.

  Provide a set of diverse objects and images, including both traditional art and ready-mades. As students draft their criteria, ask them to test each proposed rule against both a Duchamp urinal and a Mondrian grid. Push them to refine categories like 'intentionality,' 'transformation,' and 'dialogue with tradition' rather than relying on subjective appeal.

• During the Think-Pair-Share on Automatism and the Unconscious, watch for students conflating Dada’s anti-art stance with Surrealism’s dream imagery.

  Display a Dada poem by Hugo Ball alongside a Surrealist automatic drawing by André Masson. Ask pairs to identify which piece rejects art entirely and which uses irrational methods to create new art. Have them defend their choices by pointing to specific visual or textual elements, such as Ball’s nonsensical phonetic poetry versus Masson’s abstracted organic forms.

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Methods used in this brief

• Philosophical Chairs
• Think-Pair-Share