How to Make a Lesson Plan About Mail Art
Mail art is an excellent way to encourage students who are not interested in art to be active in the creative process. Because many "outsider art" or "unconventional" art techniques encompass a variety of these projects, students might be less likely to become bored or reject the learning process. This type of lesson plan is easily adaptable for classroom use as well as for homeschooling families.
Things You'll Need
- Notebook
- Internet connection
- Printer
- Books about mail art techniques
- Pen
- Library card
- Word processor
Instructions
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Conduct some research about what mail art is as well as the various projects that are typically exchanged through the mail. The resource links below will get you started. You can find additional resource materials in your local library.
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Compile your research into separate word processor documents. The first set of documents are student handouts, a separate one explaining an overview of mail art and a separate one for each type of mail art. These documents should explain the history, methods, materials and how participants for projects are typically found.
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Create a document specifically for your use. This document will lead the class through the lesson and should include the order you plan to present the handouts, the books you plan to use during each lesson, tutorials you plan to complete with the class, quizzes over the material, classroom materials you will need to obtain, and a list of popular mail artists to highlight during classroom discussion. See resource links below.
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Print out tutorials found online, photocopy tutorials from books or write them up yourself. Create at least two tutorials for each type of mail art being covered in the class.
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Compile into one master document your classroom lesson plans, the student handouts and the tutorials. This organization will allow for easier access and quicker printing.
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Tips & Warnings
Make examples of projects to use as demonstrations. Print out or photocopy as many pictures as possible for each project so students can see variety. Encourage students to save their own ephemera.
Avoid mailing outside of the class list as much as possible so projects do not get lost. Postage is expensive, so set up a "class" post office using cubbies or containers as mailboxes. Projects are easily lost at home, so enforce strict deadlines and "mail by" dates.
Resources
- Photo Credit FotoSearch.com
