Group Critique Lesson
Cleveland Art Standards met:
Goal 3: Respond to the Arts
  • Standard 7 – Describe the essential characteristics and qualities of the art forms in various
    art disciplines.
  • Standard 8 – React and respond to works of art from an informed personal perspective.
  • Standard 9 – Critique works of art using established criteria.
Overview:
  • All preparatory work will be done in groups at computers.
  • Students will be divided into small groups of three to four to a group.
    Each group will be performing an oral critique to the class on a favorite piece of art work found by perusing the website.
  • After each oral presentation, the class will respond with comments and questions pertaining to the artwork presented.
  • Critiques can be presented …
    with the aid of the art projected on a screen in front of the class
    by directing the students to locate each artwork on the website for reference as the critique is performed or by printing out the selected works and handed out to individuals.
The critiques can be performed in your own classroom or in a computer lab, depending on available facilities.

A critique form is included in this lesson. This is to be filled out by the students. It is divided in a logical sequence when conducting the critique and is flexible enough to be used on any 2-D or 3-D artwork chosen by the students. Be sure to point out that a properly conducted critique will have four parts to it …
  Describe
Analyze
Interpret
Evaluate

The answers the students give in each section will be the outline they follow for their oral critique.

Working in groups with a set of questions provided and a definite outline to base their critique on is a fun and easy way for students to learn how to look closely at art, find the nuances exhibited in each piece of art and intelligently discuss what they observe.

credits