“SHOW ME WHAT YOU SEE” TECHNIQUE INSPIRED BY SPEKER

Create – Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work.
Respond – Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning.
Present – Interpreting and sharing artistic work.
Connect – Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.

Students will be able to…

• Create an individual artwork, and bring that artwork together to make a shared artwork.
• Explore the work of artists who tell stories through imagery by looking, talking and drawing.
• Use the “Show Me What You See” technique to help me look closely at artwork.
• Work with my peers to make a shared mural with drawing, collage, and paint.
• Present my work as part of a larger artwork, and I can share my response to my own work and also to the work of my peers.

• 5–6.V.Cr.01 – Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. Students expand on personal artistic ideas and connect them to social, cultural, and historical context.
• 5–6.V.Cr.02 – Organize and develop artistic ideas and work. Students create sketches, plans, and models to explore multiple approaches to a theme.
• 5–6.V.Cr.03 – Refine and complete artistic work. Students use feedback and self-reflection to revise and improve artwork.
• 5–6.V.P.06 – Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work. Students collaborate to plan, prepare, and present artworks in ways that communicate a collective theme.
• 5–6.V.R.07 – Perceive and analyze artistic work. Students analyze how line, implied movement, and composition contribute to meaning.
• 5–6.V.Co.10 – Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art. Students draw from their own stories to contribute to a collaborative mural.
• 5–6.V.Co.11 – Relate artistic ideas and works to societal, cultural, and historical contexts. Students compare the role of murals and street art in different communities.

Mural, Street art, Speker, Mr. B Baby, Line, Implied line, Storytelling, Drawing, Collage, Painting

• Large paper roll
• Pencils
• Sharpies
• Scissors
• Collage paper
• Glue
• Paint

• Mural
• Street art
• Collage
• Line
• Implied line
• Storytelling

The project aims to produce one large picture, made up of collaged paper characters with more than 100 children, ensuring the contribution of each child/participant is included. Before beginning with students, choose a theme for the mural.

Day 1

Anticipatory Set:

• Look – Explore and discuss artwork with focus on storytelling and implied movement
• Learn – Visual storytelling, Line/Implied Line, Collage
• Do – Show Me What You See – Find and draw characters in Mr B Baby’s Beyond Walls mural

Day 2

• Paint muted background colors on large plywood/board/canvas to
  create background.
• Each student draws and colors characters on paper then cuts them out.
• Students experiment with composition by moving around, overlapping,
  fitting together their characters on the large plywood/board/canvas
  “world”.

Day 3

• Painting demonstration – how to mix and apply paint
• Students paint newspaper/recyclable paper sheets for collaged
  characters on Day 4.

Day 4

• Collage demonstration how to cut shapes, move shapes to create
  different pictures (figurative art), faces, encouraging play before gluing.
• Each student creates a collage character, object, or natural element
  using painted papers.
• Students experiment with composition by moving around, overlapping,
  fitting together their characters, objects, or natural elements on the
  large plywood/board/canvas “world”.

• Visual supports: Word wall of vocabulary with images; visual step-by-step guides for collage and painting.
• Choice & Voice: Students select characters or symbols that reflect personal stories or cultural identity.
• Small Group Support: Teacher provides targeted guidance for students needing help with drawing, cutting, or composition.
• Peer Collaboration: Partner work for sketching and arranging compositions.
• Scaffolding for ELLs: Sentence frames for art critique (“I see…”, “This makes me feel…”) and bilingual resources where possible.

Formative:

• Sketchbook check (Day 1–2): students complete sketches and notes about characters and story ideas.
• Observation (Days 2–4): teacher monitors student engagement in collaboration and experimentation.
• Peer feedback during composition exercises.

Summative:

• Final Collaborative Mural evaluated with rubric criteria:
  • Idea Development: originality and storytelling.
  • Collaboration: effective teamwork, respect for peers’ contributions.
  • Technique: craftsmanship in drawing, collage, and painting.
  • Presentation: clarity in arranging pieces to support a collective theme.

• Student Reflection Statement: Written or oral explanation of their
  individual contribution and how it connects to the group’s mural.

Student Self-Assessment Rubric (Simplified)

Possible themes – history, people, places, mental health, nature, environment, travel, community, animals/habitats

Possible art/artists to look at that show storytelling and implied line:

• Mr. B Baby
• Speker, Beyond Walls Mural
• Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are
• Tracy Lee Mcguinness-Kelly
• Eric Carle (collage)
• Henri Matisse (collage)
• Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night
• William Turnbull, Marching Figures
• Eva Hesse, Untitled
• Julian Trevelyan, Ombla
• Ali Banisadr, Return to Mother
• William Blake, Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing
• Bernard Cohen, Matter of Identity III – The Trace
• Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Fall of the Rebel Angels or The Wedding Dancer
• Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights
• Jean-Baptise Greuze, A Father Curses his Ungrateful Son
• David Vinckboons, Landscape with a Hare Hunt

Example murals:
Tracy McGuinness-Kelly, Children’s Community Mural, 2017, Collage, AccessArt, https://www.accessart.org.uk/childrens-community-project/

Vicki Ostersen, Animal Habitats Mural, 2019, Collage, AccessArt, https://www.accessart.org.uk/animal-habitats-an-ecological-mural-of-planet-earth/.