Students in Lisa Marie Jorgensen’s 7th Grade art class are diving into something they may have never experienced before – Ukiyo-E, or rather, Printmaking!
Photo from The Library of Congress
The printmaking unit for Webster City Middle School students is a little more extensive than some of Jorgensen’s seventh graders were ready for – including an introduction to Japanese Printmaking, a research portion, and even a writing assignment before they even get their hands on the goods. All of these assignments are influenced by the Common Core State Standards that Webster City Schools are implementing in their classrooms.
“I challenged myself to include as much writing and reading into this unit as I could without taking away from the hands-on portion of the project,” Jorgensen said.
Students enter the classroom with little-to-no experience in printmaking so Jorgensen sets the stage with a classroom discussion and presentation surrounding the culture of Japan and China, followed by the history surrounding the earliest Wood Block Prints.
“We learn the origin of the term ‘Ukiyo-E’ as well as the Edo and Meiji Period in which Japanese Printmaking had a strong impact,” Jorgensen said.
Students also learn that when the popularity of printmaking died down due to trade routes and photography, it played a similar roll to that of the modern newspaper – it became packing material.
All of this history, including the influence that Printmaking had on Europe, brings students to the 20th century and to current art studies of the practice.
Students also participate in a reading of the process involved in printmaking – to create an image, carve and print using specific tools.
After the discussion and reading, students will take their notes and begin creating an outline for a paper that would cover all of the material they had learned as well as some of what their project would involve.
“The reading and writing are new to the unit but the writing was definitely the biggest challenge,” Jorgensen said.
Students have to outline their topics and pay attention to the basic constructs of writing an essay—including an introduction, body and conclusion. After the paper is completed, students finally get to start their projects.
“I’ve been extremely impressed with the comprehension the essays have shown,” Jorgensen said. “Students have made inferences and noted great observations surrounding the topic of Printmaking.”
Students are able to experience some of the technology we will have available throughout our district next year by writing their paper using “Pages” on the iPad.
This year, students are taking a stamped image of their school photo and putting it into action.
A student working on his Printmaking project using a brayer, bench hook and ink.
They will carve out the fine details and start the printing process this week. Students will also create dozens of copies of the image and pass out their work to classmates, simulating the original purpose of printmaking.
“The project becomes personal when students use their school picture so they take care in their work and the results are always spectacular,” Jorgensen said.
Webster City Community Schools 