Question for Understanding
How does this thing look similar to others?

Art Making Question
If you were thinking about making an artwork, how might it look similar to other art you have made or similar to the art of other artists?

Objective
Students recognize stylistic similarities among artworks.

Activity Ideas for All Students
Ask students to tell about particular styles of movies, music, clothing, or TV shows that they tend to like, such as horror or romance movies, rock or rap music, casual or formal clothing, or reality shows or documentaries.  Explain that within these broad classes of styles are more specific styles, such as hard rock and rock and roll or CNN documentaries and PBS documentaries. 

Show the DVD segment, “Family Resemblance,” asking students to listen for how Anne Coe described her style called “magical realism.”  Make up a 3-6 word style name to describe Michael Brolly’s sculptures.  Give students practice and feedback by using some or all of the interactive “Family Resemblance” CD activities, which you can project for an entire class or which individual students can view in a computer lab. Students can use the CD to 1) review what they learned on the DVD, 2) apply what they learned to their everyday visual world, and 3) recognize how inquiry about style applies to old and new art.

Group students who are fans of a particular TV show.  Ask them to report on stylistic features (music, editing, sets, lighting, dialog, etc.) characteristic of that show’s style.

Ask students to investigate the work of an artist whose work they admire and write a report or make a class presentation that describes the style of that artist.

Activity Ideas for Art Students
Ask older students to analyze their portfolios of accumulated work looking for any tendency toward a personal style.

Complementary Activities from Stories of Art
A K-12 curriculum resource from CRIZMAC
 The theme, Technology, is based on “Ellorna’s Puzzling Case,” a story of a young woman who observes and borrows ideas from the world around her to make a range of useful objects in her own distinctive style.