Objectives

Students will select a location in their world and use different methods of literacy (mapping, drawing, writing) to describe it to their classmates. 

National Core Standards

Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding

Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topic in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches

Grade

4-6

Time Required

One or two class periods

Materials

• Paper
• pencils
• colored pencils
• glue sticks and/or tape

Lesson

1. Observe: As a class, look at the Wang Hui handscroll. Note that scrolls contain several kinds of information, and they will explore how artists describe people and places. Explore what information the artist provided about the land, geography, and resources. What kind of climate or environment do they see? Notice that there are mountains, trees (how many kinds of trees?), gardens (what grows there?), roads (how are they made and what travels on them?), bridges (what are they made of?) What about the people? What kind of jobs do these people have? Can they find farmers? Boaters? Travelers? When they travel, how do they get from place to place? Is there any text that can help identify this place or what is happening? Notice that there are inscriptions at the beginning—far right—and end—far left.
   
   
2. Create: Divide the class into groups of four or five. Have each group select a location in the neighborhood of school. Tell them they are going to create a scroll with different kinds of information on it. Ask each group to agree on a panoramic view of their location and ask each student to sketch one section of that view.
   
   
3. Organize: In the classroom, each group will make a scroll by attaching (with tape) each of their views to the other students’ views in the proper order. Ask students to add text boxes to identify the landmarks they think are significant. Stories and anecdotes about that location may be added to the bottom edge—some detail in the panorama should be a part of the story.
   
   
4. Present: Each group should stand by their scroll. Ask all groups to move to a new scroll. Give them time to look at and read the new material; then ask them to explain the scroll to the group. At the end of their presentations, remind them that they have explained things to each other using different kinds of information—pictorial and textual.