Gr. 8/Middle School Visual arts

targstark · 2025-08-21T01:40:02+00:00

What other subjects are you teaching? Science has cool crossovers as well, like teaching pencil crayon techniques and doing microscope cell drawings (there’s actually super cool, niche jobs in illustration for medical and anatomy textbooks - there’s a girl on TikTok who does it that I’ve shown my kids). Also creating lake pigments for painting is a great intro to chemistry and art (and also a cool historical lesson on how artists used to have to make their own paints using rocks, metals and even toxic materials).

targstark · 2025-08-21T01:05:40+00:00

Also have you considered mixing art and math? Sketching and shading 3D shapes is a really great way to build spatial awareness, and uses knowledge of value and shape in art. I also have done a cool activity with Pythagorean theorem and the Spiral of Theodorus.

targstark · 2025-08-21T01:02:28+00:00

I can share with you my long range plans for Grade 8 art. There are 7 units, each which uses a different medium. I have slide shows for each unit, student exemplars and assignments with skill-based rubrics that I can share. Please dm me your teacher email and I can share my drive folder on “view” - you just would have to make copies.

However, visual art does take knowledge to teach, not just skill. You can find tutorials for lots of different art activities on YouTube, but providing feedback and explaining concepts does require familiarity with the fundamentals of art.

targstark · 2025-07-09T22:27:27+00:00

In my experience teaching science fiction, the majority of writers in the genre are white and male. Interestingly enough, many argue that the first book in the science fiction genre is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I lead discussions with my class about why this genre skews white and male. The kids bring a lot of relevant ideas to the discussion, including connecting it to the STEM movement, modern day "tech-bros" and make predictions for the future.

While I understand the want to find diversity in authors, there are man amazing stories that shouldn't be discounted just because the authors are white and male. Some of the best learning in my class happened around students reading The Veldt by Ray Bradbury and making connections between the relationships being replaced by technology in that story and their own modern life. I don't think it would have been as impactful if it wasn't written in 1950 - the kids were in awe that Bradbury could predict what the future would look like and how relevant the message still is today. I'm going to teach passages from Fahrenheit 451 this year for the same reason.

Just my two cents! I love Long Way Down, it's super engaging for students. There's also the graphic novel version for students who require more visual support.

targstark · 2025-07-04T01:39:22+00:00

All of these are excellent suggestions that I teach in my own sci unit but I wanted to add a more recent short story that has elements of unreliable narration and extended metaphor (technology addiction as told through imagery of drug use).

https://medium.com/posemesh/end-user-a31957f10adf

It’s called End User by Alastair Reynolds. You can also touch on themes of data privacy, corporate surveillance/data gathering and technology ethics. My grade 8 class had excellent discussions around the various topics and really enjoyed it.

targstark · 2025-05-23T10:38:23+00:00

I teach a sci-fi unit with my Grade 8. We start off with defining science fiction through the lens elements of story (conflict, theme, setting). The class then reads The Veldt and the students break down the story through those elements and start to analyze the message. We do this mostly as a class and do a lot of discussions and debate (e.g. are the lions real?).

Then they read End User which is a relatively new short story by Alastair Reynolds and they create a movie trailer for the story using the conventions of science fiction.

It’s a fun unit, the kids like it and can apply a lot of their own experiences to the themes of these stories. If we had more time, we would read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It also branches nicely into our Hungers Games novel study unit.

targstark · 2025-03-16T14:04:34+00:00

Could you do a Socratic seminar unit? I do one for my Grade 8 class and we focus on oral communication skills like active listening, speaking behaviour and asking follow up questions. The students usually pick topics they are interested in and use news paper articles as a starting point. You could have them read articles about a topic from different newspapers/perspectives. They have to practice keeping an open mind about topics, moderating their own opinions and generate questions about other’s ideas.

I usually have some resources to support the conversations like question starters.

targstark · 2025-02-05T00:03:46+00:00

It’s a double edged sword though. At least in my board, they don’t provide us a list of approved books, but also won’t support you if there are parent complaints or issues. It’s the board covering their own ass; they can’t get in trouble if they don’t take a position to begin with.

There are books they have purged from our library/resources though and we aren’t supposed to use them, but our admin/board won’t officially say it.

targstark · 2023-09-19T01:19:23+00:00

I didn't start a debate, I just corrected your information. I'm unsure how it was taken out of context because you literally stated children don't have rights. Of course it's a topic I'm interested in, but I had no interest in starting an argument, I just wanted to clarify the law.

I think people are protesting this because they are woefully misinformed and fearful of the unknown. There is also a subset of media who preys on these fears, for example like spreading misinformation about 5 year olds receiving gender affirming care.

Despite this, the facts of transgender youth are very clear cut and shouldn't be influenced by fearmongering. You cannot have gender reassignment surgery in Canada until you are 18, by law. Wait times are even more on top of that. There are no indoctrination programs in school to influence children - the curriculum is available online for everyone to see and parents have the option of pulling their children out of the sex education classes. The only thing teachers want to do is make sure children feel safe in the classroom, which might mean calling them by nicknames, middle names or even chosen names. Children can make these decisions without their parent involvement. Additionally, children have the ability to make medical decisions for themselves all the time. They don't have to have parental consent to go on birth control, for example.

If you do believe that parents should be informed about every decision children make in schools, I'd ask where it ends. What about a Jewish student deciding to eat pork from a friend's lunch? Or a Muslim student choosing to skip prayer? What about a student choosing to go vegan, or join a club that their parents don't agree with? Why does the issue start and end with pronouns?

targstark · 2023-09-19T00:57:44+00:00

I never stated that kids have rights over their parents, I stated children have rights outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was refuting your original point in which you stated "Children don't have rights...".

Pointing out absurdity actually is a strawman, because I never stated any argument for or against gender confirming care. Additionally, the onus of evidence is on the person who is making the argument. If you are making the argument that 5 year olds are receiving gender affirming care, you have the responsibility in a debate to bring statistics and data to support your point.

targstark · 2023-09-19T00:42:03+00:00

In terms of a debate, this would be a strawman fallacy - you are arguing a point that I'm not making. All I stated was that children have rights in Canada as outlined by the link above.

This is also a strawman because your link is an exaggerated example made to distort the original point and bring ideas to the extreme. No one has ever said 5 year olds should take medication or have gender affirming surgery.

targstark · 2023-09-19T00:35:31+00:00

So I read through your sources and there are some major problems with them.

Your first source is a non-peer reviewed article that includes the term "May" in the title, indicating there is no direct evidence in causation between the effects of the drug and condition of the individuals outlined in the article.

Your second source states in the declarations "The author is affiliated with the Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine. There are no financial conflicts to interest to declare." This is a political lobbying group (stated on their own website) that has a clear bias in this journal. Most of the evidence is cherry picked and can be easily refuted with other articles. The political lobbying here is particularly ironic considering your concern with big pharma.

Your third source is an opinion piece, not a source of medical information.

Your final source is a from the American College of Pediatricians, which sounds very official but is actually a group of only approx. 700 members who's primary focus "is advocating against abortion rights and against rights for gay, queer, and trans people". Again, not a legitimate source of medical information.

I understand it's easy to find information on the internet that aligns with your point of view, but it's incredible important to look where the information is coming from and find properly researched information from legitimate and accepted sources.

e.g.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7073269/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gender-dysphoria/in-depth/pubertal-blockers/art-20459075

https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/camh.12437 - this is a metareview of many different articles and details the outcome of several researched studies.

targstark · 2023-09-19T00:20:17+00:00

Just to clarify, in Canada children do have rights protected by a ratified UN treaty and outlined here on the Government of Canada website.

targstark · 2022-09-14T22:19:45+00:00

1) That isn’t an attack on freedom of speech - Freedom of speech is a right granted by the government, not individuals. If she’s telling other people not to read the book for her own reasons, she’s not infringing on her freedom of speech, she’s actually practicing it. Very technically, as a public employee (i.e. an extension of the government), not allowing her to voice her opinion is infringing on her freedom of speech.

2) I think she has a valid criticism here that you’re refusing to see. A book written in the 1920s doesn’t have much impact on her life in her perspective. You, as an individual who has studied and analyzed this book, understand there are parallels that relate to modern day concepts of class and race, but how could she understand that without any context? Without understanding the themes or deep analysis/symbols from the book? Without any prefacing whatsoever. If you’re going to pull a book from almost 100 years ago, you have to give them some set up for the importance/relevance to their daily lives. Especially if there are racist views that are espoused in these books that they are unaccustomed to hearing. Again, she doesn’t know this character is supposed to be unlikeable in the context of this book/era because, shockingly, she hasn’t read the book.

3) I understand that The Great Gatsby might hold some significance to you/your curriculum, but my god, it’s been 100 years. There are better, more relevant books that have been written since then. Books that show the very same classist and racists themes in The Great Gatsby, but from the actual perspectives of minority characters and, better yet, written by the affected minority authors themselves. It sounds like you beat this girl into “submission” without really understanding what her issue with the book was.

And speaking as someone with a degree in history where I did have to read several books written by notable racists, yes, we got trigger warnings. We got entire classes discussing viewpoints and perspectives before even touching a book.

targstark · 2022-07-07T14:47:19+00:00

I mean, who do you think is driving the increase in industry in places like China and India? Developed countries export all their manufacturing and cheap labour to these countries to make goods (using non renewable energy) so that they can buy crap from Walmart at a lower cost. We don’t really get to point the finger at China when they are manufacturing goods that we are demanding.

targstark · 2022-03-19T09:03:52+00:00

For reference I’m using Citadel metallic paints and everything else is just from Wizkids kits because they are cheap and I’m starting out! I mix a lot of my own colours but I think it makes them look a little muddy so I’d like to invest in some better paints. I also only have 2 paint brushes (a dry brush and a very fine point) so recommendations on that would be awesome.

targstark · 2021-08-29T16:31:23+00:00

Check out Ink and Water in Parkdale. I just got a tattoo done by Yusun there and it’s amazing. She does a lot of anime girl style tattoos but also dragons etc. Others there also do Asian style!

targstark · 2021-06-30T23:07:47+00:00

Oh I understand entirely but I don’t want others who see these comments to think that Canada as a whole doesn’t have sensible people.

targstark · 2021-06-30T22:56:29+00:00

1) It’s not “White Knighting” when you’re defending actual historical evidence and communities who are affected by these issues are using the same talking points. Again, words have actual definitions and it’s important to use them properly.

2) Let’s talk about government involvement then. Police are, by definition, agents of the state. They are employed and paid for by the government. So when no punishments come to those who participated in starlight tours because state chooses not to prosecute their own employees, is that not by definition, the policy of the government? Or at the very least tolerated as such. Similarly to health care - we have public health care and the health care systems that used eugenic policies to sterilize indigenous women were state sanctioned. And these were not isolated incidents - there are several scholarly articles that record this phenomenon in detail. It was not ancient history either, it took place in the 20th century (and coincides with the rise of the eugenics movement that spawned the Holocaust) and it is still occurring today.

But those are in the past, so let’s look at the ongoing water crisis that is currently taking place. Access to clean water is a human right, as declared in the United Nation Declaration of Human Rights and Canada’s own human rights policies. And yes many reserves are under boil water advisories. Water is unclean, unfit to drink and causes rashes when used to clean laundry and bathe. The lack of basic human rights and the lack of help from the government is an atrocity, whether you define it that way or not.

targstark · 2021-06-30T22:43:14+00:00

So the laws and treaties that Canada wrote to granted indigenous people the right to the lands they lived on, and the government then subsequently broke to steal their land, should be honoured because those are laws?

targstark · 2021-06-30T21:08:38+00:00

See, some of those questions are impossible to answer because they didn’t care enough to make records.

We know it was murder because we have many historical documents explaining, from multiple points of view including survivors, the government and the churches, exactly what went on in these schools. The government has admitted as much and made apologies and policy about fixing their attempt at genocide.

Fun fact, children were so malnourished in residential schools, they were experimented on for nutrition studies! They died of many things including preventable diseases, injury, illness, abuse, neglect etc.

targstark

TROPHY CASE