In the context of the ELT week that British Council Argentina organised in March 2023, we invited teachers to submit lesson ideas for the remote and online classroom that drew on the contents of the talks they attended during the event. This lesson idea was contributed by teacher María Nelida Godoy as a response to this call. She was inspired by the sessions Developing digital literacy in remote and online teaching and Teach creatively to empower the 21st century learner.
The lesson idea is directed at beginner level learners and its main aim is for learners to describe physical characteristics in the context of contrasting paintings with real life selfie photographs.
Lesson idea: Art doppelgänger
Author: María Nelida Godoy
Language level: Basic A1-A2
Age: 8-10
Time: 50-60 min
Class Objectives:
- To explore famous portraits and the emotions they depict
- To learn about famous paintings
- To find our art doppelgänger by playing with Art Selfie by Google Arts and Culture
Linguistic aims:
- Describing physical characteristic
- Finding similarities and differences
- Expressing opinions
Previous knowledge:
Students should be familiar with vocabulary to talk about basic feelings and to provide physical descriptions.
E-safety considerations:
Take into account students are expected to upload a photo of themselves to find their doppelgänger (i.e a painting that resembles them). In case they or you don’t feel comfortable uploading a photo or are not allowed to do so, students may find a famous person’s doppelgänger such as Messi’s or any other celebrity. They can even use their pet’s photo.
Even though the photo won’t be shared publicly, in case it is decided that students will use a picture of their own, take some precautions such as avoiding pictures in which they wear a school uniform or that have a background or other characteristic that gives additional information about them.
Procedure summary:
Learners will first become familiar with famous portraits. They will be invited to analyse the emotions they depict. Later, they will choose other portraits to describe and analyse. Next, they will contrast paintings that resemble their teacher with their teacher’s selfie. Lastly, they’ll generate their own doppelgängers to contrast with their selfies and share with the class.
Detailed procedure:
1. The teacher will show some famous portraits and ask:
- Are these photographs or paintings?
- Do you know any of these paintings?
- Look at their faces, how are they feeling?
The teacher provides support and prompts responses by modelling: I think he/she feels… (happy/sad/sleepy)
2. The teacher invites students to work in groups in breakout rooms. They should find a portrait and answer simple questions such as:
- Is this a painting or a photograph?
- What colours can you identify?
- Are there shapes?
- How does this painting make YOU feel?
Notes: a number of banks of pictures are available online which students or teachers can use to choose portraits for this stage. Copyright free examples of these can be found at https://www.loc.gov/collections/world-digital-library/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
Considering the age or level of the students, the teacher may use emojis for students to react to the painting, to help them connect with the emotions even if they do not have the specific vocabulary to express them yet.
3. When the class is reunited in the main room, the teacher will show one of her selfies and her doppelgänger found using Art Selfie by Google Arts and Culture.
Note: this tool allows you to find paintings that resemble the face of the uploaded selfie. These are the ‘doppelgängers’.
Students will differentiate the picture from the painting and the teacher will invite them to comment on how similar they are.
The teacher will prompt responses by giving information about the painting and asking questions: ‘look at this painting, it was painted in year…. by… and it’s in …. Museum.’ ‘Do you think it is similar to me?’ ‘Look at my eyes. Are they similar to the painting’s?’ ‘What about my hair?’ ‘And my nose?’ ‘Is this painting very similar, quite similar or not similar at all to me?’
4. The teacher will explain the concept of doppelgänger and will share the link to access Art Selfie by Google Arts and Culture with the students for them to find their own doppelgänger.
5. To round up the activity, students are invited to share some of their doppelgänger pictures and the class can comment on whether they find them similar or not. It is important to frame this stage so students will be respectful when commenting on each other’s pictures. Learners will show their doppelgänger and express their opinion such as: ‘I think this portrait/ picture is very similar/ quite similar/ or NOT very similar to me’.
Note: depending on learners’ age and level, this last stage is an opportunity to invite reflection about algorithm bias, AI implications, human vs. computer-generated art, among others.