Asking About Art

Overview

Students explore Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers through careful looking, discussion, and purposeful questioning. They distinguish noticing questions from deeper thinking questions, then improve closed questions so they can share interpretations, make connections, and check their understanding.

Learning intentions

• WALT ask questions that help us notice, interpret, and discuss a visual text.
• WALT distinguish between noticing questions and thinking/deeper questions.
• WALT improve closed questions by using open question stems such as what, how, why, and I wonder.
• WALT listen respectfully and explain that artworks can have multiple interpretations.

Success criteria

• I can ask a noticing question about something I can see.
• I can ask a deeper question about meaning, choices, feelings, or connections.
• I can change a closed question into an open question.
• I can respond to someone’s idea by adding a comment or asking for clarification.

Prior knowledge

Students have previously discussed how visual texts communicate ideas through colour, line, shape, objects, and composition. They know that a question can seek information, clarification, or another person’s thinking.

Key vocabulary

visual text, observe, notice, interpret, evidence, detail, colour, texture, composition, mood, symbolism, open question, closed question, interpretation

Curriculum links

• English — Comprehension: interpreting visual texts, exploring language and visual features, and making connections.
• English — Oral Language: asking and responding to questions that clarify, extend ideas, and explore causes and consequences.
• English — Listening and responding to others: making comments that encourage discussion and asking clarifying questions.
• English — Communicating and Presenting: sharing interpretations while monitoring understanding.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and first response. Display Sunflowers using the opening artwork image without giving background information; students silently look, then share one word or feeling prompted by “What do you notice first?” Establish that there is no single correct interpretation, provided ideas are supported by details in the artwork.

2. 5–12 min · Model the observation routine. Use the observation routine slide to model “Look, Notice, Wonder, Connect”: describe only what is visible, name a detail, ask a question, and connect it to a feeling or experience. Students practise with a partner using the stems “I notice…”, “I wonder…”, and “This connects to…”, while the teacher records a few responses without judging them.

3. 12–22 min · Teach question types. Reveal the question-types teaching slides and explain that a noticing question asks about visible or findable details, while a thinking/deeper question explores meaning, reasons, mood, choices, or possible consequences. Model examples: “How many flowers can you see?” and “Why might the artist have arranged the flowers this way?” Students signal which type they hear, then suggest a deeper question about the painting. Highlight that what, how, why, and I wonder can help us open up our thinking.

4. 22–35 min · Collaborative question sort. Place pairs in groups of four and provide the question examples on the question sorting and improving sheet. Read the instructions from the sorting activity slide. Students sort questions into “noticing” and “thinking/deeper” categories, discuss disagreements, and underline the words or details that helped them decide. Each group chooses one question to explain to the class.

5. 35–47 min · Improve closed questions. Model changing “Do you like the painting?” into “What do you like or dislike about the painting, and why?” and “Is the vase blue?” into “How does the blue vase affect the mood?” Use the open-question modelling slide to show that an open question cannot usually be answered with only yes or no. Students complete the improvement section of the question sorting and improving sheet, rewriting three closed questions using different stems. Partners ask one another their improved questions and give feedback: “This question makes me think because…”

6. 47–55 min · Think-pair-share discussion. Display the discussion prompt slide with the prompt: “What might van Gogh want viewers to notice or feel?” Students think independently, choose visual evidence, and share with a partner. Invite several pairs to contribute. Other students practise responding with “I agree because…”, “I see it differently because…”, or “Can you explain what you mean by…?” Record examples of interpretations supported by evidence.

7. 55–60 min · Exit ticket and review. Return to the plenary slide and ask students to complete the final box on the exit ticket section: write one noticing question, one deeper question, and change “Are the flowers bright?” into an open question. Students hand in their responses as they leave; briefly revisit the WALT and invite a few students to share how their questions changed.

Resources

• the complete Sunflowers discussion slide deck
• the question sorting and improving sheet
• A clear reproduction of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers
• Whiteboard or large chart paper
• Thick markers
• Prepared question strips for group sorting
• Pencils and coloured pencils
• Timer

Assessment

• Listen during partner talk and question sorting for accurate distinction between visible-detail questions and deeper interpretation questions.
• Check whether students use open stems and explain their thinking with evidence from the painting.
• Use the exit ticket to identify students who can independently create both question types and improve a closed question. Reteach with one-to-one modelling or a small group if needed.

Differentiation

• Support students with a visible bank of stems: “What do you notice about…?”, “How does ___ make you feel?”, “Why might…?”, and “I wonder why…”. Allow oral answers before writing.
• Pair students strategically and provide selected question strips with key words highlighted. EAL learners may rehearse ideas with a partner, use labelled visual features, and draw before writing.
• For students needing additional support, scribe responses or reduce the worksheet to one sort and one rewritten question.
• Extend confident students by asking them to create a question with two possible interpretations, explain which visual evidence supports each, and ask a follow-up question that builds on a classmate’s idea.