Today, schools are actively looking for new ways to enable their students to develop storytelling skills. These skills should empower children and young adults to practice collaborative learning on many levels, from reading and writing to painting and project management. In this framework, digital painting provides educators with innovative…

Meeting the diverse needs of Pamela Malkin's students forced her to really look at what she teaches and how she teaches it. While she was teaching her sixth-grade students to create a mask from clay, she found that many were having a hard time remembering all the steps of my demonstration. Since most of the process was taught through…

This article describes notable cultural, historical, and artistic elements emanating from sculptures originating in ancient Greece. The "blind bard" and its connection to the legendary Greek poet, Homer; Homer's impact on literary history; trends among Roman sculptures; and Roman replication of Greek art are described. Questions to consider are…

Dialogue challenges students to answer the basic questions of art production often not thought about by elementary and middle school students: Why did you choose to do that? What are you trying to communicate to the viewer? How does this piece make you feel? Educational theorist Howard Gardner defines the artistic process as one involving the work…

Scissors are a unique interactive tool when successfully used, allowing teachers and students to recognize and explore each other's creative ability while nurturing mutual communication. Freehand cutting gives children freedom to create as they cut. Scissors have the power to improve fine motor skills, stimulate creative imagination, reinforce…

State-mandated, high-stakes testing is the primary means by which schools are judged. Whether this is a fair and accurate way of judging the performance of schools may remain in debate for a long time. Some school districts have gone so far as reducing or eliminating "special" classes--in particular art and music. Art teachers can help prepare…

This article describes one classroom's experience implementing a art lesson aimed to reinforce the notion of "nonrepresentational." The lesson applied the elements of nonrepresentational art, as well as balance, unity, and line while inspiring surprise and curiosity in students who commented on their designs once they had completed the exercise…

Recalling memories from her own third grade art classes, Ann Mueller, recreated an updated version for her students showing her students how to make snow scenes from Ivory Snow flakes. She showed students the video, The Snowman based on Raymond Briggs's book of the same name. Its beautiful images spur the imagination, and the musical score is…

Art teachers often draw on their personal experiences when planning. The author of this article had spent time admiring the quilting skills of the Amish and Mennonite people around Lancaster and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She had also steeped herself in the history of the Civil War. These experiences steered her towards an art problem that involved…

Last year, a school embarked on a school-wide project that would take all of their students, kindergarten through-sixth grade, through a tangible art timeline. The result was a passageway--over seventy-five feet in length--that revealed the history of art, from cave painting to modern-day graffiti art. The "walk through time" was inspired by how…

The author's inspiration for this lesson for her fifth- and sixth-grade students came from an article on Peruvian-style retablos in the December 1998 issue of SchoolArts. She wanted a multicultural theme for a three-dimensional assignment that incorporated many art-making and higher-order thinking skills. She prepared a packet or kit for each…

Young people are using the human body as a canvas. What they fail to realize is that they are participating in a form of artistic expression that is nearly as old as human existence. Keith Rosco observed his students' fascinations with tattoo and henna, he decided body art might make an excellent topic for study, guaranteed to keep students'…

As part of a unit on Native American art studies, students researched Navajo sand painting. They used Navajo image resources to develop designs for their sand paintings. The process and precautions for this lesson are described in this article.

First and second graders can understand that the African continent is made up of many countries and cultures, especially when teachers have maps, picture books, photographs, and artifacts on hand for them to explore. It is important for young students to develop an understanding of maps and how to use them. This article offers suggestions for…

The Fon live in the southern part of the People's Republic of Benin. They inhabit an area about the size of Connecticut. To this day, many Fon are farmers. They plant yams, corn, and cotton, and cultivate palm trees that produce palm oil. Ancient beliefs in spirits and natural powers (called vodun) that govern the world and provide a spiritual…