Many art teachers use the Web as an information source. Overall, they look for good content that is clearly written concise, accurate, and pertinent. A well-designed site gives users what they want quickly, efficiently, and logically, and does not ask them to assemble a puzzle to resolve their search. How can websites with these qualities be…

In this brief article, the author describes a lesson plan on Mola art she used in her elementary classroom. Using four examples of Kuna Indian molas, the teacher introduced students to the beautiful, colorful, creative art form of molas. The Kuna women have been making these layered pieces of cloth for more than one hundred years. They use a…

In this article, the author describes how she introduced the mola designs of the Kuna people of the San Blas Islands to her fifth grade class. The students became excited by the tropical imagery; the wildlife, intertwined with the flowering plant life and the ocean, in colorful and black and-white patterns, because it brought forth such…

This article describes one classroom's experience integrating a three-part lesson that focused on tolerance. In the lesson, students examined works by American folk-art painter Edward Hicks, researched quotes about tolerance in society, and applied calligraphy skills to an original composition.

Ezra Jack Keats is a well-known children's book author and illustrator. During his lifetime he illustrated over 85 children's books and wrote and illustrated 24 children's classics of his own. His stories focus on everyday events in a child's life, are set in urban areas, and feature a cast of culturally diverse characters. The author finds Keats'…

This brief article describes the life and the art of Horace Pippin. It focuses on one work called "Christmas Morning, Breakfast" that is part of a series of works based on Pippin's childhood memories. The painting depicts a very modest room, including exposed wallboards where chunks of plaster have fallen off. The room is very tidy, but rather…

This brief article describes Charles T. Webber's oil on canvas painting, "The Underground Railroad, 1893." The subject of this painting is the Underground Railroad, which today has become an American legend. The Underground Railroad was not a systematic means of transportation, but rather a secretive process that allowed fugitive slaves to escape…

This brief article describes Winslow Homer's oil on canvas painting, "Sunday Morning, Virginia." "Sunday Morning, Virginia" depicts a group of African-Americans learning to read in a slave cabin after the Civil War. A young teacher, wearing a crisp dress and apron, sits surrounded by three children as she teaches them to read the Bible. This…

History is alive and well in Lebanon, Missouri. Students in this small town in the southwest region of the state went above and beyond the community's expectations on this special project. This article describes this historical journey which began when students in a summer mural class reconstructed a mural that was originally created by a…

Songs provide easy access to other cultures. Songs generate instinctive responses to the mood and rhythm in music, even if the meaning is initially unknown. To stimulate curiosity about other cultures, the author had her third and fourth grade students listen to a recording of a Navajo and a Franco-Canadian song and then create a bas-relief clay…

In this article, the author describes one classroom's experience engaging in a lesson on aboriginal painting. Aboriginal painting has a particular allure to middle school students. As this age group crosses the threshold from concrete knowing to conceptual understanding, they are ready to re-frame their perspective of the artist's intent. Learning…

This article describes ones classroom's experience integrating a lesson for fourth grade students that involved creating a new relationship between a fairly modern art medium--colored tissue--and an ancient craft. Yarn painting is one of the more popular art forms of the Huichol, an indigenous people from the western Sierra Madre ranges in Mexico.…

This article describes what once was thought to be impossible--a formal art show extravaganza at an elementary school with 1,000 students, a Department of Defense Dependent School (DODDS) located overseas, on RAF Lakenheath, England. The dream of this this event involved the transformation of the school cafeteria into an elegant art show…

How would you like to put some "Pow!" into your art instruction? A lesson in comic books--history, design, story, and production--can make your classes come alive. The authors present a new approach to using comics to build artistic skills and involve students in art appreciation. Why Comics? Many art teachers have students who say, "I hate art!"…

In this article, the author describes a unit she implemented on Batik designs. This unit helped second-graders gain an understanding of the batik process while learning about mask designs and the Senegalese culture. Batik has origins in many areas around the world, including Indonesia and West Africa. This fabric-resist process involves the…