Arts & Activities Magazine September 2017 by Arts & Activities

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CONTENTS V O L U ME 1 6 2 , No . 1

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 17

GREEN LIGHTS FOR ART 16 ART FOR PRE-K AND KINDERGARTEN: START WITH SELF-PORTRAITS Matt Mazur 18 ALIVE AND KICKING: CREATING CONNECTIONS WITH LEA Don Masse 20 IDENTITY WORKS: PUTTING YOUR HEART AND SOUL INTO ART

Karen Skophammer

Anne M. Hoffman

THEIR PROJECTS Xanthipi Abel

22 COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: EARLY FINISHERS WHO GIVE BACK

27 PURPOSEFUL PLANNING PAGES: GETTING STUDENTS TO OUTLINE AND PLAN 30 MY INITIALS AS ART Joann Hospod-Stanford 32 ON THE ART CAREER TRACK: HANDS ON Irv Osterer

YEARLONG SECONDARY ADVANCED ART SERIES 14 AN AMPED UP CURRICULUM: WHAT’S IN STORE THIS YEAR Debi West SPECIAL FEATURES AND COLUMNS 10 STEPPING STONES: YOUR BEGINNING-OF-THE-YEAR CHECKLIST Heidi O’Hanley 12 CHOICE-BASED ART: ART GAMES AROUND THE ROOM Cynthia Gaub 46 TRIED & TRUE TIPS FOR ART TEACHERS: WHAT? SUMMER IS OVER?

Glenda Lubiner

READY-TO-USE CLASSROOM RESOURCES 23 ARTS & ACTIVITIES ART PRINT: JAN STEEN, A SCHOOL FOR BOYS AND GIRLS Tara Cady Sartorius 41 ARTS & ACTIVITIES STUDY PRINT: DEWDROPIC Lea Anderson

DEPARTMENTS 9 EDITOR’S NOTE 40 ADVERTISER INDEX 42 MEDIA REVIEWS 44 SHOP TALK ON THE COVER

STOP LIGHTS OF LIFE Acrylic; 24" x 18". By Kimberly Wang, grade 12, North Gwinnett High School, Suwanee, Georgia. See “Yearlong Secondary Advanced Art Series, An Amped-up Curriculum: What’s in Store This Year,” page 14.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: (858) 605-0251; subs@artsandactivities.com. AD SALES: (888) 651-7567; ads@artsandactivities.com. AD PRODUCTION: production@artsandactivities.com. EDITORIAL: (858) 605-0242; ed@artsandactivities.com. FAX: (858) 605-0247. WEBSITE: www.artsandactivities.com. ADDRESS: 12345 World Trade Dr., San Diego, CA 92128.

20 4

Arts & Activities® (ISSN 0004-3931) is published monthly, except July and August, by Publishers’ Development Corp., 12345 World Trade Dr., San Diego, CA 92128. Subscriptions: one year, $24.95; two years, $39.95; three years, $49.95. Foreign subscriptions, add $35 per year for postage. Single copy, $4. Title to this magazine passes to subscriber only on delivery to his or her address. Change of address requires at least four weeks’ notice. Send old address and new address. Periodical postage paid at San Diego, Calif., and at additional mailing offices. Printing by Democrat Printing, Little Rock, Ark. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Arts & Activities®, 12345 World Trade Drive, San Diego, CA 92128.

s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 • 85 Y E A R S

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Something to Say SucceSS PrinciPleS for AfterSchool ArtS ProgrAmS From urbAn Youth and other exPertS

Teens and tweens can be very demanding. Including when it comes to their arts programs. A national research report can help you succeed in attracting and retaining them.

Denise Montgomery • Peter Rogovin Neromanie Persaud

Something to Say: Success Principles for Afterschool Arts Programs From Urban Youth and Other Experts i

Something to Say: Success Principles for Afterschool Arts Programs From Urban Youth and Other Experts

Download this report and other resources on afterschool, summer, and arts learning, free of charge at www.wallacefoundation.org.

Photo: A young artist and an instructor at SAY Sí, a multidisciplinary arts program located in San Antonio, Texas, with a history of long-term participation by middle school and high school students. Photo courtesy of SAY Sí.

30s

1950s

and 40s

a r b ting e l e C 60s

2000s 80s

and 90s

2017

and 70s

editor’s note

president

All systems are go, with green lights ahead

Thomas von Rosen

e d i t o r a n d p u b l i s h e r Maryellen Bridge

for a wonderful year of creating and experiencing art with your students. We

a r t d i r e c t o r Niki Ackermann

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Cris E. Guenter Professor of Arts Education/Curriculum and Instruction California State University, Chico

Jerome J. Hausman Lecturer, Consultant and Visiting Professor, at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Barbara Herberholz Art Education Consultant, Sacramento, California

here admire the time and effort—both mental and physical—that you put into prepping for the 2017–18 school year. And, we are beyond honored that you have chosen Arts & Activities to be part of your art program.

With this issue we begin the magazine’s 85th year of publication. Gosh, we’re getting old, but we sure don’t feel it. Thanks

Mark M. Johnson Director, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama

to you—our readers, contributors and other friends—our passion for art

George Székely Senior Professor of Art Education, University of Kentucky, Lexington

education is rejuvenated each time we hear from you or receive your lesson

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Geri Greenman Art Department Head (Retired), Willowbrook High School, Villa Park, Illinois Paula Guhin Art Teacher (Retired), Central HighSchool, Aberdeen, South Dakota Nan E. Hathaway Art Teacher, Crossett Brook Middle School, Duxbury, Vermont Amanda Koonlaba Art Teacher and Arts Integration Resource, Lawhon Elementary School, Tupelo, Mississippi Glenda Lubiner Middle-School Art Teacher, Franklin Academy Charter School, Pembroke Pines, Florida Don Masse Heidi O’Hanley

Art Teacher, Zamorano Fine Arts Academy, San Diego, California Art Teacher, Brodnicki Elementary School Justice, Illinois

Irv Osterer Department Head – Fine Arts and Technology, Merivale High School, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Debi West Art Teacher, Art Education Consultant, Suwanee, Georgia

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT

a d v e r t i s i n g m a n a g e r Amy Tanguay amy.tanguay @ artsandactivities.com 800.826.2216 or 888.651.7567 p r o d u c t i o n m a n a g e r Kevin Lewis production @ artsandactivities.com

plans for publication in the magazine. As part of the celebration, we call your attention to page 36, where you will find information about how you can take part in our 85th Anniversary celebration. “A&A: It Works!” is a special section that will appear in a spring issue featuring YOUR lessons that were inspired by articles in Arts & Activities. It’s easy and fun: A little bit of text and a few hi-res photos, and YOU can be a star in the magazine!

There are also a number of teaching treasures in this month’s issue. For instance, in his “Start with Self-Portraits,” Matt Mazur presents his lesson for pre-K and kindergarten that’s perfect for this age group’s first art class. Says Matt, “This is a highly successful lesson I have used almost every year I have been teaching that incorporates simple lines and shapes, primary colors and self-portraiture in an easily understood and fun way!” Check it out on page 16.

Don Masse shares one of his outstanding startthe-year collaborations that highlight unity and variety. Part of Don’s “Alive and Kicking” series, which exposes youngsters to the work of living artists,

HOW TO REACH ARTS & ACTIVITIES Subscription Services To subscribe, renew, change an address or buy single copies,

visit artsandactivities.com, contact subs@artsandactivities.com or call (866) 278-7678.

Letters to the Editor Letters pertaining to magazine content and art education in

general are welcomed. Arts & Activities reserves the right to edit all letters for space and clarity. Send to ed@artsandactivities.com

Manuscripts Subjects dealing with art-education practice at the elementary and secondary levels, teacher education and uses of community resources, are invited. Materials are handled with care; however, publisher assumes no responsibility for loss or damage. Unsolicited material must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. For Writer’s Guidelines, visit artsandactivities.com/submit/writers-guidelines/ Address all materials to the attention of the Editor. Simultaneous submissions will not be considered or accepted. Indexes Articles are indexed in January and June issues. Issues of Arts & Activities are available on microfilm and photocopies from: ProQuest Information and Learning, P.O. Box 1346, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. (Issues beginning with January 1977 are available in microfiche.) The full text of Arts & Activities is also available in the electronic versions of the Education Index.

“Creating Connections with Lea” (page 18) is a colorful project that “speaks to the uniqueness of each of our students and to the collective unity that is present in our school community.”

See those green lights? It’s time to get started. Kick off your new school year with the ideas and projects presented by your art-ed colleagues in this month’s issue!

permission is prohibited. Contact the Editor at the address shown below or the email address to the left or contact Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, copyright.com.

The opinions and recommendations expressed by individual authors within this magazine are not necessarily those of Publishers’ Development Corp.

artsandactivities.com

Maryellen Bridge, Editor and Publisher ed@artsandactivities.com

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85 Y E A R S •

september 2017

Stepping Stones is a monthly column that breaks down seemingly daunting tasks into simple, manageable “steps” that any art educator can take and apply directly to their classroom. Stepping Stones will explore a variety of topics and share advice for art-on-a-cart teachers and those with art rooms.

YOUR BEGINNING-OF-THE-YEAR CHECKLIST

BY HEIDI O'HANLEY

t is now the start of the 2017-18 school year. If you are returning to your teaching spaces this month, welcome back! I would also like to welcome our new art teacher colleagues! In the beginning, I like to offer some advice and ideas to help ease into your new school year. There’s so much to juggle in those first few weeks, from setting up the room, curriculum, and procedures, to trying to balance student names, classes, and materials. We are the definition of organized chaos and we do it with style!

PLAN YOUR SPACE. When I first walk into my classroom, I’m over whelmed with the list of things to do, but in creating a checklist, it helps in planning your area. I start with where I want my tables and chairs, demonstration board, desk, then storage. Once you have your big furniture set up, you can move on to the smaller tasks, such as visual displays, bulletin boards, and material organization. If you have a cart, start off by visiting the classrooms to view the spaces you’ll be working in. Look for the outlets, water sources, and communicate about storage concerns.

DEVELOP YOUR METHOD OF ORGANIZATION. When it comes time to set up the materials, you need to find a way to manage the materials that works for you and your students. For example, if you have common materials, such as crayons/colored pencils/markers, create separate bins for each table for easy pass-out and cleanup. You can label your bins with table numbers, codes, or colors. Labeling the bins also saves on arguments. I recommend doing the same with pencils, erasers, scissors, and glue. This method is also true for carts. If you visit different classrooms, having separate bins helps with transitions as well.

ORGANIZE YOUR CLASSES. Prior to the first day of attendance, you should receive a list of students who will be attending your classes, whether it is a classroom cluster or students who registered for your program. The choice of how to seat the students is always up to you. I learned ver y quickly that elementar y students needed structure when they first walked into my classroom. Once I have the class lists, I star ted right away on seating char ts. With knowing my students as they grow from year to year, I became more familiar with where to place them. In some cases, you may have students transferring in and out in those first few days, so be flexible 10

with your seating arrangements. Planning a seating chart also helps with getting to know your students’ names if they are new to your classes. If you’re at the junior-high or high school level (and depending on the rapport of your students and the structure of your class), you may be more flexible with seating arrangements.

PLAN YOUR RULES AND PROCEDURES. How do you

wish to manage your classes when students enter your room, or when you enter theirs? On that first day of class, focus on what guidelines and procedures work best for you. Be sure to explain to the students where you want them to be sitting when your class begins. If you give directions, remind the students to observe the procedures of the projects before jumping right in. Do you want your students working silently, or low voices? Will you be assigning art jobs, or have students independently navigate the room for materials? In the given amount of time you have with your classes you need to structure how you plan to deliver the objectives.

GIVE YOUR STUDENTS OWNERSHIP. In definition, find a way to give your students a sense of responsibility while in your class. This can be challenging with younger grade levels, but with time and practice, you will notice an improvement in their behavior. When my students learn the room, the materials, and expectations they attempt to be role models for others, especially when a new student transfers in. Every week, my students receive a new “art job” to help with material distribution and collection, noise management, teacher helpers, and floor checkers.

BE FLEXIBLE AND KEEP AN OPEN MIND. Not all

beginning-of-the-year set-ups go exactly as planned. Many of us may know this with last-minute room changes or complete class switches. You may also find that a procedure does not work and you need another idea. If you are just starting out and need to reach out for ideas or support, please remember there is a wonderful social media connection that can help with any questions or concerns. You can visit the “Art Teachers” group on Facebook, or #artsed on Twitter for vast amounts of resources. Best of luck with the beginning of your school year!

Arts & Activities Contributing Editor, Heidi O’Hanley (NBCT), teaches art at Brodnicki Elementary School in Justice, Illinois. Visit her blog at www.talesfromthetravelling artteacher.blogspot.com. s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 • 85 Y E A R S

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Choice-Based Art

Edited by Nan Hathaway

Choice-Based Art classrooms are working studios where students learn through authentic art making. Control shifts from teacher to learner as students explore ideas and interests in art media of their choice. This concept supports multiple modes of learning to meet the diverse needs of our students. Learn more at teachingforartisticbehavior.org.

ART GAMES AROUND THE ROOM BY CYNTHIA GAUB

can’t believe it has been over 10 years since I began my Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) Choice-based art journey. When I started teaching art at my low-income, highimmigrant, urban population school in 2004, I was presented with classes that were filled with a mixture of sixth-, seventhand eighth-grade students. In addition to the diverse emotional and physical age differences typical of this age-range, there was also learning diversity ranging from gifted to high learning needs, behavior issue kids and the severely physically challenged. On top of that, there are no elementary art specialists in our district, so very few students come to me with developed art skills. Fortunately, I quickly found the TAB groups online and began my version of a modified-choice classroom. Working with themes and skill building units, my students can work at their own level and create work that has a high level of interest and engagement for them. Over the years, I have vacillated on the spectrum between more teacher-controlled versus more student-directed curriculum. When I saw that my students lacked basic art knowledge and skills, I designed a way to quickly expose them to the variety of available materials, along with vocabulary and techniques for using them in a work of art. What I came up with is the idea of a teaching and learning strategy I call the “Around the Room” game. IT BEGAN AT THE END OF A SCHOOL YEAR with a printmak-

ing unit. Since my room has six giant tables, it was natural to have six learning centers. This idea has guided all my plans since then. Each table is set up with particular types of tools and materials along with some images, vocabulary and techniques that fit with that material. Students travel around the room participating in an activity I have set up at each table. Depending on the media, these might be short 10-minute visits before rotating, or longer full-period sessions at each

ONLINE RESOURCES • Learn more about TAB Choice: teachingforartisticbehavior.org/ • View artwork by Cynthia’s students on their Artsonia page: www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=70981 • To see more projects from her classroom, check out: www.artechtivity.com

station in turn. Students are not expected to create a finished art piece. More often, the task is a worksheet with a small box for artwork and an area for vocabulary or notes about the media. I grade students on effort and completeness. After the rotation through all the centers, I have a “go back” day. Students who have completed all the requirements on the worksheet then have free choice to create a mini work of art using their favorite materials in that unit. Those that were absent during one of the rotations, or just need more time, can use this opportunity to return and complete the needed activity. I can see the level of excitement rise during the go back free choice time. THESE AROUND-THE-ROOM GAMES have been so successful that I have created one for drawing, collage, paint, sculpture, clay, computers, printmaking, and the Artistic Behaviors. I use these introductions to officially “OPEN” a center. After students have completed the activity they are familiar with and can continue to use the materials in that center for the remainder of the year. To start the term, I plan around the room games for three main 2-D centers; draw, paint and collage. Then students can select from those opened centers to create their first themed artwork. Usually I scaffold some brainstorming and other ways artist get ideas before I assign students a themed project. Then, 3-D around the room units begin—featuring sculpture and clay. These are completed before I present the next theme. I always prepare demos of anything that I see students struggling with during their artwork-planning phase. I hold a one-on-one conference with each student prior to moving on to the final draft so that I can provide individualized resources and feedback. Depending on the group and my timing, I might offer computer and printmaking. I also want to create a rotation for fiber and, in a couple years, for our new MakerSpace. Eventually students are comfortable enough with a wide variety of materials in the classroom that the themes become more and more student-driven. Every year my class mix is a little different, so I always change things up to meet the needs of the new groups coming to me. These around the room units remain the best way I have found to introduce my students to the materials and techniques in their new art studio. n

Cynthia Gaub teaches middle-school art, in Everett, Washington (an hour north of Seattle). She has been using modified TAB-Choice methods for over 10 years and writes on her blog: www.artechtivity.com to share her “Around the Room” and themed units with fellow teachers. s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 • 85 Y E A R S

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Yearlong Secondary Advanced Art Series | AN AMPed UP CURRICULUM

What’s in Store This Year ... by Debi West

am very excited to be back again this year, writing another curricular series for my favorite art-education magazine, Arts & Activities! This year, I will be sharing my advanced art lessons with you all. I have been honored to teach children through the visual arts for the past 24 years and just spent the past 10 years at the secondary level, teaching Intro to Art on up to Advanced Placement® (AP®) courses with freshmen through senior students. I CAN STILL RECALL MY FIRST YEAR

at the secondary level, having taught elementary students for 14 years, and being told that I would be teaching the AP Draw/Paint and 2D Studio courses. I was super excited AND super nervous! I wondered if I was fit to teach at this advanced level and within my first year, I realized that I could do it and I could be even better if I networked with other seasoned advanced art course

Acrylic; 24" x 32".

educators. That first year I attended the National Art Education Association Convention (as I do every year) and I hit as many AP and Scholastic workshops as I possibly could and absorbed it all. I was hooked and I learned so much! When I started writing my annual secondar y theme-based articles for Arts & Activities three years ago (2015–16), I began with my Intro Curriculum and mentioned several times that my intro courses were truly the foundation for the success of my advanced students. Students must know and understand the fundamentals of art—the vocabular y, the elements, the principles, the media and they must be given the time to experiment to be truly ready to tackle the rigorous advanced course that demands critical and divergent thinking at a higher level. I recommend taking a look at a few of these published lessons and

also taking a good look at your current intro curriculum as you begin to develop your advanced curriculum. THE ARTICLES THAT YOU WILL READ

over this school year will be much looser than my past lessons because students must be given freedom to create and come up with their own artistic answers to the prompts that I use. I call my advanced curriculum “AMPS,” which is an acronym for “Artist/Art Movement–Media–Prompt– Subject Matter.” Each lesson focuses on one or more of these to “amp up” my students’ portfolios. Over the years, I have begun to refer to these as the “Power of the Prompt.” I am excited to share eight of these advanced AMPS lessons with you in the months ahead, as well as my students’ capstone performance final, and I look for ward to seeing where your students go with your new “amped up” curriculum! HERE ARE A FEW MUST-DOS as you plan for this advanced course: • Explain the difference between breadth and concentration. • Hold an Advanced Art Parents’ Night to make sure that everyone is on the same page early on (example on opposite page). • Give the student’s their AMPS/ prompts early on so they can have time to plan accordingly. • Share the new self-evaluation rubric form that resembles the AP® scoring guide and will help students realize the new way their work will be graded (I created this to help students see how their work will be scored at the National level). • Give students their advanced art “Checklist for Success” and remind them how important it is to keep up with due

s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 • 85 Y E A R S

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ARTICLE 1 OF 10

ADVANCED ART PARENTS’ NIGHT LETTER EXAMPLE

Welcome to Advanced Art Parents’ Night! On behalf of our visual art team, we are thrilled that you are here and we are very excited to have the opportunity to teach your child an AP® art course this year! (Teacher’s name) is teaching AP Draw _________________ (Teacher’s name) is teaching AP 2D Design _________________ (Teacher’s name) is teaching AP 3D Design and 2D Design (Photography) _________________ (web address) All of our information is on our Visual Art website: __________________________ So … what is AP? • A unique learning experience that will help your child succeed in college! • A class where students around the world who want to learn and achieve at the highest levels come to learn! • Through AP college-level courses and exams, your child can earn college credit and advanced placement, stand out in the admissions process, and learn from some of the most skilled, dedicated, and inspiring teachers in the world! • Allows your child to demonstrate his/her maturity and readiness for college. • Allows your child to share his/her willingness to take the most rigorous courses available to them. • And it emphasizes his/her commitment to academic excellence!

Acrylic; 18" x 24".

Expectations of your AP Artist: • To be a time manager. • To consistently work on their art at home. • Each student must complete 24 top-quality artworks for his/her portfolio exam in May. • Each student must complete 12 breadth pieces of art, 12 concentration pieces of art and five quality pieces, which can come out of his/her 24 pieces mentioned above. A 3-D portfolio is a bit different: Contact your child’s teacher for details. • The cost of the AP Visual Art exam is $80. If your child is enrolled in an AP art course, it is expected that he/she will submit the portfolio. You are responsible for the fee. If this is his/her only AP class, the school will pay (they pay for one AP course per student, per year). • To be reliable, honest and dedicated to his/her art for the entire school year. AP is rigorous work!

Acrylic; 24" x 18".

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s art teacher.

Go to artsandactivities.com and click on this button for resources related to this article.

dates and homework assignments. I have been honored to present at the past two Summer AP Conferences, where I share the value and importance of foundational/intro courses, and share my student’s successes over the past 10 years. It’s amazing how much we learn and grow as art educators when we share our successes. Next Up: “Still Life Studies in 4.” n A&A Contributing Editor Debi West, Ed.S, NBCT, was an art educator and department chair at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia. She is now involved with her two businesses, WESTpectations Educational Consulting and Crystal Collage Children’s Art Studio in Suwanee.

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Acrylic; 24" x 32".

85 Y E A R S •

september 2017

art for PRE-K and

KINDERGARTEN

Bode

Start with

Ellen

Self-Portraits by Matt Mazur

Nathan

re you concer ned about what to do with those kindergartners when they come through your doors for the very first time? How about creating a beautiful work of art to commemorate their very first art class? This is a highly successful lesson I have used almost every year I have been teaching that incorporates simple lines and shapes, primary colors and self-portraiture in an easily understood and fun way!

Then I pass out crayons and a sheet of 6" x 6" paper, and let them create a drawing that tells a story about them. I walk around the room and offer suggestions to get the artistic juices going. This is great for mixed skill level classes—you can gauge where each student’s abilities are and what you may need to work on. Then, before we meet for our second class, I mount each student’s drawing onto a 12" x 18" paper.

OUR FIRST ART CLASS! The first class of the year can be

THE SELF-PORTRAIT In our second class, we gather together and I read the children one of the books about shapes I like to use, such as When A Line Bends ... A Shape Begins, by Rhonda Gowler Greene. I have the students get out their “magic fingers” and we practice creating in the air all the shapes we can think of—simple circles and squares, to stars and even octagons! I then hand each student a flesh-tone paper circle that is close to their skin color before they return to their seats. Once everyone is settled, I draw simple lines and shapes

a challenge, even for veteran teachers. I teach at a public Montessori school where pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students are mixed together in the same class, so ability levels can be all over the map. I like to begin the first class with the book Art Is, by Bob Raczma. This book introduces students to different mediums and time periods, and opens their eyes to the limitless ideas of what art can be.

see

START

on page 38

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Pre-K and K students will … • create a self-portrait using basic lines and shapes. • identify and use primary colors in art. • gain experience with various media and techniques.

NATIONAL ART STANDARDS

•

CREATING: Through experimentation, build skills in various media and approaches to art making. • CONNECTING: Create art that tells a story about a life experience.

MATERIALS

• 12" x 18" colored construction paper, 6" x 6" white or manila paper • Strips of paper in primary colors • Pre-cut paper rectangles • Yarn in various hair colors • Crayons, scissors, glue • Book: Art Is, by Bob Raczma (Millbrook Press; 2003) • Book: Mouse Paint, by Ellen Walsh (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1995) • Book about shapes, such as When a Line Bends ... a Shape Begins,

by Rhonda Gowler Greene (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1997)

s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 • 85 Y E A R S

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Creating Connections with Lea

t the beginning of each school year, I meet with each of my upper elementary classes for an abbreviated lesson that focuses on unity and variety. Each student contributes a piece that will be included in a larger work of art that speaks to the uniqueness of each of our students and to the collective unity that is present in our school community. My students and I started one year off by looking at the work of Lea Anderson, an artist and educator who graduated from our own San Diego State University, and has worked in Albuquerque, N.M., for the past 14 years. HER WORK IS A GREAT EXAMPLE of

unity and variety in art. I love the way she plays with natural shapes and how she incorporates patterns in these shapes. The shapes and arrangements of them speak to me both on macro and micro levels in terms of science and the physical world. Lea’s process and finished pieces connect so well with various elements of STEAM curriculum. There is a strong sense of connectedness in her individual pieces, and her larger body of work too, that resonates with me as well. I showed the students a photo from her “Imitation Organics” series and had

by Don Masse

them identify how Lea created unity and variety. Then I asked them to draw and cut out a circle or an oval from the paper that was at their table. They were to create at least two patterns that demonstrated radial symmetry on it with the color sticks and markers. What the patterns were, and how they were arranged were entirely up to the individual student, as long as they revolved around a central point. If students finished their circular shape early, they could create another smaller one. These “extras” come in quite handy when building the collective arrangements later. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Elementary students will ... • demonstrate an understanding of radial symmetry while creating a design that is based on their own personal interests. • respect the views of others as they create a collaborative work of art.

NATIONAL ART STANDARDS

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Lea Anderson (American; b. 1968). Dewdropic. Mixed-media drawings on paper on wood panel; 55" x 45". Image courtesy of the artist. Please see page 45 for a larger reproduction of this artwork.

CREATING: Create personally satisfying work using a variety of artistic processes and materials. Collaboratively set goals and create artwork that is meaningful and has purpose to the makers.

worked with a different set of analogous colors: r/y/o, b/g/y, and r/v/b. As students finished up their pieces, they came up to the front of the room to assemble them, starting in a center and radiating out until the overall shape was large enough. The smaller extras were used to fill in gaps created when larger shapes were placed near one another. AS WE PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER on

the floor in the front of the room to get an idea of what the installation would look like, I soon realized there wasn’t nearly enough room for all the large circles. We had six of them that are about 4 feet in diameter each, plus a couple more smaller, collective circle shapes. The following week I had students come down during my additional class size reduction times to assemble and glue these shapes onto large sheets of white butcher paper that had 4-foot circles drawn on them. Once all the pieces were glued, we assembled them on the back wall of the auditorium to create a wonderful display of unity and variety. It was quite fun to work with students and listen to the conversations that took place in terms of positioning the large shapes when considering their color schemes and sizes. WHEN MY STUDENTS do these open-

MATERIALS

• Variety of colored construction paper • Scissors • Pencils, markers, Crayola color sticks ®

EACH DAY OF THIS PROJECT, students

ing collaborations they understand that they are “letting go” of their individual piece or pieces. They do not get broken apart and returned to them. That

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The smaller “extras” that students created played an important role in filling in gaps and defining the outer edges of the larger shape collections.

When students recognized a circular collection was large enough, they started another, and then another ...

The finished pieces were assembled by students on the stage wall in our auditorium to create a striking display for assemblies.

is something that you could choose to emphasize with your students, or you could have them put names on the back of each small piece and attach them to a wall directly, whether it’s by using loops of tape or pinning them directly to a wall. www.ar tsandactivities.com

Again, one aspect that is unique to using the work of living artists to inspire your students is that your students can receive feedback and encouragement from these very artists. When we shared our collaborative with Lea she reiterated her belief in how things

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Individual pieces were laid down in the front of the room and students worked together to fill gaps between the pieces.

in this world are related: “I believe the harmony/variety factor is due as much to the laws of nature as it is personal creativity. It’s fascinating to me how things can be completely unique, but be interrelated at the same time. Actually an echo of EVERYTHING ... ” n Arts & Activities Contributing Editor, Don Masse, is a K–5 visual arts teacher at Zamorano Fine Arts Academy in San Diego, California. 19

Identity Works Putting Your Heart and Soul into Art

here’s always excitement in the air when a new school year begins. but sometimes the older kids don’t want to admit they’re excited to be back in school. When it comes right down to it, though, they enter my room with anticipation—I can see it in their eyes. I wanted to start the school year in a fresh way that could introduce the students to one another, but I didn’t want the standard project or assignment. I wanted to really get my students to think and be creative about what their desires and wishes are and what each is interested in. We were going to do this by creating collages/ assemblages that told about ourselves at this particular time.

by Karen Skophammer

WE BEGAN by looking at several collages

and assemblages by “famous” artists, which are basically collage/assemblages that tell something about them. Every piece of art that is completed shows some of that artist’s personality. By the colors and subjects chosen, artists show that there is a hunger for passion of purpose in our lives. Students don’t always understand that the artworks they are looking at and creating reflect this. I explained that when I had the privilege of working with artist Robert Rauschenberg, he told me stories about many of his works of art and each one of the works had “meaning” and was not just color and texture slapped onto a canvas. He had put his heart and soul

“For the Love of Ketchup.”

“Read Me.”

“Once Upon a Dream.”

into the making of the works of art, even if the public viewing them didn’t realize it at the time. There are many features of our everyday life that contribute to the enjoyment of beauty in the world. Some of them we notice as this, and some it takes a while for the meaning to sink in. For instance, we might choose certain clothing for its texture … the smoothness and comfort against our skin as much as the fashion value. That smoothness and comfort may pass over into other things we do including our art. The smoothness may influence the colors we use as we try to get that feeling into our works of art. Students had to think about this and let it sink in before beginning their own “Identity Works.”

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“My Many Colors.”

“It’s Really Me.”

WHEN WE LOOK at other people’s

work, we may notice things we don’t like. Instead of focusing on this, however, it is more productive to look carefully at colors and forms, and decide which features of an artwork we do like. What factors in a the artist’s life could have led to these choices? The artist may be having a dark period in his or her life. Perhaps a family member is quite ill or has died. This certainly would affect the person’s art. So, instead of using bright, cheerful colors, he or she starts to use dark and somber colors, reflecting his or her feelings during that time. Analyzing works of art in this way can be fascinating. I asked my students to think about something in their lives they felt

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strongly about or enjoyed—something that defined their personalities at the beginning of the school year. Then, they were to sketch some ideas, then select one they thought could be developed into a collage or assemblage. This group of students had already had Art I, so they were well versed in the art elements. They were to keep them in mind when designing their works of art. This assignment was not to be items randomly thrown together and glued down. Each work of art was like a puzzle, in which the art elements were fit together with the artist’s feelings. At least a portion of his or her personality was to be conveyed. Some of the students’ concepts surprised me. ONE BOY took a lighthearted approach

to the assignment. He adored food of any kind, especially ketchup, and based his work on that. Fittingly, he called his creation “For the Love of Ketchup.” To attract attention to it, he created a brightly painted background, on which he placed cut-out hearts and fast-food ketchup packets. It was unique and

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES High-school students will … • perceive the many ways art can be experienced and be open to aesthetic experimentation. • develop an openness to the variety of art forms and styles. • recognize art as a problem-solving, decision-making expression of man’s attitude toward life. • develop skill in producing original visual expressions that portray structure and art principles, as well as their ideas, thoughts and feelings. • acquire awareness of good design and craftsmanship.

NATIONAL ART STANDARDS

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CREATING: Conceive and develop new artistic ideas and work. • PRESENTING: Interpret and share artistic work. • RESPONDING: Understand and evaluate how the arts convey meaning. • CONNECTING: Relate artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.

showed a different use of rhythm, repetition, color, shape and textures—all mixed together. No one was surprised by this work—the student’s personality is vibrant and comedic. ONE OF THE GIRLS turned in a work of

art that, at first glance, looked to me like a “cop-out,” and done in a hurry. see

IDENTITY

on page 37

COMMUNITY

connections

Early Finishers

Who Give Back by Anne M. Hoffman

s art teachers, we inevitably have various students who finish their assignment before the rest of the class. There are already so many great ideas out there about what you can have those students do such as be student helpers, create at stations, or work on coloring pages. In my classroom, I like to encourage early finishers to give back to our community by working on simple, yet rewarding, service projects! Children get so excited about doing for others and it is easy for them to brighten someone’s day just by creating beautiful artwork! Here are some fun, easy ways for those early finishers to give back… DOG PULL TOYS Ask your local Project Linus chapter to save their fleece scraps for you. Sort out the long, thin strips and make these available to your students. They can tightly knot and braid them to make dog pull toys. (Find easy instructions on how to make these on YouTube!) Donate the finished pull toys to your local animal shelter, dog rescue group or pet food pantr y for their clients! LUNCH BAGS Decorate brown paper lunch bags with con-

struction-paper crayons. Students can write bubble letter sayings such as ‘Enjoy your Meal’ or ‘Have a nice day!’ along with drawings and designs. My local Meals on Wheels chapter loved this idea so much that they even supplied the paper bags for us! After designing a large stack of bags, you can simply drop them off at Meals on Wheels and they will use the bags to pack their food in for deliveries to homebound seniors. GREETING CARDS It’s great to use 9" x 12" drawing or con-

struction paper as well as colored paper scraps to make wonderful greeting cards. Students can make thank-you cards for veterans for their service, or local police and fire departments for helping keep the community safe.

Another wonderful place to send cards is to children in hospitals. Cards for Hospitalized Kids is one organization that collects and distributes the greeting cards, or you may drop them off yourself at your local children’s hospital. TISSUE PAPER FLOWERS

Use green pipe cleaners for stems and a variety of colored tissue paper for the flowers. (There are many YouTube tutorials that illustrate easy ways to make different types of flowers.) Students can attach the stems to baskets or put them in inexpensive vases for display. I’ve found free or cheap baskets/ vases at garage sales, on Freecycle, or in the clearance section of Michael’s Arts & Crafts store. (You may also ask families to donate them.) Finished flower arrangements can then go to senior living facilities where they are sure to make residents smile! PLACEMATS Create colorful seasonal or holiday placemats for seniors living in residential homes. Use 12" x 18" white drawing or construction paper and bold markers. A favorite of mine is for students to make Thanksgiving placemats with beautiful autumn decorations on them! Once your students have finished a group of them, donate the placemats to your local nursing homes! My students seem to get as much pleasure from these activities as the recipients do. I hope these ideas inspire both you and your students. n

Anne M. Hoffman is an art teacher, substitute teacher, and the secretary at Shabonee School in Northbrook, Illinois.

RESOURCES

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The American Legion: www.legion.org Meals on Wheels: americaletsdolunch.org

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Cards for Hospitalized Kids: www.cardsforhospitalizedkids.com

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Project Linus: www.projectlinus.org/volunteer/ The Freecycle Network: www.freecycle.org/

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A&A Art Print: Respond and Connect Jan Steen. A School for Boys and Girls, 1670.

“Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and when the grass of the meadows is wet with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning.” Maria Montessori

MAIN VISUAL ART CONCEPTS: Unity • Variety • Perspective • Genre • Chiaroscuro

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ART CONCEPTS IN DESIGN: Perspective. While the painting seems complicated due to the large number of active people in a relatively small room, Steen uses simple one-point perspective, with the vanishing point converging on the boy standing on top of the table. Almost all diagonal lines point to him, and he is illuminated from behind by the window on the right.

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS: Satire. Satire is most often considered a type of writing of plays and novels, but visual art can also use satire. Jan Steen is known for his satirical paintings that exposed and ridiculed human follies and weaknesses. His works often brought attention to issues of discipline and structure (or lack thereof) in educational and other social “systems” as they existed in Holland in the 17th century. Steen was, generally, kind to his subjects, depicting them with care and affection rather than disdain.

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• TECHNIQUE: Leading the viewer through a composition. Jan Steen has divided this piece into eight distinctive, small vignettes—or plays—that are quite theatrical. While one’s eye is immediately drawn to the teacher in the center of the canvas, with her bright white head covering, the action converges on the boy standing on the table in the back of the room. In the picture to the left, we have broken the painting into the eight vignettes: 1. The ceiling with the empty birdcage and tangled vines. 2. The fighting boys causing a ruckus while their classmate stands on the table. 3. The adults focusing only on what is closest to them. 4. The pranksters, pointing and laughing. 5. The table with two students attempting to concentrate. 6. The sleeping student who has consumed some of the vegetables from the basket. 7. The well-lit girl wearing an apron and patiently waiting while being eyed by a clean-cut boy. 8. A group of children possibly about to read a book together, surrounded by scattered, loose hand-colored pictures of animals.

ART HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Steen lived and worked during the Dutch Golden Age (c. 1600– 1700), when the Dutch provinces saw a huge increase in international trade. Greater wealth boosted art sales to upper middle–class and upper-class citizens, who loved genre scenes depicting everyday life. Rembrandt (1606–1669) and Vermeer (1632–1675) were Steen’s contemporaries.

BOTANY: Vines achieve their climbing heights through various methods such as clinging roots, tendrils, thorns or adhesive pads. They can erode stone and cause the collapse of wood structures. The climbing vines in this image have invaded the poorly maintained classroom. They add to the atmosphere of the class, even while wilting and turning brown.

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SYMBOLISM: The young boy is offering spectacles to the owl (a symbol of wisdom) above him. Steen’s message is embedded in the gesture: only those who want to see, will pursue wisdom. There is little point in offering assistance to someone who does not want it.

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PAINTING: A Limited EarthTone Palette. Jan Steen used shades of burnt umber (dark brown) and sienna (red-brown) with areas of gray and white. His limited palette unifies the complicated composition. His tonal approach is punctuated with colorful spots of red, blue and yellow that draw the eye around the painting.

GEOGRAPHY: Jan Steen was born in Leiden, Holland, on the West coast of The Netherlands. Some people believe Holland is equivalent to The Netherlands, but it is actually a province of The Netherlands. There is a North Holland and a South Holland.

Wherever you see this symbol, it means there are resources related to this article available online. Visit artsandactivities.com and click on this button to explore these topics further. www.ar tsandactivities.com

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Jan Steen (Dutch; 1626–1679). A School for Boys and Girls, 1670. Oil on canvas; 32.17" × 42.76". Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. / Public domain ©

In the Studio: Create and Present Annotations and lessons on these pages by Tara Cady Sartorius, Program Director, Alabama Arts Alliance

GRADES K–6

GRADES 7-12

AT THE BACK OF THE ROOM, on the right side in Jan Steen’s

A TOUCH OF LIGHT. The lighting in Jan Steen’s painting, A School

painting, A School for Boys and Girls (1670), is a figure looking out the window, perhaps longing to be outside. In Amy Ward’s third-grade students’ work (below), they have imagined their own scenes out a window, based on the book series, Bunnicula and Friends, about a vegetable juice–sucking “vampire” rabbit, by Deborah and James Howe (Atheneum Books for Young Readers). The artwork is delightful because it seems the cat or the dog in the window is very curious about what is going on outside. Ward collaborated with the classroom teacher to have students create art related to their reading. According to Ms. Ward, “They needed to think about the characters from the book and create a scene. They could choose Harold the dog or Chester the cat to look out a window. “Our medium was crayon and watercolor. I find that those two inexpensive mediums work really well for kids. The crayon ‘corrals’ the watercolor from spilling into other colors.”

for Boys and Girls (1670), is somewhat dim, but he manages to use the effects of the light entering the room from the side window to define the characters in his painting. Because he was living during the Dutch Baroque period (1600–1700), Steen was influenced to use methods of “chiaroscuro” (strong contrast of lights and darks) to define forms and faces. Here, art teacher Jennifer Niedig had her students at William Allen Middle School first photograph themselves in “dramatic lighting to cast shadows on their faces,” and then draw with charcoal, being careful to match the values in their photographs.

Art by fourth-grade students at Germantown Hills School in Metamora, Illinois.

NATIONAL ART STANDARDS: Grades K–6 CREATE: Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.

Organize and develop artistic ideas and work. Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers experiment with forms, structures, materials, concepts, media, and art-making approaches. RESPOND: Perceive and analyze artistic work. Enduring Understanding: Individual aesthetic and empathetic awareness developed through engagement with art can lead to understanding and appreciation of self, others, the natural world, and constructed environments.

How to use the monthly A&A Art Print: Carefully unbend the staples at the center of the magazine, pull the print up and out of the magazine. Rebend staples to keep magazine intact. Laminate the pulled-out section

Art by seventh-grade students at William Allen Middle School in Moorestown, New Jersey.

NATIONAL ART STANDARDS: Grades 7–12 CREATE: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. Apply methods to overcome creative blocks. Essential Questions: How does knowing the contexts, histories and traditions of art forms help us create works of art and design? Why do artists follow or break from established traditions? How do artists determine what resources are needed to formulate artistic investigations? Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers shape artistic investigations, following or breaking with traditions in pursuit of creative artmaking goals.

and use it as a resource in your art room. — Editor

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Purposeful Planning Pages Getting Students to Outline and Plan Their Projects

by Xanthipi Abel

Lily, grade 9.

teach visual arts as part of the Diploma Years Program (DP) at an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School. The Diploma Years Program consists of junior and senior students. The IB program is a curriculum that consists of three programs - Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Years. It is often compared to the Advanced Placement (AP) program; however, each IB program consists of a two-year curriculum rather than one year as with the AP. The IB program is widely used throughout the world and has become a fastgrowing educational program in North America. IB Visual Arts promotes the opportunity for experience within a rigorous program, which consists of three assessment components. One of the assessment components consists of Planning Pages in which students are assessed against a set of criteria that help to develop their critical, analytical, personal and experiential skills. In my pre IB classes (grades 9 and 10) I implement Planning Pages as part of studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; course work. I seek to develop, foster and create good working practices in my pre-IB classes to help students carry these traits into their junior and senior year. A PLANNING PAGE ASSIGNMENT is given at the begin-

ning of every unit or project. This is the case whether it is teacher-prescribed or students want to pursue a project of their own choice. I go over Planning Page expectations and the importance www.ar tsandactivities.com

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Heather, grade 10.

of outlining, experimenting and researching a concept. Ideas change and evolve over time. By planning out an idea, students have the freedom to try new things and revise their work without feeling tied down to their initial idea. I provide students with examples of sketchbook pages that exemplify a good plan of action. I then provide students with a set of guided questions to help guide their thought process and organize their intention. AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH SEMESTER, I provide mini hand-

outs of the elements and principles that student tape into their sketchbook so that they can access them when needed. I begin each unit by examining a piece of art that is pertinent to our particular project. We use the elements of art, principles of design and the Planning Page guided question handout to discuss these works of art in order to help 27

Colleen,

0. grade 1

understand what is expected of them and to reinforce their analytical/interpretive skills. Students usually have a week to complete their Planning Pages but if students need more time I assess the deadline and act accordingly. Students are expected to work on their Planning Pages at home and in class. Once students feel ready to begin their final piece and have completed their Planning Page we have a brief conference about their plan and they are free to begin. I allow students to make that decision; if I feel they need a bit more planning and practices, the student and I talk through the process to help give them ownership of their own work. INITIALLY, I THOUGHT ASKING STUDENTS to include more writing and analysis in their art class would be met with some hesitation, but I find that students really enjoy creating Planning Pages. Outlining and planning can also prevent mistakes that could be frustrating to students and can possibly hinder a student from moving forward in their work. Planning Page assignments help students stop and think planning page assignMent

There are two components that encompass a good Planning Page ... planning page a visual aspect and a assignMent written aspect. There are two components that encompass a good Planning Page ... a visual aspect and a written aspect.

1. For the drawing portion oF your planning page you can include any of the following:

• The sketch could be in pencil, paint or color pencil, or any medium you choose. 1. For the drawing portion oF your planning page you can include any of the following: • If you like, you can create more than one sketch using more than one medium, i.e. pencil sketch, paint sketch The can sketch could be multiple in pencil,sketches paint orfrom color pencil,perspectives or any medium you choose. • You also create various i.e. side, front back, top view If you like, you can create more than sketch using than one medium, i.e. pencil sketch, sketch • You can also create a visual study of aone particular piecemore of artwork or experiment with drawing in paint a specific • style You can also create multiple sketches from various perspectives i.e. side, front back, top view or technique • You can also create a visual study of a particular piece of artwork or experiment with drawing in a specific 2. For theorwriting style technique portion oF your planning page you can include any of the following: Media and techniques exploration: 2. For the writing portion oF your planning page you can include any of the following: • Discuss the medium you will use in this artwork and why? Media andany techniques • Mention difficultiesexploration: or successes you have experienced in working with this medium medium you will artwork and why? • Discuss the color palette you use will in usethis (i.e. what colors do you plan to use and why?) Mention or techniques successes you in working with this medium • You may any alsodifficulties discuss any you have plan experienced to use, (i.e. eraser technique to create highlights, • texture Discussto the color realistic palette you use and (i.e. darker what colors plandepth to use and why?) create hair,will lighter valuesdotoyou create etc.) mayrefer also the discuss any techniques plan toofuse, (i.e.toeraser technique • You can elements of art and you principles design discuss how anytoofcreate those highlights, will be texture create used in to your planrealistic hair, lighter and darker values to create depth etc.) • You can refer the elements of art and principles of design to discuss how any of those will be artist study: may also discuss an artist or art style connection. Explore artists or styles that work in the used in yourYou plan same style, technique, medium or subject matter you are working in. artist study: You may also discuss an artist or art style connection. Explore artists or styles that work in the Basic Infotechnique, about themedium Work: or subject matter you are working in. same style, • Artist’s name Basic Info about the is Work: • Where the Artist from Artist’s name • Title of Work Where the was Artistcreated is from • Date work Title of Work • A printed image of the artist’s work. (Cite the source where you found the artwork/information.) • Date work was created Visual Response: • A printed image of the artist’s work. (Cite the source where you found the artwork/information.) • Why does this piece stand out to you? Visual • HowResponse: does it connect to your own work? • What Why does thisartist’s piece life stand you? with? in your do out youtoidentify How does it connect to your own work? • What in your artist’s work do/did you identify with? • What in your artist’s life do you identify with? personal Connection: • What in your artist’s work do/did you identify with? • You may also add a personal connection and discuss what this project means to you. personal Connection: • What are your intentions for creating this work of art? • You may also add a personal connection and discuss what this project means to you. Cultural investigation: is a setthis of work predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize a society • What are your intentionsCulture for creating of art? • Where and when was the work of art made? Cultural investigation: a set of predominating • What historical events orCulture culturalis background influence theattitudes work? and behavior that characterize a society Whereisand when was the time workand of art made? • What happening in the place the artwork was made? Consider: historical, geographical, • religious What historical events or cultural background influence the work? and other relevant contexts. Whatdoes is happening in matter the time and a place the attribute? artwork was made? Consider: historical, geographical, • How the subject reflect cultural religious relevant contexts. • You may and also other provide statistics and facts if referring to a measurable subject matter or cultural investigation • such How as does the subject reflect a cultural attribute? a disorder or amatter genocide • You may also provide statistics and facts if referring to a measurable subject matter or cultural investigation such as a disorder or a genocide

Note: A Planning Page cannot be wrong … it’s all about how you plan to work out your project … try your best, have fun, be creative and be you! Note: A Planning Page cannot be wrong … it’s all about how you plan to work out your project … try your best, have fun, be creative and be you!

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Download a PDF of this assignment sheet at A&A Online: artsandactivities.com/editorial/ aa-online/

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Hannah, grade 9.

before they commit. It allows them to think about a variety of media tests, to reflect on the intentions of their work and to be able to articulate these processes on paper. Students enjoy the freedom to express themselves in the design of their Planning Page. It’s important to reinforce good academic honesty traits: I often remind my students that if they are using quotes, photographs or images of artwork, they must always cite their sources. s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 • 85 Y E A R S

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Victoria, grade 10.

Jillian, grad e 10.

Go to artsandactivities.com and click on this button to access/download a PDF of the Planning Page.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES High-school students will … • conceptualize, organize and develop artistic ideas and intentions. • connect knowledge and personal experiences to make art. • explore, analyze, refine and reflect artistic techniques and mediums to be used in final works • elect and relate artistic work in reference to other artists and styles. • relate artistic plans with societal, cultural and historical context to create a meaningful connection

NATIONAL ART STANDARDS

Celeste, grade 9.

The Planning Page assignment is broken down into two parts: the drawing portion, and the writing. And, I always remind them that A Planning Page cannot be wrong … it’s all about how you plan to work out your project … try your best, have fun, be creative, and be you! n Xanthipi Abel teaches high-school art at Sturgis Public Charter School in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. www.ar tsandactivities.com

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• • •

CREATING: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work. PRESENTING: Interpreting and sharing artistic work. RESPONDING: Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning. • CONNECTING: Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.

MATERIALS

• • •

Sketchbook or loose paper to be used for students to plan out their project. A variety of mediums for student exploration. A variety of scrap or and varied colors or textured paper for students to use as media tests. 29

My Initials As Art

by Joann Hospod-Stanford

t the beginning of each school year, I present assignments that allow my middle-school students to immediately connect with the ar t lesson. In this project, students’ initials are the star ting point for developing the assigned work, and they discover how they can turn something as simple as their initials into a visually complex ar twork. INTRODUCING this assignment, we discuss cave paintings—how they are a universal language that can be interpreted today by people from around the world, regardless of their individual languages. We also discuss how hieroglyphics and other early forms of lettering began BEFORE

Morgan disguised her initials well, and the use of the repeated white dots was a stroke of genius.

Alyssa’s final designs is stunning. Her blending of letters resemble Inuit designs, and her color choices were a risk that paid off.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Middle-school students will … • demonstrate the design principle of balance in a symmetrically or asymmetrically composed artwork. • manipulate the art elements of line and shape in a drawing to create a unique “motif” • demonstrate the design principle of rhythm through the use of repetition. • effectively use color to demonstrate the selected type of balance, and rhythm in a final artwork.

MATERIALS

•

NATIONAL ART STANDARDS

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CREATING: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas, demonstrating deliberate choices to generate a unique design. PRESENTING: Demonstrating age-appropriate craftsmanship in applying media and techniques. PRESENTING: Analyzing and interpreting Design Elements and Principles in a work of art. RESPONDING: Evaluating the use of Design Elements and the demonstration of Design Principles. CONNECTING: Synthesizing and relating knowledge and personal artistic ideas in making art.

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• • • • •

•

Tracing paper cut into small (3" x 4") pieces for individual letters and larger (4.5" x 6") pieces for making the motif design 9" x 12" white drawing paper (to make an individual copy of one’s motif, used when selecting colors for the final drawing) 70- or 80-lb. drawing paper cut to 14" x 14" squares or 12" x 16" rectangles 18- or 24-inch rulers 4H, 5H or 6H pencils Ultra-fine/Extra-fine permanent markers in a variety of colors Colored pencils in a variety of colors Books/copies/website addresses of many different lettering styles in a variety of languages (that are also translated to show their English equivalents) (Optional) Derwent blenders for colored pencils

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Leo turned his initials into pure design by overlapping letters and changing colors.

Ayana disguised some mistakes she made on her paper by cutting around her design and then mounting the design on red construction paper. Striking!

Autumn used a different color in some areas where two letters crossed, and used one negative area to carry the aqua to the outer corners of her symmetrical design.

as simplified drawings of objects or representations of ideas and concepts. Then we look at written language and its further evolution into widely differing and distinct symbols. Everyone learns something from these discussions. At age 12–13, some students presume all languages use 26 letters—until they see examples of Greek, Cherokee, Japanese, Chinese and Eskimo alphabets (and more)! This assignment asks students to demonstrate the design principles of balance (symmetr y/ asymmetr y) and rhythm (with a repeated motif). Using the ar t elements of line, shape and color, they are to create an entirely new design from the combined and repeated letters in their initials. AT APPROPRIATE POINTS

in the assignment, I demonstrate the steps or techniques for creating the motif and transferring it to final drawing paper. Visual Aleyshka chose to blend her letters into each other, making one large shape with no boundaries. www.ar tsandactivities.com

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aids are displayed to remind students how to proceed with each technique, and examples of partially finished and finished drawings serve to illustrate the steps. Understanding what one can do by manipulating positive and negative space is an important concept in making the motif for this assignment. Students draw upon prior learning: their first assignment in sixth grade was a blackand-white drawing in which they redirected attention to the negative areas between and around their initials by creating letters that touch or overlap a border, causing the negative areas to be enclosed, thereby creating new shapes from those negative spaces. To spark interest and help students develop a motif design, dozens of examples of type styles (and different kinds of letters) are available, and students narrow down their letter choices, preferably two styles for each initial. The design problem posed to students requires that the motif be changed from identifiable initials to pure design by taking away some of the lines in the overlapping letters, changing colors in the new shapes that are created where two letters cross, forming new shapes from the original positive and negative areas. The resulting motif should not look like the original initials and students cannot add any line outside the letters. They must use only the lines that are already in the overlapped letters of their motif. Letters must be designed as shapes, not as lines. Using tracing paper, students experiment with different combinations of the lettering styles they invent or select—by overlapping letters, combining letters, erasing lines, using different colors or designs where two letters intersect, combining positive and negative areas, showing letters forwards and backwards. Ultimately each student narrows down the combinations to a single motif—or “little artwork”—which will be repeated on a 14-inch square or 12" x 16" rectangle of 70- or 80-lb. drawing paper. After the motif is created, students measure out and draw on the back of the 14" x 14" or 12" x 16" final drawing paper: one line that divides the paper in half vertically, and one line that divides the paper in half horizontally, making four equal squares or rectangles. On the front of the paper, using a light box, the motif is traced in each quadrant, so that the horizontal and vertical lines are not visible in the final art. How the motif is positioned along the midlines is determined by the student’s choice of symmetry or asymmetry (asymmetry may or may not stay see

INITIALS

on page 34 31

on the

ART CAREER TRACK

hen I first saw the cover of Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, I was captivated by the letter forms that followed the contour of the hand silhouette. Graphic designer Jon Gray exercised artistic license with the counters, serifs and tails of the letters, as well as the orientation of the type to create an appealing and eye-catching book jacket. The design was a terrific piece of work and a source of inspiration for a simple and effective typographical assignment for a group of students from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. It was also significant because the book jacket represents a trend in contemporary design that encourages the use of hand-lettered copy. Jon Gray designed this cover for the book, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Houghton Mifflin; 2005.)

WERE FIRST GIVEN an introduction to typographical terms, then studied the Foer book cover, and looked at a variety of ways the hand has been used as a decorative element in art over the past one-thousand years. Many were familiar with the amulet called the “Hamsa” (Arabic for the number “five,” but also the five fingers of the hand), which depicts an open right hand and a large eye in the palm. It is widely worn as jewelry, used as a wall hanging, and is thought to protect against the evil eye. In some Muslim circles it is referred to as The Hand of Fatima to commemorate Fatima Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet. The motif is still so popular in the region, that it has been appropriated by Christians and Jews as a good luck charm. The class was introduced to Dürer’s praying hands, which are a universal symbol of piety, and all recognized Michelangelo’s use of the hand for the spark of creation— a device cleverly mimicked by Stephen Spielberg in his science-fiction classic E.T. It is interesting to note that Mr. Spock’s “Live long and Prosper” gesture is taken directly from Jewish priestly traditions and often can be seen on Jewish headstones and Kabbalist texts. We reviewed the use of the manicule (from the Latin “manus,” for hand or fist), which was an actual punctuation mark in common use between the 12th and 18th centuries. STUDENTS

HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPTS would routinely include a

drawn hand in the margin, alerting readers to important sections. Following suit, most of the early lead typefaces included a hand character and were referred to as a printer’s fist, bishop’s fist, digit, mutton-fist and pointing hand. Even though the advent of typewriters spelled the end of the manicule in text, the hand character survived in large wood fonts and was often used as a decorative element in signage as well as magazine and newspaper advertising through the industrial revolution. It was at this time that artists started to give the device more personality—and we begin to see very stylized masculine and 32

HANDS

by Irv Osterer

Jahmeera

LEARNING OBJECTIVES High-school students will ... • be able to use typographical • terms to describe letter forms • gain an appreciation of cross cultural aspect of symbols and their evolution

create a convincing black-and-white hand, typographically inspired graphic using the hand motif

MATERIALS

• Sketchbooks, pencils • Uni-ball® Vision Elite®

• •

Rollerball pens

Black acrylic paint Card stock

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Aurora

Student assignment sheet. Available for download on A&A Online.

☞

This symbol is a punctuation mark, called a

manicule from the Latin manus' for hand or fist. Other names for the symbol include printer's fist, bishop's fist, digit, mutton-fist and pointing hand

Though rare today, this symbol was in common use between the 12th and 18th centuries in the margins of books, and was formerly included in lists of standard punctuation marks. It primarily fell out of favour because its complexity made it unfit for handwriting, and its wide size made it diﬃcult to fit on a typewriter or for early, dot matrix computer fonts.

feminine hands. The Arts and Crafts movement (1880–1920), which folfghABCW lowed, spawned a variety of hand fghiABCE labels affixed to products alluding to their manual origins. Some students were able to make the connection to the hand glyphs that were reintroduced as “dingbats” in the first postscript fonts created by Apple, and designed by Herman Zapf and after this overview were able to see evidence of these traditions in the 1927 Land & Sea textile graphic which strongly resembles the Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close book jacket and in contemporary designer Ginny Branch’s wonderful take on this motif (ginnybranch.blogspot.com/). It was reintroduced as a “dingbat” in the first fonts created for laser printers by Apple designed by Herman Zapf. It remains as a decorative option, but has never re-entered our punctuation set. Several companies have used the device as a logo and we see the creative use of the printer’s hand in the Jonathan Safran Foer book jacket.

Serif

SANS Serif

Your assignment — you are (like the designer of the Jonathan Safran Foer book) being asked to create a hand design in the spirit of the wonderful hand prints that were painted in the 1920’s for Land & Sea Clothing Company and Ginny Branch. TRACE YOUR OWN HAND TO USE AS A TEMPLATE. THE LETTERING SHOULD FOLLOW THE CONTOURS OF YOUR HAND WITH INFORMATION YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE.

Charles

IN MY CLASSROOM, where I had a virtual meeting of East-

ern and Western cultures, there was something to inspire everyone. All the students were asked to carefully trace their hands in their sketchbooks as a preliminary exercise, and then proceed to carefully fill these shapes with copy relating to their own personality. Each work had to contain a personal message, and students were asked to activate the space by letting the shape of their hand influence the length, width and contours of the letters they were creating. When they were finished their preliminary studies, the students proceeded to render their designs in black ink on 10" x 13" cover stock. This exercise encouraged thee young artists to make interesting combinations of letters, and through this project they expanded their typographical vocabulary and also arrived at an understanding of the constructs that guide the art of font creation. n

Daniel

Arts & Activities Contributing Editor Irv Osterer is Department Head – Fine Arts and Technology at Merivale High School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. www.ar tsandactivities.com

85 Y E A R S •

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with four repeats of the motif). A light box is preferable for transferring the repeats of the motif to the paper, but if no light boxes are available the motif and final drawing paper may be taped to windows for tracing. 4H–6H pencils are used with light pressure to avoid any smudging. The motif is carefully transferred to the drawing paper, relying on the vertical and horizontal lines to align symmetrical layouts or to help students balance asymmetrical repetitions of the motif. Students plan the use of color on a separate, single copy of their motif before any color is applied to the 14-inch square. There is experimentation with adding color using permanent markers, crayons and colored pencils, or a combination of both marker and colored pencil.

INITIALS continued from page 31

... students discover how they can turn something as simple as their initials into a visually complex ar twork. DIFFERENTIATION of this assignment is

built into its design. Students in heterogeneous classes are successful with this assignment at varying levels of understanding. The use of a vertical/horizontal axis as a framework for repeating the motif helps individuals understand the lesson concepts and create the artwork. Successfully demonstrating understanding of lesson objectives may range from very basic letter combinations to quite complex outcomes. While deciding on a color scheme (trying out various colored pencils or extra-fine markers on the copy of their motif), students often don’t yet recognize how gorgeous the repeated motif artworks have become - from something as simple as repeated letters. Only when students start to apply color choices to the repeated motifs on the final drawing paper do they realize how amazing their creations are! n Joann Hospod-Stanford teaches art at Sage Park Middle School in Avon, Connecticut. All photographs were taken by Anne Marie Curtis.

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Tell us which A&A article inspired you the most! CELEBRATE This month, we begin our

Give Me Liberty

85th publication year. Help celebrate by sharing how you’ve used Arts & Activities projects in your art room.

ey, June 2007

sween by Debra B. ties was my ng, Arts & Activi would be years of teachi ts uring my early types of art projecmy students mining what for lifeline. Deter ly stimulating as well as visual ey’s clever use both fun to teach ered Debra Sween ates opened. discov I When was a challenge. inspirational floodg process and art project, the explained her of media in one the way Debra of Liber ty and I appreciated ct like the Statue ely non-art subje lesson. I have done this lesson took a relativ art years an expressive and over the turned it into many times iques, used rade students fifth-g my s collage techn with ed with variou ty! have experiment Liber Lady lesson n ion that this a full versio and even tried and self-express marker ction media proof ent instru water a differ ce of direct-line Liber ty with ns, I love the balan er, drawing Lady rs, stickers, sequi all starts togeth color paint, marke ra paint all add to offers. The class vity begins ... liquid water of metallic tempe my art room. creati s and splashes and then the be a hit in scraps, oil pastel never fails to painted paper Lady Liber ty of each piece. Patty Palmer, the uniqueness Submitted by Calif. l, Goleta, Brandon Schoo

HOW Send us high-res photos of student work, the

title and issue of the article that inspired you, and a 50- to 150-word statement of how you used the idea.

Playing with Picass 2008

ne, March outside by Debra Tampo so in the hall to ians by Picas e up the lesson The Three Music blast. To chang large print of d, as t would be a ince I have a colors they wante ht this projec to choose any a graduation my room, I thoug nts freedom applied with I gave the stude every color was they wanted opened up and ast suit my likes had a lot of contr them to use any colors to green long as they red graduating raging that d Encou pink in color. learne s a beautiful into another moments. Some to white create of them and learning possibilities Red graduating their drawings and many in the middle. with we did the very pleased results in mud don’t know how The kids were did. People who that? the middle, etc. art they ever to draw like best kids the the was did you get said that it , ask how on earth Pam Mikolajczyk project often Submitted by ian Academy sachusetts) Christ Holden (Mas

PRIDE If your submission is published, you will

receive multiple copies of our special 85th-Anniversary “IT WORKS!” issue.

Inside-Out Seascapes

June 2007 by Judy Kalil,

my fifthdiately that knew imme find the nts would grade stude intriguing. this project more concept of lesson for my I adapted the chose an s. Students advanced classe drew it on white tag l and scene ocean anima painted a beach ination board. They l using a comb inside the anima and acr ylics. They cakes of tempera construction book and floor, used scrap the ocean create to n paper paper s with constructio alike! adding detail were two projects crayons. No

To learn more, visit www.artsandactivities.com and click on the 85th-Anniversary “IT WORKS!” icon.

aba, Amanda Koonl Submitted by ntary, Lawhon Eleme Tupelo, Miss.

may

s 80 year 2013 •

sandac www.ar t

tivities

.com

JUNE 07 pp2-35

23 MAR pp 2 to

1/31/08

I rarely get s a substitute teacher, own lesson plans to implement my details with all the little and experiment a success. Recentthat make the lesson as a enough to serve ly, I was fortunate the an entire year at long-term sub for teacher for The level. middle-school asked me to cover whom I was subbing eighth-grade stuher with Pablo Picasso to pack this lesson dents. I was eager with materintation with facts, experime way to importantly, a als and, most learn. to them inspire and motivate historical facts on My lesson included he time period in which Picasso and the that students underlived. I have found art more to works of stand and can relate what the world was when they are taught time period and how like during a certain nt or to their environme artists responded

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techniques in communicating their ideas. of Liberty.

• become more aware of the many

different cultures that make up the United States of America.

Picasso

• make a connection between visual arts and other subject areas.

origd version of their into a fragmente g one of the Cubist-st yle paintings inal drawing, resemblin that the stuMusicubism titled The Three characteristics of the to . To prepare for cians as a means dents had observed artists x 24" piece of drawexamine where final copy, an 18" fragWe also placed over the get their ideas. ing paper was as the Next the students used this painting mented drawing. fragmentthe project. design, basis for the traced the whole were the outline of the To start, they objects as well as ed paper. choose t newsprin instructe d to cut edges of the were a dynamic comthree objects that Aside from creating stuto each Cubist style, the somehow related position in the using work their paintings other and title their dents enhanced previon acquired from a “The Three ...” (based knowledge they of chose). the properties the subject they ous lesson about and gave examples of their objects were color. I explained Simple line drawings and then outIncluded in colors come forward lives. newsprint warm 24" their x in 18" how on of done the critical events recede. This informamarker, including of Picasso were perwhile cool colors lined with black this short biography with much enthusiitself. facts about the artist tion was received my edge of the paper sonal, down-to-earth ed to draw the class view the students picasm when I had Students were encourag and his life. I showed glasses. arrange them his works 3-D to and discussed through large examples their objects tures of his studio, negaempowered them about his pet goat! balance between Now that I had so there was a and even told them were in n to create, I develspace. Next they proved effective with some inspiratio tive and positive This introduction that allowed each drawing from one attention and their oped an easy system to be successful asked to cut the drawing the students’ ty to the other, turning lesson. student the opportuni le composition, edge of the paper or participation in the a puzzle of three development of in creating a Cubist-sty their drawings into In discussing the then drawing abilities. we focused our The students regardless of their four sections. his artistic career, puzzle-like drawing and its character om tivities.c rearranged their attention on cubism rtsandac his a . w of w w one ❘ d them to march 2008 istics. I introduce

VES LEARNING OBJECTI

Give Me Liberty

will ... Middle-school students artist 20th-century from Family 1905. famous photograph • learn about the Pablo Picasso. development of Cubism. • learn about thedevelopment of art • learn how the the world in which movements shape we live. and cool colors. • learn about warmand experience about • gain knowledge using a new material.

Johnathan T.

by Debra B. Sweeney

MATERIALS

The Three Musicians Print of Picasso’s few years ago, I made my first trip to New York City. about I was so inspired that, three years later, I am still Biographical resources Pablo Picassothinking about the magnificence of this historical, multipaper

cultural, urban city. • 18" x 24" newsprint paper One of my all-time • 18" x 24" drawing blue, favorite tours was of Ellis Island. My orange, yellow, • Oil pastels (red, friendn)and I walked through the same buildings thousands green, yellow-gree of poor immigrants had walked through in search of a betonline)

(available • 3-D glasses ter life. I was able to look up some of my own ancestors who markers • Black permanent • Scissors 24 by Amanda. “The Three Fruits,”

ies.com ndactivit www.artsa

❘

march 2008

arrived like so many other immigrants in the 1890s. Since then, I have incorporated my experience into several meaningful cross-curricular art activities. One of the most enjoyable and successful was a collage project of “Lady Liberty.” This lesson can be used and adapted for any grade level, but in this instance I chose to introduce this lesson to my fourth-grade class. I started the lesson with some old photographs of my j u n e •s u m m e r 2007

❘

w w w . a r t s a n d a c21 tivities.com

great-grandparents and their children, telling students the story of how my ancestors had come from Sicily to New York in search of a new life. The photos show a young family at the turn of the century. I pointed out that my grandmother was only 5 years old in the photo. The children were fascinated that she had been born in 1900. Then I asked the students, “What did these immigrants see when they landed in New Students drew portraits of York?” Of course they all Lady Liberty on 12" x 9" knew and shouted out, “The manila paper. Statue of Liberty!” That’s how I introduced my PowerPoint presentation on the facts and history of Lady Liberty. We learned that she had been a gift from France. We talked about the sculptor, Frederic Bartholdi, the statue’s enormous size and its journey to the United States. I read the poem by Emma Lazarus and we shared how this poem made us feel. I had several books, pictures and Web sites to share with the students. After we discussed many interesting facts about the famous Lady Liberty, I introduced the collage project. Students were instructed to create their own portrait rendering of the Statue of Liberty on a 9" x 12" piece of manila paper. After they were satisfied with their sketches, they were then told to put their drawings aside and find a sheet from the classified section of newspaper. By this point, they were wondering what was next. To their surprise, I asked the students to lightly spray their sheet of newspaper with a spray bottle containing water and green food coloring. While we let the green newspaper dry, I showed them how to trace their original drawing onto the green newspaper. Finally, I demonstrated cutting the green portrait out and placed it on 12" x 18" white paper. My art room has lots of windows, so several students could hold their drawings to the glass to trace, while a few of the students used a light box. After brainstorming ideas, students created backgrounds on the white paper. Some of them chose fireworks, others created urban skylines or sunsets, while a few students decided on a simple watercolor wash. The results were fabulous! Each child’s project had a unique and Tanya X. different look. www.artsandactivities.com

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Page 38 JUNE 07 pp36-cover

LEARNING OBJECTIVE S

Elementary students will

... such as Claude Monet and Winslow Homer.

• study the works of great artists

black markers

and underwater/ocean scenes • Photos and/or reproductions of art by masters that exhibit seascapes and water (i.e. Homer, Monet and many others)

the properties of water and the medium of watercolor. • learn about color: analogous and complementary. • see how easy it is to create fish from geometric shapes. • learn about seascapes.

Alison T.

Inside-Out Seascapes RELATED RESOURCES

BOOKS • Gutman, Anne and Hallensleben, Georg, Lisa in New York. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2002. • Penner, Lucille Recht, The Statue of Liberty. Random House Books for Young Readers, 2003. • Lewison, Wendy Cheyette, L is for Liberty. Grosset & Dunlap, 2003. • Curlee, Lynn, Liberty. Aladdin, 2003. • Nason, Thelma Campbell, Our Statue of Liberty. Follett by Judy Publishing Co., 1969.Kalil • Drummond, Allan, Liberty! Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. • Roitman, Tanya, I’m Going to New York to Visit the Lions. Sterling, 2005. WEB SITES • www.libertystatepark.com/emma.htm • www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/9907/ • www.statueoflibertyclub.com/links.html

Our school has children from many different cultures. During this entire process, we discussed many present-day issues, such as immigration, democracy and the symbolism of liberty. We even learned a few new words in different languages. In the end, the students had created a unique project that conveyed their feelings and emotions about our great country. ■ Debra B. Sweeney teaches pre-K through fifth-grade art at Nottingham Country Elementary School in Katy, Texas. 25

j u n e •s u m m e r 2007

ecause we live in northern Florida, “where Florida begins,” people often perceive us as a colder climate. But, the truth is, fish are jumping here all year long. Fish, therefore, are always wonderful subjects to choose for art. They represent the image of Florida we try to present. For the primary grades, it’s fun to display some of the many fabrics that have lots of lovely, colorful fish swimming in aquamarine water. After demonstration and discussion much on the varieties of ovals that create the different fish shapes, paper is handed out and we begin to practice-sket ch. Students are encouraged to practice drawing ovals and adding different geometric shapes to create the eyes,

j u n e •s u m m e r 2 007

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www.artsand activities.co m

• paint with watercolors and understand

Students joined the likes of Monet and Homer in painting seascapes—but with a twist: their seascapes are inside the fish!

thing else they might see in a seascape. We do have another lesson on how to draw different types of boats. Once everything is drawn, the students go over their pencil lines with black, ultrafine-point permanent marker. The more detail, the better. Clouds, birds, fish, treasure chests, pirates, sharks, sunsets, pirate ships, cannons, palm trees, flowers, crabs, coconuts, fishing poles and many other items that challenge the imagination can appear in these wonderful creations. The fun really begins when we add watercolor. Students work on the inside seascape first, then they start drawing again, adding sea grass, small fish, seaweed and maybe even a mermaid side the fish, in the background. outOnce again, this is done in pencil and then drawn over with permanent black marker. Watercolor is added to the detail. But, the inside-out seascapes really look great when the backgrounds are filled in with complementa ry colors. If the fish are done in blues, for example, then the background would be in oranges. Our seascapes really make dents jump with excitement— the stujust like our Florida fish do! ■ Judy Kalil teaches art at St. Johns Country Day School in Orange Park, Florida.

fins, tails and other details of their fish. Having many visuals available helps students decide which fish will be the one that will be the center of their masterpiece. (It might even be a turtle!) After the children feel comfortable and happy with their sketches, they each transfer their drawings onto a large piece of watercolor paper. They should draw the fish very large. Once on the page, only fins, an eye and tail are added. All sketching is done first in pencil. The next step is to design a seascape to go inside the fish. Slides, books and visuals about the art of such famous artists as Winslow Homer and Claude Monet can be introduced to demonstrate the properties of water, and things that can appear on the water. Simple watercolor techniques should also be discussed. Lessons about the properties of water, direction of water and light in the water are valuable. We then add our water/horizo n line across the inside of our fish—about midway. On that line, students are encouraged to draw a boat, an island with trees or anywww.artsand activities.co m

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U A RT E D

Page 39

• 15" x 22" watercolor paper • Watercolors and paintbrushes • Ultra-fine-point permanent

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E N ATI O N’

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• Pencils and sketch paper • Photos and other visuals of fish

TH DI

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MATERIALS

•

B R AT I N

by Lacey. “The Three Cupcakes,”

M A G A ZI NE

•

LE CE

Hats,” by Anthony. “The Three Top

• •

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JUNE 07 pp36-cover

background and symbolism of the Statue of Liberty.

e by Debra Tampon

1:38 PM

the curriculum

• create a unique rendition of the Statue

Playing with

4/26/07

Page 21

• experiment and use different media and

by Colleen. “The Three Guitars,” by Karl. “The Three Fish,”

11:18 AM

to office and was able ing in the dentist about the work and successful works. recount certain facts e means to the most as display of knowledg was contagious the magic to begin! the artist. This The excitement room It was time for completion and in the waiting had to decide impressed those each student neared First each student warm MATERIALS their project through the 3-D of pride for the parent. the background and was a source viewed whether to paint of completed vice versa. recounted a similar d cool,•or The Pictures, books andglasses. Web sites on the display Another parent and the foregroun son’s college. each the attenher drew at marked and tour on lightly Statue of Liberty works was dazzling story while to With pencil they nd Those viewing backgrou her child’s ability or other light source “B” for• Windows She described tion of each passerby. provided with enclosed shape characteristheir the Using guide d. were Classified section of newspaper tour • explain to the were the students’ work e and “F” for foregroun Spray bottle with green food coloring could experienc why certain colors • a previous from glasses so they tics of color and and knowledge of value water (thetomore3-D food coloring, the pull characteristics of students for certain rooms theand specifically chosen on the push and project, I instructed gradarker withthea color) campus, depending shape locations on the warm and cool colors. r paint each enclosed •colors 9" x 12" manila cor- paper that purpose of the area. creating a spectacula warm the function and white paper Aside from dation of cool or • 12" x 18" took pride of backthis lesson proved markings art that each student Without a doubt, ofmarkers has assorted and • Pencils, crayons and work responded to their histoart levels little many d. learned a itself a success on markers in, the students the ground or foregroun • Black permanent by students in gradation of cool an appreciation of even been requested ■ ry, new skills and I demonstrated the • Scissors the I received one of medium green and other grades. value of art. Later colors by using blue, • Glue Likewise, when two oil pastels. • Watercolor sets and paintbrushes rewards as a teacher greatest lesson their then light green this creatdeveloped proof to me that warm colors was Debra Tampone parents described Midthe gradation of at Rondout Valley and applying their and then yellow. when she taught child was learning that ed using red, orange New York. leaving no parent reported blended,LEARNING dle School in Accord, OBJECTIVES knowledge. One The colors were d a Picasso paintpaper exposed. Effort recognize the of child areas their white as awill ... Elementary students stressed were and craftsmanship • better understand the historical

1/31/08

INTEGRATING

Page 20

11:18 AM

See how these articles inspired other teachers

DEADLINE IS JANUARY 10, 2018 which allows you time to photograph a project you’ve already tried or will be trying as the new school year begins.

IDENTITY

I didn’t say anything, but let her explain her work. Black foam cats were laid out in neat succession, with a yellow moon in the corner. Simplistic, right? Not to her! Each cat represented one she had owned on her family’s farm. Each had died in one way or another, only to be replaced by another, nearly identical black cat. She explained how she feared that if she or one of her siblings died, her parents would simply replace her or him with another, identical child! She had always felt easily replaceable until this art class, where we talked about individuality and how each artwork has its own unique characteristics. The bright moon symbolized hope and a shining ray that, even though someone may look like the next person, they truly are different. Wow! Was I ever glad I hadn’t harangued her for copping out on this project! She ultimately called her work, “It’s Really Me.” continued from page 21

A FAVORITE OF MINE was “Once upon a Dream.” This involved CDs and stars

on colored paper, which were placed on strips of sheet music. I liked the rhythm of it, which led my eye around the composition and left me searching for more, and feeling satisfied after studying the entire work. The student explained, “I wanted to show how I love music, acting and singing. I wanted to get across the point that art and music are intertwined and make a big impact on my life.” THE WORK TITLED, “READ ME,” had a

double meaning: the young artist likes to read, but he also knows people have a hard time “reading” him. He’s quiet and people assume he reads all the time. But, most don’t know that he has a wild side, too. He likes to do karaoke when he has the chance, and likes to act and sing on stage. None of us knew this, because he had recently moved to our town from Missouri, and had not yet shown this side to anyone. So, he colored wooden letters and thoughtfully laid them on book pages. The letters showed his colorful side, while pages represented his quiet, contemplative side.

THE SIGNIFICANCE of “My Many Colors”—a variety of buttons carefully composed on a background—is that each day, hour or minute, we experience different moods and show different colors of ourselves. Sometimes the feelings and moods are large, sometimes they’re small. They might be round or square. These possibilities are found among the buttons in the student’s artwork. Looking at the collage, I found myself thinking about the clothing I had as a kid. Particular buttons sparked certain memories, and that is also a worthwhile function of art-stimulation. This unit started the year off with a bang! The students couldn’t wait to see what their next assignment would bring. A number of the teenagers created more Identity Works during the semester, as they experienced their identities changing. Isn’t that an important part of learning? n

Retired after 31 years of teaching, Karen Skophammer was an art instructor for the Manson Northwest Webster Schools in Barnum and Manson, Iowa.

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on the board demonstrating how to create a face for a self-portrait: We begin with two circles and dots for the eyes, two curved lines for eyebrows, a circle for the nose and another curved line for the mouth. If students are more advanced, they can add details like ears or teeth, but I tell them several times to NOT draw hair—that detail will be added during the next class. Students then choose a precut rectangle and two strips of paper, and I demonstrate how to create the body for our self-portraits using these shapes. First, we glue the rectangle down for the torso, as I demonstrate how my own torso can be compared to the shape of a rectangle. We then cut the two strips in half to create arms and legs, and glue them on, along with the head. If students finish early today, they may go back into their drawings and add more detail or color things in.

START

continued from page 16

FREE ART EDUCATION RESOURCES

DETAILS I begin our third class with an introduction to the primary colors with the help of Ellen Walsh’s wonderful book, Mouse Paint. Then, I give each child several pieces of pre-cut yarn, based on their hair color. We glue the yarn to the tops of our paper heads and further down if the student has longer hair. I have scraps of primary color paper that they can cut up to create hands and shoes. Students also receive a cut-out drawing of a crayon, which they can fill in with their favorite color and attach to their self-portraits. The final step is to add stamps in a primary color paint to fill in some of the negative space. (Make sure you warn the students not to stamp over their face, body or the first day drawing!) This project takes a total of three 45-minute classes to complete. Each day has plenty of time to complete each set of tasks, so you can really get the students used to your routines and procedures. In the end, the children have a fantastic self-portrait that not only introduced them to lines, shapes and primary colors, but commemorates their very first art class, as well! n

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Matt Mazur is an elementary and middleschool art teacher at Dealey Montessori Vanguard and International Academy in Dallas, Texas.

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Visit our website and find even more inspiration ... Fu n k y Frog World

student work.

species are a that many ly 200 on their frogs, is the fact approximate a matt finish least of which to experts, those wishing since 1980. was also available. acrylic . According applied. For disappeared RECYCLING renaissance endangered underglazes aware of completely and/or diluted selection of were well frogs have species of my students using watercolor as the paint remained could similar populations science studies, A third option, d. As long texture From their in amphibian ecosystems also demonstrate layers, the wonderful LEARNING OBJECTIVES this decline paint, was s to the planet’s many the fact that ised. applied in consequence Lower-elementary students uncomprom thin and was will… of their frog lead to irreversible surface remained • learn to see the art-making possibilities in everyday only the eyes an of the clay produced and to humans. chose to glaze • be able to repurpose objects into finished pieces objects viewed a Powercolor, which Some students class first of rest with matt • learn and participate in the papermaking process.of artwork. WOrK, the different kinds finished the • create a sculpture. and and BeFOre sTarTING that profiled many fusion of ideas visual effect. shapes, colors a spectacular frog interesting Point presentation time examining the frogs were whimsical large bullspent The resulting tree frogs to am a collector thenitems by David Gilhooly’s special place— , of odd smallest frogs, (hoarder, own nature and say); Iinsee with thesome NATIONAL ART STANDARDS by THe BIrD-HOUse their their sketchbooks ■ had POsT associated potential art projects inspired was made from frogs drawings one folded sheet texturesin the most mundane (trash, of newspaper, which The students’ yet another problematic area of made several objects • CREATING: Conceiving and developing new artistic some say). So, when was scrunched show. the process. intoart a tube-like ideas and work. friend told mehands from universe. frogs.aStudents on the clay. shape for our • PRESENTING: Interpreting and sharing artistic frog created andforms their about some birdhouse folded in half. at I then attached the posts to the cartons with hot glue. ideas she saw inbefore This a pond, work. double thickness helped add a craftgetting to create the magazine, I knew StuI could develop a strengthbefore Arts and Technology, dent volunteers helped by holding the a pinch technique birdhouse project for used Head–Fine and an posts in the glue until out their sculptures to the posts. Wemy students. Canada, hollowing Department is it set. Each student was then given clay, Beginning at the Ontario, Osterer fold, To kick thingswhite students tightlyin his or her milk carton, Ottawa,masking off, I stoneware wrapped asked students in kiln. a vari- Irv MATERIALS to the rinse LEARNING OBJECTIVES out and saveweretape shown which they held upside down—to High School around their posts, be placed their milk cartonsthey Editor. pulling prevent any glue dripping and Contributing could scrunching in students from lunch the news(I also collected shiny Merivale elementary students firing, • Milk cartons some extras paper on them—until it dried completely wantedfora additional • Newspapers, foam first bisque & Activities for the “unexpected”). strength. board will ... Arts They wrapped the tape about those who After For the • learn For materials, my second• White drawing paper and thirdor cardboardabout Impressionism, Claude and carefully Students then used acrylic paint techniques. half way chosen graders would use these Monet and Vincent down nishing so to it resembled a crude feather cover the posts, being • learn to see the simple • Double-stick, masking and ety of fi half-pint milk glazes van Gogh. cartons,were • Hot-glue gun and glue shapes in the objects sure to paint a bit of the fanned-out duster when finished. The biggest duct tape appropriate • understand newspaper, maskingnish, being drawn. the foam portion at the base as good composition. • Acrylic challenge fi tape and paint, watercolors, board to create brushes well. Watercolor was used to paint • be • Wool felts, towels, sponges introduced to pointillism/stippling students had with post-making decorative birdhouses. the paper-wrapped car• Deckles/molds, was wrapping drying screens and how to shade this method. • Green paper scraps tons. Short pieces of drinking straws the masking tape tight enough. using • Blender, Instead of using papier-mâché dish tubs were hot-glued to the to cover the • learn • Clothespins about watercolor S cartons, birdhouses to serve as perches, • Straws, black techniques and color circles Students then pulled and fanned and black paper-punched I precut 10" x 4.75" white drawing OBJECTIVE themes. out the LEARNING circles glued above became the loose newspaper so the bottoms paper, which we would wrap around entry “holes.” ... of their the carstudents will posts would lay as closely as possible Birdhouses prior High school of endangered tons, creating smooth, blank canvases. to the NATIONAL ART more aware to painting. base. TO • become focusing on frogs. I STANDARDS MaKe To told do them this, THe if each “Grass” it wiggled like a joystick, student completely opened to cover apply color • CreatInG: Conceiving species, clay frogs, it wouldn’t hold the milk carton the bases, we cleaned out my scraphis or her carton’s top, then placed and developing new and create up correctly. • PresentInG: Interpreting a length of The pulp was artistic ideas and • Design glaze or paint. work. and sharing artistic They placed the fanned-out newspaper paper box of all the green, and made double-sided tape vertically along work. with underglaze, the center poured into a tub on their foam board, securing their of Sone of the sides. One edge paper. My students were amazed of the white of water and a post to the base with paper was then laid on the tape, at the process. The green paper ART STANDARD deckle and mold NATIONAL four strips of maskthen wrapped around the was torn into small bits, soaked and developing Conceiving were both dipped MATERIAL ing tape. • CREATING: ideas and work. milk carton (be sure they in water and made into a pulp in underneath the new artistic and sharing • 9" x 12" drawing paper It worked best crease the paper at the Interpreting a blender (about two thirds water water’s • Heavy 9.5" x 12.5" watercolor • Black, fine-tip surface • PRESENTING: for the masking corners). to one-third paper bits).What a Another and permanent markers paper artistic work. and then pulled : Understanding meaning. tape to be placed fun (and wet) way to recycle! • 16-color watercolor sets of doubleconvey piece • RESPONDING straight up, letting the pulp settle • Jumbo pencils, tape how the arts ideas right next to the base of on the deckle/mold as the • Paint trays, paintbrushes evaluating stick : Relating artistic and tape is used water drained. the post, pulling the mask• CONNECTING personal meaningto secure the loose The deckle and mold were flipped and work with ing tape tightly across the upside down onto a piece edge of the paper to of wool felt (I found an old army blanket external context. fanned-out newspaper and and cut it up). A sponge the milk carton. was used to remove more water and around to the bottom of the S compress the fibers. After students MATERIAL The deckle was removed and base. It should look like a then the mold. The felts oil pastels carefully refolded were then stacked on top of one colored pencils, tic-tac-toe board when finanother, wrapped in a towel • Sketchbooks, clay, kiln the tops of their work. and compressed even further to toolsmilk ished. If the masking tape is remove more water (I stand David Gilhooly’s • White stoneware cartons, I glaze, clay and by artist on the towel). The paper was in by nature • Underglazes,and acrylic paintsecured them at 13 not right next to the base of then removed from the felts drawings ideas inspired their the did several and placed on screens to dry a fusion of students • Watercolor before getting the post, flat. (I acquired old window it willwere act like a joystick, top edge with hot Our frogs their sketchbooks • Brushes screens from a thrift store for this the clay. purpose.) glue, click on clothespins hands on com and using y 2015 I hung the felts from a clothes-drying Miranda februar links related ears • andhold rack and reused Go to artsandactivities. to them closed while ❘ 82 y abbey > Nathan for resources them when es.com dry. I made my own deckles and this button ctiviti Mckenzie the glue hardened. molds from Kirsten tsanda to this article. www.ar foam meat trays by simply cutting a rectangle from the cencom vities. ter of two trays and duct-taping ndacti plastic screening to the bot.artsa the importance ❘ www each student ears of tom of one tray for the deckle (also • 82 y acquired from the thrift filling the paper. created a unique If store screens). The mold dictates and personal the shape of the paper, in their drawings are this case, a rectangle. Both trays sculpture. are upside down, with the too small, it would mold being placed on top of the deckle. be more difficult to In my test-run, I tried white glue by Holly Stanek and craft glue but, in the watercolor and stipthink a challenge end, hot glue worked best to adhere for teachers is to the “grass” to the bases. ple later on. We develop or find lessons that are successful also The end products were whimsical, neers who started for discuss enlarging fun, and the gives room to challenge all of our students. A lesson that students were so proud of their a movement that your most gifted birdhouses. a single flower From the as create an opportunity students as well or other students in the school, we showcased their for all ability levels heard, “How come we having several in to have success. This project has a didn’t get to make those?” I think been a staple in unique styles and this recycling effort composition. These my third-grade lum, and I have curricu- ways is worth a repeat! always felt satisfied of painting. I could be the same with the results. past, I approached ■ In the the project thinking realized that all type or a group of my students would be more successful of Tammie Clark (NBCT) is an art teacher 24 if I kept it simple, my simplification at Somerville Road different flowers. with fewer options. I figured, this gave and Decatur Elementary Schools in may 2015 • 82 years them less was actually creatww.ar tsandactiviti Decatur, Alabama. ❘ wlead I suggest changto better results. e s . c o m to think about, w wwhich w . a r t swould a n d a c t iing v i t an i e satmosphere .com 82 years • may 2 ❘ ing 0 the 1 5 angle of a Sunflowers were that was hindering always the subject 25 flower or to show simple shapes, because of their and students find my students’ abilities them easy to draw. different stages— color scheme was to explore their The unique with warm colors in ideas and to be their style and approach. the background from buds to fully opened—to create colors in the foreground, and cool more interest. the freedom they or vice versa. Less We discuss making now have to express flowers different easier, and more to think about, the their individuality. heights and sizes. successful, right? At the start of the WHILe I sTILL The stems could straight, bent over Use MONeT aND project students Then I started be examine a variety VaN GOGH in silk flowers, noting or wavy. Students to think about now emphasize the intro, I of flowers to the shapes of their the Impressionist might overlap the two artists’ ers such as Vincent create more depth, the petals, their centers, paint- approaches unique styles and the stems and leaves. van Gogh and Claude or have their flowers fearless to their work. I the paper, letting We then practice featured in the Monet, who are go off make sure students a viewer’s drawing the flowers. introduction to is no doubt in know there this project. They They consider whether imagination finish the rest. were pio- to challenge my mind that they can handle what IN THe NeXT their compositions 34 CLass, I DIsPLay I am about them with. They of flowers will a variety of well-composed be in an outdoor setting, in are always quite flower pictures, a vase inside, a excited about and we talk about tern, or windblown collage, a patcomposition. Because april 2015 in a specific direction, dents sometimes • 82 y e a r stu- lot to think have a tendency s and so on. With x www.ar tsandact about, they start to draw small, I a ivities.co emphasize their final drawings. m (This was www.ar tsa ndactiviti es.com see IMPRESS on x 82 y e a r s • a p r i l page 42

by Irv Osterer

ago, any years while a student Colat the Ontario in Toronto, lege of Art by a lecture I attended David Gilhooly ceramicist of , a product (1943–2013) funk ceramics the California student work. of the 1960s. talk movement a spirited Gilhooly gave “Frog was and his His work he created. about ceramics Queen ceramic universe in her 100th Year as / World,” the —with FrogVictoria (www.sites.onlinemac.com outstanding my favorites . (1976), among joie de Victoria.jpg) spirit and hhisjpg/Frog Gilhooly’s at cchang/fmyt remembered ceramics course to always I have to teach a homage I was asked project in vivre, so when to do a frog I knew I had our school, meanfrogs are connection, David Gilhooly. not the the Gilhooly of other reasons, Aside from for a number ingful subjects

by Tammie Clark

februar

y 2015

these Wate rcolors make Quite an Impr essIo

1, 2015. ED BY MarCH

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sea Turtle. Kemp’s ridley grade 4, Zaharis ariz. Hailey Boiarsky, school, Mesa, elementary 7, Litynski, grade Ocelot. Brenna Maryland. home-schooled,

WITH ART ED SPECIES to participate ENDANGER are invited SAVING their students 10th annual part of the teachers and an integral high school middle- and Art Contest, May 15, 2015. of the Elementary, Species Youth celebrated is a celebration Endangered to which will be Species Day in the Saving Species Day, Endangered with an opportunity national Endangeredby the U.S. Congress, provides K–12 students through artwork. and support Started in 2006 wild places. The contest knowledge schooled and and are home express their are also nation’s wildlife species and Children who in youth groups endangered All rights reserved. learn about who participate their art. Species Coalition. the Endangered courtesy of eligible to submit Photographs at Learn more y.org

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media reviews

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PORTFOLIO, BEGINNING WATERCOLOR: Tips and Techniques for Learning to Paint in Watercolor, by Maury Aaseng. Walter Foster Publishing, $21.95. A beauty of a book, this is one of a series that includes how-tos on design and drawing. It should be required reading for visual art teachers. The accomplished author begins with the necessities and discusses color schemes over four illustrated pages. He adroitly provides practical instruction on color-mixing, paint-blending, the wet-on-wet tactic, and far more. Here’s just one of his scads of instrumental tips: “The key is to stop before you overpaint!” Subject matter includes the natural world (trees, skies and animals), buildings, and human figures and heads. Mr. Aaseng expertly demonstrates how to achieve textures of rock, dewdrops, draper y, and foliage. In addition, there is a wonderful section devoted to reflections. Concerning back matter, an index is absent. The only suggestion from one reader was to include actual names of paint colors, to which we add our agreement. From a radiant cover to the admirable paintings inside, the book is a joy. Hold onto this one and keep it close.–P.G.

BOOKS • DVDs • PRINTS • RESOURCES Jerome J. Hausman • Paula Guhin

DRAWING IN SPACE, by Harriet Russell. Princeton Architectural Press, $18.95. Nothing holds a child’s attention like a good game or an amusing brainteaser. And outer space is one of those topics—like dinosaurs or cowboys—that are beloved by most people. Parents, primary-school teachers, and other caregivers could inspire future astronauts, rocket scientists, and meteorologists with this book. As entertaining as it is informative, this book provides writing practice (creating dialogue between Earth and her “sister” planet, naming imaginary dwarf planets, and more). It also contains simple activities such as designing sunglasses. Gravity, comets, constellations, and asteroids are only a few of the subjects covered. There’s no dearth of facts in the book about each planet in our solar system. One matching game calls for fitting the appropriate Roman god to a picture of the planet with the same name. Stimulating and exciting. Drawing in Space is a softcover, but the pages are thick and should wear well. Russell’s illustrations will appeal to kids in grades 1–3, and they are set off with plenty of space. How appropriate!–P.G. THE ART OF CRAYON: DRAW, COLOR, RESIST, SCULPT, CARVE!, by Lorraine Bell. Rockport Publishers, $24.99. Despite the current popularity of adult coloring books, many people have forgotten the joy to be discovered in a brand new box of beautiful crayons. Author Bell has enlisted 19 guest artists who still find artistic delight in that simple art medium. Some of their works, perhaps more than the eight projects themselves, are the best things about the book. The wee, totemlike carvings are a must-see! 160 pages fill out the paperback with inspiration galore, and there’s even a bit of information on crayon history.

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Bell also features a profile on a crayon collector and authority. Not ever y art teacher has the budget to buy gel printing plates or an entire case of a single color of crayons, but most of us make the most of wax resist, textured paper, and mixed media. Among the facts appearing on a page of trivia is the URL for a crayonrecycling program, an excellent addition, considering crayons’ long life in landfills. But then you can always melt all those stubs into rainbow-colored drawing sticks!–P.G. EXPLORING COLOR WORKSHOP: 30th Anniversary Edition, by Nita Leland. North Light Books, $24.99. This moneymaker has been revised once before, but the publisher’s faith in another update isn’t misplaced. The expanded version is the best yet. With color terms, properties, and basic color theory, the book substantiates Ms. Leland’s declaration that “Color can be learned.” There’s no lack of color charts, either. Educators will find plentiful painting suggestions that they might assign, and collage ideas, too. Use the handy index of exercises. For instance, a split-primary palette or other triadic harmonies could become lessons for students. Yet, neophyte painters of any age will admire the dazzling artwork and learn from the countless bits of wisdom in the book. Eight demos and the works of many artists illustrate both traditional and contemporar y techniques. While many examples are rendered in watercolor, most other color media is represented as well: acr ylics, colored pencils, alcohol inks, oils, pastels, gouache, and dyes. Fittingly, it’s the dramatic color that electrifies almost ever y page.–P.G. www.ar tsandactivities.com

Paragon introduces a new touch screen controller

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Do you have art-teaching tips to share?

85 Y E A R S •

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september 2017

shop talk

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WHEREVER you see this symbol, it means there are RESOURCES related to this article AVAILABLE online. VISIT artsandactivities.com and click on this button to EXPLORE these TOPICS further. 44

SAX ARTS & CRAFTS Available from Sax Arts & Crafts/ School Specialty, School Smart Nontoxic “Supertip” Art Markers come in a set of 100 vivid, unique, colors and, according to the manufacturer, their long-lasting tips will hold up to everyday use. Perfect for the elementary art classroom, these markers conform to ASTM D-4236.

STABILO Good for small hands, the chunky Woody 3 in 1 “Multi-Talented Pencils” function as a colored pencils, watercolors, and wax crayons all in one. The 10 mm lead is as thick as eight standard colored pencils. It resists breakage and provides soft, rich strokes that exhibit high luminosity, opacity, and color intensity—even on dark papers. It also writes on smooth surfaces such as glass, metal, leather, and more. Seen here is the set of 6, which contains Dark Green, Ultramarine, Yellow, Red, Lilac, and Burnt Red Umber. A sharpener is also included.

SPEEDBALL ART Developed to perform at mid-range temperatures (Cone 5-6), Speedball® Stoneware Glaze can be successfully used at Cone 10. Speedball’s Stoneware Glaze line comprises 24 beautiful colors including transparents, brights and mottled variations. Formulated to be friendly in application and firing, artists can expect consistent and striking results when fired as directed. All colors are dinnerware safe when used and fired as directed. All colors are non-toxic and lead-free.

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Lea Anderson (American; b. 1968). Dewdropic. Mixed-media drawings on paper on wood panel, 55" x 45". Image courtesy of the artist (www.leaandersonart.com).

STUDY PRINT

“Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most.” — Al Capp

elcome back to school! Like most of you I’m still wondering where the summer months went. Every year in June I make a mental list of all the things I’m going to accomplish in the summer, and every August when I’m packing my bag to go back to school I wonder why I didn’t get anything done! I do get a chance to travel, relax a bit, reflect on the past school year, and make some art. The week before I go back to school is when I start to get busy: unit planners, art show dates, and purchasing new “stuff” for my room. I’m sure that many of you also do the mad rush before school starts, but here are some tips to ease you into the new school year.

tip #1

NEVER THROW AWAY THOSE SCRAPS.

A student needs help figuring out a line, shape or some part of a puzzling composition. You, the teacher, don't want to draw on the child's art to make your

their class quickly and easily by laying sheets of the same color construction paper or oak tag on the rack shelf. This allows you to say, “put your work on the blue side of the drying rack” when you need to give cleanup directions in a hurry. It also keeps artwork from sagging in the shelf openings.

tip #3

WHERE TO START? Cheryl Maney, Pre-K-12 Visual Arts Specialist from Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina, always starts her year with self-portraits. Crayon for first grade, crayon outline and watercolor for second, marker for third, collage for fourth, and colored pencils or tempera paint for fifth. Many of her teachers place the portraits on the desks so parents can identify their child’s chair on curriculum night. Others hang them along the wall to say, “Our class welcomes you!” Many enhanced the self-portraits by adding arms that bent out from the wall to hold a book. Others had students create bodies out of butcher paper or craft paper, and tape them to chairs

Glenda L

ubiner

substitute is a guest in her classroom and she wants to make sure they have everything they need to be successful.

tip #5

YOUR PINS. Joyce Dorian from Pucketts Mill Elementary School in Gwinnett County, Georgia, loves Pinterest. It is a huge resource for her and she has thousands of pins and tons of boards. While she is very organized on her virtual boards, she still needs and uses

ORGANIZING

What? Summer is Over? suggestions so you reach for that box or basket of recycled paper that sits in the middle of the room. Barbara Owen, from Tenacre Country Day School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, cuts scrap paper into quarters. The container could be a nice basket or recycled grocery store mushroom container—the important thing is that it's easily accessible to both teachers and students for explaining or testing out ideas.

tip #2

COLOR CODE IT. Thelma Halloran from Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School in Old Lyme, Connecticut, helps students identify the correct drying rack for

ATTENTION READERS If you would like to share some of your teaching tips, email them to: tipsforartteachers@yahoo.com

like Flat Stanley. Parents had a great collection of self-portraits as their child progressed through school.

tip #4

NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THIS TIP. Be like

Mary Jane Long from Fairview Elementary School in Dover, and Hartly Elementary School in Hartly, Delaware, and get a "Sub Tub" for your substitutes to use throughout the school year. Everything they need is in the tub and it is always on the edge of her desk ready to go. The tub has everything the teacher would need to know; schedule, seating charts, behavior systems, safety procedures, lesson ideas, extra work, general information, and a photo tour of her classroom. Most of her lesson ideas are from the famous, "Anti-coloring Books," written by Susan Striker. She even has boxes of crayons, pencils, and a white erase marker in the tub. A

a real book. She uses self-adhesive divider tabs to make sections in her journal, writing on the tabs to organize the school year, then she prints out pins and glues them in the journal. She has a section for each grade, art club, art show, and extra ideas. She has been doing this now for several years and these books have been invaluable. BIRTHDAY Yasuo Kuniyoshi (Sept. 1, 1893), Jacob Lawrence (Sept. 7, 1917), Charles Dana Gibson (Sept. 14, 1867), Dale Chihuly (Sept. 20, 1941), Louise Nevelson (Sept. 23, 1899), and Al Capp (Sept. 28, 1909). Thank you, Barbara, Thelma, Cheryl, MaryJane, and Joyce for great tips to start off the new year. n HAPPY

Arts & Activities Contributing Editor Glenda Lubiner (NBCT) teaches art at Franklin Academy Charter School in Pembroke Pines, Fla. She is also an adjunct professor at Broward College.

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Arts & Crafts

Veils of Light and Color Lesson Plan for Grades K–12

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Overlapping shapes create colorful “stained glass” compositions — no glue required! French architect Viollet-le-Duc referred to Gothic-era stained glass windows as “veils of light and color...” This project is far simpler, encouraging young artists to layer cellophane shapes to create new shapes, colors, and values. Backlighting beautifully illuminates their creations!

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