Articles

Article

Storyteller Drawings

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 | Melanie Robinson

During midwinter, storyteller and retired art teacher Sue Hinkel visits our school and tells stories to the third-graders. She also shares her outstanding collection of Native American clay storytelle ...

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Juxtaposition Watercolors

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 | Zoey Graf

Ask students to brainstorm what specific manufactured items are part of their everyday lives (e.g., buses, cars, roads, paths, bridges, buildings, desks, windows, litter, phones, computers). Then ask ...

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Article

Manipulative Photomontage

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 | Christina Pinton

I present the challenge of gathering imagery (royalty-free images and their own photographs) and manipulating them to produce an imagined landscape. Students’ landscapes may include figures, bui ...

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Honoring the Osage

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 | Elizabeth Barker

Students watched and listened to Norman Akers as he discussed color theory and technique while he painted. He also told them personal stories and made connections to Osage culture and history. In late ...

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Article

Editor’s Letter: Story

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 | Nancy Walkup

You can find stories wherever you look. This past March, I visited Canyon de Chelly National Monument near Chinle, Arizona, on Navajo tribal lands. The history of peoples in the canyon, Hopi and Navaj ...

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Article

Growing Kindness Gardens

Monday, September 12, 2022 | Julia L. Hovanec

After the class engages with the picture book Kindness Makes Us Strong by Sophie Beer, students are introduced to the work of Jeff Hanson, who created striking, vibrant garden paintings and was known ...

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Raising a Hand for Human Rights

Monday, September 12, 2022 | Teresa Strohl

My fifth-grade team wanted to give their students an opportunity to form a deeper understanding of human rights, the theme they were covering in their EL unit, so we collaborated to have students crea ...

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Article

Making a Scene

Monday, September 12, 2022 | Cristina Pinton

In our AP photograph class, I start one of my favorite projects in the middle of the woods at sunset. Why? Dramatic, eerie fading light! Students are armed with a soft box (a type of photographic ligh ...

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Article

The Quest for Empathy in Art Education

Monday, September 12, 2022 | Jane B. Montero

With ongoing global conflicts and the need for compassion and respect for all human beings, empathy is once again in the forefront of our minds. Stanford University psychology professor Dr. Jamil Zaki ...

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Article

Editor's Letter: Empathy

Monday, September 12, 2022 | Nancy Walkup

Empathy is the ability to recognize, understand, and share the thoughts and feelings of others. How can the power of art be used to both express and explore empathy? To explore the concept of empathy, ...

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Article

Talk with the Hand

Monday, September 12, 2022 | Melody Weintraub

Doug Baulos’s work inspired me to think about idioms or phrases that use the word hand. I felt this might be a meaningful opportunity for students to combine word play with clay. I found a list ...

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Article

Personal Pigeon Portraits

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 | Julia L. Hovanec

In this first-day-of-school lesson, students engage in a read-aloud of the picture book, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! They also look at the expressive self-portraits of Frida Kahlo. Students then d ...

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Article

Art from the Heart

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 | Jane B. Montero and Rob Garrett

On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. As art educators teaching elementary students, Jane Brumfield Montero (Michigan) and Robb Garrett (Poland) created an art exchange to spread cheer to stud ...

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Article

Helping Hands

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 | Bette Naughton

Fine motor skill development is happening almost solely in the art room. Classroom teachers are required to focus on testing, ELA blocks, and math and science units. Activities that usually would requ ...

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Article

Design with the Cell Phone in Mind

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 | Eric Gibbons

For this lesson, I wanted students to create and photograph an artwork that would become the wallpaper for their cell phones. They could express their personal interests if it was school-appropriate. ...

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Article

Editor's Letter: Beginnings

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 | Nancy Walkup

The start of a new school year always seems to offer a fresh beginning. For new teachers especially, meeting students for the first time may offer a challenge. Personally, I always had students making ...

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