Elementary Visual Arts Curriculum Text Set
Prepared by Melissa Mote for Dr. Barbara Immroth’s INF 382E
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this collection is to provide resources for elementary educators, art teachers or otherwise, who want to include visual art in the curriculum. An arts-rich curriculum supports creativity in learning and shapes interdisciplinary thinkers. The Texas Fine Art TEKS for Elementary School learners (available at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter117/ch117a.html) include four strands: perception, creative expression/performance, historical and cultural heritage, and critical evaluation. The following resources take many formats, but all support these four strands by providing ideas for educators and resources for art appreciation, offering children insight into the minds and lives of great artists, and encouraging creative play. Some of the resources listed below are intended for use by educators before entering the classroom, while others are suitable for using directly with an elementary audience.
Books
Heine, Florian. 13 Art Inventions Children Should Know. Munich: Prestel, 2011.
“From the use of perspective to the invention of the paint tube, 13 examples of some of the most important breakthroughs in artistic technology offers kids an exciting new perspective on the world of art. This new volume in the highly successful “13” series uses colorful reproductions, glossaries, and a timeline to explore milestones in the history of art. Kids will learn about important innovations in art while they discover answers to questions such as: Why was oil painting invented? What were the subjects of the first photographs? How do you depict the world on a flat canvas? Filled with accessible, fascinating facts as well as creative suggestions for independent art projects, this unique introduction to art history shows young readers how art is made as well as how to enjoy it.”
Description from Amazon, available at http://www.amazon.com/Art-Inventions-Children-Should-Know/dp/379137060X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354055137&sr=8-1&keywords=13+art+inventions+children+should+know
TEKS: Perception, Historical and Cultural Heritage, Creative Expression
Intended Audience: children
Kneightley, Moy. Investigating Art: A Practical Guide for Young People. London: Elek, 1976.
Kneightley lays the foundation for this all-inclusive volume by teaching children to “think visually” by identifying the elements of line, color, pattern, texture, and shape that define artistic expression. The book offers children an extremely thorough knowledge base, encouraging them to become both critical visual thinkers and artists themselves. Each artistic principle is supported by an art project, each of which can be executed by children without much adult intervention and makes use of common household and classroom items. A range of disciplines including drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture are addressed.
TEKS: Perception, Critical Evaluation, Creative Expression
Intended Audience: children and educators (for project ideas)
Kohl, MaryAnn F. Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters. Bellingham, WA: Bright Ring, 1997.
“Featuring more than 150 activities, this guide teaches the styles, works, and techniques of the great masters—Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and more.”
Description from Amazon, available at http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Great-Artists-Hands–Children/dp/0935607099/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354055274&sr=1-1&keywords=discovering+great+artists
TEKS: Cultural and Historical Heritage, Creative Expression
Intended Audience: children and educators (for project ideas)
Schwake, Susan. Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media. Menasha, WI: Quarry Books, 2012.
Written by an art teacher with over 20 years of classroom experience, the book presents 52 “labs” or art projects that can be adopted for home or classroom use. Schwake evokes the feeling of a real “art studio” and offers techniques for nurturing a passion for the arts. Beginning with simple contour drawing, Schwake’s projects employ a variety of media and are often grounded in historical context, accompanied by information about particular art periods or movements on which the project is based. Art Lab is ideal for classroom arts educators looking for inventive new projects.
TEKS: Creative Expression, Perception, Critical Evaluation, Historical and Cultural Heritage
Intended Audience: children and educators (for project ideas)
Picture Books
A selection of informational picture books about different artists in history is an effective way of introducing historical context to art and fostering art appreciation. Books that are visually engaging, capturing the spirit of the artist’s work, while being equally factual and informative are an excellent addition to a lesson plan on a particular artist. While I am not able to offer an extensive listing here, some outstanding picks are Art from her Heart: Folk Artist Clementine Hunter by Kathy Whitehead and Shane W. Evans (G. P. Putnam, 2008) and Diego: Bigger Than Life (about artist Diego Rivera) by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand and David Diaz (Marshall Cavendish Children, 2009).
TEKS: Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: children
Magazines
School Arts Magazine – The Art Education Magazine for K-12 Art Education
The premier magazine for arts educators, School Arts Magazine offers current, comprehensive information on arts education topics from early childhood through high school. Coverage ranges from the classics to contemporary art, and arts advocacy, project ideas, product reviews, art as curriculum extension, and classroom management are some of the topics covered each month. An exciting feature included in every issue is the “clip cards,” which can be used in the classroom to introduce an artist and their work. A digital edition may be accessed for free at http://www.schoolartsdigital.com, or educators can sign up to have it delivered to their inbox each month.
TEKS: Perception, Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: educators
Curriculum Guides
The J. Paul Getty Museum Resources for the Classroom
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/
Los Angeles’ J. Paul Getty Museum offers an extensive collection of online resources for arts educators. Hundreds of lesson plans are available by either keyword searching or browsing through one of 34 available categories with topics as diverse as Art & Science, Scenes from the Headlines, Art & Architecture, ESL Enrichment, Mythology in European Art, and many more. Helpful “guides to building visual arts lessons” may be found in the Tips and Tools for Teaching section.
TEKS: Perception, Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: educators
The Kennedy Center ArtsEdge
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators.aspx
Described as “the Kennedy Center’s free digital resource for teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts,” ArtsEdge is divided into two main sections, “Lessons, Activities, and Projects” and “How-Tos and Guides.” A handy lesson finder allows educators to browse or search through hundreds of lesson plans by grade level, art subject, and supported curriculum areas such as language arts or science. The lessons combine visual, musical, and dramatic arts, and cover a wide range of subject areas. The “How-Tos” section provides plentiful ideas for integrating the arts into every aspect of the K-12 curriculum.
TEKS: Perception, Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: educators
New York City Department of Education Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Visual Arts, Grades PreK-12
http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/teachlearn/arts/Blueprints/VAbp2007.pdf
Available online through the New York City Department of Education website, this curriculum guide provides detailed benchmark activities and resources for 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 12th graders in the areas of art making, developing art literacy, making connections through visual arts, community and cultural resources, and exploring careers and lifelong learning. Information for teaching special needs students and English language learners in the art classroom are also included, as well as tips for stocking the art studio, using museums effectively, and a glossary of art terms.
TEKS: Perception, Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: educators
NGA Classroom for Teachers and Students
http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/
These “online interactive lesson units” from the National Gallery of Art are extensive lesson plans that include discussion ideas, activity suggestions, printable worksheets, links to related resources, and glossaries of important terms. Each unit focuses on a particular theme, such as “Art & Ecology,” and “Who Am I? Self Portraits in Art and Writing ,” and then connects several different artists, often with diverse styles and from different time periods, to the overarching theme. There are currently nine featured units, as well as a search option to find material in different formats or by artist, subject, or interdisciplinary curriculum. Educators may also register for NGA’s free loan program, which offers materials for lending that meet national standards for K-12 arts curriculum.
TEKS: Perception, Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: educators
Websites
The J. Paul Getty Museum Resources for Students
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/student_resources/
Another excellent resource from the J. Paul Getty Museum, this section of the museum’s website is tailored specifically for students. With a variety of features, including virtual tours of the museum and specific artworks, mini art lessons, and easily understandable explanations of the technical aspects of art, there are plenty of activities to engage young learners, and can also be integrated into classroom instruction.
TEKS: Perception, Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: children
Google Art Project
http://www.googleartproject.com/
Featuring works from hundreds of museums all over the world, Google Art Project allows students the option to make and save their own “galleries,” as well as browse other user galleries. This interactive approach to art appreciation gives students an opportunity to widen their horizons by providing high quality images of works they might never see in person, and a taste of what it’s like to be a curator.
TEKS: Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: children
MoOM: The Museum of Online Museums
This continually updated resource provides listings of museums from around the world that offer online access to their collections. Not limited to art museums, this is an endlessly browseable database that could be helpful for finding inspiration and supporting material for planned lessons or to share with students in the classroom.
TEKS: Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation
Intended Audience: educators
NGA Kids
http://www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm
This is an exceptional website from the National Gallery of Art in D.C. that lets kids get to know artwork by making their own versions of famous works using digital drag-and-drop tools. Like a personalized museum adventure, the website is interactive, engaging, and fun.
TEKS: Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Heritage
Intended Audience: children
Open Studio: A Collection of Art-Making Ideas by Artists
http://blogs.getty.edu/openstudio/
This innovative project presented by Los Angeles’ J. Paul Getty Museum “aims to make contemporary arts education accessible to teachers and classrooms across the nation and around the world.” Currently featuring eleven contemporary artists, each artist page contains a lesson plan (created by the artists themselves) with several activity suggestions and an artist bio. The art projects cover a variety of media. Open Studio provides an exciting way to introduce students to contemporary art by directly connecting them to the artists.
TEKS: Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Heritage
Intended Audience: educators
Picturing America
http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/index.php?sec=home
Presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Picturing America uses American artworks from prehistoric times to the present to relate art to American history. Perfect for use in support of a history curriculum, Picturing America divides artworks into six themes: leadership, freedom & equality, democracy, courage, landscapes, and creativity & ingenuity.
TEKS: Historical and Cultural Heritage
Intended Audience: children
SF MoMA Interactive Features
http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/multimedia/interactive_features?pager.offset=0
These visually dynamic interactive features allow students to go on a virtual tour of the museum, each one focusing on a particular exhibit or artwork in the museum’s collection. Children may then create and share their own digital artworks with imagery similar to that of the featured artworks. These are excellent in tandem with artist units or to spark creativity in reluctant art makers.
TEKS: Historical and Cultural Heritage, Creative Expression
Intended Audience: children
Films and Videos
Art Babble
Like the YouTube of artwork, Art Babble provides access to videos about all kinds of artwork, from ancient to contemporary. Art Babble may be browsed by “series” or “channel,” and covers diverse subject matter from museum tours to technical demonstrations. Whether shown in the classroom as part of a lesson or viewed by the instructor to deepen their field of knowledge, Art Babble is an excellent resource for visual learners.
TEKS: Historical and Cultural Heritage, Creative Expression, Critical Evaluation, Perception
Intended Audience: children and educators
Community Resources: Austin
The Austin ISD Arts Wiki
http://austinisdart.pbworks.com/w/page/14258238/FrontPage
Created and maintained by AISD art teachers, arts lesson plans are uploaded into folders arranged by age level. In addition to an extensive selection of lesson plans, the Wiki allows collaboration and communication among the district’s art teachers.
TEKS: Creative Expression, Perception, Historical and Cultural Heritage
Intended Audience: educators
Austin Museum of Art Teacher Resources
http://amoa-arthouse.org/2012/teacher-resources/
The Austin Museum of Art provides quite a few free online resources for educators, including “teacher packets” or “curriculum enhancement guides” which teachers can use to foster an arts dialogue with students in the classroom and when visiting the museum. Because of the nature of the museum’s collection, this is a particularly helpful resource for discussing contemporary art. Also available is information on school and group tours (http://amoa-arthouse.org/2012/group-tours/), and a multi-visit program similar to the Blanton’s (http://amoa-arthouse.org/2012/school-programs/).
TEKS: Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation, Perception, Creative Expression
Intended Audience: children and educators
The Blanton Museum of Art K-12 Programs
http://blantonmuseum.org/experience_the_blanton/education_programs/k-12_programs/
UT’s Blanton Museum of Art provides several resources for arts educators in the Austin area. Information about school tours, supporting material for self-guided visits, and information on teacher workshops are available on the museum’s website. The Blanton also offers the “Arts Central” program to 4th and 5th grade classes. Participating classes will visit the museum four times throughout the school year “in order to foster a deep engagement with works of art.” Also available through the Blanton’s website is Art + Online, a selection of carefully curated multimedia resources that bridge the disciplines of social studies, ancient history & culture, poetry, and mathematics with works in the museum’s collection.
TEKS: Historical and Cultural Heritage, Critical Evaluation, Perception
Intended Audience: children and educators
Sources
Byrne, Richard. “7 Good Resources for Art Teachers and Students.” Free Technology for Teachers. 21 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/03/7-good-resources-for-art-teachers-and.html#.UKvZc46Hf8s>
UT Literacy 