Drawing is a powerful process tool that supports learning in life science classrooms. Effective drawing activities frame drawing as a learning process and explicitly incorporate observation and communication. The goals of this article are to situate drawing as a valuable learning experience and to guide educators through designing and implementing…

Children learn best when they are inherently motivated to pursue new knowledge and skills; ownership and opportunity for initiative provide that inherent motivation. Most of what has been created for the children's universe--whether in cinema, theater, books, cartoons, or school curriculum content--has been created and produced by adults. But By…

This article is in response to requests that the author provide sketching techniques to help teach young learners how to improve their design sketching. Teachers indicated that, like creative confidence, students lack confidence in their sketching abilities and teachers also often struggle to be confident in teaching sketching. This article…

Traditional collaborations between schools and teacher preparation programs provide real-world experiences for teacher candidates and contribute to their professional learning. However, when preparing candidates to work with the whole child, one must also consider things outside the typical classroom. Preparing candidates to work with families,…

The anxieties of students, who may be confident achievers in other academic subjects, frequently stem from embarrassment about their struggles to draw realistic-looking images (refer to Pavlou, 2006). These apprehensions are exacerbated when students, perhaps due to having had limited exposure to varieties of artistic styles, have been led to…

School discipline remains authoritarian in the USA despite the superficial adoption of student-centered, constructivist lesson delivery. The issue may be lack of ideas for how to conduct constructivist discipline. Three novel activities are presented for classroom discipline that may close this gap. All three present discipline in a manner that is…

"Fun" is considered, from both research and practical knowledge, to be a critical factor in children's decision to participate (or not) in physical activity (PA). Despite its importance, few studies have provided in-depth investigations into what children really mean when they say an activity is fun. The purpose of this article is to…

Young children love to draw, and should be encouraged to explore drawing as a communication tool. Drawing is a means by which children can express their thoughts, interests and feelings, long before they learn to write. We know that: "children's drawings are vehicles for expression and communication" (Chang, 2012, p. 187). This form of…

"The Moving Figure" unit of study examines the relationship between observation, expression, and memory drawing techniques with second year college-level Illustration students. The goal of the exercises is to foster the development of a personal artistic voice in drawing by asking the students to directly place themselves in-situ within…

A primary goal of substantive art education is to communicate visually--to decipher art for meaning and to construct meaning through images and objects. Strategies available to engage students are the interdisciplinary activities found in performance, visual and written forms of creative expression, and related disciplines such as ethnography,…

This article describes a lesson for first-grade art students. The lesson introduces geometric shapes in a fun and unique way. Students will learn the art elements of shape, texture, pattern, and space. They will also develop their skills in cutting and gluing.

Lewis structures are important for learning chemistry as they serve as an essential link between the structure of chemical compounds and their function. Unfortunately, the creation of valid Lewis structures remains an elusive goal for many students. In recent years, several web-based programs have been created that allow students to receive…

Describes the Advanced Drawing Studio for talented students at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, NY. The program's purpose is to improve students' drawing skills and increase their ability to look at and appreciate abstract art. (AM)

Discusses the importance of planning for art projects by first producing sketches and then selecting the best sketch. Illustrates this by describing an activity used with fifth-grade students in which they make cut-paper collage turkeys and turkey disguises. Lists possible turkey disguises. (CMK)

Describes an art project for second-grade students where in over five class periods, they create fired clay dinosaur sculptures with dioramas as the background. States that this project, the culminating activity for a sculpture unit, teaches students many art terms and uses of different media. (CMK)