This essay examines issues of giftedness and excellence, beginning with classical references to human striving toward the "good," the attraction of gifted children to quality, and the recent discovery of the oldest known cave art with its manifest excellence. Classroom activities related to cave art and language arts, social studies,…

Describes an abstract art unit in which students in an introductory art course created abstract art inspired by the work of M. C. Escher. Explains that some students are unsure of their drawing ability. States this unit helps them overcome their fears. (CMK)

Presents an art lesson in which first grade students learn about abstract art. Explains that the students learn about the work of Joan Miro and explore one of his paintings call "People and Dog in Sun." Describes how students use scribbles to make their own abstract art. (CMK)

Discusses the importance of having students learn about the elements of art and design principles in art. Includes a list of projects that can be adapted for any grade level to educate students about art elements and principles of design. (CMK)

Presents a project used with beginning art students that focuses on depicting objects as three-dimensional. Explains that the students select three to five wooden architectural forms and other objects as the subject matter. Discusses the techniques and materials used in the project. (CMK)

Describes a project where eighth-grade girls create self-portrait sculptures made out of papier-mache and other materials. Explains that the sculptures serve as an outlet for the students to express something about their own personal identities. Discusses in detail the process of creating the sculptures. (CMK)

Presents an art activity in which first grade students draw dinosaurs in order to learn about the concept of warm and cool colors. Explains how the activity also helped the students learn about the concept of distance when drawing. (CMK)

Describes an art project suitable for middle and high school students in which they either combine identifiable parts from different animals to create one creature or take one animal and creatively distort it. Explains that this lesson enables students to be satisfied with their animal-inspired artwork. (CMK)

Describes a laboratory notebook designed for junior and senior college students for a fish taxonomy course. Discusses the benefits of drawing and close observation on students' learning. (Contains 15 references.) (YDS)

Focuses on an activity in which the students in a beginning drawing class used middle-value brown paper and earthen shades of conte to draw pictures of bones in a desert environment. Discusses how the assignment teaches appreciation of the colors, sounds, and shapes of the desert. (CMK)

Presents strategies for using children's drawing as scaffolding for early writing: (1) paving the way with drawing (talking about drawing, asking the right questions, social context); and (2) getting stories into writing (supporting children just learning what letters look like, with a good mental image of some letters, who can write most letters,…

Examines fantasies about the opposite sex expressed by 116 children, adolescents, and adults responding to the Drawing from Imagination task of the Silver Drawing Test of Cognition and Emotion. Results indicate that both males and females expressed more negative than positive feelings toward subjects of the opposite sex. Males were more negative.…

Investigates teachers' impressions of stereotypes of scientists and science. Uses the Draw a Scientist Test (DAST) for nonverbal assessment and makes recommendations for strategies to build more realistic and positive images. (Contains 12 references.) (YDS)

Investigates how accurately children, ages 6-9 from England, Japan, Korea, Spain, and the United States, could match eight animal drawings to excerpts from the well-known concert music, "The Carnival of the Animals" by Charles Camille Saint-Saens. Indicates a mean correct response of 40% without instruction. Discusses two extension…

Describes an art assignment that focuses on surrealist composition. Students learn about Sigmund Freud, artists of the Surrealist movement, and characteristics of Surrealism. The produce thumbnail sketches, locate photographic images to use as references, and then create Surrealist artworks. (CMK)