Discusses the importance for teachers to question personal paradigms by changing their beliefs about teaching practices. Explains that instead of having second-grade students use bright colors to create African masks, students can develop their shading skills instead. Provides instructions for a lesson where students use pencil shading when…

Presents an art activity where the students create a mixed media painting by making a center area made of copper repousse and carrying the design in soft colored pencil and/or tempera paint to an outside mat creating a continuity of design. Discusses the process in detail. (CMK)

Laserdiscs are an efficient and flexible medium for art presentations in schools. This article discusses laserdiscs, also called videodiscs; distinguishes between constant linear velocity (CLV) and constant angular velocity (CAV) which allows more flexible access; describes the use of bar coding for access; and lists selected visual art…

Uses the work of M. C. Escher to instruct upper elementary students in the transformation of flat shape into three-dimensional form. Outlines the lesson as a series of sections: (1) reviewing form drawing; (2) creating three-dimensional effects; (3) imagining the forms in an inhabited world; and (4) using color and shading. (DSK)

Addresses the ease with which teachers in subjects other than art incorporate design into their curricula. Considers the nature of design knowledge. Examines three of the visual arts standards from National Standards for Arts Education as a means for revealing the distance between art and design education. Offers four recommendations for art…

Focuses on Thomas Hart Benton, describing his house and studio in Kansas City, Missouri. Considers issues such as his life as the child of a congressman, his formal and informal art education, and his artwork. (CMK)

Discusses an art project that allowed high school students to look at art more critically and to appreciate the painting style of Jackson Pollock. Explains that students create drip paintings in the style of Pollock. Discusses the process. (CMK)

Provides information on Penelope Siopis and offers a list of activities that can accompany the study of Siopis and her painting "Unrequited." Includes a reproduction of "Unrequited" and a detailed discussion on the painting itself, addressing her techniques, her various influences, and the painting's subject matter. (CMK)

Describes a watercolor lesson based on autumn leaves. Discusses the process, including but not limited to initial thumbnail sketches, how to start the paintings, and how to paint actual leaves onto the preliminary surface treatment. (CMK)

Presents an art activity for fifth-grade students in which they learn about basic shapes and what happens when shapes overlap, draw seven overlapping geometric shapes, review the use of acrylic paint and mixing colors, and finally paint with primary colors. (CMK)

Focuses on individualized expression resulting from ideas and skills that have developed over time. Describes how students first drew a group of people, then used values and added background details, and finally enlarged the drawings demonstrating their own ideas. (CMK)

Describes a unit on lighthouses, originally a social studies unit, in which students participate in two art projects: (1) a lighthouse printmaking activity and (2) a scratch-etch activity using lighthouses. Describes the steps for printmaking and the process of creating scratch-etch drawings. (CMK)

Provides various activities that museum docents use to help students "see" rather than "look" at art objects. Ideas include playing a looking game, using the five senses to describe the painting, creating stories about the art object, and having a treasure hunt while visiting a museum. (CMK)

Explains that creating paper-pulp bowls is designed to acquaint students with the beginning vocabulary and finger dexterity needed to sculpt clay. Describes the process of making paper-pulp bowls and identifies important vocabulary words. Provides directions for making paper bowl forms and lists the materials. (CMK)

Explores four artistic classifications prominent in depression-era art examining and contrasting examples of each: (1) Regionalism; (2) Social Realism; (3) American Idealism; and (4) Anti-Fascism. Focuses on artworks by the artist Seymour Fogel because his work demonstrates that Regionalism and Social Realism were not mutually exclusive and that…