Third- and fourth-grade volunteers created two large murals at Nishuane Elementary School. This article is one of four in this issue on elementary mural projects. (SJL)

Presents a unit for use in high school English classes on "A Short History of American Painting, Colonial Period Through 1900," and discusses how it was developed. The unit was used in the ninth grade, but it can be modified to facilitate the teaching of a variety of skills at any grade level. (JM)

There are a number of Web-based Internet resources available in the performance arts, created by hobbyists, amateurs, professionals, and corporations for commercial and recreational purposes. Collected here are Internet sites in the areas of music, dance, film/cinema, and theater/drama that are useful when answering typical reference questions in…

Argues that classroom learning requires teachers who are keenly aware of everything that poetry and art bring to human existence, as well as an environment that is stimulating and peaceful. Describes elements of successful classroom environments. Suggests methods for teaching poetry and for inspiring students to create paintings. (AJL)

Describes a project about narrative in art that combines a study of art history with art reproductions. Explains that the students create before and after pictures on postcards for famous works of art. States that students were asked to choose an artist such as Norman Rockwell, Edward Gorey, or Jonathan Green. (CMK)

Describes an art lesson used with children in the third grade to help them learn about symmetry, as well as encouraging them to draw larger than usual. Explains that students learn about the belief called "Horror Vacui" of the Northwest American Indian tribes and create their interpretation of this belief. (CMK)

Focuses on a project, Teacher Education in Art and Music Mizzou (TEAMM), that included music and art education majors as a way of encouraging collaboration among arts teachers. Explains that students were assigned to one of 17 groups that included at least one freshman and one upper-level student. Presents questionnaire results. (CMK)

Discusses the genesis of the Rembrandt Teaching Project, a discipline-based arts curriculum focusing on art history, art production, art criticism, and aesthetics. Developed for a group of New York City middle school students, the goal of the curriculum focuses on critical thinking skills. (DAJ)

A recently developed pictorial and musical program was used to teach abstract art to 12 elementary students with severe intellectual disabilities and 12 controls. There was a significant main instructional effect favoring pictorial with classical music over both pictorial only and pictorial with rock music. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Focuses on the artist, Laquita Thomson, whose inspiration are the stars and space. Discusses her series called, "Celestial Happenings: Stars Fell on Alabama." Describes one event that inspired an art work when a meteor crashed into an Alabama home. Includes lessons for various subject areas. (CMK)

Discusses the workshop for advanced (secondary) statistical analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1997 Arts Reports Card, attended by a team of arts researchers. Provides a discussion on the Arts Report Card, the secondary analysis, and an explanation of the database. Highlights implications for the field. (CMK)

Presents a multicultural project used with fourth-grade students in which they created a three-dimensional totem pole using leftover cereal boxes. Discusses in detail how to create the totem pole. Explains that students learned about Northwest American Indians in class. (CMK)

Presents a junior high school student art project where three-dimensional art sculptures of surfing, snow boarding, or dirt biking were created. Discusses how the students created their three-dimensional works of art using a clay-slab technique. (CMK)

Describes an art activity in which third-grade students learned about elements of color and value by mixing paints to create new colors. Discusses in detail how the students created three snowmen using the colors they mixed. Includes learning objectives, list of materials, and a national visual art standard addressed in this lesson. (CMK)

Single-subject multiple probe designs were employed in two studies with 5 young adults who had mental retardation and mental illness. After learning visual arts activity skills in Study 1 and personally expressive behaviors in Study 2, participants displayed improvement in behaviors associated with mental illness and increases in expressive…