This bulletin has been prepared to help teachers and parents understand the contribution of creative expression in the all-around development of children. In order to achieve balance among the various learning activities, a school program needs to give appropriate emphasis to the creative arts. Because all the arts are closely related, a broader,…

Describes the "Culture Center" designed by Le Corbusier and located in Firminy, France. The role of the center in arousing intellectual curiosity in people living in a technological age is discussed. The audience of this culture center, young people, and the types of activities directed toward them are described. (AMH)

Outlines several methods for students at elementary levels to use cut-out lettering. Describes a name creation project, a scrabble bulletin board, and methods to teach the language arts. Maintains that, if students use their own letterforms in the classroom, they will be more involved in learning. (KM)

Suggests activities to help toddlers develop skills in the four important areas of self-help, creativity, world mastery, and coordination. Activities include hand washing, button practice, painting, movement and music, bubble making, creation of a nature mural, and a shoe print trail. (TJQ)

Describes a study of the multimedia constructions of children 8-10 years of age, composed of both acoustic and visual elements. Suggested that arts provide a great deal of interest to children in the acquisition of computer literacy and that links need to be made between existing curricula and corresponding computer applications. (AA)

Undergraduate students (n=239) participated in group experiments measuring creative performance. Results indicated that performance was influenced by group diversity, and greatest frequency of responses occurred from individuals brainstorming independently after group brainstorming. For creativity that required responses that break away from the…

Describes and illustrates "Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth. Provides background information on Wyeth's life and compares "Christina's World" to Wyeth's "Siri." Suggests activities to help all levels of art students understand use of color, mood, and composition. Introduces related activities designed specifically…

Presents an excerpt from a play that can be used to help students learn about Black history. The play focuses on an African-American town, Boley, Oklahoma, that outsmarted the most feared bank robbers of the 1930s. It emphasizes Black triumphs. (SM)

Outlines a collaborative processing model of art education what draws upon the language and learning notions of Lev S. Vygotsky. Emphasizes the role of the learner in collaboration with her/his social environment rather than traditional disciplinary boundaries. Synthesizes the principles of transactional learning theory and the processes of making…

Discusses how computer experiences need to move beyond lessons that regard the computer as merely an extension of older art forms to studies that examine the inherent qualities of the medium. Maintains that art teachers should take advantage of the rich interchanges that can be developed between art and technology. (KM)

Describes how seventh graders were given a writing activity, collaboratively created by teachers and librarians utilizing a computer program, to introduce cumulative tales. Details the process of identifying characteristics of cumulative tales, teaching as a team, writing the tale, recording the tale on the computer, and sharing cumulative tales.…

Assessed effectiveness of engaging students in a creative activity on a topic as a means of encouraging an active cognitive set toward learning that topic area. Creative task engagement was found to be an effective means of enhancing creativity (in the absence of evaluation expectation), intrinsic motivation, and long-term retention. (JBJ)

The purpose of this study was to assess fourth- and fifth-grade students' (9- and 10-year-olds') affective response and ability to discriminate between melody and improvisation after receiving instruction in singing and/or playing a piece in the blues style. Subjects (N= 102) were assigned to one of three equal-sized groups. Group 1 learned to…

Effective classroom discussion is improvisational, because its effectiveness derives from the fact that it is not scripted. Instead, the flow of the class is unpredictable, and emerges from the actions of both teachers and students. In this article, I apply principles from training classes for improvisational actors to provide practical…

The UK Education Act 2002 furthers a sense of institutional fragmentation and scope for local enterprise. An emerging "decentralised" agenda enables schools that demonstrably meet accountability criteria to opt out of National Curriculum requirements in order to pursue individual interests, supportive technologies and new partnership…