Art-tastic

I am one of those teachers who does not schedule time for art.  Due to lack of time, lack of supplies and fear of my students being behind when tested by those silly, multiple-choice ministers of misery, I just don't teach art.  It's a shame really because art can be great for personal expression, a great connection to the curriculum and an outlet for pre-teen angst.

Plus, it's fun.

Many of my new teaching ideas start with the phrase, "So, I found this blog..." and this one is no exception.  I'm actually finding a lot of cool ideas on this teacher's site: here  She runs a regular Friday art feature as well as a Math Journal Sunday.  Since I don't know how to teach art, I plan on using a lot of her Friday art features as lesson idea starters.  Here is the one I am planning to use first:  here

Cam and I tried it out today:

Cam uses crayons to color in her hand.

The beginning of my project.

Finished product.  Pretty cool, right?

This project was very easy, a bit time consuming, but overall gave an impressive result.  From an art standpoint, I am going to use it to teach about the use of line and space.  I want to have a writing activity to accompany it.  I'm considering using it as a metaphor for adding detail to writing pieces.  Since there are so many other things fighting for readers' attentions you need to make sure that you have COLORFUL characters and a suspenseful plot that ZIG-ZAGS through the main events.

Still working on that curriculum tie-in.