A first-grade teacher describes how she taught her students to weave using real yarn. (RM)

Investigated the effect of specific clayforming activities on the figural and verbal creativity of first-grade children (N=26) drawn mainly from disadvantaged, minority group backgrounds. The supposition that instruction in clayforming promotes creativity was supported. Imagery is discussed as a possible vehicle for mediating the observed change.…

Describes an experimental arts project in which groups of first and fourth grade students designed masks and used them to dramatize stories. The purpose of the project was to provide students with experiences with art forms while increasing their abilities to express feelings. (AM)

This planning grid for teaching visual arts in grade 1 in Delaware schools outlines the following six standards for students to complete: (1) students will select and use form, media techniques, and processes to create works of art and communicate meaning; (2) students will create ways to use visual, spatial, and temporal concepts is creating…

Describes how first grade children used rug samples as tails for the animals they drew. Maintains that unusual scrap material can be the starting point of imaginative artworks. (KM)

The elementary art program level 1 (grades 1 and 2), level 2 (grades 3 and 4), and level 3 (grades 5 and 6) is a unified, sequential course which focuses on 4 major concepts of visual learning. The concepts are: reflection--the response to visual forms in nature, designed objects and artworks; depiction--the development of imagery based on…

Presents a lesson that introduces students in grades K-three to sources of design inspiration in contemporary urban settings. Using Don Eddy's painting of a jewelry store window display, asks students to describe and analyze the interplay of shape, pattern, and color. Suggests studio activities, including an activity in which students build a…

A four-day project which involved kindergarten and first-grade classes in making a collection of animals from clay is described. (RM)

Provides a guide to a first-grade teacher's methods of teaching art appreciation. She began a weekly art appreciation study integrated across the curriculum that heightened students' awareness and critical-thinking skills and enhanced their creativity by allowing them to view and respond to art and then create their own. (SM)

This thematic unit involves kindergarten and 1st grade students in the production of a theatrical performance based on the folktale, "The Little Red Hen." The interdisciplinary unit connects knowledge related to theater arts, art, language arts, music, applied mathematics, social studies, and science. Students visit a local theater and…

Research has revealed that art is an important but neglected part of every child's educational experience. To help alleviate this neglect, a practicum was conducted to plan, implement, and evaluate an art curriculum for a selected group of first-grade children. Twenty children participated in a 4-month program that focused on awareness of body…

Imagination is central to our ability to understand reality. Parents and teachers should foster creative processes which facilitate the development of imagination in children. Expensive equipment or artistic expertise is not necessary to help children develop their imaginations. Instead, it is more important for teachers to allow children the time…

This thematic unit involves 1st and 2nd grade students in exploration of their own unique and special qualities. The interdisciplinary unit connects knowledge related to art, language arts, applied mathematics, social studies, and science. Lesson activities focus on topics of family, friends, health, and emotions. The unit encourages students to…

This instructional packet is one of 14 school environmental education programs developed for use in the classroom and at the Dahlem Environmental Education Center (DEEC) of the Jackson Community College (Michigan). Provided in the packet are pre-trip activities, field trip activities, and post-trip activities which focus on the characteristics of…

This guide is intended to inform school districts about the Learning through Communication Program. The goals of the program are (1) to prevent summer loss of reading skills for Chapter 1 and learning disabled students in grades one and two; (2) to involve parents in the learning process of their child; and (3) to increase the child's ability and…