After creating fish-themed art works for the school's Evening of the Arts, the school moved onshore. In Florida, a tropical climate and casual dress is the norm, so students are familiar with Hawaiian "Aloha" shirts. To begin the lesson, the author displayed several Aloha shirts across the front of the art room. She then gives a quick…

In this article, the author describes how second-grade students created animal rattles. For finishing touches, students can add faux fur, cords, beads, feathers, and other objects with glue or hot glue. (Contains 1 online resource.)

A humid summer haze covers the River Seine and the grassy bank where young men and boys go swimming on Sunday. Everything seems so quiet, still, and very hot. They wear hats to protect them from the hot sun. The artist Georges Seurat used warm tones to give viewers the feeling of the hot sun. Seurat was trying to catch the dazzle of hot sunlight…

In this article, the author describes how her second-graders created their cool polar bears. The students used the elements of shape and texture to create the bears. They used Monet's technique of dabbing paint so as to give the bear some texture on his fur.

When an unlimited amount of free 8 x 10" (20 x 25 cm) canvas was offered to all of the schools in their community to participate in the city's the Color of Friendship art competition, the author saw a wonderful opportunity for her students at Cedarcreek Elementary. After some thought, the idea of combining poetry with the contest's rich theme…

This article utilizes the story of an art studio project involving 2nd-grade students in a new urban elementary school as they explored and engaged with architectural spaces in their community during their yearlong study of the theme of "Community." The purpose of this writing is to theorize and codify some major tenets of a narrative…

Many students struggle with writing skills. This study focuses on three students (second and fourth grades) who were classified with a learning disability by their school. These children had writing goals and objectives (i.e., characteristics of having dysgraphia) included in their Individual Education Plan. In a single case design format, each…

Art students have different learning styles. Some are visual learners who need to see the information. Some are auditory learners who need to hear the information. Others are tactile/kinesthetic learners who need to move, do, or touch in order to learn. Looking over her curriculum and lesson plans, the author realized almost every art lesson…

In this article, second-graders create a sunflower drawing using pastel techniques that produce similar effects to Vincent van Gogh's brushstrokes. They also learn how layering colors and using white to lighten colors creates depth in their flowers.

In the author's experience, sewing projects have consistently led to a quiet, engaged artroom full of busy, motivated students. Maybe it's the gradual fusion of pieces of fabric to make a tidy, compact unit, or the magic of the thread holding cloth together, or the repetitive action of making stitches. Whatever the reason, the rhythm of sewing a…

Researching whimsical and spirited artists can inspire new ideas and methods of communicating how art remains a valuable part of people's lives both in and out of the classroom. This instructional resource explores one such contemporary artist who, driven by a curiosity in human interaction, continues to explore the world in fanciful and…

The author noticed that, when painting self-portraits, her students struggled with size relationships between the head, neck, and shoulders. In order to address this without having to deal with facial proportions, she had her second-graders take turns drawing a partner from the back. Students began this project by learning about Mary Cassatt,…

The small, isolated community of Gee's Bend, Alabama, is home to a rich quilting heritage. The quilters have enjoyed much recent fame. There have been traveling exhibitions, large coffee-table books, and even a series of postage stamps. The quilts are striking; they feature bold, asymmetrical patterns, bright colors, and rich texture. Examining…

This article describes a collaborative painting project that allows first- through third-grade students to work with partners to create a four-inch square of a group painting and learn the basics of mixing paints to produce lights and darks, and tints and shades. One by one, the students worked on the painting in their free time. The author kept a…

In this article, the author describes an art project wherein students used simple shapes and photo references to imagine what they might look like when they are one hundred years old. The project challenged the students technically, intellectually, and emotionally. The artwork stimulated their imagination and their imagination informed their…