A focus on school reform within the field of elementary education has brought an arts-integrated approach to teaching and learning to the forefront. This is not a new approach, as integrating what many call "hands-on activities" in the classroom is quite common. The difference lies in the quality and depth of the approach to teaching and learning,…

While school art programs receive support from classroom teachers and school administrators, rationales for such support are frequently based on misconceptions of art and art learning processes. Through critical examination of two recent articles (Pierce, 1981; Klein, 1982), the author establishes a more accurate representation of current thinking…

Provides guidelines for conducting art activities with very young children, paying particular attention to the function of play equipment as artistic catalyst, approaches to creativity, and the role of the adult in providing a supportive presence. (RH)

Describes an elementary school art program involving mainstreaming, with a framework which emphasizes the development of a positive self-concept in all children. (CM)

Requests successful classroom teaching activities for publication. Three activities are included for review. (BJD)

Describes an art program for preschool children that includes four social dimensions of art in order to heighten aesthetic perception, improve artistic creativity, and nurture self-esteem. The social dimensions are children having power, children acting on norms legitimate in their own eyes, children functioning "nonestrangedly," and children…

Concrete suggestions for teaching group art lessons to stimulate creative expression are offered, with focus on conducting motivation sessions and providing help during ongoing activities. (MP)

Describes an artist-in-residence experience at a private Montessori school. Discusses the Montessori philosophy regarding art education, the artist's challenge to the Montessori approach, and art experiences. Asserts that the artist-in-residence demonstrated a merging of the precepts of the Reggio Emilia approach, Montessori principles, and the…

In this article, the authors designed a study to explore what children's own drawings reveal about their viewing skills and to examine the interplay between visual and verbal literacies. Specifically, the authors wanted to determine how two communication systems--visual and verbal literacies--contribute to children's abilities to extract meaning…

Describes how art activities can create a comfortable atmosphere of valuing diversity without spotlighting the culturally different child. Guidelines are offered for using folk arts, art history, children's literature, and small-group activities. (RH)

Demonstrates the ways in which the arts can be used to express ecological concerns and promote responsible environmental stewardship. Focuses on a play and a video produced by elementary school students with the assistance of their teachers and professional artists. (MDM)

Describes a program in South Carolina which used arts professionals in the schools to provide a unique opportunity for support by community organizations in stimulating education through the arts. Includes an address listing of all state arts agencies. (CS)

Offers activities for the classroom based on these premises: children should feel valued as individuals; a positive self-concept promotes cognitive growth; enjoyable learning is retained longer; games provide necessary repetition for retention and transfer; and self-evaluation enhances learning. (ED)

Examines the benefits of art education that go beyond art production to encompass an expansive view of art. Describes a kindergarten project called "Painting with Scissors" that implements this approach to art education. Through it, art became a way of knowing, understanding, and viewing the world; of constructing and expressing ideas;…