A great start for the semester, this pinwheel project provides a good dose of art history, and a variety of media and techniques. It also teaches students how to clean up and store things properly. Five artists are introduced, each with a different art medium and technique. In this activity, students are expected to: (1) study works by five famous…

Because it is important for middle-school students to feel confident about themselves and their abilities, the author wanted to challenge her seventh graders with a drawing problem that would yield a high rate of success. So she asked them to put their best foot forward as she introduced a lesson on contour drawing. The assignment was to draw a…

Describes an easy and short art activity for seventh- and eighth-grade students called "Strink," a combination of the words string and ink. Explains that students swirl a string covered in ink on paper, locate an image in the ink smear, and create an artwork from the image. (CMK)