This article focuses on the emotions of 13 and 14 year-old students related to visual art education activities. Our aim is to understand the interference of the students' emotions with the processes of the creation and reception of their own pictures, as well as their characteristics in an art education context. The article adopts a Vygotskian…

In this article, the authors describe how mathematics teachers and art teachers were able to enthusiastically engage seventh- and eighth-grade students in an interdisciplinary activity focused on scaling, proportional reasoning, and measurement by recreating artwork on a famous private collection. Using the artwork from The Barnes Foundation in…

The purpose of this research was to explore the impact of an online-learning component incorporating peer discussion groups on art achievement, digital literacy practice, student engagement, and student attitude of an eighth-grade visual arts classroom. Participants included 30 students in two 8th-grade art classes. Students in one class received…

The fun of creating collages is there are unlimited possibilities for the different kinds of materials one can use. In this article, the author describes how her eighth-grade students created an owl using mixed media.

Art teachers are constantly seeking innovative ideas, approaches and media to incorporate into fresh and inspiring lessons. In this article, the author describes how her class created relief or mosaic-like self-portraits by gluing or attaching multiples of any chosen objects or materials onto a surface.

Helping students learn how to interpret and analyze imagery is an important skill. With last year's historical election of the first African American president, it was an opportune time to explore where Americans are going as a nation and what kind of future they envision. Middle-school students are eager to give their opinions, but learning to…

The news is sometimes frightening, but reacting to a disaster in a positive way empowers students to make a difference. On January 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake occurred in Haiti. An estimated three million people were affected and an estimated 230,000 people died. In response to this tragic event, the author's eighth-grade class viewed and…

Creating an appreciation of art history in her junior-high students has always been one of the author's greatest challenges as an art teacher. In this article, the author describes how her eighth-grade students re-created a famous work of art--piece by piece, like a puzzle or a stained-glass window--out of construction paper. (Contains 1 resource.)

The author of this article describes how her eighth grade art students heighten their awareness of differences between their public self and their inner self by: manipulating water bottles to create sculptural self-portraits; constructing armatures of the generic person in "The Scream" by Edward Munch; finding and collecting examples of images and…

Teens have issues! They talk about suicide and war. They experiment with drugs, drinking and smoking. Their lives may have been touched by abuse, gangs, or guns. Young people worry about these issues and many others as they work out their emerging identities and race toward their futures. This article discusses how the teachers in Voyager House…

Eighth graders made prints of their own faces, using photographic papers and chemicals. Describes the supplies needed and the printing process involved. Because junior high school students are so concerned with self, this was a very meaningful activity for them. (CS)

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)

Eighth-grade students were asked to produce two faces as a sculptural self-portrait series. The faces were to show a change in mood through modifications of expression. After construction, the facial shells were to be painted with a design which would both enhance and unite the expressions. (RM)

A group of eighth-grade art students created a four-panel fiberglass mural made by figurecasting in plaster. Students aided in planning and executing the mural, including acting as models. The process and problems encountered are discussed. (IS)

A program for improving student attitudes and achievement in art was developed and implemented. Targeted population consisted of eighth-grade students (n=28) in a junior high school in a suburban community near a large Midwestern city. The problem of poor attitudes and disinterest in art was documented with student surveys and self assessments, a…