The imminent closing of their school led one school's teachers to design the curriculum for the last six months around the theme of shelter. Activities utilized included thinking and verbalizing about the idea of shelter, building and writing about shelters, building cameras and taking photographs, and going on field trips. (IS)

This handbook demonstrates how studio art concepts may be broken down into their simplest level, thus, allowing preschool and elementary students to work with one particular concept and technique at a time. Teachers are encouraged to coordinate open-ended painting activities with major study units taking place in the classroom. The fourteen…

Noting that drawing and painting offer very young children powerful ways to explore and communicate thoughts and feelings, this booklet for caregivers and teachers offers suggestions related to painting and drawing for children under 3 years. The booklet discusses what young children can do with drawing and painting materials, including exploring…

Since its inception 20 years ago as a public-private partnership, the Ounce of Prevention Fund (OPF) has cultivated promising ideas in early childhood development, has used private funding to test those ideas in real life settings, and has leveraged public funding to support and expand innovative programs that advance the health and well-being of…

Asserting that displaying childrens artwork with thoughtfulness and care benefits children, teachers, and families, this book offers teachers of 2- to 8-year-olds a primer of how to display childrens work and evidence of their thematic learning and project work. The ideas presented were inspired by the authors experiences in the British Infant…

This theme issue of "InSEA News" is about several international and local curriculum concerns, building on topics of the previous two issues. The authors, from Taiwan, Brazil, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Portugal, address international cooperation projects or describe local curriculum projects. Some articles are accompanied by…

Graphic strategies employed by children, ages three to seven, to draw a family, children playing, a birthday party, and a garden were documented. Results indicated that strategies were task-dependent and flexible. The children developed progressively complex graphic routines in relating one figure to another within a composition. (Author/SR)

Elementary school physical education students plan and design their own games. Working in small groups, they write rules, measure playing areas, draw diagrams, and compile a game design book. Art, language arts, and mathematics teachers assist at various stages in the game design process. (PP)

Describes a school-wide project in which elementary students beautified their school walls with murals of their own design. This article is one of four in this issue on elementary school mural projects. (SJL)

Third- and fourth-grade volunteers created two large murals at Nishuane Elementary School. This article is one of four in this issue on elementary mural projects. (SJL)

A recently developed pictorial and musical program was used to teach abstract art to 12 elementary students with severe intellectual disabilities and 12 controls. There was a significant main instructional effect favoring pictorial with classical music over both pictorial only and pictorial with rock music. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Describes how preschool teachers guided 4-year-olds in a classroom project that integrated constructing with wire, drawing, and storytelling. Notes that children monitored and directed their work and responded to learning challenges. Shows how teachers supported learning of individual children as children began to influence each other's learning.…

Examines the function of drawing by interviewing a wide range of people engaged in design activities. Promotes drawing for its vital contribution to two areas of design activities, exploration, and manipulation. Maintains that further research is necessary now that design and technology are part of the core curriculum in schools. (KM)

Describes a relief printmaking unit for sixth graders with the objective of decorating the inside of a pyramid. Ancient Egyptian imagery was used to help students become familiar with the style. Students designed and printed linoleum prints in different colors. They then critiqued their work and made their selection for the pyramid. (KM)

Analyzes 500 drawings by 258 Hong Kong Chinese and English children (ages 7-11) in order to assess intellectual, social, and emotional development. Found that, irrespective of race or culture, the drawings were symbolic and that similarities were more apparent than differences. Also found that as development proceeded, symbolism was increasingly…