Describes an assignment that was used in an advanced drawing class in which the students created self-portraits, breaking up their images using planes and angles to suggest their bone structure. Explains that the students also had to include three realistic portions in their drawings. (CMK)

Presents an activity with fifth-grade students called "crazy hat portraits" that is the end product of a sequence of lessons. Describes the beginning lessons and lists what the students learn and the time and materials needed for the assignment. (CMK)

Presents an activity that used the book "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister as a means to introducing the project in which first-grade students created a picture of a fish. Explains how the students practice following step-by-step directions by the teacher. (CMK)

Describes a project for middle-school students where they create self-portraits. Explains that the teacher photographs each student who is asked to make an exaggerated facial expression for the picture. To complete the self-portraits, students select an art postcard and "borrow" ideas from the artist's style. (CMK)

Describes an interdisciplinary art and music lesson for third- and fourth-grade students where students learned about maracas from the music teacher and then created their own maracas. Explains the process for creating the maracas in detail and includes a list of materials needed, the learning objectives, and a bibliography. (CMK)

Presents a project in which students used the modeling compound called Sculpey to create miniature creatures called "wee folk". States that the project students were required to learn two new techniques: (1) working in stages; and (2) using round wooden toothpicks as primary tools. (CMK)

Focuses on children's art projects in which students become phone artists. States that playing with phones in art class helps children create pictures with words. Discusses phones as artworks that students can disassemble, phones as sculpture, and phone-related items such as telephone books as art surfaces. (CMK)

Describes an art project where students used excelsior, shredded wood used for packing, to create animals. Explains that excelsior can be found at furniture and grocery stores. Discusses in detail the process of making the animals and includes learning objectives. (CMK)

Offers an integrated art lesson in which kindergarten students drew a picture in response to the "Three Blind Mice" using geometric shapes for the mice. Summarizes the technique used to create the mice and focuses on mixing colors to introduce tints and shading to the students. (CMK)

Describes a second-grade art activity called "The Name Game" in which the students create letter people around the letters of their names. Helps teachers and students get acquainted at the beginning of a new year. Explains that students review old art concepts while simultaneously learning new ones. Provides directions, diagrams, and specifies…

Describes a lesson for third-grade students that begins with an examination of bird prints done by John James Audubon and moves into the students creating their own torn paper birds. Introduces the students to the beauty of birds and focuses on the environmental issues that face birds and their habitats. (CMK)

Presents an art lesson for fifth- and sixth-graders where they create a translucent design of colored cellophane on black paper inspired by the stained-glass windows of the Middle Ages and the artwork of Lewis Comfort Tiffany. Enables the students to become crafts people rather than just observers of the past. (CMK)

Offers a lesson for sixth-grade students where they study crystals in a science class; after looking at different types of crystals through a magnifying glass and microscope, the students sketch crystal formations in their science logs. Focuses on different repeating patterns enabling students to draw a repeated design of crystals from their logs.…

Believes that curriculum integration is the key to successful teaching for the future. Describes an Action Research Project where four teachers made connections across the disciplines of science, music, and art as part of a grant project called "Connecting the Curriculum." Summarizes the art project in which the students created flip…

Describes the first assignment for an intermediate oil painting class in which the students painted the human figure. Explains that the assignment involved three techniques: (1) abstract application of acrylic paint; (2) oil "Paintstiks" from Shiva; and (3) a final layer of actual oil paint. (CMK)