Provides four sample activities and illustrations to develop students' perceptual skills. Seeks to help teach students that (1) understanding art takes time and effort; (2) personal reactions are important; (3) understanding the culture in which artworks are created is useful; and (4) many different approaches are available for understanding art.…

Presents an art educator's reflections upon his career. Discusses psychological views of art, the role of the arts in enlarging human knowledge, and implications for the curriculum. Describes teaching as an artistically pervaded activity. Reveals how the educator's experience in the arts has influenced his thinking about education. (KM)

Provides seven fully developed library media activities that are designed to be used with specific curriculum units in art, health, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. Library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, instructional roles, activity and procedures for completion, evaluation, and follow-up are…

Describes an African maskmaking project completed by seventh grade that gave students insight into tribal cultures. Discusses materials and methods students used to make the masks along with a backdrop painting to complement their masks. Displays several examples of student art. (DB)

Describes the outreach education program of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (California). The First Visit and Beyond program consists of community outreach, museum visits, and return visits. Outreaches take place in the community with eight sessions of interactive discussion and art-making connected thematically to museum exhibits.…

Argues that African art helps children to learn vital art concepts and enlarges their understanding of the role of art in human culture. Outlines a unit on African art based on animals. Students created fabric designs and illustrated folktales and fables. Provides a list of free resources. (KM)

Describes how art history and art criticism in the art curriculum benefit Trainable Mentally Retarded (TMR) students. Shows how these students enjoy looking at and talking about art and maintains that the experience will be successful if the requirements are kept basic. Outlines objectives that incorporate art history and criticism into the TMR…

Describes art education in elementary schools in Japan and the content of their art textbooks. Maintains that the challenges of developing skills, making choices, and learning about the artistic heritage that are offered to Japanese children also should be offered to U.S. children. (KM)

Describes a middle school program that focuses on creating educational experiences that foster life-long learning for all students. The Discovery Program provides a range of differentiated teaching/learning activities, including research competitions, language-arts studies, social-action projects, art exhibitions, mathematics projects, and…

Presents a case study of 95 elementary schools within a 50-mile radius of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to discern the extent to which elementary schools use local cultural/arts organizations to enhance teaching and learning. Concludes that most schools made use of available resources and that there is a need for a community "clearinghouse"…

Terrell's natural approach suggests that such interactive activities as music and art induce and improve student communication in language learning. Explanation of the method's steps uses the poem "Abenamar" as an example. The teacher first presents the work in historical context, then reads the work accompanied by visual aids, then…

Describes art as a symbolic language as implemented in Reggio Emilia, Italy, preschools and adapted in U.S. schools. Considers the beauty of the classroom environment, use of materials and tools, use of observation of the child as the source of the curriculum, child-centered planning, teacher-child interaction to guide development of graphic…

Profiles a number of projects and activities enacted during the 1996 Summer Colloquium, "Art and Ecology: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Curriculum." Participants created ecologically sensitive structures for pond life at a nearby wetland and attended a dramatic presentation about early mound dwellers performed on the site. (MJP)

Presents four lesson plans that use paintings, illustrations, and photographs that tell a story. The lessons consider the use and characteristics of narrative. Includes work from, "The Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great," as well as the works of Georges de La Tour, Eileen Cowin, and Henry Ossawa Tanner. (MJP)

Highlights the importance of including the arts as part of a total Montessori curriculum, regardless of a teacher's talent. Suggests that success in facilitating children's exploration of the arts is achievable via field trips, classroom activities, appropriate materials, and arts integrated into all areas to create an "Art Smart"…