Inside: How to make your own affordable art cards and use them to spark critical thinking and thoughtful art classroom discussions. One of the questions I get asked most frequently is how to show works of art to a classroom full of students. I’ve suggested using projectors, textbooks, posters, and computers. But when I was preparing…
Art Appreciation Activities
Reflecting Absence: September 11th Lesson Plans for Art Teachers
Inside: September 11th lesson plans for art teachers focused on the 9/11 Memorial. Plus, the many reasons why it is important to teach about the attack in art class. Your students have no memories of September 11, 2001. It is easy to discount the amount of time that has passed for an event that looms…
Yinka Shonibare’s The Swing: Culture and Identity in a Global Society
Inside: Comparing Yinka Shonibare The Swing (after Fragonard) with the original painting and exploring the commentary on race, class, and multiculturalism. The Swing is Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s best known work and is an icon of the Rococo style. It’s a painting that’s so familiar, it can be easy to pass it by without considering the details or…
How to Lead Art Discussions They’ll WANT to Join
Inside: Register to join a free art teacher training webinar about how to lead engaging and educational classroom art discussions. Classroom Art Discussions Have you ever wanted to lead a meaningful classroom art discussion but felt too nervous or unprepared to go for it? Did you worry that the students would be bored or have…
#YearOfArt Free Video Workshop: How to Easily Plan a Year of Engaging Art Appreciation Lessons
The students are coming! Are you ready? 🙋♀️ Join me on August 2 for a brand new, four-part video workshop entitled #YearofArt. In this workshop, I’ll help you easily plan for an entire school year of engaging art appreciation lessons. From the types of activities to do to the artworks to choose, we’ll cover the…
6 Juicy Artworks for the First Day of School
Inside: Six works of art with discussion questions and creative activities that make perfect first day of school art activities for art teachers of any grade. August is coming… I know. Summer just started! You’ve barely had a chance to sunbathe or swim, and yet it’s almost time to attend in-service meetings, set up your…
What Makes Art Good? A Lesson and Explanation of Art Theories
Inside: An explanation of four popular art theories and how each of them defines what makes a work of art good. What makes an artwork good? When it adheres to design principles? If it looks true to life? Should it turn our worldview upside down? Must it fill us with emotions? The issue of…
Art Madness: May the Best Artist Win
Inside: Art Madness, a tournament style art critiquing activity that exposes students to a variety of artists and allows them to vote for their favorite. I’m excited to host Devon Calvert from Mr. Calvert’s Art Room today. His inspiring guest post reveals an exciting art critiquing activity that’s sure to get students talking, debating, and enjoying…
Art Appreciation Master Class LIVE! – Dallas, TX July 27, 2018
I’m looking forward to holding a live professional development for art teachers on Friday, July 27, 2017 in Dallas, TX! What? We will study creative ways to engage our students with works of art–from discussion to to writing to creative learning activities. In addition to practicing, modeling, and discussing the techniques, you will also have…
Death by Breastfeeding: The Infant Krishna Killing the Ogress Putana
Inside: The legend behind a Hindu artwork that will leave any breastfeeding mother grimacing in sympathy, including discussion questions and classroom activities to pair with the work of art. Visiting a museum can be overwhelming. There’s so much to see, so much to feel. You often don’t know which discoveries will stay with you once…
Close Encounters with Art – Art Observation Activities
Inside: Creative and engaging art observation activities that will help students connect with and remember works of art long after class ends. How can we help our students truly see a work of art? Not just glance at it to make a judgment about whether or not they like it but really experience and connect…
6 Early Finisher Activities Featuring Works of Art
Inside: Six art history-focused early finisher activities for students who complete their classwork long before everyone else. These activities are inspired by works of art with a focus on art history. One of the biggest challenges any teacher faces is what to do with the early finishers. You know the students I’m talking about – the…
Parson Weems’ Fable: Using the Elements and Principles of Art to Tell a Story
Inside: Information and discussion ideas for Parson Weems Fable by Grant Wood. This is an excellent choice of artwork to discuss the elements and principles of art–especially emphasis, shape, line, and color! Grant Wood is best known for American Gothic, but he also created one of my favorite artworks to discuss with students. Parson Weems’…
The Art of an Idea: Math and Art Integration with Sol LeWitt’s Instruction
Inside: An exploration of conceptual art with a focus on Sol LeWitt instruction installations. Students create their own version of a LeWitt wall drawing or write their own instructions to be interpreted by classmates. Conceptual art is hard to define. While other art movements are determined by their age or style, conceptualism is more concerned with…
Things Said About Us: Art-Inspired Self Esteem Activity for Kids
Inside: In this art lesson, students analyze an artwork by Molly Crabapple and discuss how it relates to self-confidence and contemporary culture. Paired with art-inspired self esteem activities for kids where students compliment one another, they’ll discover the power of words. Our students’ self-worth is under attack. Social media allows bullying and harassment to take place…
Portraits for a New Century: Kehinde Wiley Art Lesson
Inside: In this Kehinde Wiley art lesson, have students compare and contrast the Kehinde Wiley stained class, Mary Comforter of the Afflicted with an earlier depiction of the same subject. Use the art appreciation worksheet bundle to further your student’s exploration of this artwork. I’m shining the spotlight on contemporary portrait painter Kehinde Wiley. His timely…
The Art Appreciation Master Class: Online Course for Art Teachers
The Art Appreciation Master Class is a 13-week video course covering creative techniques and strategies to lead exciting and engaging art-looking experiences with your students. The art appreciation class is available exclusively for members of The Resource Library for Art Teachers. Each week for 13 weeks, you will receive new 10-15-minute videos with actionable takeaways…
The Free 5-Day Art Talk Challenge
Do you want to lead exciting discussions about art with your students, but you aren’t sure where to start? Join the Free 5-Day Art Talk Challenge where you will discover how to engage your students with works of art so they act like you’re dangling candy in front of them all while you feel energized…
Rosa Rolanda Jigsaw Art Learning Activity: Each Piece Tells a Story
How do you tell the story of your life in one self-portrait? Your pain, your relationships, your experiences, your joy, but still create a compelling artwork for the viewer to experience. I recently discovered the art of Rosa Rolanda who has mastered the art of storytelling through a dynamic self-portrait. Rosa Rolanda (born Rosamonde Cowan,…
Exploring Works of Art with the Five Senses
Inside: Hone your art senses! These multisensory artworks can be explored through the lens of the five senses. Use this free art worksheet to analyze these artworks with your students. Have you ever completely lost yourself in a painting? Last year, I was at the Art Institute of Chicago when El Greco’s The Feast in…
