Have you or your students ever read an art history textbook for a class and not had a clue what to actually highlight or write down? Do you want to teach art history without lecture, but you are not sure the students will understand the take-away when there is no PowerPoint slide for them to…
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Must-See Art Destinations for a Google Cardboard World Tour
Oh. My. Gosh. Have you heard of Google Cardboard? My husband just got us one, and we are all hooked. For about $15, you can get a cardboard virtual reality headset that syncs up with your smart phone. From seeing dinosaur bones in the Natural History Museum to having whales jump out of the water…
How to Compare and Contrast Art to Teach Art History
Inside: Use these techniques artwork examples to compare and contrast art in your classroom. Art comparison help students see the art in a new way and make the conventions of an art movement more clear and understandable. If I had to pick my favorite teaching method for art history, it probably would be compare and…
5 Women Artists of Color with Learning Activities
Today, I am again joining the Women’s History Month series on Multicultural Kid Blogs with a guest post on MKB–5 Women Artists of Color. In my post, I cover 5 incredible women artists of color: Augusta Savage, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Carmen Lomas Garza, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, and Yayoi Kusama. Each entry has images of the…
7 Surrealist Games to Unlock Creativity
Surrealist art is some of the most fun and accessible art for students. It is so meaty and weird and creative that kids naturally gravitate towards it. Not only do my students love Surrealism, but I love to teach it! Check out these fun Surrealist games to get your students into the minds of the Surrealist…
Art and Aesthetics Lesson Bundle
I always start out my art appreciation classes with some discussions on art and aesthetics: questions about the philosophy of art. It gets the students in the mindset that they have to THINK in this art class, and all of the art and aesthetics discussions are usually a lot of fun! As a part of…
Cultural Sensitivity, Xenophobia, and Ethnocentrism in Art Education
All good people agree, And all good people say, All nice people like Us, are We And everyone else is They; But if you cross over the sea, Instead of over the way, You may end by (think of it!) looking on We As only a sort of They. — Rudyard Kipling, The fifth and…
Why I Hate The Elements and Principles of Art (But teach them anyway)
About 5 years ago I was in a job interview for an elementary art position, and I told the art coordinator of the district that I hate the elements and principles of art. She was visibly shocked, and needless to say, I didn’t get that job. My website this month has been taken over by…