A Survival Kit for the Elementary/middle School Art Teacher

This comprehensive "survival kit" gives new and experienced art specialists and classroom teachers practical advice and ready–to–use tools for implementing an effective K–8 art education program plus over 125 exciting, illustrated art projects with reproducible student handouts in a variety of creative media. For easy use, all materials are printed in a big 8–1/4" x 11" lay–flat binding that folds flat for photocopying of the student project handouts and organized into two major parts.

Part I, The Art Program, provides tested guidelines and reproducibles for building the program and making art appreciation and activities fun. Included are tips for writing art lesson plans, creating bulletin boards, and assessing artwork as well as the developmental characteristics of students as they apply to art at each grade level, K through 8, discipline suggestions, safety precautions, and more.

Part II, The Art Curriculum, presents more than 100 specially selected art projects organized by medium into nine units. Each project is illustrated, complete and ready for use, and includes adaptations for younger students, alternative project(s) and interdisciplinary and multicultural connection. Here′s an overview of the projects you′ll find in each curriculum unit:

• Exploring the Elements & Principles of Design. Unit 1 features 12 stimulating projects to help students understand the basic elements and principles of art, such as Costumes & Color (color)...Collage Cityscape (space)...Mexican Sun (texture)...and Black & White Makes It Right (contrast).
• Paper. The 10 projects in Unit 2 include a paper–making activity, Handmade Paper, and introduce various techniques for creating with paper in activities like Story Quilt and Pop–Up Greeting Cards.
• Drawing with Pencil, Pastels, Crayons & Markers. Unit 3 offers 14 projects exploring new ways to work with unfamiliar materials. In The Bestiary, Animal Drawings, for example, students draw an imaginary creature by combining parts of familiar animals.
• Painting. The 15 projects in Unit 4 introduce painting in tempera, acrylics, watercolor, and ink. For example, in Open the Door! Students study different examples of historical doors and arches then paint their own doorway.
• Printmaking. Unit 5 presents 11 methods of printmaking with how–to tips for each process, plus 7 stimulating printmaking projects such as Colorful Tiles, Relief Prints, and Japanese Fish Printing.
• Three–Dimensional Design. In Unit 6, you′ll find 16 projects that give students the chance to assemble, carve or create masks with paper, wood, metal, soap and other materials, including Rolled Paper–Tube Sculpture, 3–D Sports Heroes, and Assemblage.
• Ceramics. The 8 popular projects in Unit 7 involve students in working with clay. Examples include Double Pinch Pot, Architectural Birdhouse, and Mural: Ceramic, Cement, Marbles, Noodle and Glass.
• Architecture: The Built Environment. Unit 8 features 10 architecture–based research activities, such as City Planning...Victorian Houses...Design a Chair...and Paint Your Dream House.
• Technology: Computer, Photography, Video. All 7 projects in Unit 9 utilize a computer. Students learns how to produce different typefaces, add texture, transform black and white copies, manipulate photos and more in activities such as Graphic Design: A Public Service Flyer, Line Drawing with a Flashlight, and Video Production.

Written by a master educator with more than 30 years of classroom experience, A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School Art Teacher places in your hands a ready source of practical information, seasoned management advice and exciting content activities that might otherwise take many years and much effort to compile.