Technology
The following are examples of various ways I have used technology in teaching art over the last two years (G1-1).
Over the summer of 2005 I took a course in digital photography. I use digital photography as a way to document the work my students have created in class by photographing and displaying this work my the district website as well as my own website and the Just Imagine website. to the right you see an example of a mosaic water fountain I designed and created with my Third Grade students and visiting artist, Claire Bennett. For more information and to look at a photo documentary on this project click here.
As an elementary school art teacher, I have found the use of the internet a wonderful way to research artists and images. Examples of third grade student chalk landscapes can be found on my district website. The students began by looking at paintings by Jane Wilson. Each student then did a Google image search for a landscape photograph which included land sky, and water. The students used these images a point of departure for their chalk landscapes (G2-4).
Examples of student art work inspired by the artist Henri Matisse can also be viewed on the Just Imagine website. Students visited this EEV website created by Nancy McGuirk, Meg Ryan, and me to learn about the life and work of Henri Matisse. Students then created drawings based on a favorite work by the artist.
I have also used Make-a-Flake to enhance my Kirigami unit in third grade. Each year I teach a unit on Kirigami, which is the art of paper cutting. Snowflakeslookandfeel.com, otherwise known as make a flake, is a virtual Kirigami website which allows the visitor to create flakes and print them out or place them in the gallery. Examples of the snowflakes students have made in the traditional form can be found on my district website under the Parrish Art Museum photo gallery (G2-4).
Second grade students created underwater pictures in Paint as a part of a research project they were doing in class. Examples of individual student work can be found in the underwater section of the Just Imagine Website.
Another example is a multimedia approach to learning in which students use a variety of artistic activities to present a research project. One such activity was a second grade cross-curriculum project involving me, the art teacher, the librarian, the computer teacher and computer aide, and the second grade classroom teachers. The students researched dinosaurs on the internet and through books. After working in groups and sharing information, they each selected a specific type of dinosaur on which to present. Each student then created a computer drawing of that dinosaur using the Windows Paint Program. These images were transferred onto T-shirts. In addition, the children each created a PowerPoint presentation to show case their research findings. On Dino Day the students wore their shirts and presented their research projects to other second graders and their parents (G2-4). This multimedia project created a rich learning experience for our second graders far beyond just listening to a teacher lecture about dinosaurs (G2-5).