Professional guidelines for English language arts call for the integration of multimodal literacy in the curriculum (National Council of Teachers of English, 2005). These guidelines are grounded in the belief that all meaning-making systems (e.g., visual, linguistic, spatial) are equally valuable. Each has unique potential that, when used…

William Shakespeare has influenced most, if not all, Western playwrights. His techniques, themes, characters, and plots are contained in much of what is produced today, from television to Broadway. This teacher's guide provides summaries of the plays "The Merchant of Venice" and "Othello," essays, and corresponding student…

Objects are one way of understanding the world. This teacher's guide offers a method of analyzing objects that, once understood, can be applied in the classroom, on site, or in museums and galleries. Focus is upon artifacts rather than natural objects. Cross-curricular applications and teaching techniques are given. Sample exercises, discussion…

The idea of "connecting" is explored in this multimedia educational kit art for elementary schools. The Connecting series features a teacher's manual, six teacher's guides, and three videotapes based on six primary themes. These themes are: "Rhythms and Patterns"; "Change and Transformation"; "The World Our Minds…

This documentary tells the wartime story of Le Chambon, a tiny Protestant village in France that defied the Nazi occupation and provided a safe haven for thousands of Jews. Using interviews, old photographs and footage, and specially declassified documents, the film [and transcript] examine the difference between being a bystander and a…

This paper describes a unit of instruction about media images--how they work, ways they affect people, and means to use them--in which young adolescents learn the consequences of becoming a media-literate consumer. The paper explains that in the unit, divided into 2 "clusters," 110 Boston-area eighth graders share 5 core academic…

This teacher's guide gives practical suggestions for engaging intermediate level students in a study of portraits, based on the assumption that through the image both the sitter and artist reveal something about themselves and the intended purpose of the portrait. Organized in four chapters, Chapter 1, "Talking to the Wall," looks at the…

The goal of this practicum, which was achieved through staff development instructional programs and follow up experiences over a three month period, was to improve the knowledge of elementary school teachers in how to use curriculum related video. TV/video systems and educational programs were utilized to stimulate the critical thinking process of…

This guide and accompanying videotape are the fifth and final in a series that present full lessons and interviews with the instructors who created the lessons. Intended as starting points to stimulate thinking about a comprehensive approach to art education, these instructors discuss how they developed their lessons and how this approach has…

Television advertising aimed at children is explored, including its regulation, techniques, and research on its effects. Particular attention is given to sexual stereotypes in commercials, including an analysis of certain commercials. A commercial literacy unit is presented for use with fourth graders. The history of advertising targeted at…

Presents a series of lesson plans analyzing four paintings. The lesson plans use discipline-based art-education principles to examine issues of racial, ethnic, social, and gender prejudice. The artists represented are Robert Gwathmey, Thomas Hart Benton, Eastman Johnson, and Jacob Lawrence. Includes color plates and background information. (MJP)

The Fall 2002 Idea Book contains suggestions for enriched learning. "Save Our History; Save Our Sounds,""Eureka!" and "Lindbergh Flies Again" involve two or more disciplines of study and would work well for team-teaching projects . Lesson materials from the Arts and Entertainment Network teacher's guide are:…

Presents three works of art that examine issues of exhibition, display, culture, and access in contemporary museum practices. The works include four black mannequins dressed as security guards, a room-size installation consisting solely of objects related to the artist, and a poster highlighting the general exclusion of women artists. (MJP)

Argues that, far from being a dangerous and destructive break with the past, various factions of postmodernism actually parallel modernist beliefs. Both movements share groups whose creative revisionists approach seeks a constructive accommodation. Similar parallel destructive approaches also exist. (MJP)

Explores the role of genre painting in the education and socialization of 17th-century Dutch children. Focuses on three types of painted scenes that transmitted educational messages: the private sphere of family life and the public domain of the street and of the school. (MJP)