Paintings can fulfill many different pedagogical purposes. They can illuminate and bring to life historical events and characters. Paintings and other images can also make students aware of a point of view (the artist's commentary), which enriches and modifies the history they find in books and documents. This article provides examples of teaching…

This handbook demonstrates how studio art concepts may be broken down into their simplest level, thus, allowing preschool and elementary students to work with one particular concept and technique at a time. Teachers are encouraged to coordinate open-ended painting activities with major study units taking place in the classroom. The fourteen…

Contends that a work of art may have more than one story to tell and that the full meaning requires knowledge of the artist's background and culture. Presents four classroom lessons based on three paintings and a beaded belt. Includes full-page color photographs of the art works. (CFR)

Presents an instructional unit containing five activities centered around paintings by Leon Golub. Helps students understand the processes of art criticism and the social context in which art works are analyzed and criticized. Provides guidelines and questions for a comparative analysis of three contemporary art critics. (CFR)

Describes a "critical pedagogy" that encourages reflective self-examination of attitudes, values, and beliefs within historical and cultural critique. Highlights an art lesson for preservice teachers that illustrates the use of a critical pedagogy of representation, focusing on self-portraits by Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington. Discusses the…

Presents classroom lessons based on four self-portraits found in the Art Institute of Chicago. Provides background information, discussion questions, and activities for each portrait. Includes full-page color reproductions of the paintings. (CFR)

Depicts a high school art activity in which students create imaginative compositions by selecting, cutting out, and aesthetically arranging various styles of lettering. These letters then dictate the style and content of the composition. Tracing paper is used to transfer the desired composition creating a border for another page which is then…

Asserts that visual arts education contributes to a more profound understanding and appreciation of civilization. Maintains that art criticism offers teachers an opportunity to interact with students about their personal reactions to art and to involve them in critical thinking. (CFR)

Presents four paintings and summarizes a discipline based art education approach to studying them. Each painting is followed by a brief text consisting of information about the subject and artist. The text also includes writing assignments, research questions, and related activities. The paintings include portraits by Goya and Joan Miro. (MJP)