To celebrate a milestone in eighth-graders' lives--leaving middle school and moving on to high school--the author assigns them the "Coming of Age" project, which examines the big idea of identity and promotes the move from self-reflection to self-expression. The project also includes writing components that correspond to each of the nine…

Describes a lesson in which students drew their own self-portraits following three criteria: (1) use mixed media; (2) emphasize expressiveness of facial features; and (3) focus on the eyes. Asserts that students were not allowed to use an opaque projector or copy from photographs. Reports the students had difficulty drawing the planes of their…

Highlights "Celebrating the Creative Spirit," a traveling exhibition featuring the work of 25 furniture-makers from nine southern states who use furniture as a means of personal artistic expression. Provides background on five different artists and an example artwork from each. (CMK)

Focuses on ways that children in art classes can be "gift artists." Discusses different types of gifts that children can create, such as presents for their parents or presents that have been personalized. (CMK)

Describes an art activity that incorporates storytelling with sculpture. Intermediate-level sculpture students create a sculpture that represents a family story, memory, or event. Describes the process and provides four examples, including stories and sculptures. (CMK)

Describes an art project used with high school students in an advanced drawing course in which they created their own self portraits. Explains that the students drew a self portrait showing their arm and hand extended outward in the picture. Includes a list of objectives and art materials. (CMK)

Focuses on individualized expression resulting from ideas and skills that have developed over time. Describes how students first drew a group of people, then used values and added background details, and finally enlarged the drawings demonstrating their own ideas. (CMK)

Describes a lesson for high school students in which they created tombstones from clay because of the distinctive surface quality as well as sculptural bas-relief effects involved in mortuary art. States that in order to motivate the class, crayon rubbings from actual headstones were taken and visuals from cemeteries were shown. (CMK)

Describes a fourth-grade art activity inspired by Cochiti Pueblo Indian Helen Cordero's Storyteller figures and also gives historical background of the figures. Explains that students created a personal storyteller figure that told about ideas or things important to them. Provides an understanding of the artmaking process from idea to product.…

Recounts an art lesson plan, inspired by the book "Learning to Swim in Swaziland," where the students created their own accordion books. Appeals to the many ethnicities at this particular school, allowing all the students to present their unique backgrounds. Gives a suggestion list, directions, and specifies materials. (CMK)

Provides a lesson that gives students the opportunity to master the medium of pen and ink through a project called "Transformations." Explains that students choose two pictures, copying each one, and then combine them to create a transformation where one object transforms into the other, such as a bolt with butterfly wings. (CMK)

Justifies examining still-life pictures of flowers to provide students with an opportunity to learn how one distinguishes between deeply artistic pictures full of emotion and pictures lacking this quality. Claims that students will develop their own artistic expression. Offers pictures by Diego Rivera, Watanabe Shiko, Consuelo Kanaga, and Rachel…

Presents a lesson plan that enabled students to create their own portraits in the style of Pablo Picasso; students utilized their initial collages/drawings, enlarging them with an overhead projector, to paint their final products using oil pastels. Indicates the students also learned about the different "periods" of Picasso's artistic…

Highlights the life of Leonard Koscianski, an artist who focuses on revealing the inner life of the human heart and mind in his artwork. Includes four lesson plans for grades ranging from 2 through 12: philosophy, psychology, language arts, and visual arts. Provides a copy and background about Koscianski's painting "Red Fish." (CMK)

Explains that, by including writing in the art curriculum, students learn to plan art assignments and organize their thoughts. Recommends introducing writing to the younger grades because art and writing will become a natural combination for the students. Gives tips for beginning an art/writing curriculum and suggests topics for assignments. (CMK)