Art Lady

Lesson Plans from the Hispanic Research Center of Arizona State University, my alma-mater.

• Who Cares for Art? Luis Jimenez a National Treasure
• Protest and Persuasion
• Images of Me

I first took a workshop by ALL FIRED UP two years ago. I have since fused flat glass pieces in my kiln. I am currently reading a book I bought on amazon.com called Warm Glass.  I am looking forward to making some glass pieces in a slump mold for Christmas.

Resources

• Molds for Slumping are available online at slumpys.com
• There are some basic getting started kits available at dickblick.com
• The Corning Museum of Glass is a great website. They also have a number of videos on You Tube (which is blocked by some school system’s software unfortunately)

I am looking online for learning styles surveys that I can use in my classroom. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

1. Do you know your middle schooler’s learning style? by Parents Magazine
2. Learning Styles Quiz from Petersons.com
3. Multiple Intelligences Inventory 80 questions (Limited to 40 users at one time)
4. What’s your child’s learning style? From the Greenville, SC school system
5. Left Brain, Right Brain Survey
6. Autobiographical Expression by Ruth Roberts

Thanks to Google the world’s best search engine for making searching fast!

Quest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-16, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. Participation in this game is designed to enhance the lives of children while helping them grow into knowledgeable, responsible, and empathetic adults.
QA How-To Guide: http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/main/support/guide_contents.pl

QA Legend Video: http://atlantis.crit.indiana.edu/legend/new_legend_large.wmv

We have been hard at work in the art room at HAMMS.  My 7th and 8th grade majors have done a few fused glass pieces thanks to a generous donation by Ellenburg & Shaffer Glass Art Studio. My 7th grade elective students have been hard at work making contour line drawings. My 6th graders are working on touring the Elements of Design and are creating some very colorful shape collages.

Some of this work will be displayed at the Dixie Classic Fair in October. I have posted some of their work online at Artsonia.

Muslim mosques are rich with geometric ornamentation called Zillij. These patterns reflect basic Islamic beliefs as well as mathematical truths. Muslims see these patterns as being “discovered rather than created.”

Good website resources for Islamic Art

• Princeton Online – Islamic Art
• Islamic Tiles from Kramer Middle School
• Islamic Art and Geometric Design from the Met (.pdf)

A student from Curtis High School talks about her experience in the art room of her school and her religion.

In an effort to fund raise and having more time with my majors this year, I am looking at Fimo beads. I have found several websites that I like:

• Polymer Clay Beads
• How to make Fimo Beads
• Lentil Swirled Beads

I can’t wait to do this with my students!

I found this great article on the Free Technology for Teachers blog. It mentions a Free (do you see a theme here) RSS to PDF Newspaper maker. This is a great tool that I can use to make newspapers for the students of my parents who don’t have computers. Fivefilters.org is the organization behind the programming. “This is a free software project to help people create printable PDFs from content found on the web. It is a free alternative to HP’s Tabbloid service. It is being developed as part of the Five Filters project to promote alternative, non-corporate media.”

One of my 8th grade majors helped me find these pictures on the internet. I put these on the internet so my students can discuss them.

[View with PicLens]

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Here is a video that a friend of mine made for a student in Ms. Campbell’s drama class. Enjoy!
A Dream Deferred

by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore–

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over–

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?