ALEX Classroom Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 3 :

3) Communicate personal ideas, images, and themes through artistic choices of media, technique, and subject matter.

[ELA2021] (3) 33 :

33. Write personal or fictional narratives with a logical plot (sequence of events), characters, transitions, and a sense of closure.

[ELA2021] (4) 35 :

35. Write personal or fictional narratives using a logical plot, transitional words and phrases, sensory details, and dialogue, and providing a sense of closure.

[ELA2021] (5) 34 :

34. Write personal or fictional narratives incorporating literary elements (characters, plot, setting, conflict), dialogue, strong voice, and clear event sequences.

Students will analyze Edmund Teske's photographs that use montages and double exposures.  Using a 35mm camera, students will create double exposure photographs.  Students will take pictures of landscapes, the teacher will rewind the film, and students will then take classmates' pictures on the same roll of film.  Students will cut printed photographs in half and draw the other half of their faces using colored pencils.  They will compose a diamonte poem based on their artwork.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 14 :

14) Create works of art that reflect community and/or cultural traditions.

Examples: Create a quilt in the style of the Gee's Bend Quilters.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 3 :

3) Communicate personal ideas, images, and themes through artistic choices of media, technique, and subject matter.

Students will identify why rainsticks are used, how they are made, and who made them. They will make and decorate an imitation rainstick.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

Students will demonstrate three clay techniques--slab, pinch pot, push-pull--while building a cave and animal family.  They will paint the clay once it has dried.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 13 :

13) Use learned vocabulary to evaluate artwork based on given criteria.

Students will analyze the works of Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky. They will review line, shape, form, color, and texture. They will sketch a variety of leaves through observation. They will color the leaves with oil pastels. They will apply a watercolor wash and glitter to accent the drawing.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 6 :

6) Refine artwork in progress by adding details to enhance emerging meaning.

Example: Decide what details need to be added to make their artwork clearer.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

Students will analyze examples of Gustav Klimt's artwork. They will do a gesture sketch of a model and use characteristics of Klimt's background techniques to complete the portrait.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] MUS (2) 10 :

10) Demonstrate understanding of expressive qualities (such as dynamics and tempo) and how creators use them to convey expressive intent.

Example: Identify dynamic changes in Haydn's Symphony No.
94, "Surprise," through movement.

[ARTS] MUS (2) 18 :

18) Apply personal and expressive preferences in the evaluation of music for specific purposes.

[ARTS] MUS (3) 11 :

11) Demonstrate and describe how intent is conveyed through expressive qualities (such as dynamics and tempo).

Example: Experiment with dynamics and articulation and discuss how they change the impact of a piece.

[ARTS] MUS (3) 18 :

18) Demonstrate and describe how expressive qualities are used in performers' interpretations to reflect expressive intent.

Example: Sing music with expressive qualities and intent.

[ARTS] VISA (2) 2 :

2) Explore personal interests and curiosities with a range of art materials.

a. Create two-dimensional art.

Examples: Paper-weaving, drawing, and resist painting.

Use book about weaving, The Goat in the Rug by Charles L. Blood & Martin Link.

b. Create three-dimensional art.

Examples: Clay animals and pipe cleaner sculptures.

Use a book about clay, When Clay Sings by Byrd Baylor.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

Students will identify the four oceans using a globe. They will sing the Oceans song and listen to Claude Debussy's Le Mer. Students will use watercolors to show their emotional response to the music. They will identify the dynamics of the music and use those terms to describe the oceans.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 2 :

2) Demonstrate the methods of the art-making process, including brainstorming, sketching, reflecting, and refining, to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 6 :

6) Create artist statements using art vocabulary.

Students will explore and identify collages. They will use magazine pages, cards, etc to create their own collage. Using art vocabulary, they will write an "artist statement."

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (0) 1 :

1) Engage in self-directed exploration and imaginative play with art materials.

a. Use motor skills to create two-dimensional art.

Examples: Finger painting, watercolors, paper collage, and rubbings.

b. Use motor skills to create three-dimensional art.

Examples: Rolling, folding, cutting, molding, pinching and pulling clay.

[ARTS] VISA (1) 2 :

2) Explore and experiment with a range of art materials.

a. Create two-dimensional art.

Examples: Family portrait or gadget printing.

b. Create three-dimensional art.

Examples: Pinch pots or found-object sculptures.

[ARTS] VISA (2) 2 :

2) Explore personal interests and curiosities with a range of art materials.

a. Create two-dimensional art.

Examples: Paper-weaving, drawing, and resist painting.

Use book about weaving, The Goat in the Rug by Charles L. Blood & Martin Link.

b. Create three-dimensional art.

Examples: Clay animals and pipe cleaner sculptures.

Use a book about clay, When Clay Sings by Byrd Baylor.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 2 :

2) Demonstrate the methods of the art-making process, including brainstorming, sketching, reflecting, and refining, to create a work of art/design.

The article includes seven activities to practice mixing colors - glazing lines, transparent shape diagrams, color bias color wheels, washable markers drips, watercolor pencil layering, monochromatic layers, and color mixing chart.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] MUS (3) 16 :

16) Demonstrate and describe how selected music connects to and is influenced by specific interests, experiences, or purposes.

[ARTS] MUS (4) 16 :

16) Demonstrate and explain how selected music connects to and is influenced by specific interests, experiences, purposes, or contexts.

[ARTS] MUS (5) 16 :

16) Demonstrate and explain, citing evidence, how selected music connects to and is influenced by specific interests, experiences, purposes, or contexts.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 3 :

3) Communicate personal ideas, images, and themes through artistic choices of media, technique, and subject matter.

[ELA2021] (3) 33 :

33. Write personal or fictional narratives with a logical plot (sequence of events), characters, transitions, and a sense of closure.

[ELA2021] (4) 35 :

35. Write personal or fictional narratives using a logical plot, transitional words and phrases, sensory details, and dialogue, and providing a sense of closure.

[ELA2021] (5) 34 :

34. Write personal or fictional narratives incorporating literary elements (characters, plot, setting, conflict), dialogue, strong voice, and clear event sequences.

Students will listen to Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th Symphony and write a descriptive essay about how the music influenced them. They will create watercolor artwork while listening to the music. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 1 :

1) Elaborate on an individual or prompted imaginative idea.

Examples: Create an imaginative mask showing his/her personality.
Look at masks from different cultures such as Chinese, African and Native American.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 13 :

13) Use learned vocabulary to evaluate artwork based on given criteria.

Students will name colors and identify complementary colors using a color wheel.  They will cut organic and geometric shapes and make a collage.  Assessment rubric, letter to parents, examples of artwork, and lesson plan included in PDF.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 3 :

3) Describe and use steps of the art-making process while creating works of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 12 :

12) Interpret art by analyzing use of media to create subject matter, visual qualities, and mood/feeling.

Example: Discuss the differences between Meret Oppenheim's Object and an everyday cup.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 14 :

14) Create works of art based on observations of surroundings.

Students will analyze shapes, objects, and textures in still-life paintings.  They will draw exaggerated shapes and lines.  They will cut shapes from the textural drawings and make a collage.  Assessment rubric, letter to parents, examples of artwork, and lesson plan included in PDF.   

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 1 :

1) Elaborate on an individual or prompted imaginative idea.

Examples: Create an imaginative mask showing his/her personality.
Look at masks from different cultures such as Chinese, African and Native American.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 5 :

5) Individually or collaboratively construct representations of places that are part of everyday life.

Examples: Create a two-dimensional or three-dimensional model of school, home, bedroom, or neighborhood.

View and discuss Van Gogh's Bedroom.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 14 :

14) Create works of art based on observations of surroundings.

Students will collaborate to choose sketches to use as a template for a wire sculpture.  They will use wire to create a three-dimensional human form.  Assessment rubric, letter to parents, examples of artwork, and lesson plan included in PDF.    

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 1 :

1) Elaborate on an individual or prompted imaginative idea.

Examples: Create an imaginative mask showing his/her personality.
Look at masks from different cultures such as Chinese, African and Native American.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 6 :

6) Refine artwork in progress by adding details to enhance emerging meaning.

Example: Decide what details need to be added to make their artwork clearer.

Students will analyze characters in paintings.  They will imagine a character and make a sketch of it.  They will make a monotype or an oil pastel drawing of the character.  Assessment rubric, letter to parents, examples of artwork, and lesson plan included in PDF.   

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 1 :

1) Elaborate on an individual or prompted imaginative idea.

Examples: Create an imaginative mask showing his/her personality.
Look at masks from different cultures such as Chinese, African and Native American.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 6 :

6) Refine artwork in progress by adding details to enhance emerging meaning.

Example: Decide what details need to be added to make their artwork clearer.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 12 :

12) Interpret art by analyzing use of media to create subject matter, visual qualities, and mood/feeling.

Example: Discuss the differences between Meret Oppenheim's Object and an everyday cup.

Students will make a preliminary drawing of a scene of their choice.  They will enlarge one object to create attention.  They will use watercolor pencils to create a final drawing.  Assessment rubric, letter to parents, examples of artwork, and lesson plan included in PDF.   

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 2 :

2) Demonstrate the methods of the art-making process, including brainstorming, sketching, reflecting, and refining, to create a work of art/design.

[ELA2021] (3) 33 :

33. Write personal or fictional narratives with a logical plot (sequence of events), characters, transitions, and a sense of closure.

[ELA2021] (4) 35 :

35. Write personal or fictional narratives using a logical plot, transitional words and phrases, sensory details, and dialogue, and providing a sense of closure.

[ELA2021] (5) 34 :

34. Write personal or fictional narratives incorporating literary elements (characters, plot, setting, conflict), dialogue, strong voice, and clear event sequences.

Students will analyze a still-life photograph.  They will gather objects with a variety of shapes and textures to produce a still-life piece. They will arrange the objects for balance and experiment with light sources.  They will sketch their design and then photograph the items.  They will compose a descriptive poem about their still-life photograph.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 3 :

3) Communicate personal ideas, images, and themes through artistic choices of media, technique, and subject matter.

Students will analyze A Storm on the Mediterranean Coast and A Calm at a Mediterranean Port by Claude-Joseph Vernet.  They will choose to paint a stormy or calm landscape.  They will use colored pencils to draw objects in the foreground and middle ground.  They will use watercolors to paint the sky.    

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 3 :

3) Communicate personal ideas, images, and themes through artistic choices of media, technique, and subject matter.

Students will collect mementos and pictures that are meaningful to them.  They will use these pictures, magazine pictures, and/or scrap pieces of paper to create a collage. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 3 :

3) Communicate personal ideas, images, and themes through artistic choices of media, technique, and subject matter.

Students will analyze resist paintings.  They will use oil pastels to draw a vase, stems, and flowers.  They will use watercolors to create the resist wash filling all empty space with color.  

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

Students will analyze different artwork to identify texture.  They will use different media and tools to create various textures. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (0) 1 :

1) Engage in self-directed exploration and imaginative play with art materials.

a. Use motor skills to create two-dimensional art.

Examples: Finger painting, watercolors, paper collage, and rubbings.

b. Use motor skills to create three-dimensional art.

Examples: Rolling, folding, cutting, molding, pinching and pulling clay.

[ARTS] VISA (1) 1 :

1) Engage collaboratively in exploration and imaginative play with art materials.

Examples: Work with partner or small group to create an artwork.

Use the book Perfect Square by Michael Hall to help "thinking outside the box" skills.

[ARTS] VISA (2) 2 :

2) Explore personal interests and curiosities with a range of art materials.

a. Create two-dimensional art.

Examples: Paper-weaving, drawing, and resist painting.

Use book about weaving, The Goat in the Rug by Charles L. Blood & Martin Link.

b. Create three-dimensional art.

Examples: Clay animals and pipe cleaner sculptures.

Use a book about clay, When Clay Sings by Byrd Baylor.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 1 :

1) Combine ideas to develop an innovative approach to creating art.

NGAKids Art Zone is a free iPad app.  It includes eight interactive activities, a sketchbook, and a personal exhibition space.  The activities are designed for children to use independently. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 2 :

2) Demonstrate skills using available resources, tools, and technologies to investigate personal ideas through the art-making process.

Examples: Choose from a variety of resources and materials to create a work of art.
Use books Imagine That by Joyce Raymond or Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland.

[ARTS] VISA (4) 3 :

3) Generate ideas and employ a variety of strategies and techniques to create a work of art/design.

[ARTS] VISA (5) 3 :

3) Communicate personal ideas, images, and themes through artistic choices of media, technique, and subject matter.

[ARTS] VISA (6) 2 :

2) Formulate an artistic investigation and discovery of relevant content for creating art.

Example: Make, share, and revise a list of ideas and preliminary sketches.

[ELA2021] (3) 27 :

27. Read prose, poetry, and dramas, identifying the literary devices used by the author to convey meaning.

Examples: personification, imagery, alliteration, onomatopoeia, symbolism, metaphor, simile

[ELA2021] (3) 33 :

33. Write personal or fictional narratives with a logical plot (sequence of events), characters, transitions, and a sense of closure.

[ELA2021] (4) 16 :

16. Describe how authors use literary devices and text features to convey meaning in prose, poetry, and drama.

a. Identify clues in the text to recognize implicit meanings.

b. Apply prior knowledge to textual clues to draw conclusions about the author's meaning.

c. Make an inference about the meaning of a text and support it with textual evidence.

[ELA2021] (4) 32 :

32. Respond in writing to literature and informational text, including stories, dramas, poetry, and cross-curricular texts, both independently and with support, demonstrating grade-level proficiency.

[ELA2021] (5) 19 :

19. Interpret how authors use literary elements throughout a text, including character, setting, conflict, dialogue, and point of view.

[ELA2021] (5) 32 :

32. Respond in writing to literature and informational text, including stories, dramas, poetry, and cross-curricular texts, independently and with grade-level proficiency.

[ELA2021] (6) 4 :

4. Describe the use of literary devices in prose and poetry, including simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, tone, imagery, irony, symbolism, and mood, and indicate how they support interpretations of the text.

This lesson is not about markers over pencils; it is about developing a relationship between students and media and how such nurtured connections can support students' ideas in what they write and how they write it. Through in-class discussions about writing/drawing materials and carefully observing how an illustrator uses media to communicate ideas, students will see how materials can extend knowledge. This lesson provides opportunities for students to explore and experience the meaning potential of everyday writing and drawing tools in their own writing. The lesson can (and should be) adapted for older students.