Art History through Games

Most teens will tell you there's nothing more boring than history...except maybe ART history. So, I'm experimenting with a little subversive teaching in the form of games as a way to sweeten the deal and get students engaged in looking at art.

Kids always love BINGO, especially when the prize involves vitamin S in the form of Bubble gum. I've used BINGO as an informal post assessment to check their learning, (and my teaching!) but I'm also interested in creating games that will form a more significant part of the initial instruction.

Last Friday I introduced a new game, Snapshot Memory. Teams had 60 seconds to memorize the details in a painting by Vermeer and then another 60 seconds to list what they remembered from the painting, including artist, title and date. The competitive spirit in the room really motivated students to focus intently on artwork!

After 5 or 6 rounds the students were able to describe the artist's style, time period, subject matter, several titles of paintings - and I never lectured! Later, much to my surprise, they were able to select  a (new to them) "Vermeer" from a line-up of paintings. Who says art history is boring!!!

Pizza Box Biographies

This Lesson is available at FunArtLessons.com
Late Thursday afternoon, last week, I sat at my desk, stumped, as always, by how to make the last day of class meaningful and fun. Friday was the end of the term and I would have to say goodbye to a fabulous group of 7th and 8th graders. Our pizza box biographies were finished, students had completed their presentations, and other than hand back work there wasn't much else to do.
As with many of my better ideas, it wasn't until I was almost out the school door Thursday, that it came to me: Famous Artist BINGO! I rushed back to the classroom, added BINGO to my white board schedule and quickly ran off some bingo cards.
The first question students asked on Friday as they filled their bingo cards with the names of artists we had studied was "what do we win?" A stick of gum- my standard student motivator - was all they needed for the competitive spirit to spread!
To earn the coveted sticky stuff winners had to read back names with correct pronunciation, that in itself led to some good laughs! Then they had to select one artist from the winning row and share with the class a fact or two about art style, life or art work. When students weren't sure, they could "consult a pizza box," a last minute innovation that made the game.
Students were amazingly proud when their box about Wayne Thiebaud or Helen Frankenthaler became the expert source of information that led to another stick of gum flying through the air to a happy winner!
I'm always trying to think of ways that student's art work can have a meaningful purpose once it's finished. This activity turned out to be a really fun way to spend our last class together, revisit the content of the art history unit and take one last look at the incredible art projects students created before they go on display.
I've almost finished adding student photos to the Power Point lessonplan that will be available in May on my website, FunArtLessons.com, so check back and I'll let you know when you can get all the details for the Pizza Box Biography project that resulted in such a fun culminating lesson!
To see more pictures of the pizza boxes go to my Fun Art Gallery.

More Green Art: This Time Recycled Pizza Boxes

I don't know about your teaching situation but in my middle school we consume a lot of pizza. There are pizza party rewards for fund raisers, team pizza parties, staff pizza lunches and occasionally the lunch room serves pizza - ordered from a local pizza joint.
I started thinking about the possibilities of using recycled pizza boxes in art projects last year when I walked past a mountain of boxes waiting to be hauled out to the dumpster.
It took me a year, but my 7th and 8th grade students are just finishing up one of the most successful projects I've ever done! They loved it and learned so much about painting and art history! Check back soon for pics and a project description!

Posing to Learn and Laugh

I was amazed to see that all 28 eighth graders, even rough and tumble Alex, a star lacrosse player, were holding the ballerina pose. Edgar Degas' lovely sculpture, "Little Ballerina," was projected on the wall. I'd challenged students to see if they could hold the pose, third position in ballet, I think, for three minutes. Most of the boys did not immediately leap at the chance, but after some gentle goading they rose to the challenge.

The day before, I'd had the class pose as Rodin's " The Thinker" prior to making a copy sketch to help them study the lines in this sculpture. When I showed them the original in an exhibition photo they were shocked at its tiny size. They found the contrast between the power of the figure and its small stature really interesting. Steven, one of the smaller students in class gave us all a good belly laugh when he said, "He's fun-sized, like me."

The simple act of inviting students to 'strike a pose' engaged everyone but gave the kinesthetic learners in class a chance to receive the art history content with their whole body rather than just their eyes and ears. As athletes know, this also taps into a different kind of memory, muscle memory.
Will having posed as great sculptures help them remember or more deeply understand "The Discobolus," Michelangelo's "David," or as pictured here, "The Winged Nike of Samothrace?" Who knows, but this sculpture unit sure led to lots of laughs!