Art of the Week - Year #6

Does anyone else feel like the last few minutes of Art class are wasted? I pride myself on running an efficient classroom and I remember thinking that playing "I Spy" or "7-Up" seemed like a waste of the precious time I got with my students each week. There had to be a better way...

Enter "Artist of the Week"!!! 

I can't believe I've done this for six years now! What started as a way to sneak a little art history into the last few minutes of class has turned into a tradition that I totally love sharing with my students. 

You can read the story of how this class activity started and how it evolved here. And if you'd like to start WAY back in the beginning, you can check out my website too (TONS of links!)

For this 2013-2014 school year, I am using this awesome book my mom found in the discard pile at the local library. GASP! It's a beautiful picture book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each page has four images that have one thing in common. For example, the first page has details from a Lichtenstein woodcut, a Cezanne still-life, an American watercolor and a Greek vase from 460 B.C. Each image, though they sound completely different, all have an apple in them somewhere. Super cute, right?! The layout of the book reminded me so much of one of my favorite apps - 4 Pictures, 1 Word. 

So after some further research on www.metmuseum.org, I made a SMARTBoard file that links to each book page and then links to one chosen picture to discuss further with my classes. I am so excited to see how this works with my students!

Please feel free to download the file from the SMART Exchange, but don't feel like you need a SMARTBoard to make this kind of activity work for you. You don't have to play "I Spy" anymore!

~ Amy