The following is a guest post written by April Millian, a high school mathematics teacher in collaboration with Lisette Morel, a high school art teacher.  April and Lisette teach at New Milford High School in New Milford, New Jersey.

Background:

As a child I loved art class and excelled at mathematics, often creating artwork with a definite geometric flair.  However, it wasn’t until college that I developed a real appreciation for the connections between these two subjects. I was fortunate to spend a January term (a three-week class) in Greece for a Classics course studying of Greek art and architecture. Along with our two Classics professors, a math professor joined us. My initial thought was that it’s crazy to have a math professor on this trip. I mean, what was he going to teach us in Greece? I was standing in front of the Parthenon listening to my professor discuss the Golden Ratio and how it applied, not only to the ancient structure in front of us, but to countless other works of art. That is how my love of mathematics and its significance in art was born.

Fast-forward 13 years I, Miss Millian, am now fortunate to be teaching in a school that is technology-oriented with a fantastic art teacher, Ms. Morel, who shares my interest in relating our two subjects.  I was teaching linear perspective to my geometry students when I realized what a great topic it would make for a cross-curricular activity. Ms. Morel and I began to develop an idea for a video scavenger hunt at The Metropolitan Museum of Art that would combine the art with the mathematics behind it.

Teacher and Student Preparation:

Our objective for this interdisciplinary lesson was simply to introduce our students to and have them recognize and apply the relationship that art and math share. It is crucial to establish and maintain real-life connections in education. This connection brings relevance to the subject matter and to our students’ lives.

To prepare students for the interdisciplinary lesson plan I, Ms. Morel, introduced my drawing students and Miss Millian’s Geometry class to western and non-western viewpoints, such as Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Asian and their applications to visually documenting real life. Afterwards we discussed the Renaissance and linear perspective and how it was utilized by the architects and later by painters. For a real life experience I had our students step out into our hallways and view a one-point perspective. We also looked at photographs of homes and streets where students had to point out a one point, two point, high, low or normal vanishing points. While in Miss Millan’s Geometry class I used a document camera which I found to be extremely helpful in my demonstration and presentation to a large class. Our lesson culminated with a technology, art and math scavenger hunt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The Scavenger Hunt:

To create this scavenger hunt, we started off by visiting the museum ourselves to get acquainted with the layout and decide which pieces would be included in our scavenger hunt. We also took pictures of each work of art.  Then the real work began. We used iMovie to create a video that would take our students throughout history on a search for linear perspective (or sometimes the lack of it) in art. The students were armed with an iPod Nano for each group of two, and a question sheet that they needed to answer. The clues were recorded on the iPods by Ms. Morel and myself. They were also given visual clues, such as a cropped part of a painting, to help them find the correct work of art. To add a bit of challenge to the adventure, the first team to complete the scavenger hunt with the most correct answers received a prize of two prints we had purchased at the museum gift shop.  Upon returning from our quest, the students created their own linear perspective drawings and completed an online survey.

It was so amazing to watch our students scamper through the museum, intent on finding these works of art. The students enjoyed the activity and found using the iPods more engaging than just reading off of a sheet of paper. What made this scavenger hunt so fascinating was that it brought to life a true connection between classroom learning and real life experience for our students.

Below you can view The Met Scavenger Hunt created by Miss Millian and Ms. Morel.

(Having trouble viewing this video. Try this link.)

(Download Scavenger Hunt Here:  The Art Scavenger Hunt Worksheet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Preview Scavenger Hunt Worksheet by clicking on the image below.

April Millian is a high school mathematics teacher in New Milford, New Jersey. She enjoys traveling and coaching the school’s Varsity Bowling team.

Lisette Morel is a teaching artist-mom, working with her students in a variety of art disciplines while maintaining an active art career.

A big thanks to @NMHS_Principal for sharing his teachers creative ideas on Twitter so we can hear about them and share them with you. Check out Eric’s blog A Principal’s Reflections.

Experimental fun re-arranging Baldessari still life.

Major contemporary artist John Baldessari launches new iPhone/iPad app John Baldessari: In Still Life 2001-2010 in conjunction with For Your Art and support from Ovation. According to the the official website, “John Baldessari created the first In Still Life in 2001 for an exhibition at LACMA. He hung Abraham van Beyeren’s Banquet Still Life on the wall next to an empty frame and invited exhibition visitors to digitally rearrange or remove the 38 objects in the original 17th-century Dutch painting, thus creating a new still life of their own. Visitors were encouraged to print out their still lifes and hang them in the room or take them home. When someone completed a still life using In Still Life, it became his or her own artwork, not John Baldessari’s or Abraham van Beyeren’s artwork.”

Although, the app is free through iTunes you might not have access to a classroom set of iPod Touches. That’s why we really love the online preview that allows anyone with a computer to create his or her own still life (click here to preview app online). This is a wonderful alternative for giving a whole class access to creating their own Dutch influenced masterpiece. The website would also work well with an Interactive White Board to introduce a lesson on Dutch still life painting, show connections between modern artists and past art or to talk about symbolism. While visiting the site make sure to check out the “Learn” tab in the menu. It lists each of the 38 objects in Abraham van Beyeren’s original artwork and describes the and meaning behind each object.

Check out images already created with In Still Life on Flicker and Twitter.

Product Title: Say the Time (PC-only computer program, see Mac alternative below)

Grade Levels: Kindergarten-12th grade

Product Review: I am an elementary art teacher, and I know that schedules are hard to keep. In my classroom, we have fifty-five minute classes, and when you take away clean up time, that doesn’t leave us with nearly enough time to get our work done. I also realized when I was helping students, that sometimes the time got away from me. So I  searched online for some kind of timer. What I found was Say the Time. It is an amazing program that can set reminders to go off every day.

I have set a reminder for when it is clean-up time for each class, and I have it repeat every week day. Whenever the bell rings, the students know it it time to clean up. This gets everyone going very quickly, and always on time! The program costs about $30.00, but that is a one time fee. There are no subscriptions or any other costs. Just recently, I have added another timer that tells students when they need to be in line and ready to walk out the door. Just today, I had a fourth grade class that was cleaned up and in line in less than one minute! It has worked wonders and given me back my class time. Another added bonus: You can set it to “Say the time” whenever you want it to (I have it set for every 15 minutes) which helps the younger students with elapsed time!

Please note:  Say the Time works on PC only.  If you are a Mac user, we found a similar product called “Timer 7.0” (click “download page” for free version)

Bucket Rating (5 out of 5 – Love! Need it! Gotta have it now!):

(5) Love it! Need it! Gotta have it now!

]]> http://theteachingpalette.com/2010/05/03/review-say-the-time/feed/ 2 http://theteachingpalette.com/2010/04/19/favorite-things-from-naea-convention-baltimore/ http://theteachingpalette.com/2010/04/19/favorite-things-from-naea-convention-baltimore/#comments Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:26:43 +0000 Theresa McGee http://theteachingpalette.com/?p=3083 This year was the first time I traveled outside of my home state to attend a National Art Education Association (NAEA) Conference. If you ever have the opportunity to attend, it is an experience you will never forget.  Listed below are some of the my favorite activities, observations, presentations and tidbits of information I picked up from casual conversations in Baltimore:

• I had never heard about Merlot (peer reviewed online resource of teaching and learning materials). A quick search on Merlot turned up this awesome Cave of Lascaux interactive explorer.
• LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the American Visionary Art Museum. Although I was not allowed to photograph inside, I spent about 20 minutes outside admiring the sculptural forms.

Once I finally made it inside, the theme of the museum became very clear by the words and messages incorporated into the art.  Watch this entertaining video featuring the art of Chris Robert-Antieau to get a feel for what the museum is about.

My favorite Visionary Museum message through art: “Some stare though me and refuse to see that we are different branches of the same tree.”
-Athlon Clark

• Took the plane home with the Artsonia guys and learned some top secret plans to make Artsonia even better.  (Pressure’s on guys!)
• Learned about some great web resources from Jean King.  Special needs: I Can’t Draw Syndrome and ArtPromote.   Character development: Powerful Projects.
• Inspired by Samantha Melvin’s teaching empathy through art curriculum.
• Discovered a timeline of Carrie Mae Weems life!
• Make your presentations Sticky by Craig Roland was a crowd favorite.
• Saw a great video presentation on Universal Design Learning by Kathy Rulien-Bareis.  Her methods are very useful for creating an adaptive classroom addressing special needs.  Watch her video segments one, two, three, and four.
• I got a chance to present an art experience that that incorporated science, writing, social/emotional development, and technology into the art curriculum.

Tons of additional great resources from conference presenters can be found online.
Did you attend NAEA Conference this year?  What did you discover?

Piven’s books are a favorite in our art rooms and among all grade levels. Our students are drawn to his illustrations. In fact, just last week, our school’s Media Resource Center had a waiting list for some of Piven’s titles.

With great anticipation for his transition to mobile publishing, the Teaching Palette recently interviewed Piven about his app, titled Faces iMake, and quizzed him about turning his unique illustration style into an app.

Teaching Palette: What motivated you to create an app in your artistic style?

Hanoch Piven: I’ve been doing my work for twenty years and for ten years have been doing workshops. The workshop has grown and grown. It started with me just going to kindergartens and schools when my books first came out. Then slowly more, and more people participated. The age of the participants went up slowly from primary school kids, to teenagers, to high school kids, to really even working with adults. And also the types of population that started to participate in my workshop really changed and expanded. People going through some trauma, sick people, people in hospitals to managers and CEO’s of companies.

So the workshops became something very important in my life, and I realized that there is something in what I teach that is so accessible. That really anybody can connect to it no mater what the age. They can connect to it because it’s really about play. It’s about really finding what it is to be drawing. Drawing… the way I see it, doesn’t have to be made with a pencil, or with a brush, or with a traditional drawing tool. But it can be made by moving objects around a plain; around an area.

Once the iPhone came out my partner (Eyal Dessau) called me and said he had, ’such and such idea’. It’s very accessible, very easy to do from the iPhone, very intuitive. But I didn’t want it to be just a game. I just wanted it to, sort of, be a workshop with me… a digital one. So it is very important that is not Photoshop. You relate to the objects the way you would relate to them in the real world. I mean, obviously, it is digital and not exactly this way, but you cannot change the size of objects. You cannot squeeze them. You can turn it, but that’s all about what you can do. So the relationships of size between the objects are true to the real world. Basically putting limitations. It would have been very easy to scale objects up and down, but we wanted …I wanted to have limitations that are real life limitations. And for me limitations have always been a great driving force. And a great set of parameters within which to work.

Teaching Palette: Yeah, I can see that if something doesn’t work, you have to think differently about the objects to use it.

Hanoch Piven: Exactly! And without going much further, the reason I started working with objects is because I had limitations. My drawing skills are not that good. It’s not a joke. It’s really the truth. I don’t draw very well. I draw OK. I draw OK for an amateur like if I compare myself to people who can draw, but within the professionals; compared to the professionals I’m not very good. I realized this when I was in art school and, for me, those limitations — that big limitation — was what sent me looking for my own way of doing things. Which end up being for me, obviously, working with objects. Interestingly enough this whole language that was really developed around my strengths and my weaknesses. Was supposed to be a very personal way; a personal language. So this very personal language ended up being a language that is so easily accessible by everyone. Part of the success of my workshops, and of the idea that other people look at my work and they want to make their own pieces, is that some how people can relate to the idea of, ‘Ok, I don’t know how to draw I usually don’t do art, but here is a way that I can do art.’

Teaching Palette: Yeah, I totally see it, and I love the way you add meaning to the objects in your books. They’re not just there because they fill the right shape.

Hanoch Piven: Right, so this is the second part of it because first I really talk about let’s play. Lets play and let’s play by looking at the world around us in a different way. In my talks, in my workshops, I talk a lot about forgetting what this object really is and just experiencing its shape. So that’s the first stage, just playing with the objects.

The second stage, which you really need also to think about the meaning of the objects, is that really drawing with objects is not only very easy, but it’s very communicative. So it’s the possibility and an opportunity to tell a story without words. So you can really tell something by the types of objects you choose to use.

Teaching Palette: I think that’s why kids gravitate to your art so quickly because it speaks their language. They see it, they understand it and it doesn’t matter what reading level they are.

Hanoch Piven: Those are sort of the principles of my workshop. And how does the application serve as a workshop, because there are some lessons in it. We recorded some videos of me working. I show certain examples of how I work and how all the things that happen to me when I work can be experienced also when you are working. Whether it is in real life or in the iPhone. The movies, the little video clips, are of me working with real objects, not of me working with the app. So it’s kind of like you come to my studio and you see a little bit of how I work.

Teaching Palette: Through your experiences with the workshops, do you have any thoughts on how your app is going to be used in education?

Hanoch Piven: That’s a good question. I think creative teachers can do a lot with it. For me, my experience has been that I can send some energy to the world by my work. And lots of the great things that have happened to me have been because someone has brought me back energy with an idea. So I think and I hope lots of interesting projects come from somebody else will think of them and they will come back to me. So that’s kind of the exciting thing that has happened for me.

I started doing therapeutic art workshops because an art therapist thought of it. And I started doing corporate workshops because some kind of corporate advisor thought of that. So it’s kind of interesting that this kind of energy goes out and comes back.

So I can think of putting out this tool and then I’m sure teachers would have all these great ideas. Obviously, I can think of ideas, which I’m sure you thought of them yourself, like the whole class doing a portrait of George Washington, now let’s do a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, now let’s do an angry face, let’s do a sugary face, let’s do a sad face and then write a poem to describe it.

Teaching Palette: Well, you’re already thinking like a teacher.

Hanoch Piven: Not because I’m so smart, but because I’ve been hearing those things. You know being around teachers I’ve heard of how teachers use the Smelly Dog book to teach similes.

Teaching Palette: Is there a spot on your app where you can write something that goes with the picture they made?

Hanoch Piven: There are letters you can use as objects. They’re pretty large so it’s more like you can write a name, but it’s nice because you can make a picture and write a slogan that goes with that picture, that compliments that picture, that explains something about that picture, that has a dialog with that picture. You can write, I would say, up to 10-15 letters. They are like magnets letters.

Teaching Palette: Very cool!

Hanoch Piven: They could be used if someone is smart enough, creative enough, they can use the letters as shapes and draw with letters.

Teaching Palette: When you finish an image in your app, can you export it to the photo library?

Hanoch Piven: Yes, you can export it to the photo library. You can share it. We have included 100 objects at this point, but we have photographed many more and it can grow and grow and grow and grow. So it’s really limitless. In my workshops I like to say we have on the table all the objects in the world.

Thank you, Hanoch, for taking the time to speak with the Teaching Palette about your iPhone app, Faces iMake, which is currently in the iTunes Store.

We have a copy of the app and were testing it. Look for a review soon.

Here’s a few tips to get started:

A big thanks to @NMHS_Principal for sharing this resource on twitter.

Kits can include any of the following:

• Animations
• Audio Clips
• Documents
• Illustrations
• Photos
• Video Clips

Examples of some of the visual art topics are located below.

A document camera is not a fancy overhead projector but a versatile piece of equipment that can help improve the way you deliver curriculum. The most obvious function of the camera is that you can place any object, drawing or small piece of equipment under the lens and it will be projected in full color onto a large screen.

What is often overlooked is that the document camera can be highly interactive, save on equipment and space, improve classroom management and produce it’s own art. Below are several different ways I’ve incorporated the document camera into my art room and some of the techniques that might work for your room as well.

Still Life Drawing

Turn the document camera lens out and project a still life that the whole class can see. Instead of having to find multiple objects and set up numerous still life displays use your document camera to enlarge one set of objects. It cuts down on the materials that need to be collected and saves space in the classroom by only needing one display. Another perk is you can instantly change to another still life when a different grade comes. You also can easily control the lighting to show a full range of values and actually demonstrate how artists select portions of a still life to draw.

The kids love to watch me reposition the still life by turning the stand multiple directions in combination with zooming in and out on different sections of the objects. It allows me to show the entire class the concepts I’m teaching such as light source, highlight, shadow and reflected light. My document camera also has a feature that allows me to turn the image from color to black and white. I’ve found this to be especially useful when teaching rendering /shading or to help a class focus on drawing the actual object shapes and not be distracted by color. I’ve traveled to four different schools in my district, each with a different document camera, and they all had the black and white feature. You might need to do a little experimenting to find that feature on your camera but it will most likely have it.

Here’s how I used my camera to project a still life (click the image to enlarge):

First, find a table or platform at the right height to display your objects. I used a sturdy music stand. It works beautifully for light to medium weight materials and it easily can rotate or slide up and down for demonstrations. Next, turn the lens or rotate it out so that you can see the objects you want to display. Now you can zoom and reposition the stand to focus on different sections of the still-life. Then add a light source to create depth and shadows. You can get a utility light that clips from the hardware store, use a desk lamp with a flexible arm or a flash light. My motto is what ever works and is cheap.

Microscope

Change your perspective and the classes by taking advantage of the microscopes used in science class. I use a great lesson I got from my colleague to take an artist’s view-point when looking at fall leaves. Originally the class would collect leaves, draw an outline of the leaves they observe and then fill in each leaf shape with tiny circular shapes to represent the molecular structure. We took the artistic license to imagine what the cellular structure looked like but since getting a document camera we  don’t have to imagine. I call up students to put samples of the leaves they collected under the microscope and focus the lens. Then we discuss what we observe and how we can relate it to our art. We are able to make greater connections to what we see and tie back into the science curriculum at a deeper level.

Here’s how I use the document camera to project the microscope (click the image to enlarge):

Artwork

Don’t just use your document camera to project an example piece of art or a demonstration. Let the kids use it to create their own original art. I was inspired by the illustrator and caricature artist Hanoch Piven’s book My Dog is As Smelly As Socks: And Other Funny Family Portraits to have 2nd graders create their own assemblage portraiture.

I showed students several of Hanoch Piven’s books and talked to them about assemblage and discussed different ways to use found objects in our art. I had students draw the shape of their own face and hair and add color but no facial features. Students put their picture under the document camera and added facial features with different found objects (i.e., buttons, sea shells, bolts, nails, rubber bands, small toys, pieces of yarn, candy, art supplies, tools). Then students would take a picture with the document camera. Most of the document cameras came with software to use in conjunction with a computer for recording, editing, adding annotations and taking pictures. You’ll have to investigate how your particular document camera takes pictures. All of the found objects would then be put back into the box for other students to use. The images can then be printed, shared through a classroom website, used in an enhanced podcast or in a voice thread.

You can view more photos of using the document camera in the art room at The Teaching Palette’s Flicker photo stream.

Original CC licensed Image by Dylan on Flickr

Educating students (and lets face it, ourselves) about copyright and digital citizenship has become increasingly more important as more and more teaching resources are found online.  While creating original image content may still be the best way to gather images, it is not always practical or even geographically realistic. Copyright-free and public domain images often make the creative process easer by allowing for manipulation without needing to cite the source.  However, there are times when when you can’t find what you need in the public domain or want to teach a lesson on digital citizenship.  In these situations, searching for images with a Creative Commons license can be useful.  Our top ten list of imagery for creative use ranges from “no known copyright” (among the least restrictive) to Creative Commons (creative permissions vary).

1. The Commons This Flickr database contains collections from museums and libraries from around the world.  The images placed in these collections have “no known copyright” and therefore are free to use without attribution.

2. Public Domain Sherpa This is a one stop shop with a great collection of image sources mostly in the public domain. This site also does a great job explaining copyright information in layman’s terms.

3. Morgue File “Public image archive for creatives by creatives”  This fabulous site is full of easily searchable images that require no attribution.

4. Pics4Learning These copyright-friendly images have been donated by teachers, students, and amateur photographers.  Explore the other features and tutorials to help get you started.

5. PD Photo Most of the thousands of images on this site are in public domain, but not all.  Before using any image, read the license under each picture.

6. Creative Commons and Wikimedia Commons These databases are great places to access all sorts of media that you can incorporate into creative projects.  Since both public domain and creative commons images can turn up in a search, be sure to check to see if the image requires attribution.

7. Photos8 This site offers thousands of images free to use for any purpose. The site author doesn’t require attribution but would love to see the creative outcomes.

8. Creativity 103 This source contains images and video ranging from abstract design to architecture.  You are free to download and use any of the images as long as you credit the website.

9. Compflight and FlickrCC These two great tools can help you quickly find images licensed under Creative Commons on Flickr.  Another Flickr option is the advanced search to find images to modify or build upon. Download directions for use with your students here.

10. Google Advanced Image Search This search engine is useful for helping you find specific images such as line drawing or photo content with “safe search” filtering.  To find Creative Commons images, select the search terms usage rights “labeled for reuse” or “reuse with modification”.

Oh, and a couple of things that you will want to explore . . .

Creative Project Image Search We gathered many resources listed here along with a few others to create a custom search engine for public domain, copyright-friendly, and Creative Commons images.  This tool could be something you add to student bookmarks to make image searching easy.

If you still can’t find what you need, Copyright Friendly Wiki and Teacher Librarian Wiki are both excellent resources to find images to use.