Cave Art

Imagine teaching art for the first time in an elementary school that has never had an art program. How do you start teaching students art when they have never had the experience? I thought about it a lot, and I found inspiration in the first record of human artistic expression, Cave Paintings. I took inspiration from the wonderful book Art In Story. 

First grade student creating an individual "cave drawing" with crayons.

I approached this lesson from various angles. First it would start exposing students to art and introduce the beginning of visual expression. I would also take advantage of the simplicity of the drawings to introduce students to the concepts of organic and geometric shapes in art, as well as the different kinds of lines.

Working in a brand new school we were piloting a program that let us teachers remotely control the computer using an iPad. I still use the program to this day, it's amazing being able to walk and interact with students while being in control of the computer without having to stand by my desk. I took advantage of the program, and I let students use my iPad to remotely control the computer and draw on top of my presentation using the iPad. The program doubles as a "smart board", so students drew on the iPad with their fingers and we all saw it on the projector. I was asking students to trace over shapes or lines saying things like " trace a geometric shape on the cave painting" or "trace a curved line on the cave painting". If this isn't an option because your classroom doesn't have the resources, markers on a whiteboard serve the same purpose.

Kindergarteners working on a group" cave painting " using oil pastels.

I spent a whole lesson just having students look at cave paintings, identifying shapes and lines and asking questions. I also memorized and told them the the two stories(Altamira and Lascaux) from the Cave Art chapter in Art In Story. Students loved hearing the stories, specially since I was very dramatic while telling them and they involved children. I had them imagine they are those children who found the caves. Some said they would've been scared, others said they would've kept it a secret forever. The first day's lesson ended with the promise of showing them a virtual tour of the Lascaux cave the next day they came to art.

The next day I showed them where the caves were located in Europe. I explained about the pigments and how the cave men made and used their paint. Telling them sometimes they mixed pigment with urin both grossed them out and fascinated them. I gave them more information about the caves and, add promised have them the virtual tour of Lascaux.

Interactive 3D tour of the Lascaux cave

The virtual tour was like magic and took their cave painting experience full circle. They were shocked at the size of the drawings and the fact that kids their age wondered alone in the cave.

 Now it was time for them to create their cave art. I tried different things with different groups. Some worked individually, while others worked in groups. I gave some groups oil pastels, others used crayons, fourth and fifth graders used liquid temperas.

Fifth grade students creating their individual cave paintings, drawing first with oil pastels then painting with tempera paints.

During the first two weeks of school I had no tables in my room, so the kiddos got down on the floor to work. I guess it made it more authentic!

Happy art making!

                                                                                             

Lesson objectives:

•  Identify the characteristics of line and shape in cave paintings.
•  Compare and contrast prehistoric art and modern art.
•   Create a cave drawing

Vocabulary:

•  Cave Painting, line, shape, organic shape, geometric shape, contour line

You will need:

• Computer
• Projector

optional: Doceri program and iPad with the Doceri app or SMART Board

Lesson Sequence

Through an interactive presentation using an iPad, the students will identify lines and shapes in cave paintings and compare and contrast cave art and modern art.

Cave paintings from CaramelBun

Cave paintings 2 from CaramelBun

*If you don't have an interactive app like Doceri, or a SMART Board you may use a projector and plain old dry erase markers.

They will learn about the history and location of the caves in Altamira and Lascaux, and have an opportunity to take an interactive virtual tour through the cave in Lascaux.

Using oil pastels, tempera and craft paper the students will draw their own cave paintings.

 Additional resource:

Art In Story - cave art chapter

Be art smART! ~ Art classroom rules.

Here are my very simple classroom rules, I have the kids read them out loud with me every time they come in my classroom. First thing we do is come in, sit down on the floor, read our learning statements and say our rules.

Art room rules

I made this my computer background so I just minimize all my open programs and we can read it together.

Happy art teaching!



No paper art diagnostic test

I work at a school that had no art before I came, so I wanted to test the student's knowledge of art the first day of school. There are around 700 students and I see all of them. I didn't want to be making copies of a diagnostic test for all those students, and I sure as heck didn't want to grade them. What I  wanted was to know what the kids knew right on the spot.

Enter MRS (multiple response strategy) and a PowerPoint. All I needed was kids, a projector, a computer and my presentation. Zero papers to copy or grade. This is how it went:

• I wrote down 10 things I thought my students should know about art concepts and turned them into multiple choice questions. I numbered the answers 1-3.
• I made a PowerPoint presentation introducing myself ( what I liked, where I studied art, some of my drawings, etc.). I also included the class rules. Then in the same presentation I added the questions and the multiple choice answers. After each question I made a slide for the correct answer.

Letting them know we were going to take an art test. ;)

• During class I introduced myself and the class rules. Next I told the kids they were going to take a test, the look on their faces was priceless. I explained it was a diagnostic test to see how much they knew about art concepts. I told them we would do the test together and we didn't need paper or pencil to take it. 

Question

• The diagnostic test: I read the question out loud, then read the answers. I asked the students to put up one finger if they think one is the correct answer, put up two fingers if they think two is the correct answer, or put up three fingers if they think three is the correct answer. I gave them time to think for 5-7 seconds, and let them know everyone had to choose an answer in order to reveal the correct number. Tip: You can read the question one more time before revealing the answer. Repeat with the rest of the questions. Reinforce that they show you the answer not say it out loud.

Answer

• As the students got the hang of it the pace increased, they would also be looking around to see who else had the same number up and encouraged everyone to participate so they could see the correct answer.
• I looked around to see who had the correct answer, the signs and grunts let's me know who didn't get it right.

I hope this idea inspires you to try a new way of assessing student knowledge without making a paper and pencil test.

Happy art teaching!

~•~•~•~•~•••~•~•~•~•~•~•••~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•••~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•••~•

Here are some questions you can use for your test:

• What line goes from top to bottom?
• The primary colors are...
• A triangle is a...
• What materials would you use when making a painting?
• Cool colors are...
• Which of the following is a color wheel?
• What is the first record of art made by humans?
• A portrait is a picture of...
• Which of the following is a gray scale?
• Which of the following is a brayer?
• What is a sketch?

Welcome to art class! from CaramelBun

Tips for new art teachers and art education students.

I like to imagine I was ready for my first year of teaching art. The truth is I was fresh out of college and was hired the day before school began so I had no time to prepare anything ahead of time. I struggled to get organized and motivated, my first year was tiresome and overwhelming for many reasons. Now I look forward to the start of the school year because I feel more prepared and confident. Here are some things you can do make your first year a success:

1. Do spot observations of a veteran teacher, if possible an art teacher. Make sure they are quality teachers and not just experienced. Notice how they address their students, how the classroom is organized, how the students behave, what the teacher does to engage the students and how classroom jobs are distributed. Take notes of how the teacher calls for the students attention and in turn, how students get the teachers attention. I was made to do observations as a student teacher but never saw a quality art teacher at work, take advantage of the opportunity and seek a good teacher to observe and it won't seen like such a bother. :)
2. Learn what students like. Watch an episode or two of the newest cartoons, learn about gaming consoles and video games, listen to the music they listen to, see what new movies are showing that your students would watch. Students feel more at ease with grown-ups who (at least try to) understand them. Some of my most successful lessons incorporate things I know my kiddos are into.
3. Decide what kind of students you want. Students respond to your expectations of them, so raise the bar high. What is your idea of a "perfect art student"? Write it down and decide on a set of rules based on your expectations.
4. Guide the students during the first lessons. Find an image that would be easy to reproduce and make a simple drawing combining basic shapes and lines. Figure out the steps needed to make the drawing and break it down. During class have students repeat each step to create their drawing. This will give you a sense of who's a good listener, who struggles with basic lines and shape, who should be moved to another seat because they get distracted easy and who's going to be a great artist! Give the students crayons, oil pastels or markers to draw, keep the pencils for now. I had too many kids waste time erasing every time we made a step, eliminate the problem before it happens. Let them color it and observe who needs help with their coloring skills, pencil grip, etc.
5. Have activities for early finishers. I'm not a big fan of " free draw ", make it more structured by providing how-to-draw books or handouts and newsprint paper. I made copies of books from the school library and bought more books from the local discount book store. The kids love the dragon books, and the anime and cartoon books. I let them pick a book and get a paper, they know not to draw or color the books because I stress it all the time, always remind them.
6. Have students help. There is no need for you to take care of everything when there's lots of eager hands to help. Figure out a system that will work for you. In my room every student has a chair number, when I call that number they know I'll give them a job. Taking the table's crayon box, or picking up the table's papers and placing them in the correct spot, etc. 
7. Brake everything down into manageable steps. If you give students too much information they will get overwhelmed. Instead, break down that big project into steps, don't go to the next step until everyone's on the same page, that way you also make them accountable for their time management. This is extremely helpful for the lower primary grades. Painting? Break the process into steps, mine is: water-sponge-color-repeat. I review steps every time we paint, even if we did it last class.
8. Be consistent. If you let one kid do something they will all want to do it. This is specially true of bathroom breaks and water breaks. I make a point of letting them do that at the appropriate moment, when they are working independently, not during instruction. 
9. Be patient and understanding. These are people, with their own personalities and quirks, they are not all the same. They need to see you as a person who they can depend on and trust. That doesn't mean you shouldn't discipline, it means you should try to understand their behavior to give them the correct feedback given the situation. 
10. Communicate with parents. Send out art newsletters along with the regular classroom newsletters so they know what you do. Take pictures and upload them to the school's website along with a short description. Call parents to let them know their kid is talented! 
11. Don't become the schools decorator \backdrop person. This is a hard one.... Remember you are there to teach, not to make murals for Valentine's day. When you are approached just kindly tell them you are busy prepping awesome art lessons for your kiddos, or you are busy prepping for the annual art show,etc. You don't needed to lie, we have tons of work just like regular classroom teachers. You can offer them suggestions on how to tackle the project. If they insist you do it, ask for a sub to cover your classes for the time it will take you to complete the project since your time outside of school is precious personal time (that you use to plan more lessons hehehe).
12. Organize your ideas. You will want to do a billion cool things, make a board on pinterest or a favorite folder on your browser specifically for art education. You can make categories by art medium, art elements, grade level, etc.
13. Try new things. My principal always says "the worst thing you can do is try something stupid with the students, then you learn and never do it again." Don't be afraid to take risks, after all, this is not your grandma's art class. Find an engaging game online, look for funny or silly internet clips, make up a song, get up and dance, use iPads, etc. Inspire your kids and crate a safe, fun environment for art making.

These are just some of the things I wish somebody had told me on my first year, or when I was a student teacher. Talk with colleagues, ask them how their first year went :)

Happy art teaching!