Art education is often overlooked by teachers and administrators who are constantly being told that they should be more focused on their students’ progress in “real world” subjects like math and science. However, a great art curriculum has the power to transcend art class and positively affect a child’s ability to comprehend abstract concepts, observe patterns and relationships, and view problems from a different perspective that unlocks their solutions, both in their other classes as well as out in the world.
Whether you’re a new art teacher in search of the keys to a great art lesson plan, or if if this isn’t your first rodeo and you want some resources to freshen up your art class curriculum, you will no doubt find inspiration in these art education resources, all of which are available for download on Kindle.
A spinoff of the acclaimed Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education, this book focuses on applying Studio Thinking to art classrooms in the elementary and middle school setting.
Studio Thinking from the Start provides K-8 art educators with techniques and language to nourish their students’ minds via new thinking skills -observation, reflection, envisioning- that they’ll take with them beyond the art studio.
This is a great resource for teachers who want to use art to reignite disengaged students by utilizing strategies in dramatic movement, storytelling, poetry, music, and visual arts. Art is a powerful tool to get students invested and excited about school by appealing to their creative sides.
Integrating the Arts Across the Content Areas maintains the belief that teachers can teach creatively while still meeting standards. The techniques described in the book support the College and Career Readiness Standards.
This book is an introductory resource to the world of socially engaged art. It’s less of a curriculum resource or lesson plan building guide, and more of a background resource for teachers to get familiar with the methodologies that artists employ as forms of social practice.
When art education is approached as being adjacent to political issues, social justice, and activism, it often has a broader appeal to students. We believe that students identify with complex issues and have experienced moments of trauma, anger, and grief. When art is contextualized and taught as a tool for processing emotions and expressing ones’ self, students experience a more powerful connection with what’s being taught in art class. This book is a great way for teachers to familiarize themselves with this angle, and to begin to think on how to apply this way of thinking about art to their classes.
This eTextbook delves into the history of art from prehistory through the present, with stops in Ancient Egypt, early and later Asian periods, ancient Greece, Rome, art in the Gothic and Medieval periods, the Renaissance, African art, the art of the Americas, and more! It’s an accessible gateway for students to get introduced to art history, providing a thorough overview. We love that it doesn’t stop at European or Western art like too many other art history resources, and that it dives into underrepresented areas of art history.
Art history is a fantastic way to inspire students to experiment with new art forms and ideas, and to connect art to history, politics, and science.
Art as Social Action addresses the cross section of art and issues like racism, migrants’ rights, women’s rights, and environmental justice. The book features essays, interviews, and comprehensive lesson plans dedicated to creating socially charged art from poetry to public murals, to performance art. It’s a great way to show your students how art coincides with social justice and politics, and how they can use their creative impulses to speak out about issues that matter to them.
This book stands out from the rest on our list because it is specifically centered on helping teachers build a lesson plan specific to their methods and context. The book encourages you to stop, breathe, and lean in on that art teacher’s creativity to reconceptualize lesson planning as a chore and instead consider it an opportunity for self-understanding and a place to recharge your batteries.
This refreshing take on the art of lesson planning repositions the educator as the curriculum maker, and reimagines the lesson plan as nothing short of a reflection of the values and principles of the educator who created it.
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