KidArt Gallery
	SNAPSHOT "My picture is ready to post, Ms. Angelo. Do you think it looks like an early Picasso?" Nora held up her painting to the digital camera. In the next week, all the class paintings would be digitally photographed and posted on the KidArt Web site ready for the telefield trip coming up. Nora's next task is to write up a description of her drawing and edit her sketch of Picasso's life. These will be linked to the Web page as well. UNIT OF PRACTICE Invitation How can we help students make connections between art-making, history, and culture? How can we challenge students to interpret the works of great artists and understand their lives? This project exposes students to a wide range of artistic forms, challenges them to imitate the style of an artist, and engages them in using the power of the Internet to explore the world of visual art. Situation This unit is carried out in one school, although it could involve a number of schools connected by e-mail and Internet connections. Tasks Students select a famous artist to focus on. They explore Ms. Angelo's Web site to carry out research on the artist using "whacked" (downloaded) Web sites and hot links, the Scholastic Network, and the Electric Library Classroom Edition. They find additional information using Encarta Deluxe and text sources. Students write a short biographical sketch of their artist. Then, they spend time in the art galleries online to select a painting that represents the style of their selected artist. Coming back to Ms. Angelo's art class, they select a medium in which to work. Some choose photography, some watercolor, some charcoal, some clay. Over the course of the next weeks, they complete their projects. Their work is digitized with ClearPhone and a video camera for inclusion on the Web site. Then, Ms. Angelo creates the Web pages using Myrmidon. The Web pages are added to the schools' growing art gallery and students are invited to visit from any computer in the school. The site includes images of the students' projects, images of the original works of art, and links to the artist biographies created by the students. Interactions Students work alone or with a partner for this project. They peer edit the written portions and help each other to digitize the images of their artwork. Standards This unit fulfills the standards set by the National Council for Teachers of the Arts which call for programs that include understandings in art-making, history and culture, and analysis in any arts-related project. Students should also have an informed acquaintance with exemplary works of art from a variety of cultures and historical periods, and a basic understanding of historical development in the arts disciplines, across the arts as a whole, and within cultures. Assessment This unit is assessed in a variety of ways. The biography is judged for accuracy and writing proficiency related to goals for each grade level and the art projects are assessed based on student's efforts to identify and capture the style of the selected artist. Tools This unit uses the following tools: ¥ Computer equipped for video in and out, video camera, live Internet connection ¥ Web Buddy; DragNet; Internet, the City; Myrmidon; Scholastic Network; Electric Library Classroom Edition; Encarta Deluxe; and ClearPhone. Depending on the artist chosen, unit may include Ancient Civilizations Web Pack. ¥ A wide range of art materials to provide many choices for students Getting Started This unit provides you with the opportunity to create your own front end Web site, a resource for your students to use that helps them quickly, efficiently and safely find information on the Web. To prepare for the unit, do the following: ¥ Student Research: "Whack" (download) the Web sites of several art museums using Web Buddy. Create a list of hot links to other resources for your students using DragNet and place both the list and the "whacked" sites on the school's intranet server along with your instructions for the project (compiled with the help of Myrmidon). If you have no intranet, you can create the files and place them in a folder which you'll copy onto each computer being used for the project. ¥ Introducing the Internet: Give your classes opportunities (in your room or the media center) to explore Internet, the City, to learn more about Internet travel and how the World Wide Web is organized. ¥ Publishing: Students write biographical reports using a word processor. Their artwork may be digitized by taking a snapshot of it using a video camera and the Clearphone software. If you have access to a digital camera, use it to photograph the students artwork. Once the materials are ready, they can be converted to HTML using Myrmidon.The "How To..." section of this guide gives more detail on Web publishing. If you plan to publish on the school's site, contact the "Webmaster" to learn about the process for getting Web pages published.