Why look at art? Art is one way humans communicate ideas to one another. Sifting through the information art presents takes careful and purposeful looking. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a resource that can foster close-looking and thoughtful analysis of artworks from any period or culture. Use this resource (see link) to practice looking at art before a visit to the art museum or to document thinking about art as a primary source of insight into a culture or time period. Included in this resource are: a) Works of art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and a link to find more.b) Simple framework and prompts to help students document their analysis and thinking. c) Discussion prompts.  

 The lesson is designed to build a classroom transformation theme while integrating computer science SOLs into the core curriculum.  These lessons introduce students to basic algorithms and programming vocabulary they would use every day.  The lessons show how easy it is to integrate computer science with a multidisciplinary approach.  The engaging theme of a snow day allows the students to use real-world situations to learn the necessary standards.  “Snow Day!” is a one-day classroom transformation that integrates all of the content areas with computer science.  Students learn new vocabulary from interaction with prior experiences.  By the middle of first grade, they already know how to retell a story in the correct sequence, plan and write sentences, add and subtract, and cut shapes.  They also already know that snow melts.  They will learn simple computer science vocabulary such as algorithm, loop, and debug. 

Artists throughout time have come to their work with stories to tell, concepts to explore, and puzzles to work out. By looking at works of art with a curious and investigative eye, students may connect with these artistic ideas while exercising creative and critical thinking skills. This resource pairs objects from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts collection with simple engagement activities to help students thoughtfully consider and unpack the big ideas each artwork presents.