Students will examine portraits of diverse artists to inspire unique self-portraits. Using  proportions and mirrors to draw self-portraits, students will enhance photocopies of their pencil drawings by adding visual representations of their likes, backgrounds, hopes, and dreams, as well as color. The first pencil portrait will be glued on the outside of an envelope, while the second colorful portrait can be slipped out from inside to reveal a deeper look at the student’s identities.  

Students will analyze Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware by hypothesizing the story the artwork depicts and then create a drawing illustrating an important event in their life.

Students will explore the creation, types and uses of maps, the process of map-making and cartography as a career. Students will create a personal map. 

Fifth grade students will learn that artist’s books are a medium that artists can use to express ideas. Students will first practice paper folding/ building techniques and the concept of foreground, middle ground, and background. Then, students will create tunnel books to showcase an original fantasy landscape. 

Artworks can offer an opportunity to consider creativity in places and times that may be different from our own. Spending time to look carefully at the form, imagery, texture, and patterns of a work of art can help students consider and become curious about the materials and techniques, artistic conventions, and cultural contexts of unfamiliar objects. Use this interactive exercise to guide students as they examine an Ancient American work of art, document the ideas it presents to them, and consider how their thoughts connect with what we know about the artist's own ideas and intentions.

Artists throughout time have come to their work with stories to tell, concepts to explore, and puzzles to work out. Looking at art made in our own century lets students consider complex ideas about our shared global experience. This interactive exercise invites students to slow down their looking and generate ideas as they creatively interpret an artwork from the VMFA's 21st Century collection.

Art objects made and used in the past can offer clues to the ideas and attitudes that may have been prevalent at the time of their creation. Spending time to thoughtfully examine and explain their own ideas about such an object encourages students to become curious and open lines of inquiry about historical context. This interactive exercise guides students as they document their thinking about an 18th century American artwork.

This course is designed to teach students the elements of design. Students learn to create an impact through the use of color, fabrics and textures. Instruction includes the history of interior design, furniture styles, design theory, and project presentation. Students will learn to determine the scope of a project, develop and present a proposal, and implement a project. Communication skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork, and ethics are addressed. English language arts and math are reinforced throughout the course.

Let’s learn about the different building blocks of music: beat, rhythm, harmony, and melody. Using these building blocks, we can be brave musicians and make our very own musical sound. Join us while we experiment with the elements of music and then watch as our special guest, Ms. Foster, shows us how to build shoebox houses with everyday items we find around the house.

Learn to sing a song that reminds us of a big spinning wheel. We will also meet a new instrument that makes its sound by spinning - a hurdy-gurdy! Then watch as our special guest, Ms. Thomas, shows us how to make our very own spinning toy - a whirligig! Come spin with us!

Students write a friendly letter based on their observations of a painting by Poussin. They demonstrate their observation of the painting's content and new vocabulary that they access themselves, using a thesaurus.

The "National Archives Experience: Digital Vaults" is a site that features digital items (mostly created or associated with the federal government) from the National Archives' extensive collection relating to United States history. The site provides interactive exercises and a tool to create posters, as well as slideshows with audio, captions, and multiple images.

This lesson focuses on a family depicted in a work of art. Students practice using vocabulary related to people and families. Activities emphasize oral and written descriptions of the people portrayed in the work of art, using possessive adjectives. Students are challenged to infer what the relationships are between figures depicted and what individuals are doing, based on such clues as their pose.

This lesson focuses on people at work depicted in a work of art. Students practice using vocabulary related to people and work. Activities emphasize oral and written descriptions of the people portrayed in the work of art, using job-related vocabulary and adjectives to describe feelings. Students are challenged to infer what job individuals are doing, based on such clues as their pose.

This lesson focuses on different exterior spaces depicted in works of art. Students practice using vocabulary associated with the weather and how people react to the sea. Activities in this section teach students about some of the elements of art (color and line), adjectives, and two kinds of sentences (declarative and imperative).

Students will discuss works of art that have grotesque elements and symmetry in their design. They will identify symmetry and line in grotesques. Students will create symmetrical designs for a pilgrim bottle and also design a door panel using grotesques. They will then analyze William Blake's poem "The Tiger" and write their own grotesque-inspired poetry.

Today, art teachers of all grade levels are encouraged (and sometimes required) to incorporate technology into their classrooms, but there are some valid and practical concerns about its implementation. When do I have time to teach myself how to do this? How can I make sure my students have access? How can I make digital art meaningful? This presentation is not just about expanding a technical skillset but also about developing technology confidence. We will share our resources and demonstrate several digital tools that cover a wide variety of media, such as 3D modeling, 8-bit animation, and graphic design. All of these web-based tools are accessible on all computers (even Chromebooks!) and require no installation, login, or payment. This presentation is organized into three sections: (1) digital tools overview, (2) relevant student examples, and (3) interactive creative play. We hope you will join us and leave this session with practical skills, technical know-how, and tangible ideas, to bring back into your own classroom.

This webinar and presentation is a previously recorded session, Digital Learning with eMediaVA presented by Lindsey Horner.Webinar Description: This webinar presents information about media and educational resources from WHRO Public Media for fine arts educators. Lyndsay Horner, Manager of eMediaVA will led the one-hour session in July 2020. The session includes how to access eMediaVA and how to find resources to support student learning in fine arts areas of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts.

This webinar will explore the digital resources of the Library of the Congress for fine arts instruction. Engagement with primary source images, objects and documents can spark critical thinking, deeper learning and interdisciplinary connections for students. Join Sherry Levitt and Cynthia Szwajkowski from Teaching with Primary Sources, Virginia (TPSVA) for a lively, interactive exploration of the Library's rich, digital collections for in-person and virtual instruction. As a demonstration, special guest Carolyn Bennett, former Library of Congress Teacher-in-Residence, will model an activity using WPA Posters.

Educational resources provided by Virginia's history and cultural museums offer educators the opportunity to form deep classroom connections to Virginia history and culture.