Lesson 3: Thematic Springboards Part I: Subject Unit Study Ideas
3-6 Fine Arts
This subject area can be a great place for a computer-based unit study. Many of the great art museums of the world as well as art sites display famous works along with information about it and the artist. Using cyber tours as a basis for our studies we then branch off into reading biographies of great artists, studying perhaps the Renaissance period, or maybe Asian art. We also usually incorporated an art project of our own, perhaps using a great painting as a model for our own work in water colors, acrylics, felt pen, color pencils, or oils. We often played appropriate music – usually classical – for inspiration. Studies of the works of Monet once carried us to the garden to study and paint the flowers there . . . and to historical studies of the impressionist period. For the study I bought a masterfully designed book of pop up images from Monet's garden along with a written tour of the garden. For writing skills we each did a paper on a favorite artist. Doing it on the computer we were able to combine our writing with full-color images of the artist and works using the Internet. If you are able to get out to a museum or art show, this is a great addition to your study. We included several PBS TV shows on art as well. Belatedly, I saw an HGTV program on Gardens of the World which visited Monet's fabled gardens.
By repeating this basic study a number of times over the years we built up a library of artists and their works which proved better and more memorable than just perusing an art book. Of course, if you have the opportunity to visit a museum, art exhibit, or festival such a field trip is hard to beat. Contributing your own work to a local show or even conducting your own exhibit with other families in your community would be a great extension to a fine arts study as well. In fact the planning of such a fair would be a major unit study activity in itself. While you're at it, see if a local nursing home would be interested in hosting the exhibit. It could be a real day brightener for the residents!
If you are into creating map-style games like Alliance described in the Social Studies section, then you may want to use or create a world map using art/artist cards to claim countries in which they lived. Another variation might be to locate famous art museums by country and try to match the cards with the museum or collection they currently reside in. Similar games using the same map could have music composers and their works on cards. Design your own game rules using the cards and map as a foundation. Suitable cards can be found in many educational catalogues and stores as well as art museum shops.
