Art Is Fundamental: Teaching the Elements and Principles of Art in Elementary School [Paperback]

Eileen S. Prince (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1569762163 | ISBN-13: 978-1569762165 | Publication Date: July 1, 2008

This comprehensive art curriculum can easily be integrated into any teacher's existing instruction and provides thrilling and rewarding projects for elementary art students, including printmaking techniques, tessellations, watercolors, calligraphic lines, organic form sculptures, and value collages. Detailed lessons—developed and tested in classrooms over many years—build on one another in a logical progression and explore the elements of texture, color, shape, line, form, and value, and principles such as balance (formal, informal and radial,) unity, contrast, movement, distortion, emphasis, pattern and rhythm. Each lesson also represents an interdisciplinary approach that improves general vocabulary and supports science, math, social studies, and language arts. Though written for elementary school teachers, it can be easily condensed and adapted for middle or even high school students. A beautiful eight-page color insert demonstrates just how sophisticated young children’s art can be when kids are given the opportunity to develop their skills.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The art curriculum detailed in this book can be easily integrated into your existing curriculum."  —Learning

"Something here for every reader . . . will be inspired."  —Naea News

"Many wonderful hands-on projects . . . successful . . . will inspire current teachers in the field . . . indispensible for new art teachers."  —SchoolArts

About the Author

Eileen S. Prince has been an art specialist in the Indianapolis-area schools since 1970 and is the author of the bestselling Art Matters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Zephyr Press (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569762163
• ISBN-13: 978-1569762165
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great for Schools, Okay for Homeschools, February 3, 2009

By 

Something creative "Danielle" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art Is Fundamental: Teaching the Elements and Principles of Art in Elementary School (Paperback)

I have mixed feelings about this book and perhaps most of my criticisms are more to do with our particular needs as homeschoolers with me, having been trained in art myself, as the teacher.

First, I love the fact that this book breaks down the fundamental elements and principles of art and goes through them systematically. That is foundational to teaching art and it is exactly what I was looking for when I was searching for an art curriculum. A child (or adult, for that matter), must have an understanding of what makes art "good"...the "ingredients", so to speak. Also, each element and principle comprises one unit, with a number of projects related to it to help the child grasp the concept. However, the lessons are drawn out over three years. This is, in part, due to the fact that a classroom full of students requires much more time, since much of it is spent in preparation, clean-up, crowd-control, etc. I am finding, as I use this with my kids in our homeschool, that the lessons just are not "full" enough and we have sometimes combined lessons to make art class last longer.

Also, I don't particularly like being told exactly what to say at what point. I like to be given a general outline or structure of what it is I should be trying to accomplish and then be allowed some flexibility in that. I feel that when I follow the lessons as written, it comes across very contrived. I am actually starting to ignore the detailed step-by-step, "first say __, then explain __...", type of instruction and substituting my own thoughts and instructions. This may be partially due to the fact that I already understand the subject matter. So, that said, it may be very helpful to someone with absolutely no art training to be told explicitly what to say and when.

Finally, being an artist, I am very visual. If you are like me, you will be disappointed with the plain format and minimal (mostly black and white) pictures. While there is a section near the end that has color photos of some of the completed art projects, I would find it far more helpful if there was at least one for each project and they were integrated into the rest of the book with each project.

Overall, this book has been okay for filling my needs as a homeschooling mom. However, I will likely switch to something new when I can afford to. I am seriously considering the posters, DVD, and guides called "Elements and Principles of Design" from DickBlick.com (www.dickblick.com/products/elements-and-principles-of-design/#description). They look like they would be what I am searching for.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!, February 10, 2009

By 

L. S. Ditchley (Beech Grove, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art Is Fundamental: Teaching the Elements and Principles of Art in Elementary School (Paperback)

As a formally trained artist this book provided me with great ideas, lessons, and a fantastic format for teaching art. I do not have an education background, so this book helped me understand how to structure my class to get the most out of my students and the projects.

The lessons were easy to understand, and had plenty of visual aids. I think artists and educators from many backgrounds would find this book to be a valuable resource.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it, love it , love it!!!, January 18, 2009

By 

Richard M. Priestley (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Art Is Fundamental: Teaching the Elements and Principles of Art in Elementary School (Paperback)

This book offers more then just great lessons, it offers an entire challenging curricula for grades 1-3 for the entire year. This book would be great for new elementary art teachers. I also love the hints and advice the author relays as well as the explainations regarding the structure of her art program.