A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School Art Teacher [Spiral-bound]

Helen D. Hume (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 18, 2002 | ISBN-10: 087628456X | ISBN-13: 978-0876284568 | Edition: 1st

This comprehensive resource provides practical information, proven management tips, and over 100 specially selected art projects to help new and veteran K-8 art teachers implement an effective art education program and make art appreciation and activities fun. For easy use, materials are printed in a big 8 ?" x 11" format with lay-flat binding for photocopying of various management aids and student project handouts, and organized into two main parts. Part 1, The Art Program, offers tested guidelines and reproducible tools for building and managing the program. Part 2, The Art Curriculum, presents 102 exciting art projects organized by medium into nine units: (1) Exploring the Elements & Principles of Design, (2) Paper, (3) Painting, (4) Drawing with Pencil, Pastels, Crayons & Markers, (5) Painting, (6) Printmaking, (7) Three-Dimensional Design, (8) Architecture, and (9) Technology: Computer, Photography, Video.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This comprehensive "survival kit" gives new and experienced art specialists and classroom teachers practical advice and ready-to-use tools for implementing an effective K-8 art education program plus over 125 exciting, illustrated art projects with reproducible student handouts in a variety of creative media. For easy use, all materials are printed in a big 8-1/4" x 11" lay-flat binding that folds flat for photocopying of the student project handouts and organized into two major parts.

Part I, The Art Program, provides tested guidelines and reproducibles for building the program and making art appreciation and activities fun. Included are tips for writing art lesson plans, creating bulletin boards, and assessing artwork as well as the developmental characteristics of students as they apply to art at each grade level, K through 8, discipline suggestions, safety precautions, and more.

Part II, The Art Curriculum, presents more than 100 specially selected art projects organized by medium into nine units. Each project is illustrated, complete and ready for use, and includes adaptations for younger students, alternative project(s) and interdisciplinary and multicultural connection. Here's an overview of the projects you'll find in each curriculum unit:

• Exploring the Elements & Principles of Design. Unit 1 features 12 stimulating projects to help students understand the basic elements and principles of art, such as Costumes & Color (color)...Collage Cityscape (space)...Mexican Sun (texture)...and Black & White Makes It Right (contrast).
• Paper. The 10 projects in Unit 2 include a paper-making activity, Handmade Paper, and introduce various techniques for creating with paper in activities like Story Quilt and Pop-Up Greeting Cards.
• Drawing with Pencil, Pastels, Crayons & Markers. Unit 3 offers 14 projects exploring new ways to work with unfamiliar materials. In The Bestiary, Animal Drawings, for example, students draw an imaginary creature by combining parts of familiar animals.
• Painting. The 15 projects in Unit 4 introduce painting in tempera, acrylics, watercolor, and ink. For example, in Open the Door! Students study different examples of historical doors and arches then paint their own doorway.
• Printmaking. Unit 5 presents 11 methods of printmaking with how-to tips for each process, plus 7 stimulating printmaking projects such as Colorful Tiles, Relief Prints, and Japanese Fish Printing.
• Three-Dimensional Design. In Unit 6, you'll find 16 projects that give students the chance to assemble, carve or create masks with paper, wood, metal, soap and other materials, including Rolled Paper-Tube Sculpture, 3-D Sports Heroes, and Assemblage.
• Ceramics. The 8 popular projects in Unit 7 involve students in working with clay. Examples include Double Pinch Pot, Architectural Birdhouse, and Mural: Ceramic, Cement, Marbles, Noodle and Glass.
• Architecture: The Built Environment. Unit 8 features 10 architecture-based research activities, such as City Planning...Victorian Houses...Design a Chair...and Paint Your Dream House.
• Technology: Computer, Photography, Video. All 7 projects in Unit 9 utilize a computer. Students learns how to produce different typefaces, add texture, transform black and white copies, manipulate photos and more in activities such as Graphic Design: A Public Service Flyer, Line Drawing with a Flashlight, and Video Production.

Written by a master educator with more than 30 years of classroom experience, A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School Art Teacher places in your hands a ready source of practical information, seasoned management advice and exciting content activities that might otherwise take many years and much effort to compile.

About the Author

Helen D. Hume taught art for more than 30 years in St. Louis, Missouri, and is currently a teacher-trainer for elementary art teachers and a board member of the St. Louis Artists' Guild. She is the author of The Art Teacher's Book of Lists, American Art Appreciation Activities Kit, Art History & Appreciation Activities Kit, and A Survival Kit for the Secondary Art Teacher, all published by Prentice Hall and The Center for Applied Research in Education.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 458 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (June 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087628456X
• ISBN-13: 978-0876284568
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,242,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Art Teacher's Reference, May 28, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (VT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School Art Teacher (J-B Ed: Survival Guides) (Paperback)

As a first year art teacher in a public school setting, I had to figure out lots of strategies & purchased many reference books. None of them have been as useful as A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School Art Teacher. Ms.Hume has obviously "been there." Her presentation of tips, ideas, & multicultural lessons are clear, orderly, & logical. Each lesson includes a page for the teacher (vocabulary, preperation, & alternative projects) as well as one for the student (materials, & directions). There is a section on suggestions for teaching each grade level & a list of themes based on seasons of the year rather than holidays (Bravo Helen). Hume also includes great strategies for writing lesson plans & managing classrooms. I can see this book becoming one of my most treasured (and used) resources.

64 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lack of vision, October 12, 2006

By 

Stefanie N (Schuyler, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School Art Teacher (J-B Ed: Survival Guides) (Paperback)

This art instruction manual is aptly titled as it is about "survival", offering hassle-free recipe- driven art projects for masses of students. If you were a public school student in the last 40 years the projects will look depressingly familiar--the obligatory construction paper mask, the linoleum block print, the paper mache' animal. What is lacking is an overriding vision of what students may achieve. The "goals" are largely stated by listing vocabulary words but the opportunities for real discovery are thin indeed. As an art teacher of 20 years, I would never rely on construction paper for collage as it is impossible to produce anything with richness from such flat uninteresting papers. The student block print examples show the medium at its least interesting with the images mostly being reverse outline, little exploration of shape or figure-ground reversal. Moreover, it is criminal that a book purporting to be about the development of the visual sense should have reproductions of such appalling quality. Some of them are clearly printing errors since all one can see are dark gray rectangles with a few hints of light. The student examples were grim and to me this is the book's greatest failing. The strength of an art instruction book to me usually lies in the student examples. Mona Brooks and Kaupelis (first name escapes me) produce inspiring books on the basis of their student work alone. On a positive note, the book is well- organized. It could possibly serve as a jumping off point to a teacher with experience and initiative, but for the most part it perpetuates the predictable, mind-numbing experience of the all-too typical 30 minute public school art block.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Art Ideas., March 8, 2002

By 

Shalizeh "shalizeh2" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School Art Teacher (J-B Ed: Survival Guides) (Paperback)

I have several books from Helen Hume and this one is excellent for middle school the lessons are easy to follow and once you try them you will enjoy them. If you are interested in other Helen Hume book "the art teacher's book of list", is great and the Survival Kit for the Secondary School Art Teacher. They are all full of ideas and students have lots of fun.