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Technology
EYES ON
ART
(Intermediate
Level: Internet Research - Language Arts, Visual Arts)
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OBSERVE,
RECORD, COMPARE, CONTRAST
Yvette Fagan teaches a
multi-age, Reverse Full-Inclusion class
at
Bryant Elementary
in San Francisco. Her students are using the
Internet to explore famous paintings from around
the world, for the purpose of "learning to look."
Using art, these students are learning to compare
and contrast and then to articulate what they have
learned.
Last year, Yvette
brainstormed with Tom March, an Education
First SDSU
Fellow, to identify approaches to using the
Internet that would support her students as they
learned about art.
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"This has been
very basic and integral to my curriculum
--learning how to analyze;
how to compare and contrast--
and staying in a safe environment."
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That brainstorming
significantly contributed to  "Eyes on Art," a comprehensive web site that
supports a discipline-based approach to visual arts
education, and offers a variety of
activities:
- children can create
their own digital museum
- learn to understand
the elements and principles of art
- Learn to understand
how art can be a product of time and
place
- compare and contrast
paired artwork by cultural values, religious
views, subject matter and other criteria
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Yvette feels comfortable
letting her students loose at this web site, which
has links to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
Natonal Museum of American Art, and many
others.
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She feels that the
students get a great deal from their experience,
which teaches and reinforces their abilities to
notice detail, to analyze, and to compare and
contrast. The ability to observe, record, compare
and contrast is woven through the California State
Frameworks in almost all subject areas, especially
Language Arts and Science. Through art, these
students are improving their fundamental learning
skills.
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Do You Like Art
on the Web Better Than Art at the Museum?
The students compared art
available on the web to art available at their
local museum, and came up with some interesting
conclusions. They liked seeing the real art at the
museum, but noted that you could only see what was
available in the museum's collection. On the
Internet, the students noted they could not only
see a greater variety of paintings, they could also
find out about the artist and the artists' friends.
And, they pointed out, if you didn't have a docent
available to tell you about the art in the museum,
you wouldn't be able to find out anything.
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Do You Like
Dead Artists Better Than Live Artists?
Yvette says that the
students are very much aware of the art and the
quality of the paintings and have definite opinions
about what they like. When a docent from the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art visited recently,
she was impressed with their awareness of many
different artists. Many of the students turned out
to be big fans of impressionistic painters, and
this led to a discussion of whether they liked dead
artists better than live artists, and why.
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"Okay, Now
We're IN Paris."
As a result of asking
themselves questions such as, "How would I find out
more about Monet?" Yvette's students have learned
how to get to other places on the Internet.
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They are thrilled when
their journeys take them to websites in other
countries, because to them, when they go there,
they are THERE. When they successfully navigate to
a new web site, they say things like, "Now we are
IN Paris."
Yvette says that her
three year goal for these students is to teach them
to view the world around them aesthetically and
pragmatically. The Internet is helping her to
sharpen their world view and learn how to make good
decisions.
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TECHNOLOGY COMPONENTS
- Students access "Eyes on Art,"
an Internet Website developed by the Education First SDSU
Fellows to introduce elementary students to the developed
skill of "learning to look," and other Internet
sites.
ASSESSMENT
- Students demonstrate an
ability to compare and contrast through writing and
discussion
- Students demonstrate an
ability to identify and select appropriate sites for
research on the Internet
CONTACT
Yvette Fagan,
Bryant Elementary
yfagan@muse.sfusd.k12.ca.us
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