Classroom Presentations

The most important thing to remember is our ultimate goal:

To teach kids how to look at and appreciate art!

Remember that this program is about having a positive experience with art. Don't feel overwhelmed by history and facts. Keeping it simple and age appropriate will give you the best results.

Preparing your Lesson

1. Familiarize yourself with the work of art, the artist and the cultural / social history which surrounds the work. In the Art Awareness drawers in the LMC you will find prints of all the artworks, as well as supplemental information for some of the works. This website provides some information as well as useful links, and the local library can also provide more information.

2. Plan your discussion using the hints for the classroom, the questions from the questions guide, and the questions cheat sheet. Keep your presentation age appropriate.

a. Pick a theme from the work - this is an excellent starting point. One painting may have several themes from which to choose. These themes will vary the content of your discussion greatly. Look at the list of questions and your research on the artist and artwork to determine your theme, or use the unit of study if agreed on with the teacher.

b. Here is one strategy for presenting a lesson, keep in mind the presentation needs to be age

appropriate:

LOOKING: Look closely at the piece without talking

SAYING: Ask the students what they see. Make sure they are grounding the observation in the

piece. Colors? Shapes? Media? Perspective?

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS: What was the artist tying to convey? Where did the artist get his/her

ideas? Could the artist have depicted this in another way? (This is where you can insert information about

the artist, his/her style, etc)

MAKING CONNECTIONS: Does this remind you of anything else? (You may bring in other

pieces to compare/contrast.) This is a great time to see if they can connect to past lessons, etc.

EVALUATING: Do they like the artwork? Why/Why not?

c. Have the children name objects they see in the work. A game of ‘I Spy’ is always fun, especially for the younger students.

d. What clues are given for time of year, time of day, time of history, and place.

e. Have your questions ready. Each art piece has an associated list of questions specific to that piece. However, we also have a list of general questions that are always good to ask of any piece of art. These can be found through this link: Basic Art Questions link. Know which questions are important for you to ask – those are the ones you want to make sure you cover before the end of the lesson. If the discussion seems to be going in a direction for which you were not prepared try to stay flexible to the extent that you are comfortable with winging it. Otherwise gently direct the lesson back to the planned discussion, saving questions which lead in other directions to the end.

3. Plan your project, with the teacher’s blessing in case of a messy or lengthy project. Be creative! An idea is something as simple as having children use textured paper to draw a picture inspired by the work of art, or just exposure to a medium they may not be used to, like charcoal. You may want the children to try and copy a technique used by the artist. Each lesson page on the website contains several ideas for presentation and projects. Most classrooms carry enough pencils, markers, etc. for a project, so you don’t have to supply anything extra for many presentations.

4. Visualize your presentation, and make sure you have everything you need. This includes all project supplies, unless specifically arranged to be provided by the teacher, as well as the print from the Art Awareness drawer. If comparing two different works of art, be sure to check them both out from the drawer. A couple of notes to help you stay on track may be a good idea. Some volunteers like to add music (there are music players in most classrooms) to enhance the presentation.

5. On the day of presentation, remember to check out, and afterwards check in the prints, and HAVE FUN! Also remember to send the parents a note about the presentation, either in paper or electronic format.

Not used to being the leader in a classroom? Wondering how to respond to questions? Need general guidance on what do to? Please read through our Helpful Hints for the Classroom and Presentation page for more information.