It's in the bag: introducing art elements through literature.

It's in the bag: introducing art elements through literature. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In today's educational climate, the presence of art educatorsand the occurrence of art-education experiences are often scarce. As aresult, the question becomes: how can every teacher provide beneficialart experiences in a plausible manner, while possibly educating parentsat the same time? One answer appears to be art-element literacy bags. This innovativeapproach for teaching the art elements of visual design in an engagingand enjoyable way incorporates two of the most respected andtime-honored practices in early childhood education--read-alouds andfamily involvement. WHAT ARE ART-ELEMENT LITERACY BAGS? Art-element literacy bags aretake-home kits that introduce students to an element of visualart--line, color, shape, texture, form, value and space--each week through the illustrations found in award-winning children'sliterature children's literature,writing whose primary audience is children.See also children's book illustration. The Beginnings of Children's LiteratureThe earliest of what came to be regarded as children's literature was first meant for adults. . Each kit is a canvas tote bag containing notable books, atwo-pocket folder, tangible representations of an element of art, and aresponse journal. (The art-element literacy bag for color is displayedin Photo 1.) BUILD YOUR OWN BAGS All of the books included have been awarded theCaldecott Medal, given annually for the most distinguished picture bookfor children published in the United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , and contain pictures notedfor the i llustrator's use of a particular art element. For example,The Paper Boy, by Dave Pilkey (Scholastic, 1996), A Chair for My Motherby Vera B. Williams (HarperTrophy, 1982) and Time Flies by Eric Rohmann(Crown Books for Young Readers, 1994) were selected to demonstrate thecharacteristics of cool, warm and monochromatic within the element ofcolor not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed.See also: Color . Each folder contains an appealing description of the featuredelement, providing such basic information as a definition and examples,and a set of questions intended to assist parents in discussing thebooks' illustrations with their children after reading. Since youngchildren are such tactile tactile/tac¡¤tile/ (tak¡ätil) pertaining to touch. tac¡¤tileadj.1. Perceptible to the sense of touch; tangible.2. Used for feeling.3. learners, objects to concretely represent theelement are also provided, such as play dough for fo rm, paint selectionsamples for value, and straws of various widths and lengths for line.The journals are provided as a means of documenting learning throughresponses and sharing comments by both parents and children regardingtheir exploration of the materials related to the element. (The contentsof the bag for form are shown in Photo 2.) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To make a class set, we created three identical bags for each ofthe seven elements. The items in each bag were color coded and clearlylabeled. To further facilitate easy maintenance, we included aninventory checklist for parents' use when repacking the bag forreturn to school. Even with these precautions in place, however, youshould be prepared to periodically replace some of the concrete items. IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM An introductory letter explaining theprogram was sent home one week before the program began. Then, for thenext seven weeks, each child took home an art element literacy bag everyMonday. The bags wer e returned on Thursday, and each child received anew bag on the next Monday. REWARDING RESULTS When piloted with a class of 18 kindergarteners,the program was met with overwhelming success. Children's knowledgeof complex concepts and comprehension of discipline-specific terminologywas evidenced in their journal entries, where we also discovered ageneral positive reaction. One child's entry illustrated his understanding ofperspective. Further insight was revealed in comments recorded bychildren themselves and those dictated to parents. Madalyn's mornrecorded her response to Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An AfricanTale by John Steptoe (Amistad, 1987) as follows: "Lines are allaround me. Inside my house, I see curvy lines on the lamp; the buttonson the remote control make a line. My toys have lines--the tile floorand the blinds also have lines. One of my favorite pictures is of abird; you can see all the lines in his feathers. Also there's asnake and he looks like a curly lin e." Another child commented,"A line can continue; it moves; it goes in a circle." Reading another young student's comment, it was apparent thatthe illustrators' use of value contributed to the stories'moods: "The dark values make me feel sad and alone. The lightvalues make me happy, and I feel like everything is awake." As for vocabulary development, a journal entry by Landon includedaccurate use of the terms "organic" and "geometric"in reference to shape. Another child explained texture in this way:"It's kinda like what you feel. My favorite is soft becausesometimes it's furry fur¡¤ry?adj. fur¡¤ri¡¤er, fur¡¤ri¡¤est1. Consisting of or similar to fur.2. a. Covered with, wearing, or trimmed with fur.b. Covered with a furlike substance.3. . Textures can be slimy, hard, gooey See GUI. , soft,fuzzy, rough." The enthusiasm of both students and parents was also revealedthrough comments they made in the journal entries, such as Turner'ssimply stated, "Texture is fun!" Parents' comments notedchildren's enjoyment of the activity, acknowledged theirunderstanding and shared accounts of related art production. Forexample, after reading Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (HoughtonMifflin Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. The company's headquarters is located in Boston's Back Bay. It publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers , 1983), Sydney made her own picture using lines and described itthis way: "I used a straight line to make the branch. I usedup-and-down lines to make the grass." An effective way to increase appreciation and understanding of theelements of visual arts is to initiate a conversation related to them.Art-element literacy bags are a small investment that offers bigbenefits to children and their families, providing opportunities forexploration of the elements through the pictures found in qualit y books. NATIONAL STANDARD Students will understand the visual arts in relationship to otherdisciplines. OTHER RESOURCES * Elements and Principles of Design: Student Guide with Activities.Crystal Productions, 2000. * Frohardt, D.C. Teaching Art with Books Kids Love: Teaching ArtAppreciation, Elements of Art The elements of art are a set of techniques which describe ways of presenting artwork. They are combined with the principles of art in the production of art. [1] , and Principles of Design withAward-Winning Children's Books. Fulcrum fulcrum:see lever. Publishing, 1999. (A&A online) Go to artsandactivities.com and click on thisbutton for hyperlinks to useful information related to this article andpages from children's journals. Rebecca M. Giles is an Associate Professor and Paige V. Baggett isan Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership and TeacherEducation at the University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama is a public, doctoral-level u niversity in Mobile, Alabama, USA. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. in Mobile.