Artists and Composers ......WDYD?

[TXMary2]

What do you do for studying artists and composers.....say for lower elementary? I am OK with doing art projects that have a point or have something to do with the artist, but I don't want just a craft program.

 

I have the book Discovering Great Artists but I think ds6 is too young for it. I do have some books about artists that I plan on reading with him. I also have one of those "Come Look With Me" art appreciation books that focuses on American artists - since we are covering American History these next two years.

 

As for the composers I have one cd that has pieces on it by some of the more famous composers....it is a cd I bought from My Father's World.

 

Any other ideas?

[Nestof3]

Here's a great thread with many ideas:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195049&highlight=monet

 

I love reading picture books and short chapter books to my boys about artists and composers. I have kept a list for some:

 

They are on the left-hand side bar of my blog. I have lists of books and videos for that age group on:

 

Artists

Van Gogh

Renaissance artists

Baroque artists

 

Composers

Baroque composers

 

Also, here is my Monet list:

 

Katie Meets the Impressionists

The Magical Garden of Claude Monet

Monet -- Getting to Know the World's Artists

A Picnic with Monet

Linnea in Monet's Garden: video

A Blue Butterfly: A Story about Claude Monet

Claude Monet: Sunshine and Waterlillies

A Walk in Monet's Garden

Painted Tales – Volume 1 (Umesh Shukla): video

Each imaginative tale stars a painter set within some of their most recognizable masterpieces. "In winter still" tells the story of Claude Monet and his enchanted garden at Giverny. When children are banned from playing in the garden, only a remarkable little boy can warm life back into Monet's garden paradise.

 

And Beethoven:

Ludwig Beethoven and Chiming Tower Bells (Opal Wheeler) set of book, study guide and listening CDs from Rainbow Resource

 

Beethoven Lives Upstairs: Video

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig Van Beethoven: Book

 

The Heroic Symphony(Anna Harwell Celenza): Book and CD

 

Classical Kids – The Best of Beethoven (Children’s Group): CD

 

Animated Hero Classics: Beethoven DVD

 

I have other recommendations on the above mentioned thread.

[Cindyz]

We use this:

 

http://www.harmonyfinearts.com/

 

I add notebooking to the artist and composer studies. We do a notebook page for each art piece we look at. I found an a page with questions that you can ask about the art to get them thinking. I ask him to answer in complete sentences and I write what he says. My son seems to really enjoy it and impresses me with how much he remembers about the art we look at and the composer (we have just started so still on the same composer) we are studying.

[TXMary2]

Here's a great thread with many ideas:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195049&highlight=monet

 

I love reading picture books and short chapter books to my boys about artists and composers. I have kept a list for some:

 

They are on the left-hand side bar of my blog. I have lists of books and videos for that age group on:

 

Artists

Van Gogh

Renaissance artists

Baroque artists

 

Composers

Baroque composers

 

Also, here is my Monet list:

 

Katie Meets the Impressionists

The Magical Garden of Claude Monet

Monet -- Getting to Know the World's Artists

A Picnic with Monet

Linnea in Monet's Garden: video

A Blue Butterfly: A Story about Claude Monet

Claude Monet: Sunshine and Waterlillies

A Walk in Monet's Garden

 

Painted Tales – Volume 1 (Umesh Shukla): video

Each imaginative tale stars a painter set within some of their most recognizable masterpieces. "In winter still" tells the story of Claude Monet and his enchanted garden at Giverny. When children are banned from playing in the garden, only a remarkable little boy can warm life back into Monet's garden paradise.

 

And Beethoven:

Ludwig Beethoven and Chiming Tower Bells (Opal Wheeler) set of book, study guide and listening CDs from Rainbow Resource

 

Beethoven Lives Upstairs: Video

 

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig Van Beethoven: Book

 

The Heroic Symphony(Anna Harwell Celenza): Book and CD

 

Classical Kids – The Best of Beethoven (Children’s Group): CD

 

Animated Hero Classics: Beethoven DVD

 

I have other recommendations on the above mentioned thread.

 

 

Awesome!!!! Thanks!

[LaurainMD]

I saw the following series recommended by someone here on the board, and we have been having a blast with them -- each CD is $2.98 on Amazon, and has over an hour of the composer's music interspersed with their life story. These really are wonderful, and for the price you can't beat it!!

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000001KCN?ie=UTF8&tag=chickcount-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000001KCN

 

For artists, I am using the resources found here:

 

http://gardenofpraise.com/art.htm

 

I am alternating -- each week we do either a composer or an artist. Supplemented by books from the library, of course! :)

[AngelAnnie]

I have taught a few classes at our co-op on artists. The class focused more on doing art rather than learning about the artist. At home you would have more time to study with the suggestions others have given you. To help you with the "doing" part of the art I have a few blogs I follow. They are great for elementary art projects and many projects are based on a famous artist. I had quite a few 6 year olds in my co-op classes and they did great and had fun. :)

 

Hope they can be of some help. :)

 

http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/

http://deepspacesparkle.blogspot.com/

http://thatartistwoman.blogspot.com/

http://teachkidsart.blogspot.com/

http://artwithmrssmith.blogspot.com/

http://artiswhatiteach.blogspot.com/

[Nestof3]

Okay, I have a little bit of time.

 

Renaissance Artists study:

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/1553873/ren-artists-pdf-november-20-2009-9-24-am-39k?da=y

 

Baroque Composers Study:

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2004891/baroque-composer-study-pdf-june-23-2010-9-04-pm-66k?da=y

 

Baroque Artists Study:

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/1988574/baroque-art-study-resources-pdf-june-17-2010-5-29-pm-148k?da=y

 

Van Gogh Notebooking Pages with Resources:

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/1396098/van-gogh-pdf-september-20-2009-7-35-am-62k?da=y

 

Beethoven Notebooking Page with Resources:

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/1346498/ludwig-pdf-august-31-2009-2-41-pm-49k?da=y

[Chaqar]

I'm planning on following Ambleside Online's recommended composer study this year. We will study and, hopefully, learn to appreciate the works of Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Chopin this year. Ambleside Online offers an assortment of recommended resources and focusing on 3 composers per year seems very doable to me.

 

http://amblesideonline.org/ComposerSch.shtml

 

I like the Opal Wheeler biographies, the "Getting to Know..." series of books, Classical Kids CDs, and the "Story of ... in Words and Music" CDs along with recordings of the actual pieces.

[Chaqar]

I forgot...you asked about art as well! I love the fine art primers recommended in the Veritas Press catalog. They have wonderful classical music recommendations as well and sell many of the resources that I listed for composer study in the previous post.

 

We also have the "Come Look With Me" series, though I must admit...we've not used them yet. <blush>

[kalanamak]

At age 6, my wiggly son sat well through the What Makes a van Gogh a van Gogh series (and I learned something, too). I spent much more time doing Childsized Masterpeices and watching Sister Wendy and just strolling through art books. We did 2 museums (the two Gettys), and at that age, I did it after a good solid run, and I'd take him into a room and sit down (if possible) and ask him to pick out ONE piece, and then we'd go read the placard and look at the piece in detail.

 

Around 7 he was mature enough for the Mike Venezia books, although I introduced him to them via video (we don't watch much video, so it is a real treat).

 

For music, we listened to the Vox Music Masters over and over in the car and while he colored. He loved the story of Berlioz, especially, and still pipes out with facts he hasn't heard in over year when he hears a composers name on the radio. We also listened to various catchy classical CDs, e.g. the series mentioned in the WTM, and one of series music of the tunes you heard in cartoons "Mad About Cartoons".

 

Also, the Nutcracker is an intro to the music and ballet.

[easygoer]

My daughter and I both really enjoy Classical Themes to Remember:

 

http://www.singnlearn.org/khxc/ccp0-prodshow/themes1.html

[EmilyK]

In addition to these great ideas, we've enjoyed Classics for Kids website. We've listened to the shows as podcasts or directly from the web, and I've noticed they have worksheets though we haven't used them.

 

I can't insert links for some reason tonight, but look at http://www.classicsforkids.com

[TXMary2]

Thanks for all the fabulous links!!!

[NanceXToo]

We haven't studied any artists formally as of yet.

 

For composers, we use the site:

 

http://www.makingmusicfun.net/

 

There's a section called "Meet The Composer" and when you click on that, it brings up a list of composers by era (Baroque Era, Classic Era, Romantic Era, and Modern Era).

 

And you can click on each composer and it will bring you to a printable "mini bio."

 

So my daughter and I would read about a different composer each week for our music class, and then we'd go on Youtube and listen to samples of that composer's music. (The site usually tells you at least one song to go listen to on Youtube).

 

There are also printable activity sheets to go with many of the composers.

 

And it's free. :)

[Amy in KS]

How to Teach Art to Children (Evan Moor) is awesome!!! It's not famous artists, but it teaches the elements of art with very doable projects. I find it easier to teach this to younger kids and add in famous artwork that illustrates the concept taught.

Edited August 3, 2010 by amy in ks

[Nestof3]

:iagree: How to Teach Art to Children (Evan Moor) is a great book!

 

You can peruse it here: http://www.evan-moor.com/Title.aspx?CurriculumID=1&ClassID=227&SeriesID=75&TitleID=288&EmcID=298

 

 

Another resource I like is: Teaching Art with Books Kids Love: Art Elements, Appreciation, and Design with Award-Winning Books

 

You can buy it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Books-Kids-Love-Award-Winning/dp/1555914063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252032825&sr=8-1

 

You can sample it here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=zFARrhNG7roC&dq=Teaching+Art+with+Books+Kids+Love:+Art+Elements,+Appreciation,+and+Design+with+Award-Winning+Books&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=7x2C8CA4a5&sig=0kgE11jCvZuNXIeh9zSWEyuOGvg&hl=en&ei=eYGgSvjjL4GGNPi-7dUP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

One difference is that Teaching Art with Books Kids Love refers to picture books kids love, and the children in turn recreate this art using the same element or style.

 

Each book covers basics like line, shape, color, etc.

 

 

How to Teach Art to Children (Evan Moor) is awesome!!! It's not famous artists, but it teaches the elements of art with very doable projects. I find it easier to teach this to younger kids and add in famous artwork that illustrates the concept taught.

Edited August 3, 2010 by nestof3

[Nestof3]

Here's great list for picture books using specific art techniques/media

 

http://uacoe.arizona.edu/short/Book%20Lists/Learning%20about%20Art%20and%20Illustration.pdf

 

It lists picture books according to:

 

1. media (ex. charcoal, collage)

2. element (ex. line, shape)

3. style (ex. impressionism, cartoon)

 

It also includes a list of picture books about art museums and photography.

 

Here's another list by the same person: http://uacoe.arizona.edu/short/Book%...0and%20Art.pdf

 

 

I really need to work on my own list, because we've been reading a lot of books this year with great art work. I try to always discuss the sort of art work in the book with my boys, and I've noticed they really pay attention to it.

 

So, there's one of my plans for the year -- to track the art work in various history and science picture books we use. We've found great ones during our Mayan/Aztec/Incan study using papercrafting, and today we read a book using acrylics and colored pencils!

 

Here's another great article about this same thing including more examples:

http://www.staff.olympia.org/externa...ibrary/art.pdf

[Earth Angel_79]

Thanks for all the great resources and links!

[Nestof3]

This is a very fun book as well:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Paintings-Introduction-Young-People/dp/159373008X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1255915337&sr=8-1

 

It's a small book. 6x8 inches. But, I really like it.

[Nestof3]

Here are some great questions to ask about particular art:

 

http://www.artjunction.org/archives/question_list.pdf