Welcome to Make A Masterpiece

Congratulations on choosing Make A Masterpiece as a teaching and learning tool for your classroom! When children from about the ages of 5 to 12 use their imaginations along with this software, they will be learning—in all subject areas—in meaningful, joyful, and creative ways.

Curiosity and a playful attitude will get your class off to a good start with Make A Masterpiece. Given the opportunity and materials, children readily express what they know and can do with symbols, languages, and visual imagery. When academic and artistic learning are integrated, students’ skills and knowledge blossom. In this guide, you will find

•	what children learn and do when they use Make A Masterpiece.

•	suggestions for arts-integrated learning activities with Make A Masterpiece.

•	why Make A Masterpiece  links students’ learning in all curriculum areas.

•	resources for further information.

See also:

What Children Do with Make A Masterpiece


What Children Do with Make A Masterpiece

Here are brief descriptions of what children will find as they use Make A Masterpiece.

Drawing Space: A plain drawing surface—a 640x480 digital canvas—with containers of tools to create and explore

Tools: Choose from Scribble’s Journal,  Suitcase, chalk, colored pencil, crayon, marker, watercolor, oil paints, popcorn, image hose, airbrush, neon, ribbon, line, pattern, shaving cream, food, smudge, animated stickers, text stencils, photos, magic effects brush, erase, undo, clear, print, save and quit, and Frame.


Integrate Make A Masterpiece into Classroom Activities

You’ll be pleased to learn that Make A Masterpiece can be integrated with nearly everything you already do and study. [To quickly locate typical classroom themes that are addressed in this teaching guide, see Topics to Explore in the table of contents.] As you incorporate Make A Masterpiece into your daily plans, these are the steps you use, and questions to ask along the way.

Step 1. Decide what students are expected to learn—What national, state, and local curriculum standards (voluntary and mandated) are in place for academic and artistic learning? What are students’ primary experiences and interests? You might use a KWL chart to get started. (Divide a large chart into three columns: what children Know, what they Wonder about, and what they are Learning. Then in a group discussion, ask children open questions so you can fill in the first two columns. This may take several days, as children think and wonder. Complete the third column gradually, as they pursue the topic). Curriculum webs are another popular way to generate possibilities.

Step 2. Locate and work with your art partners—Who might want to get involved with projects using Make A Masterpiece? How can you recruit artists and crafters in children’s families? In the community? What skills or supporting materials can these arts partners offer? How do you learn and plan together? Look for people who can access fascinating images on the Web, or who work in museums. These people will inspire children and broaden their thinking about expressing their ideas on the computer in artistic ways.

Step 3. Create a challenging aesthetic environment—How do you arrange the visual-learning area, including the computer, printer, and software? How do you make space for children’s art explorations? What resources are available to increase children’s visual literacy? How can you protect delicate or wet works-in-progress? Where can you hang displays?

Step 4. Integrate Make A Masterpiece in the daily curriculum—How do you guide students’ learning with Make A Masterpiece? How do you respond to their work playfully while contributing to their growth? What do you look for in art? How do you promote children’s imaginations and artistic skills? What kinds of activities will expand their thinking? How can you accomplish several of your curriculum goals all at the same time? See Children Achieve with Make A Masterpiece—Links with Curriculum Standards for a quick look at some of the possibilities.

See also:

Children Learning with Make A Masterpiece:

 Underwater Adventure

 A Genuine Heroine

 Construction All Around

 An Artist Starts on the Playground

 Families Here and There, Now and Then


Underwater Adventure!

Children’s interest naturally gravitates to the world’s oceans. The topic is rich with possibilities to explore: geography, science, movies, the news, math, music, legends, shipwrecks, and of course art. You might expect something like this to happen when children explore Scribble’s Suitcase with its collection of drawings and photographs from Scribble’s many visits to oceans around the world.

Damali, a third grader, recently went fishing with her uncle at a nearby beach. She is excited about her experience, and asks Todeo, a friend, to examine Make A Masterpiece’s Ocean images.

“Hey, look, there’s an ocean like where we fished!” she exclaims.

Todeo, who has never seen the ocean, is curious. “How deep was the water?”

“Well, it starts out shallow enough that you could wade in it. But Uncle Olamina says it gets deep really fast, and that it’s not safe to wade underneath the fishing lines. They have sharp hooks,” explains Damali.

“What do you think is under the water?” asks Todeo, imagining it might be sharks.

After they draw some sharks in the program, they examine the seashells in the classroom science area. Encouraged by their teacher to do more research, they go to the Internet. Damali decides to make a diorama of life underneath an ocean pier while Todeo experiments with the filters in Make A Masterpiece in another ocean picture in the Suitcase tool.


A Genuine Heroine

Nearly every child has a hero or heroine. Ms. Walter was concerned that the children in her mixed-age primary classroom chose mostly sports figures and rock stars. Her goal was to broaden their horizons.

She started by asking children to identify their heroes or heroines, and write or draw something about them with Make A Masterpiece. After gaining a better understanding of their perceptions, she sought out videos, books, and people in the community who are positive role models. She selected a broad range of ages, cultures, genders, and roles.

One book she chose was Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express (Wetterer, 1990). A middle-school student, who was about Kate’s age when she stopped a train in a storm before it reached a washed-out bridge, read the book to the group.

Immediately, children were curious about storms, railroad bridges, and trains. Many wanted to depict storms, and several used the Watercolor and Magic Effects tools. They found more books and surfed the Net (literacy), importing pictures to explore in styles such as chalk and oil paints. They toured the local train station (community, transportation) and then designed trains using the markers in Make A Masterpiece. Children studied how trains are powered and what causes storms (science). They designed railroad cars and bridges with Make A Masterpiece (art and math), and created creeks with water in the sand table (physics). They found a map (social studies) that showed Kate’s small town, and using Make A Masterpiece to design class stationery, wrote a letter (language arts) to her nephew, a retired radio announcer.

The learning possibilities were endless, as children examined a true historical event, found out more about storms and transportation, and made connections with real role models.


Construction All Around

Each day when children in an inner-city second grade class arrived, they were talking about what they saw on their way to school, cranes overhead and big holes in the ground. What a fabulous topic to explore, realized Mr. Chavez, their teacher. Here’s what happened.

The class took frequent walks to observe the progress of several buildings. Many took notes and made sketches, having been inspired by Scribble’s Journal. Back on the computer, they used Make A Masterpiece to draw each stage of construction. Several prepared a map of the neighborhood. Others called upon Scribble’s collection of photographs and drawings of other cities.

Skylines were particularly intriguing to this group, as were construction materials. One parent, a construction superintendent, took the children on site to see how bricks are laid. Children returned to the classroom with a renewed interest in unit blocks and making line drawings on the computer.

As a group, the children decided to create large murals that detailed building materials. Samples, photographs, drawings, and other graphics from Make A Masterpiece were used to complete the project. After the classroom walls were covered with their work, children created invitations on the computer. They asked construction workers in the area and their families to come see their displays during their lunch breaks.

What were children learning with Make A Masterpiece? Each child was tuned in to the complicated ways in which buildings are constructed. Again, math, science, and all traditional school subjects were incorporated. Children gained observation skills, increased their ability to work together in groups, and experimented with their own construction ideas. They summarized what they learned, and then shared it with adults in the community.


Getting Started with Make A Masterpiece

Artistic skills and knowledge develop every day, along with students’ reading ability, scientific discoveries, physical prowess, and social skills. Just as teachers introduce math concepts and spelling words and give children opportunities to apply them in real-life experiences, so you can teach children the skills and knowledge they need to use art effectively.

When you introduce Make A Masterpiece to a small group or individual, they may choose familiar tools at first, such as crayons and markers. Give children time to experiment. You’re likely to hear evidence of their growing art vocabulary, for example: “Wow, these colors are brilliant!”, “Did you see how I repeated THAT?” or “Tara, come look at THIS shape!”

If you see a possibility a child might have missed, point out what else Make A Masterpiece will do. “Have you tried the magic effects brush yet?” you might ask. “Now that you’ve explored for a while, would you like to see your name in neon or different textures?”

In partnership with your school’s principal, art specialist, and/or an artist in your community, you are encouraged to guide children’s learning by addressing your curriculum goals. Together, you can teach children how to create different effects using the various tools and techniques. Together, you lead them to explore how the computer can enhance their imaginations. Every classroom has markers, crayons, and paper. Make A Masterpiece adds a rich new dimension to teaching, as you guide children’s explorations with visual language in ways that are only possible on the computer.

Elements of Visual Design • line • shape • form • color • texture (Pinciotti, 1998, p. 52)	Principles of Visual Design • line • unity • variety • balance • repetition, rhythm, & pattern • emphasis • proportion • movement (Pinciotti, 1998, p. 52)

Visual language uses elements and principles to communicate in the arts (see charts above). These elements are comparable to the words and grammar of language. Children naturally learn language as they hear people talk and duplicate the words.

Similarly, visual language skills develop as children use them in inventive ways to communicate ideas and feelings. When students are introduced to new art materials and tools, they typically experiment to find out how each works. The process, not the end product, is what’s important. As children become more skilled and knowledgeable, they are more likely to make a product.

Marco has spent about half an hour experimenting with his name using Make A Masterpiece’s Stencil tool to experiment with different colors and patterns. His teacher notices how engrossed he is, and asks, “Marco, you’ve really been concentrating. Tell me what you are doing.”

He thinks for a minute, then tells her, “Well, I’m trying to get the letters in my first and last names to balance in an arch across the top of my letterhead.”

Artists of all ages combine the elements and principles of visual design to invent a picture or a sculpture, just as writers use words to create a poem or story. Art, like poetry and prose, conveys an individual perspective. Some children are especially creative with words, some with art, some with both. Make A Masterpiece helps you bring out the best in everyone.


Journal:

Additional information about art tools, creativity, art styles, and history. Includes images from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.


Suitcase:

Scribble’s sketches and photographs from all over the world are inspiration to create masterpieces, think about ideas, and write or draw stories


Frame:

Children select how they want to save their masterpieces in their own Gallery


Children Achieve with Make A Masterpiece


Classroom Planning Ideas

Start with some jumping off points for students to make the most of Make A Masterpiece’s capabilities, such as the examples suggested here. Use your observations and knowledge about the children, their developmental levels, interests, and experiences to tailor activities that match your curriculum guidelines.

Most of these activities may well involve all of Make A Masterpiece’s Art Tools, the Erase Tools, and the Gallery Screens. Some tools will vary, depending on your curriculum goals and children’s imaginations.

 Learn All about It!

 Self Portraits

 Friends/Family Portraits

 I Did It!

 Pick up on the Fine Arts

 More than Messing about

 Catch a Concept

 Destination Anywhere

 Journal Jump-offs

 Stick to It

 Together We Can

 How Do I See My Family?

 Compared to What?

 Dear Journal


Learn All about It!

Find an event that needs publicity, perhaps a class play, try-outs for school chorus, library story hours. This is a great chance to build partnerships within the school and community. Students plan their promotion production schedule. They might create multiple ways to publicize the event (posters, brochures, stickers). Students determine the best places for display. They draft messages and design attractive posters. Students print out (or recreate in a larger format) and display their posters.

Curriculum links: communication/language arts, teamwork, problem solving, art/design, family and community, computer literacy

Extensions: Plan an event from start to finish, perhaps a school computer art show. Ask children’s families and others to help prepare, promote, set up, and act as hosts.


Self-portraits

Children learn about the qualities of good photographs by critiquing samples and practicing with simple film or digital cameras. Ask a skilled photographer to collaborate with your class.

Most commercial film processors provide pictures on disk that you can import into Make A Masterpiece. Just drop digital images into a special import folder before starting the program. Or students in a nearby high school or family members might process the film—look for ways to build partnerships among various age groups and expand the learning potential for everyone.

After the images are ready, students make each other’s portraits. They play with Make A Masterpiece’s Magic Effects tool to alter their own and each other’s portraits (if agreeable to each child). Children discuss qualities of their creations, prepare a show with what they consider to be the best portrait(s) of each child. Be sure students indicate the name of the subject, artist, and medium/media. Frame and hang the work where your community can appreciate it.

Curriculum links: self-knowledge, observation, art elements and techniques, teamwork, social skills

Extensions: Children write their autobiographies, interview their families for details about their early years. Or children might write each other’s biographies. Manuscripts can be polished on the computer, and printed out, complete with illustrations. These may become family treasures. Children might share their self-portraits with another classroom on the Internet.


Friends/Family Portraits

Students make portraits of important people in their lives, in a process similar to self-portraits. They can experiment with different styles and art periods using the tools in Make A Masterpiece.

Curriculum links: personal histories, similarities among families and cultures, family ties, community involvement

Extensions: Children might write biographies or fictional stories about the people. They could do portraits of heroes/heroines or famous people being studied in school. Families could explore their family trees.


I Did it!

All artists select works which represent their skills to put in their Gallery, their personal portfolio. Have students create their personal Gallery within Make A Masterpiece. Ask them to print their works. Your school’s art specialist or artist-in-residence may be a great help in preparing the collection. Arrange for children to present their work to groups of children/adults. Ask them to describe the process with which they created each piece, what their intent was, and the artistic elements they used. Students write their own script to analyze their work, practice giving their speech, and field questions from listeners.

Curriculum links: critical thinking, problem analysis and solving, communication, analysis, evaluation, computer literacy

Extensions: Exchange portfolios on the Internet with another classroom. Place the collection on the local library or school computer system.


Pick up on the Fine Arts

Encourage children to select or write music, prose, or poetry that pick up on the same theme as something they created with Make A Masterpiece, or vice versa. If they were creating an impressionist-style painting, for example, they might go to the Internet, the school’s music teacher, and/or art specialist. Children could find and listen to music written during the period. They could learn more about the cultures where Impressionism was popular.

Encourage children to reflect on books they have read recently. What made strong impressions on them? Ask them to draw these scenes with Make A Masterpiece.

Invite local artists to work with children as they write, or to play music for them. Encourage children to explore their interests with the computer and people in the community.

Curriculum links: language arts, music, history, cultures, art techniques

Extensions: Suggest that families take children to art exhibits in the area, or help supervise a field experience. Provide names and addresses of galleries, dates of shows, and other information.


More than Messing about

Before children go to the computer, have them observe an artifact. It could be a drawing, a painting, a sculpture, an illustration, or a photograph. Invite the school’s art specialist or an artist in the community to guide discussion about the artistic elements in the piece (line, color, or whatever). Then ask children to use Make A Masterpiece to find their own artistic ways to build on this artwork. You might ask them to create an image that conveys a similar message, evokes a different feeling, or makes some other meaningful point.

Curriculum links: music, art, history, respect for individual perceptions

Extensions: Do the same kind of activity using a piece of music children are studying. Listen to the piece. Talk about its musical elements. Ask children to recreate the idea/mood in a visual mode.


Destination? Anywhere!

When studying any topic, encourage children to think of ways they can represent what they are learning through their art, individually, in small groups, and as a class. Pique children’s interest through Make A Masterpiece’s Suitcase Tool. Topics rich with possibilities for children to demonstrate their knowledge include:

•	protecting the environment, in the community or elsewhere in the world, searching the Internet and library for more resources (animals, land, air, factories, farms, rain forests)

•	history in nearby and faraway places (early art, changes in styles of homes or clothing, new possibilities via the Internet)

•	science (geology, weather, growth, chemical interactions)

•	cultural expressions of art, drawn from family and community (weaving, paintings, clay, jewelry, photos)

•	transportation at home and in other countries (modes in different historical periods, various areas, fantasy about the future, space)

•	children’s literature in many cultures (moods evoked, images imagined, how books are published, perspectives)

•	foods at home, in each other’s families, and elsewhere (similarities and differences among cultures, where foods grow and what they need to grow, textures, colors, shapes, still lives, what the same food looks like when sliced in different directions)

•	math (repetition, geometry, measurement, architectural styles, proportions)

Children can use Make A Masterpiece to design, play around with ideas (the Erase tool means it’s never to late to start over), plan what they want to create with traditional art materials, and record what they know. Ideas and images can also be downloaded from the Internet.

Work with an art specialist or artist-in-residence to assure solid connections between children’s art experiences and various curriculum areas. Possibilities include collages, dioramas, posters, printed reports, oral presentations, graphs, original games, or maps—each designed and created by individuals or small groups working together.

Curriculum links: any topic of study, research methods, teamwork, art thinking processes, community ties, computer literacy

Extensions: Invite classroom speakers, go places, correspond with another group on the Internet, ask families to share in the planning to study any topic.


Catch a Concept

Provide a variety of artistic images, selecting from Make A Masterpiece, visiting a museum on the Internet, or using postcards or prints of fine art. Ask children to choose one image to which they are drawn (it might be the topic, such as an animal; or a memory that it evokes, of a bustling summer beach, for example). Then ask children to create a new image with Make A Masterpiece that uses the same techniques/colors/topic.

Curriculum links: art, history, science (depending on the subject)

Extensions: Work in black and white, then color. Urge families to do a similar project together at home. Prepare a take-home kit of images to spark activities.


Journal Jump-offs

Each child chooses an appealing tool or similar technique idea from Scribble’s Journal. Read/listen to information about the topic. Then find out more about it: Who are some famous artists who used the tool or a similar technique? What effects is it intended to create? Ask your art partner or the school librarian to assist children in finding information.

Children use their selected tool to create a piece of art, first on Make A Masterpiece, then may duplicate the technique with traditional art materials.

Similarly, build on children’s favorite  literature, or other topics that intrigue them. Art partners may generate still more ideas.

Curriculum links: library/Internet research skills, creativity, computer literacy

Extensions: Find someone in the community who regularly uses this tool. Ask them to demonstrate its possibilities and guide children’s use.


Stick to It

Children can design stickers for advocacy campaigns (recycling, the importance of arts, and other community issues), elections (class officers, selection of a class pet or its name), events at school or in the community (fairs, sports, cultural events, open houses), or for personal pleasure. Work with them to assure that their design is positive and consistent with their message, is easily readable, and can be appreciated by others. Print out the creations on mailing labels or pages of self-stick paper.

Curriculum links: any area of study, design elements, communication

Extensions: Start a classroom “business” making stickers for a parent-teacher organization or other school- or community-related groups.


Together We Can

Plan this activity with an art partner, such as a graphic designer, fashion expert, or advertising specialist. Select pairs of children with complementary skills and personalities to work together to create a project: perhaps a report on birds in the rainforest, to draw how a coal mine is excavated, to imagine what the inside of the sun looks like, or to illustrate a book of poetry that they write for a group of younger children. Perhaps something in Suitcase catches their eyes. They might want to make a children’s book, prepare an ad campaign, or design costumes and sets for a class play.

Be creative in making the assignment and in supporting how children carry it out using Make A Masterpiece’s tools. Make sure children are aware of the potential of the Internet and their own school media center.

Curriculum links: all areas, teamwork

Extensions: Older children can work in groups of three or four. Perhaps include a family member, artist-in-residence, or specialist in the field you are studying. Find an Internet partner with whom to work.


Wacky Fun

Some of Make A Masterpiece’s tools are for use on the computer only. Look for interesting ways to guide children’s use of these tools. Children who are frustrated about something, for example, might find that their aggression is soothed as they Airbrush or squirt Shaving Cream. Many educators and parents are concerned about the conflicting messages given to children when edible foods are used in art projects, because world hunger is so prevalent, but with Popcorn, children can paint a whole bin of the fluffy stuff.

Curriculum links: social skills, creativity, fantasy

Extensions: Invite primary or preschool children to play at the computer with older children.


How Do I See My Family?

Encourage children to create an important aspect of their families with Make A Masterpiece: interviews with a distant relative illustrated with a photo, a collection of family mementos from another era or country, architectural drawings of their home. Ask children to plan the project with family members, and make sure families feel welcome to come into your classroom to use Make A Masterpiece with their children.

Curriculum links: families, cultures, community, language arts, problem solving

Extensions: Plan a families celebration in which children share their heritages with those who live in the community. Have children teach a class on Make A Masterpiece for families and the community.


Compared to What?

This is a great experience to coordinate with an art partner. Ask each child first to create an artful piece using one or more tools in Make A Masterpiece. Print out samples at each stage of the creation. Then try to duplicate the same effects with traditional art materials. Sketch or take photos of the processes involved.

Have children compare and contrast the two processes and the resulting products, both in words and graphically. How were the processes the same? What was different? Which did you prefer and why? Children might write about or speak to a group regarding their experiences.

Curriculum links: any area, language arts, critical and creative thinking, communication

Extensions: Pair children up and ask one to use Make A Masterpiece, one traditional art materials. By talking, but not seeing each other’s work, try to create similar artworks. Partners might also work on the Internet, or be different ages.


Dear Journal

Ask children to keep a sketch book or word journal of their experiences with an art process, artistic style, or period. For example, they might show how clothing styles in various countries are reflected in paintings. Consider Make A Masterpiece, the Internet, local artists, and libraries as resources. To document the process, they might have friends take their photo or draw themselves while they work with Make A Masterpiece, while they try out similar techniques with traditional art materials, as they prepare to display their artwork, and the final show. Encourage children to caption each step: describe how the process worked for them, what they learned, and what they would do differently next time.

Curriculum links: decision making, research, process, documentation

Extensions: Send a small stuffed animal and notebook home in a tote bag with a different child each weekend. Ask children to engage their families in writing about the animal’s adventures. Share these with the group, and record activities using Make A Masterpiece.


Activity Guides

Three activity guides for you to use with Make A Masterpiece follow. Each includes notes to the teacher, which can be easily covered if you copy the sheets to give to students. Most likely, you and your art partner will want to add your own variations to tailor these experiences to the ages, interests, and abilities of the students. If the children are just learning to read, perhaps pair them with older students or ask them to explore Make A Masterpiece with a family member or neighbor.

Contents:

Take off with Poetry

Mountains/Open Barns Discussion Guide

Tool Challenge


Take off with Poetry

To the teacher: Here is a planning guide for individuals or small groups as they begin work on a Make A Masterpiece project. Involve your school’s media and art specialists, or some other art partner, if possible in planning and as children work through the process. Be sure to modify activities to match children’s ages and abilities. Work out a schedule for completing each task, so students can plan their time accordingly.

Curriculum links: communication, analytical thinking, problem solving, language arts, computer literacy, visual arts, creative thinking, teamwork

1. 	Please list the names of the student(s) involved with this project.

2. 	Poetry uses words to paint a picture in your mind, or to give you a certain feeling. Each person selects at least one favorite poem. Read each poem. If you are in a group, talk with each other to decide on the most interesting ones. List your top three choices here.

Our Favorite Poems

a.

b.

c.

3. 	Now negotiate with each other to choose one—yes, just one—poem that all of you would like to explore further. List it here, using a full reference: author, title, place of publication, name of publisher, copyright date. This is your topic.

Now you are ready to do research. First, go to Make A Masterpiece and find a picture, an artist’s tool, or an image from the Suitcase that reminds you in some way of your poem. Each person should try to choose a different item from Make A Masterpiece. If you chose a poem about polar bears, you might go with Scribble to the Arctic, for example, to get images of polar bears.

Using Make A Masterpiece, the Internet, and the library as resources, build on what you know about your poem. Prepare a work of art or write another poem on the same topic (you could do both!). After you are finished, discuss these questions in your group:

•	Which picture, art tool, or Suitcase image did I find in Make A Masterpiece? Why did this remind me of our poem?

•	Which Make A Masterpiece tools did I use to create my artwork? Why did I choose those tools?

•	What facts or skills did I learn?

•	How can your group display its work so that everyone in the class could learn more about your poem?


Mountains/Open Barns Discussion Guide

To the teacher: Use these questions to guide small-group discussion (1-6) and activities (7-10) based on the Mountains/Open Barn scene from Make A Masterpiece’s Suitcase. Be sure to modify questions to match children’s ages, interests, and abilities. Encourage students to think and to find out more on the topic. Older students, family members, or community volunteers may be interested in leading the discussion. Work together to choose which questions to pursue.

Curriculum links: communication, language arts, computer literacy, science, visual arts, creative thinking, math, research, community links, music, social studies

Go to the Mountain Scene in Make A Masterpiece’s Suitcase. Find the Open Barn.

1. 	How does Scribble know the farmer is training horses? Why is he training horses early in the morning? What do the horses need to learn to be in a horse show? Who could help us find out?

2. 	Who has ridden on a horse? Or seen a horse in a parade? How big are horses? What do you think they eat?

3. 	What kind of music do you hear? Which instruments are being played? Can you find similar music or instruments in our classroom collection? What songs do you know that sound like the hoe-down music? Who knows how to square dance? Do you know anyone who does? Could they teach us?

4. 	Where do you think this scene is located? What kind of mountains do you think are next to this farm? What mountains are close to our school? Who has been to the mountains? What did you do there? How do you know when you’re getting close to the mountains?

5. 	How high do you think mountains can be? Where on the globe are the highest mountains? What is the weather like on high mountains?

6. 	Who knows a friend or relative who lives on a farm? What animals do they have? What crops do they grow? What is their house like? Who can show us on a map where that farm is?

7. 	What animals does Scribble find on this farm? What animal sounds do you hear? Children might enjoy imitating different sounds. Find pictures of other farm animals. Learn about what foods are grown on farms, plant and animal. Visit a farm. Shop for farm products and prepare a delicious meal.

8. 	What makes you think it is early in the morning on this mountain farm? What artistic techniques can you use to show sunlight or moonlight? To make shadows? How would you do that with Make A Masterpiece?

9. 	What stories or songs do you know about mountains? What famous paintings show mountains? What tools in Make A Masterpiece might work well for you to create a mountain scene?

10. 	Who would like to live on a farm? Why? What would your farm be like? Draw or write about your dream farm using Make A Masterpiece tools.


Tool Challenge

To the teacher: Use these ideas to encourage children to experiment with various Make A Masterpiece tools.  Art partners are a real asset for this activity. Modify projects to match children’s ages, interests, and abilities. Encourage them to think critically and to find out more about the art work they chose.

Curriculum links: problem solving, communication, language arts, computer literacy, art techniques, creative thinking, research, family and community ties

1. 	Select a photo or fine art print that you particularly like. You may select from those in Make A Masterpiece, download one from the Internet, pick one from our classroom postcard collection, or make the photo yourself. Write the name of the work and the artist here.

2. 	Choose one of these activities:

•	Create a similar, original work of art with Make A Masterpiece, using one or more of its tools. Capture the proportion, color, content, or some other visual art element or principle of the art that especially appeals to you. Record which tools you used and why you chose them.

•	Alter the artwork you chose using Make A Masterpiece tools. Do so in a way that substantially changes the character of the work. Change at least one element or principle of visual design. You might change the texture, eliminate shadows, or switch the style from charcoal to pointillist, for example. Be sure to keep a copy of the original, and print a copy of your new piece. Record which tools you used and why you chose to do what you did with them.

•	Pick one of these Wacky Tools: line, image hose, pattern, neon, or ribbons. Design a complementary sculpture to accompany the fine art print or photo you picked. Then recreate the sculpture using traditional art materials or recycled items such as boxes or wood scraps.

•	Design an informative brochure about Make A Masterpiece. Feature the photo or fine art print you selected. Use Make A Masterpiece to alter it in at least two ways to demonstrate how Make A Masterpiece works. In the brochure, describe what you did and why.

3. 	After you have finished #2, choose one of these activities to complete the Tool Challenge:

•	Prepare a 3-minute talk to give to your classmates. Explain the artwork you chose and what you did with it. Analyze your results.

•	Write a 1-page paper about your project to publish in our school newsletter. Describe what you did and why.

•	Create a poster with your creations to display in the public library. Be sure to inform people about Make A Masterpiece and what you accomplished with it.

•	Find a partner in another classroom in the building or in your family. Using your project as an example, introduce this person to Make A Masterpiece.

•	Work with a group of other students who did this project. Arrange a display of your activities to place in the school lobby. Think about how to make it informative and attractive.


Why Use Make A Masterpiece with Children?

Nearly every school system has a curriculum guide and textbooks. Many states and industrialized countries also set educational standards. In addition, in the United States, professional organizations for nearly every subject matter area have recommendations for teaching. As you get to know the students in your group, you have a vision of where you want to move with them on their learning journey. Curriculum planning is a juggling process among all these factors.

Take heart. No matter what your topic or goal, there are authentic ways to explore curriculum content and scaffold their experiences—through the arts—to assure that they gain important information, skills, and understandings. (If the scaffolding idea is new to you, see the sidebar here and Berk & Winsler, 1995). You also want children to communicate what they are learning with others and to be able to work in teams.

How can you accomplish several of your curriculum goals all at the same time? Review Children Achieve with Make A Masterpiece—Links with Curriculum Standards for a quick look at some of the possibilities.

Scaffold Children’s Learning Experiences

Support—responding to children’s ideas, feelings, interests, and creative and critical thinking skills

Stimulate—increasing knowledge and understanding, inspiring visual reasoning

Stretch—developing children’s artistic imagination and skills in their ability to reflect, respond, and create

Spark—enabling children to discover meaning by building connections among themselves and their ability to see relationships among various knowledge disciplines

(Pinciotti, 1998, p. 28)


Imagine the Curriculum Possibilities!

Compare the differences in how children could learn about deserts by comparing these two teaching strategies:

Traditionally, children read or hear about deserts. On a worksheet, children could list the large deserts of the world, or locate them on a map. They might recite temperature extremes, or paste pictures of desert plants and animals. Memorizing facts and doing trivial activities is pretty boring for teachers and children alike.

But how can children truly learn what a desert looks and feels like? What if children were to recreate a desert with Make A Masterpiece using the Pattern tool to create sand and rock textures, and then use materials such as sand and sticks to represent their own maps or desert scenes? They could find out and then depict far more information. Children might incorporate their understanding of relative sizes of desert areas on different continents. They could portray temperature ranges or annual rainfall graphically. Children could do their own research, and then illustrate native flora and fauna using Make A Masterpiece creativity tools. Their creations might demonstrate their knowledge of distances and surface textures using Magic Effects. Or they could investigate historic and contemporary transportation across deserts. How do people who live in the desert dress, and what do they eat? Why? With Make A Masterpiece, their imaginations can soar as they draw, design, and play with the images available on the CD or on the Internet, for example.

Mind-engaging activities capture our imaginations. When children make a volcano using Make A Masterpiece’s Magic Effects tools and animated stickers, or have the popcorn flying out of a mountain to create an eruption, they’re in deep concentration! You know they are building on what they know, searching for more information, and exploring new ideas. When everybody is curious and involved in discovery, learning takes on many exciting dimensions!

Make A Masterpiece is an intriguing tool. It inspires children to explore and construct their own knowledge on topics that appeal to them. In the process, students gain skills not only in art, but in science, math, social studies, language, and much more.

Carefully observe how children use Make A Masterpiece. Listen to what they say. Analyze what they create with Make A Masterpiece and supplementary materials. This information will give you a much clearer picture of where they are in their learning journey, and where to go next.


We All Learn through Art

Children learn with a variety of educational tools—books, maps, games, computers, art materials, blocks, puzzles, field experiences. Make A Masterpiece integrates children’s learning in nearly every curriculum area. Here’s why Make A Masterpiece will help you achieve your goals with children.

Rest assured that the ideas discussed in this brief teacher guide for Make A Masterpiece are based on current educational research and best professional practice. The framework for effective teaching strategies is based on Art as a Way of Learningª: Explorations in Teaching (Pinciotti, 1998). Use of exciting new technology, such as the Make A Masterpiece software, is an integral part of this contemporary approach.

The project is a partnership between Binney & Smith Inc. and Northampton Community College. Art as a Way of Learningª is a professional development program and a framework for collaborative educational planning and teaching. It provides teachers with creative ways to guide students as they develop higher-order thinking skills and understanding of curriculum content. In addition, Art as a Way of Learningª ideas incorporate educational standards and authentic assessment.

Five Guiding Principles of Art as a Way of Learningª

•	Art is a language. The arts are symbol systems organized by elements and principles which provide a medium for communicating information, posing and solving artistic problems, and expressing feelings.

•	Children use art. The arts are a natural language which must be nurtured and developed so children remain creative and literate in multiple symbol systems.

•	Art leads learning. The arts provide a medium for creative and critical thinking.

•	Teachers guide learning. The arts provide a central thread to guide and integrate learning across all curricular domains.

•	Adults are learners and advocates. The arts, when central to a school, create a dynamic collaborative environment for teaching and learning.

(Pinciotti, 1998, pp. 10, 17, 19, 24, 32, 33)

Recent research about brain development, and documentation of the lasting effects of involvement in the arts—music, visual arts, drama, literature, dance—demonstrates that the arts are essential for school and life success.

People gain knowledge in different ways. We know that we all learn by doing, as well as by reading, listening, observing, and practicing. Good teachers offer students abundant opportunities to explore ideas, art techniques, and record their learning. Make A Masterpiece matches children’s learning styles and how they learn with the content and skills we expect them to master, which is what they learn.

You will discover that Make A Masterpiece complements and extends the creative possibilities of traditional art materials such as markers, crayons, and paint. Children and teachers are delighted to add Make A Masterpiece to their growing repertoire of art techniques, skills, and experiences. Everyone involved with your classroom—students, art specialists, principals, families, community volunteers—can use this lively creativity center.


An Artist Starts on the Playground

Pratik, a 4th grader, loves to take photos. He brings a roll of film to school, and asks whether he can use it in the school camera during recess. “Well, what do you have in mind?” Mrs. Martinez  asks.

 “I was thinking, maybe I could take some pictures on the playground. Did you notice that the new wood chips smell great? They have so much texture compared to the old ones. They always stick to my clothes. In the afternoon, there are lots of neat shadows on the wood chips. I’d like to try to show those in my pictures.”

Mrs. Martinez realizes that Pratik has a photographer’s eye, and encourages him. She also immediately starts to think of the possibilities for him to learn more: maybe geometry, or asking a local photographer to work with interested children, or suggesting that Pratik produce a museum display of his photos, or finding a darkroom partner. He might want to create the textures and shadows with the Pattern, Magic Effects, and Line tools.

Pratik plays with his photos for several days, and then asks to put together a display of his playground photos that he created with Make A Masterpiece.


Families Here and There, Now and Then

Jenni Richards, whose children are in first and fourth grade, is an artist who makes jewelry. She also tells dramatic stories. Her children’s two classroom teachers, and the school’s art specialist, recognized the great talent in their midst. Together, they planned to increase children’s awareness of art, geography, and its relationships to their families.

On her first visit to each class, Mrs. Richards dressed up as the beloved Grama Bowman in Fox Song (Bruchac, 1993), a story about a contemporary Native American family. She read the story (abbreviated for the younger group), and talked about Grama Bowman’s childhood. She encouraged children to ask their families about where their ancestors lived.

Both teachers continued to support children’s investigations with Make A Masterpiece. Some brought in family portraits to experiment with Make A Masterpiece’s filters, while others constructed family trees, timelines, or maps showing where family ties. Others wrote stories about their families, and illustrated them with photographs and drawings created in Make A Masterpiece.

Students who were interested in how people in their homelands dressed brought in a sari, a parka, a dashiki, and wooden shoes. Several expressed interest in creating clothing they could wear. Mrs. Richards and two grandparents agreed to assist with planning and construction. A fabric shop donated remnants for the fourth graders, while the first graders chose to use paper bags as a base for their clothing. Each child drew plans for the attire on Make A Masterpiece. Children measured themselves and then marked patterns on the construction materials. They cut out pieces of fabric or paper, glued them together, and then invited their families to a pot-luck dinner of ethnic foods. Each child briefly presented information about her or his family, either in written or oral form.

What did the children gain from these rich experiences? Their explorations included every curriculum area: language arts, self-knowledge, social studies, science, art, math, and more. Their investigative skills, physical development, and family communication were enhanced. Various people from the community contributed time, talent, and materials. Learning had personal meaning.


Make A Masterpiece Actively Encourages New Teaching Partnerships

Many communities are experiencing a resurgence of support for arts education. Evidence about the value of the arts in children’s school success and life-long learning simply cannot be denied. Recent brain research, coupled with what we already know about how children learn best, confirms that art is as basic to education as other traditional subjects.

If you are like many teachers, though, you don’t see yourself as an artist. How then, can you make the most of fascinating new tools such as Make A Masterpiece? When you have questions in other subject areas, you are likely to count on resources—the school media specialist, a local historian, or a computer expert.

Likewise, Make A Masterpiece can extend learning opportunities for everyone if you enlist the support of people or organizations who specialize in art. Here are some partnership ideas for you to consider:

•	  Contact your local arts council and ask whether any members are interested in becoming an artist-in-residence for a few hours. Plan together to assure that students observe the creative process and experiment with media themselves. Similarly, students can demonstrate how to use Make A Masterpiece to the artist. Everyone can explore the possibilities. Creations made under the direction of the artist might be posted on the school’s Web site or exhibited in the local library.

•	  Ask children’s families whether they are willing to share their artistic expertise as children investigate with Make A Masterpiece. You might discover a photographer, a carpenter, an architect, someone who uses CAD, or a weaver. Just ask! Families may also be willing to loan tools and materials for artistic projects—empty boxes, fabric, wood scraps. Families may be eager to learn how to create their masterpieces on the computer, too. Or may help establish a school Web site.

•	  Build a closer relationship with your school’s art specialist. Plan together to integrate children’s artistic learning, computer use, and content from classroom explorations. Instead of doing isolated activities about painting and rainforests, for example, look for ways to integrate the two with Make A Masterpiece. Plan an exhibit to showcase what children are learning and creating with the tools. How could children transform the cafeteria into a rainforest? Invite your school’s neighbors.

•	  Generate support for the arts and computer creativity with school administrators and within the community. Let them see for themselves how much children can learn through arts-integrated learning. Hold a Fine Arts Night in which children briefly demonstrate how they use Make A Masterpiece and traditional art techniques. Invite people to try their hands at each activity, too.

•	  Collaborate with a museum or library. For each of the six places that Scribble visits with the Suitcase find experts who can build on children’s interests. Children might watch artisans, musicians, or scientists at work, and share their Make A Masterpiece expertise. Inquire about the possibility of an exhibit of children’s work in public buildings or on an arts-related Web site. Be sure the exhibit includes information about the Make A Masterpiece tools children used.

•	  Encourage children to use Make A Masterpiece to create invitations for open houses, inauguration of class officers, talent shows, and other events. The Stickers and Stencils, as well as all the other tools, may be just what they need. Similarly, children can write thank-you notes to people who participate in Reading Is Fundamental, act as computer tutors, or volunteer for school activities.

As you enlist people to engage children’s learning with art and computers, everyone gains new skills, fresh perspectives, and more information. All participants learn not only about computers in design—but many other important topics as well. These school and community partnerships are clearly valuable for children, but they also reawaken the artist in each person, generate new human linkages, and build strong support for education. Teachers feel less isolated and more competent, the community feels a greater sense of ownership, and everyone gets to know each other!


Make A Masterpiece Contributes to Your Aesthetic Teaching Environment

Imagine how much more enticing learning is when children are surrounded by intriguing possibilities and inspiring ideas! By making Make A Masterpiece available, you create an atmosphere that says to children: This is a safe and interesting place where you can try out ideas, explore your interests, and feel proud of your accomplishments!

An attractive learning environment sends a strong message: Knowledge and creativity are valued in this classroom. Your decision to use Make A Masterpiece contributes to a stimulating atmosphere in many ways, because it—

•	increases children’s choices for learning through artistic exploration. Some of Make A Masterpiece’s creative tools are unique and give children playful opportunities that would not be possible in real life, such as Shaving Cream.

•	complements traditional art materials. Children may explore the possibilities and practice techniques on the computer with Make A Masterpiece, then pursue their project with traditional three-dimensional materials.

•	extends children’s aesthetic experiences with new technology. An interest in computers may well spark greater interest in art, just as children may be more inclined to write if they can do so on a computer.

•	enables children to create their own learning habitats. Make A Masterpiece documents can be printed out for display at home or school. On the Internet, children’s Make A Masterpiece creations can be appreciated by family and friends around the world.


Make A Masterpiece Expands Your Teaching Strategies and Tools

Children have many different ways of knowing, so teachers employ an ever-increasing repertoire of strategies and tools. We use textbooks, field experiences, and computers to help children learn skills, attitudes, and thinking strategies they will rely on the rest of their lives.

Make A Masterpiece software, coupled with the Art as a Way of Learningª framework, takes an integrated approach to education. As students use Make A Masterpiece’s options, encourage them to explore their own ideas for drawing, painting, and exploring on the computer. Ask open-ended questions and offer supportive comments. Analyze children’s computer art with them to stretch their imagination and artistic skills. Spark discoveries as their artistic thinking advances. Help them relate what they are learning to their interests and dreams for the future.


Resources about Learning through Art

Contents:

 Bibliography for Teachers

 Bibliography of Children's Books

 Online Links

 Arts Organizations


Bibliography for Teachers

Armstrong, T. (1994). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Berk, L.D., & Winsler, A. (1995). Scaffolding Children's Learning: Vygotsky and Eearly Childhood Education. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Cecil, N.L., & Lauritzen, P. (1994). Literacy and the Arts for the Integrated Classroom: Alternative Ways of Knowing. New York: Longman.

Dunn, P.C. (1995). Creating Curriculum in Art. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (1993). The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Engel, B.S. (1995). Considering Children’s Art: Why and How to Value their Works. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children

Feeney, S. & Moravcik, E. (1987, September). A thing of beauty: Aesthetic development in young children. Young Children, 42(6): 6-15

Fowler, C. (1996). Strong Arts, Strong Schools: The Promising Potential and Shortsighted Disregard of the Arts in American Schooling. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gardner, H. (1991). The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and Schools Should Teach. New York: Basic Books.

Getty Education Institute for the Arts, The. (1993). Discipline-based Art Education and Cultural Diversity. Los Angeles, CA: Author.

Hyerle, D. (1996). Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge. Alexandria, VA; Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Langer, E. (1997). The Power of Mindful Learning. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Music Educators National Conference. (1994). National Standards for Arts Education. Reston, VA: Author.

National Art Education Association (NAEA). (1995). Visual Arts Education Reform Handbook: Suggested Policy Perspectives on Art Content and Student Learning in Art Education, Maintaining a Substantive Focus. Reston, VA: Author.

National Assessment Governing Board. (1994). Arts Education Assessment Framework. Washington, DC: Author.

Pinciotti, P., with D. Berry, C. Sterman, & R.L. Gorton. (1998). Art as a Way of Learningª: Explorations in Teaching. Bethlehem, PA: Northampton Community College.


Bibliography of Children's Books

Bjork, C. (1987). Linnea in Monet’s Garden. New York: R & S Books.

Brown, L.K., & Brown, M. (1990). Visiting the Art Museum. New York: Dutton.

Bruchac, J. (1993). Fox Song. New York: Philomel.

Catalanotto, P. (1995). The Painter. New York: Orchard.

Davidson, M.B. (1984). History of Art. New York: Random House.

Lamarche, H. (1985). Picasso for Children. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: The Montreal 	Museum of Fine Arts.

Lepsky, I. (1984). Leonardo daVinci. Woodbury, NY: Barrons.

Locker, T. (1995). Sky Tree: Learning Science through Art. New York: Puffin.

Meyer, S.E. (1990). First Impressions. New York: Abrams.

Myers, W.D. (1993). Great Migration, The: An American Story. New York: Harper Collins.

Perl, L. (1987). Mummies, Tombs, and Treasure—Secrets of Ancient Egypt. Boston: Clarion.

Raboff, E. (1988). Art for Children. New York: Doubleday.

Venezia, M. (1988). Getting to know the World’s Greatest Artists. Chicago: Children’s Press.

Voss, G. (1993). Museum Colors. Boston: Boston Museum of Fine Art.

Wetterer, M.K. (1990). Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda.


Online Links

Architecture of Islam

Photos of doors, arches, and beautiful entryways

http://rubens.anu.edu.au/islam2/Part1.html

Ardeche Cave Art Discovery—France

Prehistoric cave paintings

http://www.culture.fr./culture/gvpda-en.html

ArtServ

More than 10,000 images primarily from Mediterranean cultures

http://rubens.anu.edu.au/

Bayler Art Museum

“African Art: Aesthetics and Meaning”

http://www.lib.viginia.edu/dic/exhib/93.ray.aa/African.html

Binney & Smith

Product information, resources, and educational information

http://www.crayola.com/crayola OR http://www.crayola.com/art_education

Hermitage, The

http://www.hermitage.ru/indexeng

Images from Japan

A gallery of photos of shrines, temples, and other buildings

http://www.cs.uidaho.edu/~marac9442/japan.html

Internet Art Resources

http://www.ftgi.com/

Le WebLouvre—France

The unofficial site

http://sunsite.unc.edu/louvre/

Library of Congress

Archives and exhibits

http://www.loc.gov

Mosaic

Art prints at ftp://ftp.sunset.se/pub/pictures/Art

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Experimental/anu-art-history/prints.html

National Gallery of Art

http://www.nga.gov

Smithsonian Institution

Access museums

http://www.si.sgi.com/sgistart.htm

World Arts Resources

http://www.cgrg.ohio-state.edu/Newark/artsres.html

World Art Resources

Galleries, online exhibits, commercial, government, private links

http://www.concourse.com/wwar


Arts Organizations

American Council for the Arts (ACA)

1 E. 53rd St.

New York, NY 10022-4201

(212) 223-2787

http://www.artsusa.org/

Center for Arts in the Basic Curriculum

58 Fearing Road

Hingham, MA 02043

(617) 740-0114

http://www.newhorizons.org

ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education

(includes art education)

Indiana University

Social Studies Development Center

2805 East 10th St., Suite 120

Bloomington, IN 47408

(812) 855-3838

(800) 266-3815

http://www.indiana.edu/~ssdc/eric_chess.htm

Getty Education Institute for the Arts, The

1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 600

Los Angeles, CA 90049-1683

(310) 440-7315

http://www.artsednet.edu

http://www.ahip.getty.edu/

John F. Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network

Education Department

Washington, DC 20566

(202) 797-0083

http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org

Metropolitan Museum of Art

255 Gracie Station

New York, NY 10028-9998

(212) 570-3930

http://www.metmuseum.org

Catalog of reproductions, videos, and children’s activities

National Art Education Association (NAEA)

1916 Association Dr.

Reston, VA 22091-1590

(703) 860-8000

http://www.NAEA-RESTON.org

National Endowment for the Arts

Arts in Education Program

1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Washington, DC 20506

(202) 682-5426

http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org

National Endowment for the Humanities

Division of Education Programs or

Museums and Historical Organizations Programs

1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Washington, DC 20506

(202) 606-8428

National Gallery of Art

Publications Mail Order Department

2000B South Dr.

Landover, MD 20785

(301) 322-5900

fax (301) 322-1578

http://www.NGA.gov/shop/shop

Catalog of reproductions including postcards

Very Special Arts

1300 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 700

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 628-2800


Credits

Teacher guide and family guide by Janet Brown McCracken.

© 1998 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved. IBM is a registered trademark and Make A Masterpiece  is a trademark of International Business Machines. Crayola, the serpentine and chevron designs are registered trademarks and the rainbow/swash design is a trademark of Binney & Smith. Used under license.