Index
- Valentine Art/Crafts Projects(Monday, January 24, 2000)
- Art Teacher on the Net(Friday, January 21, 2000)
- The Cyber Sketchbook and Digital Drawing Board(Thursday, January 6, 2000)
- Time To Get In Tune(Wednesday, January 5, 2000)
- Masks Theme Page(Wednesday, December 8, 1999)
- Earlychildhood.com(Tuesday, December 7, 1999)
- Improv Resources(Wednesday, December 1, 1999)
- MusicLand Theme Park(Thursday November 25, 1999)
- The Music Education Launch Site(Wednesday, November 17, 1999)
- Composers(Tuesday, October 19, 1999)
- Basic Art Lessons(Wednesday, June 16, 1999)
- CLN Puppet Page(Friday June 11, 1999)
- Origami(Tuesday, June 8, 1999)
- A Lifetime of Colour(Tuesday, May 11, 1999)
- Drama Teachers Workshop(Thursday, April 29, 1999)
- Japanese Kite Collection(Thursday, April 22, 1999)
- The Internet Piano Page(Wednesday, April 14, 1999)
- The Living Play(Tuesday, April 13, 1999)
- Cartoon Corner(Thursday March 26, 1999)
- Songs for Children(Monday, March 22, 1999)
- K-12 Music Resources(Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999)
- Activity Index(Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998)
- Why is the Mona Lisa Smiling? (Tuesday, November 17, 1998)
- Focus on Photography (Tuesday, October 13, 98)
- Paper Paradise (Tuesday, September 22, 98)
- MIDI Resources for Teachers (Wednesday, June 3, 98)
- Careers in the Arts(Friday, May 8, 98)
- Craft-related Theme Pages(Wednesday, April 1, 98)
- Inside Art(Wednesday, 04, March, 98)
- Canada's National Gallery Virtual Tour(Tuesday, 17, Feb, 98)
- Pentatonic Music(Monday, 2, Feb, 98)
- Christmas Music(Friday, 12, Dec, 97)
- Strings, Springs and Finger Things(Tues, 18, Nov, 97)
- CLN Art History Theme Page(Mon, 20, Oct, 97)
- Music Library Reference Desk(Wed 11 June, 97)
- Instrument-related links for Musicians(Tues 4 Feb 97)
- "Shine"(Wed 8 Jan 97)
- Emily Carr (Thurs 28 Nov 96)
- Composers in Electronic Residence(Mon 18 Nov 96)
- ArtsEdge(Mon 4 Nov 96)
- Art page on CLN (Wed 18 June 96)
- Ceramic Arts(Fri, 24 May 96)
- CLN Music Page(Tues, 16 Apr 96)
- Improvisational Theatre Page(Tues, 9 Apr 96)
- Shakespeare & the Globe Theatre(Mon, 15 Jan 96)
- Science in Art and other Art projects (Fri, 24 Nov 95)
- K-12 Music Educators(Fri, 10 Nov 95)
- Guitar music archive(Tue, 12 Oct 95)
- Judy and David's Songbook(Thu, 28 Sep 95)
- Musicals on the Web(Thu, 28 Sep 95)
- Great Music - Composers(Sun, 30 Apr 95)
Return to Network Nugget Archive's Main Index
Valentine Art/Crafts Projects
There are numerous sites on the web where you can get ideas and instructions for Valentine activities. Here's a sampling.
AWESOME VALENTINES: (http://www.marlo.com/holiday/v/vale.htm) Send electronic Valentine cards
CAST A PAPER VALENTINE (http://users.hsonline.net/kidatart/htdoc/lesson42.htm) Instructions how to create a Valentine card using recycled materials. A great way of making use of a multidisciplinary approach.
CHILDFUN.COM (http://www.childfun.com/valentine/index.shtml) Numerous suggestions for gifts, recipes, and crafts that could be adapted to the classroom.
CLIP ART OF ROMANCE (http://www.geocities.com/~bizart/valentine/index.html) Free (but read the disclaimer) clip art organized into headings such as animations, couples, cupids, hearts, love, roses...
HAPPY VALENTINE'S: (http://ntl.sympatico.ca/~whogan/valentin.htm) Over 20 ideas for crafts and food.
VALENTINE'S DAY (http://www.vbe.com/~gns/valentines.html) Songs plus ideas for activity centers and art projects.
VALENTINE'S DAY CRAFTS (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7997/valcrafts.htm) Over 20 briefly described suggestions for cards and crafts.
Art Teacher on the Net
Art teachers will find a variety of useful teaching resources at this site. Its contents change regularly and so you'll want to visit fairly often. Ideas and descriptions of various art projects are available in the "Art Project Lessons", "Parent Ideas", "Art Project for Scouts", "Sunday School", "After School Program Art Ideas", and "Art of Many Lands" sections. You'll also find great ideas in the Teacher Exchange and you can communicate directly with the developer through her Ask an Expert service.
Access to all of the ideas is somewhat constrained. Some of the links weren't working or were very slow to load when I was visiting, there's a lot of distracting clutter on the pages, and I found the repetitive advertising for Tripod every time I loaded a new page to be quite annoying. Also, the organization of the art projects into the various categories is somewhat arbitrary and confusing - all of these are good ideas and I would have liked to have access to them without having to go through the intermediate pages. You'll need to spend some time to become familiar with everything that is here and you might forget where things are located. Still, these should be minor inconveniences if you're getting stimulating ideas for your classroom.
Art Teacher on the Net is hosted by Valerie Colston and is suitable for art teachers in grades K-12. It is located at:
http://www.artmuseums.com/
The Cyber Sketchbook and Digital Drawing Board
http://www.vvm.com/~tgibbons/sketchbook/drawingboard.htmThis site's goal is to give visitors an opportunity to view information about the visual arts. There is an emphasis on computer generated graphics and animation but there are also resources for the traditional study of drawing, painting, and sculpture. I was drawn immediately to the collection of about a dozen lesson plans organized under the four categories of Elements of Design, Principles of Design, Art History & Appreciation, and Teaching Art with Technology. In addition to the expected sections on preparation, procedures and required materials, the lesson plans also include advice on Internet extensions and interdisciplinary application.
In other parts of the site, you'll find 8 galleries displaying children's art. These are changed regularly and it is possible to apply to have your own students' work posted. There are also bulletin board and chat room functions and a small collection of fun activities.
The Cyber Sketchbook is hosted by T. Gibbons and is suitable for visual art students in grades K-12.
Time To Get In Tune
http://users.massed.net/~carrier/Linda Carrier has developed this site for her middle school music students. It contains two web quests that can be used as is or you could adapt the ideas for your own situation. The first, Music History Hall of Fame, challenges students to conduct research in order that they can nominate two people, from two different periods of classical music history, for induction into a Hall of Fame. In the second, Instrumental Information, students have to learn about the instruments of the symphony orchestra in order to complete a hypothetical task. In both quests, links to web sites are provided for students to begin their research.
Ms. Carrier has also put together a small collection of links to music games on the web. The quality of these varies quite considerably and you may find them inappropriate for your age group, but take a look into this collection ("Just Fun") and judge for yourself.
Time To Get In Tune is hosted by Linda Carrier and is suitable for music students in middle schools.
Masks Theme Page
http://www.cln.org/themes/masks.htmlI've put together another CLN Theme Page for your browsing pleasure - this one on Masks. For those of you new to CLN, a 'theme page' is a focused collection of links to educational resources on a specific topic within a subject area. You'll find curricular information where teachers/students can learn more about the topic as well as instructional materials to help you teach the topic. You can get a listing of CLN's 125 theme pages at:
http://www.cln.org/themes_index.html The Mask Theme Page can be used in a variety of subject areas. The application that I would particularly like to draw to your attention is its value in Aboriginal Studies classes. Check out the link to Richard Hunt - a contemporary Kwakiutl artist from BC. You'll find a history of the art of a "transformation mask." At the bottom of the page, click on "About the Artist" to learn more about the artist. The button "Discussion/Activities" leads to suggestions for studying the work in the classroom in a multidisciplinary approach.
Another good link to review is the U'Mista Cultural Centre Potlatch Collection. You'll find images of more than 100 masks from Kwak'wala speaking aboriginal groups in the North West coast and BC interior along with information on their provenance.
The Masks Theme Page has lots of other practical resources for teachers of Art, Art History, Arts & Crafts, Drama, and Multiculturalism. There are quite a number of lesson plans as well as recipes/instructions for making masks.
Masks Theme Page is hosted by CLN and is suitable for K-12 students and teachers.
Earlychildhood.com
http://www.earlychildhood.com/Kelly Key of Brownsville, TN drew this practical teacher focussed site to my attention. I liked it immediately for its collection of arts and crafts ideas. You can use their search engine or browse through its 13 categories (e.g., colorations, handmade gifts, nature crafts, wearable art, ...) - each of which leads to its own subset of craft suggestions that come complete with illustrations, recipes where appropriate, and instructions. There's a collection of 25 projects in their Seasonal Arts and Crafts category - most of which focus naturally on the upcoming holiday season. The five year old boy in me also investigated their collection of "Cars, Boats, Planes & Sguishy Fun" ideas but the 55 year old owner of his body worried about getting the cornstarch off his hands so that he could tell you about it.
In addition to the craft ideas, there's a large archive (26 categories) of pedagogical articles, a 'sharing board' (themed conferences), and a collection of related links.
Earlychildhood.com is hosted by Discount School Supply and is suitable for early childhood and primary teachers.
Improv Resources
Brigham Young University's Theatre and Media Arts Department has three sets of resources for drama teachers looking to do units on improv.
In "Improvisation Situations" there are over 50 improv starters organized in K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 categories.
http://www.byu.edu/tma/arts-ed/home/improv.htm Improvisation Unit #1 is a six lesson teaching unit in which student learn about vocal responses, movement, character study, sensory awareness, and then perform an improvised scene.
http://www.byu.edu/tma/arts-ed/units/impvunit.htm Improvisation Unit #2 ( has eight lessons. Topics include: building trust, working together, moving, reacting, finding a through-line, and performing an improvisation.
http://www.byu.edu/tma/arts-ed/units/imp2unit.htm These and 9 other resources can be found on CLN's Improv Theme Page. There, you'll find a clearinghouse of improv information, practice activities, warmups, and lots and lots of improv games.
http://www.cln.org/themes/improv.html
MusicLand Theme Park
http://www.itdc.sbcss.k12.ca.us/curriculum/musicland.htmlYour middle/junior high students will enjoy this webquest in which they and their team mates research a musical genre as part of their task to build a music theme park in their city. They get to pick from Musical Theater, Early Jazz (Ragtime, Dixieland and the Blues), New Jazz (Roaring '20's, Swing, and Be-bop), Rock and Roll, Country & Folk, and Pop music. Students are given a set of guiding questions to answer (e.g., identify the most influential musicians, most popular songs, major events that influenced the music...). The Internet is one source of information (starting points are provided) but students are encouraged to find their information from as many different sources as possible.
The teacher notes to the project suggest a 3-6 week time period and provide implementation advice - for example downloading necessary plug-ins prior to the project. Evaluation and extension suggestions are also provided.
The MusicLand Theme Park is hosted by the Instructional Technology Development Consortium and is suitable for music students in grades 5-8.
The Music Education Launch Site
http://www.talentz.com/MusicEducation/index.mvHere's a site designed primarily for music educators. One of its resources is a searchable/browsable database (called Allegro) of internet music resources organized into nine main categories including Curriculum, Instruments, Lesson Plans, Professional Development, and more.
The lesson plans in the database are a definite draw for teachers. You'll find two ways of accessing them - either through the Allegro database or from a separate link off the main menu. Choosing the latter will allow you to access them by the following categories: elementary grades, middle school grades, high school grades, band or orchestra, voice or chorus, or cross-curricular lesson plans.
Beginning music teachers can receive personalized advice and answers to questions from more experienced veterans in the site's Music Ed Mentors program. A browsable archive of answers is available. Finally, if you're looking for something light, check out their large collection of Musician jokes - organized by the target. Here's one from the percussionist section: "What's the best way to confuse a drummer? Put a sheet of music in front of him."
The Music Education Launch is hosted by Jeffrey Brenan and is suitable for music teachers in grades K-12.
Composers
http://www.music.indiana.edu/music_resources/composer.html"Composers" is a metalist site on composers of classical music. A 'metalist" is a page that consists solely of links to other web sites organized around a particular topic - in this case classical composers. The benefit of metalists is that their developers do all the web researching that you would otherwise have to do and present their findings in the form of a page of links - sometimes annotated, sometimes not. In this case, the developers of Composers have found 136 different links to web sites each dedicated to a specific classical composer. There's a little bit of duplication (e.g., they have multiple sites on Bach, Beethoven...) but there are still well over 100 composers represented on this page. If these specific composer links don't do the trick for you, the page also has links to 35 other metalist web sites that provide their own set of links to the classics.
This site would be a good starting point for music teachers looking for information which they could add to their lessons or for students challenged to produce a report (multimedia?) on a particular composer. Resources available through this metalist include sound clips, pictures of the composer, and information about his/her life and works.
The Composers page is hosted by Indiana University School of Music and is suitable for music students in grades 6-12
Basic Art Lessons
http://home.att.net/~tisone/lessonpg1.htm
Do you wonder if you are covering the "basics" in your Fine Arts program? Well iof you bookmark this site you will be in good shape for September!! Topics include: Pencil, Black Pen Drawing Lessons, Adding Coloured Marker, Collage, Mixing Paint, and Art History. Each lesson contains a very clean format that lists the materials, the steps (along with appropriate graphics), as well as resources. One of my favorites was the Landscape Collage activity that uses some famous Japanese artwork for the examples.
The Basic Art Lessons site is hosted by tisone and is suitable for teachers of grades 2-12.
CLN Puppet Theme Page
http://www.cln.org/themes/puppetry.html
This wonderful new theme page contains many sites that are easily adapted to different curriculum areas. Some of the topics include: Ventriloquism Exercises (maybe you don't want your students learning this!!), Developing Excellence in Puppet Manipulation (like having the puppet's eyes look at the audience), Blue Boy (a rod and mouth puppet), Chinese Puppetry, Muppets, and many more. A teacher's page gives ideas integrating this interesting topic into other subjects. One site contains activities for a 2-3 week unit for primary students.
The CLN Puppetry Theme Page is hosted by CLN and is suitable for students in grades K-12 .
Origami
http://tqjunior.advanced.org/5402/
This is the winnder of the Think Quest Junior contest for 1999. It contains the following categories: A History of Origami, Uses and Benefits, Terms, Symbols and Tips, Origami and Peace, Poems about Origami, Fun Activities, and Resources. Each sections has wonderful animation and easy to follow graphics. One of the activities has an interactive quiz your students can do to find out how much they know about the history of Origami.
The Pieces and Creases site is hosted by Vidor Middle School and is suitable for students in grades K-12.
Lifetime of Colour
http://www.sanford-artedventures.com/index.html
This site has activities for all aspects of creating art. Various topics include: Create Art, Study Art, Play Art Games, and Teach Art. Interactive student activities explain the elements and principles of Art in fun ways that the students will be sure to remember.
A Lifetime of Color is hosted by Sanford and is suitable for students in grades K-12 .
Drama Teachers Workshop
http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/erachi/
This site should be bookmarked for any drama teachers in your school. It contains lessons plans (Icebreakers, Canadian Theatre History, Movement, Set Design, Stage Vocabulary, and Costume Building with Recyclable Objects), Backstage Ideas, Texts and Seminar Information, and Great Drama Links.
The Drama Teacher's Resource Room is hosted by Thorton Consulting and is suitable for students in grades 4-12.
Japanese Kite collection
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~et3m-tkkw/
With our recent windy weather I thought you may want to try making and flying kites with your students. This site contains information on the following: types of Japanese kites, kite festivals in Japan, links to other kite sites, kite flying in Nepal, as well as a bibliography on the history of kites. I was intrigued with the information and pictures of a kite festival in Nepal. Your students may notice the distinct "Japanese" style of writing.
The Japanese Kite Collection is hosted by Masami Takakuwa and is suitable for students in grades 4-10
The Internet Piano Page
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/3486/
This site contains various piano excerpts from the following composors: Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Clementi, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Scarlatti, Schubert and Schumann. Many biographies are also given. The various muscial choices are well known and give a good sampling of the various talents.
The Internet Piano Page is hosted by GeoCities and is suitable for Music students in grades 3-12.
The Living Play
http://www.accessone.com/~up/playbook/
Do you find yourself hard pressed to come up with new "improv" ideas for your students? Well this site is for you!! Game types include: Exercise (used to teach a particular point), Games (something for use in front of an actual audience), Longform, and Warm Ups. One Word Stories, Swedish Storytelling, and Alter Egos are all examples that your students will be sure to enjoy.
The Living Play Bookis hosted by Unexpected Productions and is suitable for Drama students in grades 5-12 .
Cartoon Corner
http://www.cartooncorner.com/index.html
The Cartoon Corner is the site to use with your students wanting to learn how to draw cartoons. The site is separated into the following sections: How to Draw Cartoons, Drawing Tricks, What Cartoonists Do, and Creative Play. The actual lessons are done in a step by step approach with clear graphics. The section "What Cartoonists Do" includes pages on Spot Drawings, Caricature, Editorial Cartoons, and Animation.
The Cartoon Corner site is hosted by Emmett Scott and is suitable for Fine Arts students in grades 2-12.
Songs for Children
http://www.cln.org/themes/songs.html
This new CLN theme page contains more songs than you will use in a school year!! Some of the sites include: The Children's Music Archives, The CISV Song Database, Digital Tradition Folk Song Data Base, and Tailors Traditonal Tunebook. Many of these sites contain an actual recording of the song, while others contain just the text of the words and/or the guitar chords.
The Songs for Children Theme Page is hosted by CLN and is suitable for Music students in grades K-12 . P>
K-12 Resources for Music Educators
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/staffpages/shirk/k12.music.html
This site contains a variety of resources for music teachers. The format is divided into the following web site areas: Band, Orchestra, Vocal/Choral, Classroom Music, and all Music Educators. One section called "Richard Robinson's Tune book" allows you to search for traditional tunes from various countries or title. The amount of information is clearly listed, and easily accessed through the links.
The K-12 Resources for Music Educators is hosted by the Mankato, Minnesota Public School system and is suitable for Music students in grades K-12.
Activity Index
http://www.ktca.org/donnasday/creative/activndx.html
"Have you ever played with Gooey Goop, that stretchy, cold feeling, glue stuff?? This site contains recipes for this marvellous concoction, as well as others such as oatmeal soap, bread dough clay, gelatine plastic, soapy science, and fireworks art.
ACTIVITY INDEX is hosted by Donna's Day and Twin Cities Public Television and is suitable for both Art and Science students in Grades K-7.
Why is the Mona Lisa Smiling?
http://library.advanced.org/13681/data/davin2.shtml
This question is almost as old as the one about the chicken and the egg.
Dr. Lillian Schwartz of Bell Labs suggests that part of the mystery is related to the possibility that Leonardo was painting himself. To support her theory she digitized both Leonardo's famous self-portrait and the even more famous painting we all know as the Mona Lisa. Flipping and merging the two images together using a computer, Schwartz concluded that the faces were one and the same.
The above website allows you to see for yourself (and also provides lots of other information related to Leonardo.)
Focus on Photography
http://www.goldcanyon.com/photography/
With information about cameras, composition, lighting, the history of photography and more, this site is a good place for the student photographer.
The emphasis is on traditional cameras, but many of the techniques are very important for all photographers. If you are getting into digital photography (no film required and no need to wait for processing) you might want to take a look at the following pages:
Digital Cameras: Everyday Uses to Promote Learning:
http://www.prysm.net/~mkilgore/using.htmDigital Cameras:
http://www.uwf.edu/~coe/tutorials/technolo/digitalc/digitalc.htm"Scanning" is a related technology, worth exploring if you want to turn traditional photographs, drawings or other materials into digital resources.
Scanning 101:
http://www.scantips.com/
MIDI Resources for Teachers
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/staffpages/shirk/midi.html
Cynthia Shirk from Mankato, Minnesota, has collected dozens of MIDI sites with Music Educators in mind. With 'Classical MIDI', the Beatles, Disney, Karaoke, Ragtime, 'MIDI and Music Therapy' and even 'Squeak and Blat', many tastes are represented here.
Note that this site also has links to plenty of "how to" sites including the UseNet groups where people talk about MIDI and other music technologies -- great places to post your questions and get some answers.
Careers in the Arts
http://www.artsjobs.bc.ca/welcome.html Getting into the A.C.T.
http://www.cln.org/themes/careers_art.html Careers in the Arts Theme Page
The above websites are great places to start if you're a young person (or somebody who wants to help young people) making decisions about careers in the arts (music, multimedia, the movie industry, etc.).
"Getting into the A.C.T." has information that comes directly from arts-based industry leaders and employers in BC. There's an emphasis on the fact that that artists, craftspersons, technicians and business leaders working in these industries must meet very high standards. The site provides a guided tour that will help you find out how to become a part of it all.
The Community Learning Network (CLN) "Careers in the Arts" theme page is a collection of websites, including some excellent international resources, related to Arts Careers.
Finally, the Pacific Music Industry Association (PMIA) is a B.C. professional organization with a focus on music.
Pacific Music Industry Association:
http://www.pmia.org/
Craft-Related Theme Pages
http://www.cln.org/themes/stainedglass.html Stained Glass Theme Page
http://www.cln.org/themes/soapmaking.html Soapmaking Theme Page
http://www.cln.org/themes/origami.html Origami Theme Page
The Community Learning Network (CLN) provides new theme pages on a regular basis. Each page is a collection of websites providing a range of information on a selected topic. Theme pages are designed with the K-12 audience in mind, but will be useful to anybody with an interest in the topic.
There are many recent additions, and dozens of themes to choose from in total. Above are a few with a focus on Crafts.
The Stained Glass page has links to images, historical information, techniques and patterns for this beautiful art form.
The Soap Making theme page offers sites with information about a variety of ways in which soap has been made throughout the ages and in the present day. There's also some great "bubble making" information.
Origami, the ancient technique of paper-folding, requires patience and skill and patterns range from very simple to extremely complicated. There is even a link to a "diagram-free zone" where instructions are provided in a format that could be read over the telephone. There's a challenge for a boisterous group of students!
To see the complete list of CLN Theme pages, start at the CLN home page: http://www.cln.org/
Inside Art
http://www.eduweb.com/insideart/index.html Inside Art
http://www.eduweb.com/pintura/index.html A. Pintura: Art Detective
The "Inside Art" web site is an online adventure where students explore a painting from the inside out! An art history mystery game for 4th-graders and up, Inside Art, and the companion site A. Pintura, Art Detective, can both be played independently, in small groups, or even projected on the wall as full-class activities. The images are really beautiful, presenting concepts such as style, colour, subject, composition, brushstrokes and more, in a way that is very engaging for young learners.
There's also a link to teacher resources related to each game, including assessment ideas and a guide for using the site.
Talk to Trish the Fish, the man in blue, or the mysterious Ms. Featherduster and learn some of the fascinating facts which surround the world of art history.
Canada's National Gallery Virtual Tour
http://national.gallery.ca/virtual_tour/index.html
Any art gallery on the web is going to necessarily require a graphical browser. To get the full effect of Canada's National Gallery online tour, it's nice to also have the "RealAudio" Player plug-in so that you can hear what the tour guides have to say.
If you do have the right set-up, this will be an engaging way to see and hear about Canadian art and learn some fascinating history along the way.
Note that the tour guides speak both English and French!
Art does not reproduce the visible, but makes visible that which is not easily seen.
Simon Nikolaides, Art Educator
Pentatonic Music
http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~thomasr
I suspect that elementary teachers will love this collection of easy, categorized songs. You'll find action songs, pattern songs, seasonal songs, skit songs, rhythm songs, multicultural songs and many others.
The site links to other musical resources as well.
http://www.jumpoint.com/bluesman/newsletter.html
Christmas Music
http://www.kate.net/holidays/christmas/music.html
http://christmas.com/html/music.html
The above Christmas Music sites offer lyrics, MIDI files and much more.
Strings, Springs and Finger Things
http://www.civilization.ca/membrs/arts/ssf/ssf00eng.html English version
http://www.civilization.ca/membrs/arts/ssf/ssf00fra.html French language version
Puppets are a wonderful learning tool for a wide range of age groups. Puppets are part of the dramatic play of the youngest primary child but they can also be a catalyst for sophisticated historical and cultural research. There are artistic and design issues related to puppetry as well as mechanics and construction aspects that appeal to older learners
The above "Strings, Springs and Finger Things" is a puppet-focused web site hosted by the Canadian Museum of Civilization. There's lots to explore here.
Another very comprehensive puppet site is Rose Sage's "The Puppetry Home Page" at: http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/
CLN's Art History Theme Page
http://www.cln.org/themes/art_history.html
The Community Learning Network (CLN) has a new 'Art History' theme page. The links from the above site include art timelines and meta-lists of art information categorized chronologically. You'll also find art history study and report-writing guides, resources related to finding an art-history related career, a text-based site with information about the history of photography, art history for kids (which also has some text-based ideas for art lessons), and the Okanagan University College Fine Arts page with text information about the history of Canadian art.
As you might guess, many of the links from this location are best viewed with a graphical browser and some of the images will be slow to download. One link that has been structured in a way that allows you to move around quickly (e.g. from thumbnail-size images to more detailed pictures) is the "Miles of Styles" site at http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/art/styles.html. I recommend this site for middle school and above because it is well organized and includes thoughtful group activities. It also incorporates many links to related web pages, such as sites that provide information about the Spanish Civil war as part of the Picasso section and a "stone age food quiz" as part of the section on cave art. This format encourages a cross-curricular perspective of the art era being studied -- hyperlinks provide immediate access to a whole web of related ideas.
Music Library Reference Desk
http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/resource.html
The above University of Washington Music Library reference site has links to an amazing collection of online resources. If you're part of a band or orchrestra, if you sing or play any sort of instrument, if you just like listening to opera, folk, hip-hop, classical, early, pop, country, oldies, new age or other, if you want to know about music schools, music in fiction, employment in the music industry or the performance schedule of your favourite artist, you just might find what you want here.
A subsection of the above site that I found to be particularly interesting was the "Ethnomusicology, Folklore and World Music" link at:
http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/world.htmlHere you can link to another huge index of sites, all relating to traditional music from around the world. I visualize some great classroom projects where students can get a feeling for the lives of people in other cultures by "dancing to their tunes."
Instrument-related links for Musicians
http://edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu/~mmoors/ (clarinet)
http://WWW.CELLO.ORG/ (cello)
http://www.dana.edu/~trumpet/ftp/pub/brdgoode.html (trumpet)
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/1389/sax-nfrm.html (saxaphone)
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mhopkins/table.html (violin)
Musicians, whether beginning students, seasoned performers or harried teachers, can find lots of interesting and helpful sites on the internet. The sites above have a focus on individual instruments. Some of these include discussion forums where you can "talk" through the web to others around the world who share your love of a particular instrument. Others focus more on technical issues or repertoire, some include sound files or video clips. All of these sites have been created with the intention of sharing musical ideas in a way that just wouldn't have been possible a few years ago.
If your interest ranges beyond a single instrument (or if your favourite doesn't appear in the listing above), here are two good generic pages with links to a wide variety of musical information:
http://www.hnh.com/intro.htm Finally, don't forget the CLN "Curricular Resources in Music" page at: http://www.cln.org/subjects/fine.html
"Shine"
http://www.flf.com/shine/index2.htm"Shine" is a movie with the potential to motivate students (particularly those who are involved in any of the fine arts) to delve into important issues through classroom discussions, written reports and other forms of expression.
What is success? What is talent? How can families help children develop their talents? What is mental illness? What kinds of things contribute to the pressures of family life?
Information is available via at the above internet site for students and teachers who want to know more about the facts behind this unusual movie. You'll find links to information about David Helfgott (the real-life concert pianist who is the central character of the story), to information about how the film was made (including) details about story development and cinematography), to classical music sites (including some true concert disaster scenarios) and more.
Emily Carr
http://www.tbc.gov.bc.ca/culture/schoolnet/carr/main.htmEmily Carr, artist and writer, was an original thinker who refused to do many of the things that were expected of a Canadian woman of her time (1871-1945). There are several web sites that feature her work, and I have chosen one of particular interest to students and teachers.
With many beautiful images, not all of the web site can be fully appreciated without a graphical browser. But the text information (available to all) includes sets of research questions for elementary and secondary students that make the site worth a visit as part of any study of Emily's stories or paintings. Here you'll find discussion starters that deal with many aspects of her life and work, including her relationship with the first Nations people of British Columbia in the early part of this century, and her role as an artist who portrayed their world.
Composers in Electronic Residence
http://www.edu.yorku.ca/CIERmain.htmlDo you use MIDI technology in your music classroom? Composers in Electronic Residence, or CIER, has created a WWW, teacher-run electronic community that can link you with experienced composers and other music students and teachers from classrooms around the world. The homepage and archives (including downloadable sound clips and midi files) are available at the link above.
CIER provides the opportunity explore original student music in the classroom through a dynamic exchange of midi music files and comments.
ArtsEdge
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/srp.htmlKennedy Center's "ArtsEdge" is a website with a very interesting integrated approach to the arts, particularly in the "student research" area.
I expected this to be a set of web pages created by students, but found instead some excellent collections of nicely- annotated internet sites related to ethnic/regional themes that can be used by students as they conduct research related to the arts.
For instance, if "African Art" is selected, the student will encounter links to web sites that deal with history, music, dance, sculpture, crafts, literary arts and other art forms from that part of the world. This is a format that really allows students to learn about art in the context of the people who create it.
Also note that the "For Children and Teachers" sections offer curriculum ideas and lesson plans to complement the themes.
Art page on CLN
http://www.cln.org/subjects/fine.htmlThe Community Learning Network (CLN) has a new Art section in its Fine Arts curriculum area. Ranging from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection to the Louvre, the WebMuseum and the Vatican, there's lots to look at here.
Students often enjoy projects where they can emulate the distinctive styles of a variety of artists. On the web they can read about artists' personal philosophies, find out about the highlights of individual art careers and even communicate with living artists through email.
Ceramic Arts
http://art.sdsu.edu/ceramicsweb/Here is a web page hosted by San Diego State University that might just become a favourite for anybody working in the ceramic arts. It has links to information about clays and glazes (including a keyword searchable database), firing, health issues, and articles about all aspects of pottery.
Handout-tutorials that are suitable for student use at the secondary level are available and for the adventurous, there's even a video clip.
CLN Music Page
http://www.cln.org/subjects/fine.htmlAnother curriculum topic has been added to the Community Learning Network's web pages. This page links to a useful collection of music-related resources suitable for teachers and students in the K-12 system and probably of interest to almost anybody with a musical inclination.
Improvisational Theatre Page
http://sunee.uwaterloo.ca/~broehl/improv/index.html"Improvisation is a form of theatre in which no script is used. Instead, the actors create the dialog and action themselves, as they perform." But, as I found out at this web site, there are plenty of rules and tricks for getting things going and the exercises can be great tools for communication and self expression even for those who don't think of themselves as actors.
Shakespeare & the Globe Theatre
http://www.rdg.ac.uk/globe/Globe.htmlIf you want extra information on both the old and new versions of the Globe Threatre (reconstruction of the original has taken place in London, England), here is a site worth visiting.
Science in Art and other Art projects
http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/TheArts.htmlArt ideas for k-12 are available at this site and several of them link to scientific concepts such as centrifugal force, colour theory, wave action and sounds.
K-12 Music Educators
http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/EdPsy-387/Tina-Scott/project/home.htmlTina Scott's Music Education page is a delight with links to keep music enthusiasts and educators happy for a long time.
Guitar music archive
http://www.nada.kth.se:80/~f91-jsc/index_txt.htmlYou can access the text versions of guitar chords and song lyrics for any of the over 3000 songs in a nicely organized, searchable archive, at this site! If you're a true techie, and want to go a step further to download the shareware which reformats these files into an easier-to-read layout, that appears to be possible too (but I make no promises since I haven't tried that part of it).
Judy and David's Songbook
http://www.judyanddavid.com/Judy and David are relatively new to the Canadian kids music scene: they began their official career in 1993. Within a few months they had gone "platinum" in Canada and have made an impact internationally.
From their home page you can download sound clips, send Judy and David a note, find out about their concert schedules and -- best of all -- you can link to a songbook that includes lyrics and song-related activities to dozens and dozens of new and traditional songs for kids.
Musicals on the Web
http://phantom.skywalk.com/ (Phantom of the Opera)
http://www.clark.net/pub/rsjdfg/ (Miss Saigon)
Musicals are a powerful form of storytelling. Teachers might view this format as a great example of multimedia and curriculum integration (music, dance, drama, costumes, art, literature, culture, history) and it might be fun for a class to brainstorm some ongoing classroom activities that touch back on different aspects of a favourite musical.
The above Web sites link to story synopses, full libretti, and other information such as book texts, related historical events, author biographies and stage production details of some very popular musicals.
Great Music - Composers
http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Genres/Classical/Composers/Here's a link for anybody who's interested in finding out about the great composers of classical and other types of music.
Composers are categorized by name, by historical period and in an index that includes biographies with links to additional information such as details of selected pieces, related composers, and reviews of recordings.
You might want to check out the "Unknown Composers" section to learn about some underrated masterpieces. I found it intriguing and I'm now anxious to get hold of some of the recordings described.
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