Introduction to the Art in Action Program

The benefits of the Art in Action Program

• Opens students’ eyes to the world of great art
• Stimulates students’ creative thinking and confident expression
• Integrates visual art with language arts, math, science, and social studies
• Appeals to many different learning styles
• Empowers teachers and parents to teach art with confidence
• Assists schools in building an arts-based learning environment and community
• Offers a comprehensive program: Standards-based sequential curriculum (online and print), teacher/parent docent training, lesson-specific art supplies, ongoing support
• Supports the school in organizing teaching and establishing/managing a corps of volunteer docents
• Provides an affordable and comprehensive visual art education

11 reasons why the Art in Action Program meets the needs of schools

The Art in Action Program is

• Comprehensive: Includes curriculum, lesson-specific art supplies for a class, teacher/parent volunteer training, and ongoing support via your school’s Art in Action coordinator
• Innovative: The Online Lessons, launched in 2009-10 after several years’ development, incorporate state-of-the-art techniques for discussing the artworks and demonstrating the art projects
• Technology aligned: Many parts of each online lesson can be projected in the classroom on interactive whiteboard or screen: Animated art concept discussions, art technique mini-videos, artist history, links to other works by artist
• Culturally diverse: The 108 lessons (12 lessons per program K through 12) represent cultural diversity and a history span of 19,000 years, from cave paintings through African/Greek/Roman/Chinese/Indian/Japanese cultures to contemporary American Great Masters
• Easy to teach: Each lesson gives straight forward, easy-to-follow directions for guiding successful discussions and projects. No prior art background is needed
• Integrates easily with other curriculum: Language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and music
• Run by school: We train your teachers and parent volunteers, and we support you to successfully implement and maintain the program
• Proven: The program has evolved since 1982 and is expanding into many schools nationwide
• Standards aligned: Aligned with National and California State Academic Standards for Visual Arts Content
• Acclaimed: Users have given the curriculum a 99.7% satisfaction rating and many rave reviews
• Affordable: The average typical cost is just $14 per student per year, including curriculum, art supplies, training, and support

The curriculum is the core

The core of the Art in Action Program is a discipline-based, sequential art curriculum designed around the works of the Great Masters. The School Curriculum includes 12 lessons for each of 9 Program Levels from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Each lesson introduces concepts, vocabulary, and techniques appropriate for that lesson and skill level. Extensive background information, directions, and links to other resources give flexibility for teaching methods, ensuring that the Art in Action Program will complement every school environment.

Students discuss the masterpiece and learn about the artist

Each lesson is based on a masterpiece by a great artist. Students analyze the masterpiece in a guided, open-ended discussion, learning about the artist, the style, and the principles of art. The masterpieces include portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and abstract art, and represent artists from many styles and cultures. The curriculum handbook and the online lessons offer possible questions and descriptions of concepts and terms to guide successful discussions. A biography of each artist or cultural style gives background, and live links connect you with images of other works by the artist. Press the button to hear an audio pronunciation of the artist name. Enlarge the map to see where the artists lived and worked.

Students create their own masterpiece

Students create their own original masterpieces, which reinforce the concepts and techniques discussed in the masterpiece. The curriculum handbook provides detailed, recipe-style directions for guiding successful projects, including material lists and set up directions, descriptions of media techniques, color pictures for drawing ideas, and How To handouts for students. Online Lessons provide a detailed illustration explaining art and design concepts as well as a short movie showing step-by-step how to do each project. The program is aligned with National and California State Academic Standards for Visual Arts and integrates with other elements of the core curriculum.

Many resources enrich the lesson

Ideas for project variations, planning and transitions suggest ways to connect the lesson to a variety of project possibilities and skill levels. Suggestions for curriculum integration with language arts, social studies, and mathematics make it easy to include art in the school day. Links take you directly to other work by the artist, more biographical information, books, music, and related websites. The Lesson Discussion Board allows users to share their ideas and suggestions, enriching the lesson for teachers and docents everywhere. Explore a sample lesson to discover the rich palette of resources that support excellence in teaching and learning.

Online resources make it easy to coordinate a successful program at your school

Taught by classroom teachers and/or parent volunteers, the recipe-style Art in Action curriculum is fun to learn and easy to teach, and no experience is necessary to make these lessons successful. Art in Action provides training for teachers and docents, ongoing school support for school organization, art shows, fundraising ideas, and all the art supplies and prints needed to make the program successful. Online, school, and community art shows show off student achievement and give your school exciting visibility. See the current list of schools, and learn what other parents, educators and students have to say about Art in Action!