Museums · 10-28-2013
Museum Monday Since many museums are closed on Mondays, I'll bring a museum to you. This week it's in the form of a movie recommendation - Museum Hours, a beautiful movie about friendship, art, observation, and existence. Directed and written by Jem Cohen, much of the movie takes place in Vienna's glorious Kunsthistorisches Museum. Works by Rembrandt and Bruegel are highlighted in magnificent detail as are the visitors viewing them. In short, the movie reminds us why great museums, like the...
Creativity · 10-23-2013
Question: What can we learn from street artists? This interview-based study highlighted three "redeeming qualities of street art." The research included interviews with 40 Los Angeles-based street artists to gather data about their "behaviors, beliefs, and processes."
Activities · 10-09-2013
Everyone has unique perspectives. Our differing backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences shape how we react to situations, problems, and conversations. Gifted children possess many strengths, including the ability to view things differently - a perspective that is occasionally unappreciated. One way to foster valuing different perspectives is through art. The following symmetry painting activity is an opportunity for children to understand how we see things differently. Children make the paintings...
Activities · 10-06-2013
Do you know someone who loves geography, maps, and unusual time zone trivia? If so, she will enjoy the following challenge. The exercise also introduces children (grades 4-6) to time zones, the World Clock, the International Dateline, the Prime Meridian, daylight saving time, and much more. There are many internet resources (or apps) for instruction including, World Time Zone, World Atlas, and Timeanddate.com. Timeanddate.com also helps answer the question: Why do we have all these time zones?
Activities · 10-03-2013
The following clue card activity is a great introduction to six artists, and you can never go wrong when sharing art with children. Experiences in the arts are essential to learning. Additional geography, art terms, and cultural history clues serve as springboards for enrichment in other areas of study. Like my previous activity, Name That Building, it is a fun way to lead children on a research hunt. Clue cards can also be used as assessment tools after museum field trips or independent...