Art Virtual Learning Ideas
Schools around the world are currently closed because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and most are doing virtual learning in place of face to face instruction. A lot of art teachers are probably thinking, HOW IN THE WORLD AM I SUPPOSED TO TEACH ART ONLINE?! I am so thankful for all my art teacher friends I follow on Instagram and the art teacher facebook groups! This really has been a team effort sharing ideas for remote learning experiences that are related to art!
Our school uses the app Class Dojo for communicating with parents but we use itsLearning(Verge) as a learning management system for students to complete assignments.
My favorite idea I have borrowed from other art teachers on social media, is the found object color wheel challenge. Just search the hashtag #foundobjectcolorwheel ! For one of my virtual learning activities, I shared this Padlet link on Class Dojo and Verge for students to submit pictures of the color wheels they created! Padlet made it really easy for them to figure out how to share their pictures with me and I like that you can approve pictures before they are posted. Here are some of my favorites so far that I have seen!
I saw this toilet paper roll challenge from the Arty Teacher Blog that I am thinking about using for next week and creating another Padlet. I thought it is a little ironic because everyone has been stocking up on their toilet paper the past two weeks!
Another online learning tool that I have been using for virtual learning activities is Brain Pop Jr. for grades K-2nd and Brain Pop for grades 3rd-5th! Our school district has a subscription to Brain Pop that links with students Clever accounts so that they can turn in assignments and activities straight to their teacher! I can assign videos, quizzes, and other activities to classes that I teach for them to complete at home. I love Brain Pop because they have so many art topics, which include but are not limited to, the elements of art, color theory, famous artists, art movements, etc. Here are some of the digital drawings I received from students this week through Brain Pop Jr.!
If your school or district does not have a subscription to Brain Pop, they are offering it for free while schools are closed! Students won't be able to turn in assignments to you, but they can still watch the videos, take quizzes, and do other activities such as the drawing one. You could always have them take a screenshot of their quiz score or drawing and email it to you if you are required to grade your virtual learning assignments. There are many other companies that are offering free subscriptions at this time due to schools closing and you can see them all here.
This week, I have been using Flipgrid as a platform for students to participate in video discussions! This website/app is a free and safe learning environment that helps amplify student voice. If you have not used Flipgrid with your students, I strongly suggest you try it out and sign up here! My kids say they love it because they feel like they are YouTubers. I love it because there are so many cool features integrated in it such as immersive reader, a whiteboard feature, and they partner with other companies such as Google Classrooms, NearPod, The Met, etc...
I made this grid that includes 20 different art topics that you can look at for ideas! You can also find more pre-made topics in the Disco Library. Below here, you can see the example of a topic discussion I used with 5th grade students this week.
Some other great online resources I have shared with parents as more of an optional enrichment art activity are Artforkidshub.com ! This one is my favorite resource for kids to try out at home because they can choose pretty much anything they want to learn how to draw and it shows them step by step! They also have painting, sculpting, and origami lessons if they have those materials at home. I also love this resource for when I need last minute sub lessons or a time filler activity before breaks(Winter break, spring break, Thanksgiving, etc)! Virtual Field trips are another option. Take a virtual tour of a museum through Google Arts and Culture. They also have an app! They have digital collections of artworks, 360 degree videos, and google street view options. I also tried out this PicassoHead website where students can create their own cubist portrait and email it to you when they are done. Below are some of my students' creations.
The last optional activity that I share was children’s book author and illustrator, Mo Williams, is inviting you into his studio every weekday starting at 1 PM for a free drawing tutorial and exploring new ways of writing. The episodes are also recorded and are available on the Kennedy Center Website.
The last thing I want to share are some other tools that could help you teach virtually. Some great screen recording tools I like to use to introduce new content are Screencast-o-matic , Loom, and Screencastify. We use Class Dojo for digital portfolios but I know some other art teachers that use Seesaw or Artsonia as a way for students to upload artwork. If you wanted to do a live video conference with your students to check in and say hey, some teachers have been using Zoom! I encourage you to try out at least one of these tools or resources I mentioned in this blog post to help engage your students and make virtual learning more fun. Remember, we are all in this together!
