Name:Eyes on Art: A Learning to Look Curriculum
Brief Description of the Site:
Start with the Teacher’s Guide, as it offers thorough instructions of how to use the other five modules, all of which are dedicated to helping students look at and understand art. To do so the site offers thumbnails of many famed, and some less-than-famed, paintings along with student-oriented activities. For example, “No fear o’ Eras†traces changes in styles of art through the centuries while “You Choose†allows students to select paintings for “their†museum and to justify their choices. The activities are keyed to California’s Visual Arts standards, and there is a link to those standards arranged by grade, from Pre-K to “9-12 Proficient†and “9-12 Advanced.†True to the site’s “Eyes on Art†name there is also a cleverly-made quiz featuring ten pairs of eyes from famous paintings. The challenge is to test one’s knowledge of classic artists by identifying each painter from a pull-down list. The answer page also offers insights into what made each of the artists whose work is seen here (from Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring) so special.
How to use the site:
As noted, first read over the Teacher’s Guide and then use any or all of the activities appropriate to your students. Another approach would be to have students look at these magnificent paintings and discuss them as works of art. This is especially valuable for students who may never get to view in person the originals, many of which are in big-city museums.
