I believe art must be experienced to be understood, which is why I refuse to teach kinders, 1st, and 2nd graders by simply saying “draw a line.”
When it’s engaging it’s effective. And that’s one of the many reasons teachers love my art school assemblies.
In the video to the right, you’ll watch as I help an audience of 200+ Kindergarten, first, and second graders draw a set of eyeballs on their fishy friends… without just saying “draw an eyeball.”
Art follows math and science.
(Perspective, proportion, and shape recognition is based entirely on math and color is simply light.)
By giving students a chance to see, understand, and incorporate what they are learning in math class during this art assembly, they get a cross curricular benefit that teachers absolutely love. Check out the video to the right and watch one of the many ways I incorporate Common Core Math Standards in my draw-along school assemblies.
(PS: The dude who yells out “Yaaahhh!!” at 2:30 is a teacher trying to show his sarcastic enthusiasm for Common Core Math Standards. )
School assembly programs generally put too much emphasis on “entertainment” and lack any sort of educational content the kids can use. That’s why I pack my draw along art assemblies with kid-friendly art tips, tricks and techniques (based totally on State Standards for Visual Arts) they can apply immediately to their pictures during the assembly.
Ever try and explain an art concept like “contrast” to a seven year old? Watch how I approach it in this short video of one of my assemblies. They get an easy, kid friendly definition of contrast… and… more importantly… a USE for it. (In this case, making a penguin look cute!)