Budgets and Art are under scrutiny all across the country. As teachers we need to be ready to defend the relevance of our subject or face cuts. THIS POST will give you the ammunition you need to defend your program. However, if your program produces “copy-me” work LIKE THIS, then there are issues you need to address. I have created THIS resource for new teachers that focuses on Choice-based pedagogy, with a digital download available HERE. A video preview of the book can be seen on YouTube HERE.
This blog offers hundreds of free lessons, resources, and examples you can use in your classroom. I have even added a search function on the top-right column to help you find specific posts. With over 12 years (so far) of posts, you’ll likely find something helpful AND FREE to use.
If you’d like something more specifically tailored to your program, grade level, and intercurricular connections (to knock the socks off your administration) visit my app at https://app.artedguru.com and toggle between Teacher Lessons Plan & Independent Project. You can specify grade level, class period length, Media, Visual Style, Purpose, Historical/Cultural connections, and even add a wildcard selection like a specific theme, artist, or topic you’d like to incorporate. There are additional check boxes for pacing guides, estimated costs, sub plans, critiques, and 504/IEP accommodation.
I have also pulled my best lessons from my 37+ years of classroom teaching and organized them by art elements and principles. Book 1 (with over differentiated lessons for grades k-12) is HERE with a digital download available HERE. And book 2, with another 50+ lessons is HERE, and a digital download available HERE. A video preview of the book can be seen HERE. These books and the following all come with right to make copies for your students! That’s a big plus not many publishers allow.
This blog offers hundreds of free lessons, resources, and examples you can use in your classroom. I have even added a search function on the top-right column to help you find specific posts. With over 12 years (so far) of posts, you’ll likely find something helpful AND FREE to use.
If you’d like something more specifically tailored to your program, grade level, and intercurricular connections (to knock the socks off your administration) visit my app at https://app.artedguru.com and toggle between Teacher Lessons Plan & Independent Project. You can specify grade level, class period length, Media, Visual Style, Purpose, Historical/Cultural connections, and even add a wildcard selection like a specific theme, artist, or topic you’d like to incorporate. There are additional check boxes for pacing guides, estimated costs, sub plans, critiques, and 504/IEP accommodation.
I have also pulled my best lessons from my 37+ years of classroom teaching and organized them by art elements and principles. Book 1 (with over differentiated lessons for grades k-12) is HERE with a digital download available HERE. And book 2, with another 50+ lessons is HERE, and a digital download available HERE. A video preview of the book can be seen HERE. These books and the following all come with right to make copies for your students! That’s a big plus not many publishers allow.
If you are looking for a new approach to Art History, I created THIS BOOK based on my unique approach. It teaches students to think visually rather than memorize facts. Instead of treating art movements as lists of dates and names, this workbook presents them as visual languages that can be analyzed, compared, and decoded. Students develop essential skills—observation, pattern recognition, categorization, and visual reasoning—that extend beyond the art room into other disciplines and everyday visual culture. Organized into clear, classroom-ready sections from Byzantine art through contemporary conceptual art, the book includes over 130 lesson prompts, assessments, reproducible resources, and access to a free color-image PDF for instruction. A digital download is available HERE and a preview PDF can be seen HERE.
If you are looking to do crafts with your students and avoid cultural appropriation, I have THIS BOOK with 140 open-ended, craft-based lessons prompts supported by illustrated cultural examples. A digital download is available HERE and a PDF of some inner pages can be seen HERE. Teachers are encouraged to start with their students—surveying cultural backgrounds, inviting research and sharing, and empowering students to help guide explorations of global craft traditions such as weaving, wrapping, stitching, carving, and more. Included are adaptable scaffolds, worksheets, assessments, and rubrics that work across grade levels and cultural contexts. Printed in black and white for easy copying, with a full-color PDF companion available for classroom use. It’s a teaching toolkit for building respect, identity, and authentic cultural understanding through making.
The last resource I will recommend are my workbooks. I personally use them daily in my classroom. Though I can teacher from the Teacher’s Edition, I like to get individual student editions so they can build a portfolio as we work. I use the advanced book for my independent classes, available in both teacher edition and student edition. Buying individual copies though may be outside most budgets, but the books can be purchased through Donor’s Choose and Amazon’s partnership.
Planning your year can be both exciting and daunting. It is a chance for a refresh, and starting over. THIS is how I approach each new year. If you are new to art education, THIS is the advice I wish I received my first year.
If you are looking to do crafts with your students and avoid cultural appropriation, I have THIS BOOK with 140 open-ended, craft-based lessons prompts supported by illustrated cultural examples. A digital download is available HERE and a PDF of some inner pages can be seen HERE. Teachers are encouraged to start with their students—surveying cultural backgrounds, inviting research and sharing, and empowering students to help guide explorations of global craft traditions such as weaving, wrapping, stitching, carving, and more. Included are adaptable scaffolds, worksheets, assessments, and rubrics that work across grade levels and cultural contexts. Printed in black and white for easy copying, with a full-color PDF companion available for classroom use. It’s a teaching toolkit for building respect, identity, and authentic cultural understanding through making.
The last resource I will recommend are my workbooks. I personally use them daily in my classroom. Though I can teacher from the Teacher’s Edition, I like to get individual student editions so they can build a portfolio as we work. I use the advanced book for my independent classes, available in both teacher edition and student edition. Buying individual copies though may be outside most budgets, but the books can be purchased through Donor’s Choose and Amazon’s partnership.
Planning your year can be both exciting and daunting. It is a chance for a refresh, and starting over. THIS is how I approach each new year. If you are new to art education, THIS is the advice I wish I received my first year.
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