1. Rachel Barnhart Tammy Fochtman

2.  What: determine main idea, write to inform and to express personal ideas, think critically and generate ideas  How : by using art prints  Why: as a scaffold to help our students to be successful with responding and writing

3.  No extra supplies  No projects that take your limited instruction time  No mess  No special art skills required

4. There are many ways to access art prints.  Any Online Museum  Search by artist  Google images  Artcyclopedia

5.  Some research shows that up to 65% of our students are visual learners.  To get started many need a visual.  Scaffold using art as visual.

6.  Main Idea  Compare and Contrast  Tone/Mood  Character Interactions Use art prints as teaching tools to teach reading concepts. Before students apply the skill to reading have them apply it to a piece of art. Scaffold them from the picture to the text.

7. Students say their least favorite subject is writing. Why?  “boring”  “I don’t know what to write about.”  “ I am not good at it.”

8. Use of art in a writing center stimulates critical thinking, asks students to look beyond the obvious. The questions we use are open ended. There are no right or wrong answers, giving students freedom to express their ideas.

9. Visit us at Tam-space.wikispaces.com for a copy of art inquiry questions and for links to artwork. Let us know how it is working for you.