ARTM

any teachers spend hours creating teach-ing resources that have already been developed

in textbooks and textbook ancillar-ies (art reproductions, worksheets, tests, CD-Roms or DVDs, videos, and artist biographies that supple-ment today’s textbooks). Because every art teacher will find a new way to use a textbook in his or her teaching, there are probably as many different ways of using art textbooks as there are art teachers.

Choosing a Textbook How and why you intend to use a textbook should be important con-siderations as you select textbooks for a course. Choose books with features that your students will actually use. Ask questions such as: • How important are a glossary and index to you? • Are the art reproductions the ones you want your students to know? • Are the art reproductions large enough for students to see the important details? • How true is the color? • Are there artists’ biographies? • Will your students be able to understand the writing? • Is the information in it correct? • Do topic and chapter reviews cover main points thoroughly? • Do they encourage higher level thinking skills? • Does the book introduce techniques you will be teaching? • How easy to follow are the technique illustrations? • Will this book provide meaningful opportunities for reading and writing about art? Look for features within text-books that you often dig up yourself or wish you had time to develop.

Using Textbooks EffectivelySuggestions for getting the most from art textbooks.

Kaye Passmore

How to Use a Textbook One of the first decisions you make if you have a textbook, is how to use it. • Will you have the students read straight through the book cover- ing the topics in the order that they are introduced in the text or will you use the chapters out of order? • Will you move through the material based on art history time periods? • Will you approach subjects based on media and techniques or art elements and principles, or will you organize your course around themes?

• Will students each have a book to take out of the room or do you have class sets that remain in the artroom? Some teachers just use textbooks for reference and others use them to create a structure for their whole course.

In one of my first artrooms, I found three classroom sets of small, thin art textbooks filled with col-ored illustrations of “great” art. Ex-cept for my own posters and slides, these were my teaching resources and my main means for introducing students to examples of famous art.

Textbooks in an

art room? Yes,

textbooks are an

important art

teaching tool.

Textbooks can free

teachers to teach

more thoroughly

with richer content

and use time—both

theirs and their

students—more

effectively.

Whenever I wanted students to see exemplars or get art history background for a studio project, I’d give each student a set of the three books and tell them to turn to certain pages where we’d discuss the art. Basically, I was just using the illustrations. It worked, and the seventh grad-ers enjoyed paging through the books and making discoveries for themselves (one of the joys of art textbooks). The first year I taught a high school art history/studio course, I didn’t use a textbook so I spent a lot of my time searching for re-sources—both print information and visuals. The following year we began using textbooks, which simplified my life considerably. Students read the text before we discussed it in class. On tests I could hold them account-able for the information and art

reproductions in the textbook. I would show slides and large reproductions in class and the books provided students with a study resource. Just the sequenc-ing of the information in the book helped students understand the flow of art periods and styles over time. Today’s art textbooks are a long way from the thin ones I first used. Art textbooks and their ancillaries can provide a wealth of information and inspiration to students and their teachers. They have been incredibly helpful for me.

Kaye Passmore is Assistant Profes-sor of Art at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey and a con-tributing author for Davis Publica-tions, www.davisart.com.

Curriculum StructureSome teachers, schools, and dis-tricts structure their whole school or district art program around a textbook series. This is particular-ly true in elementary schools. By using a series that incorporates a spiral curriculum in conjunction with their own printed curricu-lum guide and state standards, they ascertain that students learn increasingly complex skills, techniques, and knowledge in a manner that is appropriate to their developmental levels.

ResearchTextbooks are an easy resource for students to use as they begin research projects. Students may thumb through the text to select a subject to research or teach-ers may assign them topics. Students can read a section in a textbook about an artist or an art style before they peruse the Internet, view CD’s or visit the library. Many textbooks have art-ist biographies, reproductions of their art, and website suggestions either in the book or an ancillary. From this information students can design posters about an artist, create their own art works based on some of the reasons an artist produced in a certain style, or present reports with visuals to other students.

TechniquesTechnique illustrations found in many textbooks can help students review a sequence of steps as they work on a project. This means they can work more independent-ly and remember on their own what to do next.

Inspire CreativityUnusual art illustrations in text-books can inspire students’ own creativity and suggest different approaches to solving a problem. Textbooks often include student art examples that allow students to see how others have solved similar art problems.

LiteracyWith the current emphasis on literacy and reading development, textbooks provide an opportunity for reading about art. Textbooks use art terms in context that can aid in teaching vocabulary and spelling. Contemporary art text-books and their teacher’s editions present ideas for encouraging students to write about art.

The Advantages of Textbook Use

Textbooks can suggest curriculum structure, provide a beginning

point for student research, introduce topics and projects, describe

sketchbook assignments, inspire creativity, provide opportunities

for developing literacy skills within art, encourage independent

learning, and provide information and review of art techniques

and methods.

“The first year I taught high school art, I didn’t use a textbook so I spent a lot of my time searching for

resources—both print information and visuals.”

First in Art Education Since 1901 davisart.com