High School Art Elective

[Leon Troyer]

I am looking for a good high school art elective.  One that preferably focuses on drawing, but would be glad to hear of any suggestions, even ones that are focused on painting, etc.

[Peter Goertzen]

I don’t know if she uses a curriculum, but our art teacher gets our junior high students making beautiful drawings. I’ll try to remember to ask her about it soon.

[Peter Goertzen]

I talked to our art teacher, and she uses the 7th and 8th grade Art With a Purpose texts. She also told me that, alas, the “drawings” I’ve admired were not exactly what I thought they were. They were curriculum-provided line drawings that students shaded, or copied using a grid. Even so, the results are impressive.

[Carolyn Martin]

I don’t have a good art course to recommend.  We currently don’t offer art as an elective partly because of lack of passionate interest and partly because of lack of resources. Art With a Purpose is an elementary course offered by CLP and possibly the higher level packs could fit as a high school course. I’ve not used Art With a Purpose extensively and not in the higher level so I don’t really know what the level of quality is.

An option we’ve been exploring this year is “farming out” some of the high school electives and connecting students with individuals outside of the school personnel who have the skills and tools that go along with various elective courses such as small engines, horticulture, home-ec, astronomy, etc. Many of these involve the student and the second party working together outside of school hours and off school property about once a week. Do you have an artist in the community that would enjoy sharing their talents with other individuals?

I know there are some gifted art teachers in the Anabaptist world. Do any you have resource ideas to share?

[Jonas Sauder]

Looking for an elective per se is difficult. But in the past, we have used a number of books with success.

Some titles: “How to Draw What You See” by Rudy de Reyna. Covers form, shade, light, perspective…faces…charcoal,ink…
There’s a “Discover Drawing Series” of books by Lee Hammond. One in the series is “Draw Real People”
Another is a series by Frederick J. Garner, one of which is “How to Draw and Paint Trees”
Also, look up “Draw 50” book series–here you’ll find books available on drawing animals, building, autos, etc.

Visit cyrstalproductions.com for other resources, including DVD instructional program on various types of drawing.
These resources offer a teacher with limited art training but interest in teaching art the resources they need to provide students with genuine, quality art instruction under the teacher’s direction.

[Jonas Sauder]

If anyone is looking for art curriculum, check out a new source.
https://www.articulations.online/
It’s developed by Hannah Nolt, who teaches art at Schaefferstown Mennonite School.
It offers 12 units for each of four levels.
Grades 1&2; 3&4; 5&6; 7&8.

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