Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. INTEGRATING the curriculum A Word is Wor th A Thousand Pictures by Nan Tamplin de Poinsot raphic art can be a tough subject approach with seventh- and eighth-graders, but by mixing a little language arts into our studio lesson, we’ve been having fun with the art of words in a whole new way! I introduce the lesson with a basic explanation of graphic art and its purpose. I tell the students that it’s all about communication and that graphic art (posters, signs, magazine ads, etc.) “talks” to us—communicating ideas with the purpose of selling, informing or educating. We look at some graphic ad examples on posters and in magazines, focusing on things that middle-school students might enjoy, like music, sports, technology, clothing, etc. Then I tell my students they will be creating a graphic design using a word. The purpose of our graphic art will be to educate—to teach an unusual word’s meaning through its appearance. 34 Active Adjectives: Krystal Erika G VISUAL WORDS I teach this les- son using adjectives as the subject matter because adjectives are visual words that allow us to “see” the meaning of nouns more clearly. Other types of words, such as verbs, may also provide interesting subject matter because students can illustrate a verb as an action. As we live in a part of the country where many of our students are ESL, this lesson serves a double purpose in expanding vocabulary as well as artistic vision! The next part of the assignment can be done either individually or in groups. I have done it successfully both ways. Students think of a noun they want to describe. We discuss nouns and brainstorm some ideas. On a piece of paper, students write one to three different nouns, leaving > > space below each. Under each noun students list one to three adjectives that could describe that noun. I give an example like “skateboard,” with adjectives such as “fast,” “expensive” or “old” to describe it. Once students have generated a list of nouns and adjectives, they choose one of their adjectives as the subject of their artwork. Now the fun really begins! We break out the thesauruses x www.ar tsandactivities.com march 2010