Managing a Classroom, Building a Community

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When structuring one’s classroom, one should strive to create a community. A community is a place for students to feel cared for, supported, and encouraged. It’s a place where each student is valued and respected as an important individual and a place where each person learns to appreciate the differences of others. Students who learn within positive classroom communities think as a collective group and constantly work together to achieve common goals. In this effective environment, students come together as a group, a team, and even a family. Community means understanding and creates an atmosphere in which students can work, live, and learn together.

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Look!: Body Languages in Art

Text: Wolfe, G. (2006). Look!: body language in art. London, England: Frances Lincoln Limited.

Text type: Informational Children’s Book

Synopsis: This book focuses on 18 different artworks from artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol, examining how artists use body language to communicate within their artworks. The author focuses on examining how faces, hands, and bodies, overall, deliver messages and tell stories to show how a person or character is feeling or what they may be thinking. This text illustrates how classical art can relate to contemporary times by recognizing universal ways to communicate nonverbally.

Analysis: This book will challenge its readers to evaluate how communication can be delivered through art and through body language by asking thought-provoking questions such as “What do you think will happen next?” and “How would their lives have been different?” Activities are offered to encourage readers to further their exploration of body language in art. For even further research, biographical information is given about each artist within the book as well as where to find the original paintings shown in the text. This book will allow students to improve their literacy and thinking skills while allowing them to explore a new perspective in communicating within art.

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Leonardo Da Vinci: The Renaissance Man

“Leonardo Da Vinci: The Renaissance Man” by Dan Danko

Text: Danko, D. (2012). Leonardo Da Vinci: The Renaissance man. New Delhi, India: Campfire Graphic Novels.

Text type: Graphic Novel

Synopsis: This graphic novel illustrates the life of Leonardo Da Vinci, a Renaissance man who was most famous for his paintings as he experimented with media, his inventions as he tried to revolutionize technology, and his writings as he documented his thoughts throughout his life within many journals and sketchbooks. Focusing on the mystery of the stolen masterpiece, The Mona Lisa, this novel illustrates da Vinci’s life and his impact on the art world today. The reader is given the chance to view da Vinci’s complicated life without missing any details while also following the recovery of the missing painting.

Analysis: This graphic novel is an excellent resource to use in the art classroom, but may be better suited for high school students as it contains dense text and rigorous vocabulary. The storyline of da Vinci’s life is complex and detailed and does not contain any inappropriate or profane material. This text will help introduce or reinforce vocabulary while improving students’ literacy skills as they follow the complex story. It will help demonstrate how Leonardo da Vinci influenced many different subject areas including science, art, aviation, and design by illustrating his inventions, artworks, sketches, and ideas. He also influenced the way that humans view the human body through his incredibly detailed studies of muscles, bones, and skin. This text will allow students to understand more about one of the most influential artists of all time while enjoying a graphic novel that will also help them within their studies of art and design.

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