Jackson Pollock Whiteboard

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What it is: Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter and a big name in the abstract expressionist movement.  Recently,  I was reminded about the Jackson Pollock Whiteboard interactive from the wonderful  Techie Classroom blog.   This website allows students to create Jackson Pollock-esque virtual paintings.  Students click anywhere on the screen for splatters of paint, drops, and dribbles.  As they are “painting”, students can press any key on the keyboard for a different background color, erase using the space bar, press alt+ any key to change the color of the drip, or use numbers 1-0 or left, right, up, or down arrow to change the color of the drip or background.  Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas is also an iPhone and iPod Touch application.

How to integrate Jackson Pollock Whiteboard into the classroom: This site is just plain fun!  Students will enjoy creating abstract works of art by clicking and moving around the virtual page.  Obviously this would be a great way to introduce students to abstract art and to Jackson Pollock, students could start by creating here, and then study Jackson Pollock and his famous paintings.  Put the Jackson Pollock website up on your interactive whiteboard and let your class create a Pollock masterpiece throughout the day.  Take a screen shot of the finished painting at the end of the day/class period.  This could be done every day over a week or month.  At the end of the week/month collect all of your classroom virtual paintings into a slide show.  Do the finished paintings convey the emotions of the days?  The slide show of paintings could also be used as a backdrop for information that students learned on their Jackson Pollock study.

Students Pollock masterpieces can be used for adding some color to the classroom walls, as a desktop picture or screen saver, or as thank you notes for classroom helpers.

Tips: In the iPod/iPhone version of the Jackson Pollock Whiteboard, multi-touch capabilities are built in for even more fun!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Jackson Pollock Whiteboard in your classroom.