Tag: art gallery

Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery for Kids

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery for Kids3072 views

What it is: This is the last of the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery sites, it is just as great as the others!  BM&AG for Kids is a fun site where students can learn more about Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Victorians, World War 2, and the Art Gallery and Museum.  The site aims to give students a chronological understanding of these historical events, knowledge of the events, people, and changes in the past, organization and communication, and historical inquiry.  Each section has a collection of online related activities and printable activities.

Ancient Egypt- students can learn about ancient Egypt, explore a virtual Egyptian tomb, and explore real mummies.

Ancient Greece- students can learn about ancient Greece and design their own Greek pottery.

Roman Empire- students can learn about the Romans in Britain and dress a Roman soldier for battle.

Victorians- students can learn about the Victorians and explore a Victorian painting.

World War 2- students can learn about the war, assess a bomb damage report, and view pictures of Birmingham from World War 2.

Art Gallery- students can view paintings and learn about landscapes.

Museums- students can explore 6 museum activity zones where students can explore each museum.

How to integrate BM&AG for Kids into your curriculum: The BM&AG for Kids is a good site to incorporate into history lessons.  The site does an excellent job of helping students relate the different time periods above chronologically through an interactive timeline.  The online activities help students understand each time period, giving them activities that will help them make connections in their learning.  The BM&AG for Kids site is a good place to begin a study on a time period.  The site provides students with just enough information to whet their appetite for more.  Many of the activities offer basic information that could then be connected to primary sources.  For example, in the tomb exploration, students are asked to find items in a tomb.  In the activity, there is a basic explanation of each item.  A great extension would be to find primary sources and photographs of the actual items to share with students (or better yet, let them find the primary source!).  Students could then create their own “tomb” either online using online pictures and a creation platform like VoiceThread or Glogster, or an offline tomb with printed primary sources.

Tips: BM&AG for Kids was created for the Birmingham Museum and Art Collection.  They have several excellent websites that I will have reviewed.  To view all the Birmingham Museum sites, search “Museum” or “Birmingham Museum” in my search box above.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using BM&AG for Kids in your classroom!



Bedazzled-Interactive Museum and Art Gallery Magazine

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Bedazzled-Interactive Museum and Art Gallery Magazine2987 views

What it is: Bedazzled is another site from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.  In this interactive magazine, students can discover more about style, fashion, and accessories from the past to the present.  Students will learn what clothes say about them (and what they say about people in the past), look at accessories throughout history, read an interview from a jewelry designer and learn how to make their own jewelry, learn about what fashion tells us about different cultures, view actual pieces of fashion and accessories from the museum, and learn about what jewelry was used for and represented in the past.

How to integrate Bedazzled into your curriculum: Do you have students (read: fashonistas) who are absolutely positive that they don’t like history?  Introduce them to a love of history with the Bedazzled interactive magazine.  Your students will be drawn in by the fun fashion magazine and will be intrigued by the way that fashion can be used to learn about history.  Allow your students to explore the pages at their own pace as a center activity on the classroom computer or in a lab setting where each student has a computer.  The magazine is an entertaining read but also packed full of history.  After your students read through the magazine, challenge them to choose an accessory, fashion item, or jewelry to learn more about.  Ask them to find out what was happening in the time period that the piece is worn and how the item can help them better understand the people of the time period.  Take it a step further by asking students to write a fictional short story about the person who wore the item using historical facts that they learned in their exploration.

This interactive magazine is a great way to show your students that history is more than a collection of dates and facts.  History is about stories, it is about people just like them.  Give your students that connection and the love for history will begin to blossom.  This site would have hooked me as a child!

Tips: Bedazzled was created for the Birmingham Museum and Art Collection.  They have several excellent websites that I will be reviewing.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Bedazzled in your classroom!

Alien Adventures: Museum tour

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Alien Adventures: Museum tour2465 views

What it is: Alien Adventures is another site from Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.  The premise of the site is that an alien king has sent two aliens, Borg and Zunk, on a mission to find out about Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.  Students join the aliens to discover information and activities about the collections there.  Students will learn how to create a masterpiece, find hidden messages in portraits, learn about landscapes, and learn about signs and symbols.  Students can also play history games like the curator collection game or the extraordinary Earth game.

How to integrate Alien Adventures into your curriculum: Alien Adventures is a fun way for students to explore a museum and learn more about art and history as they interact with fun activities and games.  I love how museums are creating such wonderful websites for students to explore and enjoy learning more about art and history.

Can’t swing a visit to an art gallery or museum this year?  Don’t let your students be deprived of the experience, visit the online offerings for the next best thing.  Allow your students to explore the Birmingham collection online with the help of some aliens and then, come back as a class to talk about what they saw and learned on their “trip” to the museum.  If you don’t have enough computers for each student, use a projector or interactive whiteboard to explore with the aliens as a class.

Tips: Alien Adventures was created for the Birmingham Museum and Art Collection.  They have several excellent websites that I will be reviewing.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Alien Adventures in your classroom!

Artopia

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on Artopia3385 views

What it is:  Artopia is an interactive website that lets students learn more about and interact with different mediums of art virtually.  “Students can closely examine important works of art and take part in activities that teach about styles, principles and processes of each art form. They can write about the artworks online, collect art cards in a virtual portfolio and view videos of professional artists at work. Teachers may exhibit their students’ artwork in a virtual gallery and both students and teachers can communicate with other artists in an online message board.”  Artopia teaches students about dance, media arts, music, painting, sculpture, and theater.  This is an outstanding addition to an art classroom!

How to integrate Artopia into the classroom: Artopia is a nice addition to any classroom.  The site can be used to develop a greater appreciation for the arts.  Students can be recognized and encouraged in their own art in the sites online art gallery.   Artopia introduces students to important works of art and teaches them how to think about art.  This site would be wonderful for working on critical thinking skills, creativity, and innovation.  

 

Tips:  Check out the Teacher Resources for lesson plans using Artopia in your classroom.  Pass this site on to an art teacher, they will be thankful you did!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Artopia in your classroom.