August is American Artist Appreciation Month, an opportunity to share and celebrate the history and diversity of American poets, dancers, painters, sculptors, and musicians. It is also an opportunity to integrate the study of artists into other curriculum areas, including history, social studies, and language arts.
Perhaps you want to acknowledge and celebrate American artists in your classroom; however, time is a big concern. Using online tools to create and share student-directed learning experiences is one method to offer choice and engage students through self-paced learning experiences. One option is to create a playlist with all activities for students to complete at their own pace during the month, while another is to provide learning opportunities weekly. This work could replace homework or be a part of classroom station rotations.
Let’s examine how to use SchoolAI (reviewed here) to offer personalized, interactive, student-directed learning about American artists. SchoolAI uses AI to share over 1,000 activities, including AI tutors, interactive games, lesson generators, and more. The site’s AI Assistants also offer chatbots to assist teachers in using AI in classrooms, curriculum development assistance, digital literacy coaching, and more.
After creating an account and logging in, you begin at the Launchpad, which includes links to tools, assistants, and other features offered in SchoolAI. The best place to find many of the most valuable tools to use with students is by selecting Discover from the dropdown box under Spaces.
- Begin by creating a space as a starting point for student exploration that encourages students to ask about art styles and artists. This process is straightforward: fill in boxes to provide a title and prompt, add standards, and attach a document if desired. Other optional details include adding a cover image and teacher and student descriptions. Students access the chat using the link or QR code generated and begin conversing using the message box. As students engage in the conversation, teachers can view their chats, receive feedback on engagement, and moderate discussions if necessary. Try this chat as an example.
- From the Discover page, scroll down to Video Explorer. You will the Video Explorer option in Spaces For Everyday Use or further down the page in the Customize area. Here you can turn any YouTube video into an interactive discussion. The video pauses at specific points and initiates a chat activity to review essential information. For example, try using this YouTube video to create an explorer activity introducing American artists to students.
- While on the Discover page, scroll down to select Art & Humanities from the subject options; here, you will find Artie, the Arts & Humanities Tutor. Before launching Artie and sharing with students, add optional information that includes the audience description and session instructions. Session instructions might read, “Students explore American artists, including their different genres and styles. Focus on providing background of artists and their influences in addition to historical perspectives.” Here’s an example for you to try.
- Scroll further down the Discover page to find the Choose Your Own Adventure activity. Provide a topic and optional information, including a setting and objectives. For our purposes, the topic is American Artists, the setting is the Smithsonian Museum, and the objectives are for students to learn about American artists, focusing on their art style, influences, early life, and historical context. Share the URL or QR code to invite students to participate in a Choose Your Own Adventure activity like this one.
- Use the tools section in SchoolAI to generate rubrics, vocabulary lists, and more. The Performance Task generator is an excellent tool for defining tasks, providing students with directions, and creating rubrics for assessment.
When using AI tools, always verify and check results for accuracy. To teach and promote digital literacy, consider providing rewards such as digital badges for students who identify AI-produced errors.
As a final project, provide students with options to show what they know by creating multimedia projects.
- Genially (reviewed here) – Prompt students to design an interactive image. Students can use this interactive template to delve into artists’ information, incorporating videos, images, and their own documents.
- Canva Education Templates (reviewed here) – Ask students to select from several templates to create presentations, infographics, and more.
- Clipchamp (reviewed here) – Have creative students make videos using this free easy to use video editing tool. Watch this on-demand OK2Ask workshop to learn the basics of the tool.
As you and your students explore American Artist Appreciation Month, take advantage of the many ways to integrate the celebration of artists into your curriculum. Tools such as SchoolAI offer students personalized, interactive, and self-paced learning experiences that enhance their understanding of American artists, provide cross-curricular learning, and promote digital literacy and critical thinking skills.
What are your suggestions for integrating American Artist Appreciation Month into your curriculum? We look forward to hearing your ideas as we learn together.