Talking SMARTBoards & Much More! » art

Animate your photos

anne marie — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:35:11 +0000

I have been experimenting with another website that creates some fun animated avatars called LooGix.com and wanted to share. I found LooGix.com to be very user friendly and intuitive. There is no registration necessary and once generated your picture will have a permanent URL. You also will be provided with a HTML code, you can use to insert your picture to web pages, blogs, wikis. Above are two examples I created. There are six different animations to pick from-ENJOY!

Virtual Sand Art

anne marie — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:55:38 +0000

I discovered a really cooooool site that allows you to create virtual sand art called Thisissand.com. I remember as a kid going to the beach with my family and one of the fun activities we did was going to a beach vendor to create sand art in a bottle– what fun memories!! Thisissand.com is just plain fun and here is a warning– it can be very addicting!! In addition it is very easy to use– just left click and you will begin to drop the virtual sand on the blank canvas. I should mention that you click on the gray box in the right hand corner of the screen for the directions. Press “C”to change the color of the sand , “E” to erase the drawing, “M” to mute the sound (yes it even sounds like sand falling!!). Screen shots will save your creation or you can opt to save your creation to the art gallery. The sand art below is an example from the art gallery. This could be a very fun, collaborative art activity using the SMARTBoard.ENJOY!

Photovisi

anne marie — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:42:05 +0000

I just recently discovered Photvisi- a very fun, very easy site that allows you to create some one of a kind collages using your photos. There is no registration, simply create and save (or take a screen shot)- very easy. The collage above is an example of a Photvisi that I created of pictures of Darren, Felicia and Timmy. You are given 18 different templates to create your collage. This would be a great way to visually review or introduce a lesson or simply document an important classroom event. ENJOY!

The Renaissance

anne marie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:26:59 +0000

I was asked by a history teacher if I knew of any interactive websites to support a lesson on The Renaissance. I was reminded of a site by the Allentown Art Museum called The Renaissance Connection. In their own words-”With the simple click of a mouse button, travel 500 years into the past to discover many Renaissance innovations revealed through the Allentown Art Museum’s Samuel H. Kress Collection of European art.” This site does require Flash. All of the activities including Inventions 1400-2020, Art Explorer, etc. present very well on the SMARTBoard. ENJOY!

Tag Galaxy

anne marie — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:33:57 +0000

I want to share this really cool application called Tag Galaxy that was created by Steven Wood at the University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg.It is very easy to use and spectacular to view– click on New Tag in the upper left corner of the screen, type in a word and a planetary galaxy will appear with related pictures that were found on Flikr. Dragging your mouse over the different planets will tell you how many photos have been locted in that sub- tag. Clicking on the planet will begin the process of transferring the photos to the planet (if there are several photos it could take a while). Once loaded you can then use your mouse (left click and drag) to rotate the planet to see all of the pictures. Trust me this application is REALLY cool and presents great on the SMARTBoard. This would be a great way to initiate a conversation about specific topics or how awesome for an art teacher to display the work of different artists. Below is a Michael Jackson Tag Galaxy I created. ENJOY!

BeFunky

anne marie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:30:24 +0000

I feel alittle Befunked this morning!!! A friend of mine told me about this really fun site called BeFunky.com- a place where you can tranform any photo into some very fun, very incredible artwork and the best part is, it’s all free with no registration required! It’s as simple as uploading a photo and chosing the application you want and voila, you have created an amazing BeFunky original! When finished it will give you the option of saving it to your desktop or gallery (you will need to register for an account if you want to save it to your gallery) or sharing it to a friend (email). This is another great way to create a fun avatar for a class blog or wiki, add some fun artwork to a SMART Notebook lesson or for a fun art class project. ENJOY!

Bomomo brings colors to life!

anne marie — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:40:06 +0000

Bomomo is a wonderfully fun site that allows students to express their artistic side. An art teacher friend of mine calls it ” Abstract Mouse Art”. It reminds me of my days as a child when I would spend hours creating a design on my Etcher Sketch. To use Bomomo you simply chose (click) one of the tools from the toolbar (there are 18 and they all do very cool things), move your mouse around and left click and hold to “paint”. Just a word of caution, some of the tools will erase the paint so you may want to have students experiment with the tools so they understand their functions. This may help avoid a disaster! You can easily save and print your creation. This application is completely free, with no registration required and no ads- YEAH!

Here is a link to some Bomomo creations found on Flickr. The Bomomo that I created is below. ENJOY!

All About Art!

anne marie — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:01:05 +0000

This weekend I received a phone call from a former colleague of mine, Holly– a wonderful art teacher. Her call reminded me that I have been meaning to share some online art games/activities that have been on my list of sites to write about since learning of them this summer at a PD workshop. So thanks Holly, for both reconnecting and also reminding me of my “art to-blog” list!!

The first site is from Albright-Knox Art Gallery called Art Games. Art Games is an interactive website designed to engage children in playful, interactive learning about works of art in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Galleryin Buffalo, New York which work well with the SB. There are five artists/paintings to explore and learn about while having fun! Their description includes:

designed for children in kindergarten through 6th grade.

to be enjoyed by children playing on their own or with an adult companion.

guided by instructions in English or Spanish text and audio

Getty Games is another wonderful interactive website that offers several interactive games/activities to explore and learn about different artists and art techniques. All of the artwork used in Getty Games are kept at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The Getty is a museum and arts organization that teaches people about art. There are four categories to chose from including detail detective, jigsaw puzzle, switch and match madness and within these categories there are a variety of games/activities to pick from, most working well with the SB- YEAH!

A very fun, almost addictive online paint screen program can be found at JasonPollock.com. Your mouse (or your finger if using the SB) becomes the paint brush– click to change colors and create a Pollock-like painting! Did I say FUN??!!!!

APintura:Art Detective- an online game about art history and art composition designed for 4th grade or higher. It takes students on an adventure to solve a mystery about a missing piece of artwork. There is an accompanying worksheet and teacher key. This site presents well on the SB.

Hope these sites are helpful- ENJOY!

Free Rice….Free Poverty

anne marie — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:34:43 +0000

Over the past few weeks I know several Blogs have written about the two sites I am discussing today (including Mr. Byrnes over at Free Technology for Teachers), but in the spirit of Thanksgiving I wanted to mention each of them on my Blog– Free Rice and Free Poverty. Free Rice tests your knowledge in a variety of subjects (not just ELA) and with each correct answer rice is donated to charity. Free Poverty tests your Geography knowledge and with each correct answer water is donated to charity. Free Poverty is a great way for students to learn and development knowledge of geography and works wonderfully on the SMARTBoard. Free Rice offers a variety of subjects to test your knowledge including math, languages (French, Spanish, German, Italian), Art, Chemistry, English, Geography (click on “change the subject” in the right corner to advance to the page with the choices). Most of these activities work well with the SMARTBoard.

The most incredible feature of both of these educational games is that by using these sites to assist your students in reinforcing/learning specific skills you, and your students, will be helping others less fortunate. I know some school districts who have been keeping track (posting it daily on a board by the main office) of the amounts of rice and water the school has donated just by virtue of using these sites as an educational tool. I also know of one school who started a “Free Rice Challenge” as a motivator- classes have challenged each other to see which class can donate the most amount of rice before Thanksgiving. ENJOY!

A Lifetime of Color shines BRIGHT!

anne marie — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:28:54 +0000

For all K-8 Art Teachers I came across a very nice site, A Lifetime of Color, that offers 4 comprehensive areas to explore and use- lessons plans, activities, study, play, teacher’s lounge. I really appreciated the Artist link in the study section as it provides a brief overview of 35 artists- most giving examples of their artwork. Also in the same study section is a comprehensive glossary section that provides a wealth of information relating to art lingo. The play section offers some fun interactive games. All in all a great site- oh yeah and most of the features present well with the SMARTBoard. ENJOY!