SUBJECT
American History, Art and Artists

GRADE
Pre-K-K

DURATION
1 Week

COLLECTION
Integrating Technology into the Curriculum

Action Painting on a SMARTboard

By Alexandra Savvas and Naomi Randolph

Students will learn about the American born artist Jackson Pollock, who was famous for his "action painting." Jackson Pollock described his paintings as "energy and motion made visible." Students will have the opportunity to view some of his work and discover how it feels to drip and splatter paint across the virtual canvas as they make their own action paintings on the SMARTboard.

Alex and Naomi's kindergartners discover how to make their own action paintings on a SMARTboard.

View Photos

OBJECTIVE

Expose students to artists so they can discuss works of art and the techniques used to produce art.
Make works of art that explore a variety of mediums so they can exercise their imaginations
Express and communicate their own ideas in works of art
Learn how to use a variety of visual arts materials, techniques and processes.
Reflect upon, interpret and evaluate works of art
Understand artistic communication
Work with virtual art and gain knowledge of media and compositional elements

MATERIALS

A Smartboard
Velcro eraser, pens, and remote control for the board
Slideshow of Pollock and his work. In order to view the slideshow, please download the interactive viewer here.
Notes with key points about his life and art to go along with slideshow
Video segments of the real artist working on his artwork (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrVE-WQBcYQ ) and from the movie "Jackson Pollock" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy6Omz1bDPg&feature=related )
Smart board- interactive website jacksonpollock.org

SET UP AND PREPARE

Prepare the slideshow, notes, and video segments
Open up the interactive art website and minimize it so that you can access it quickly.

REPRODUCIBLES

DIRECTIONS

Arrange the children so that they can sit where they see the screen.
Show the class a picture of one of Pollock's art pieces and ask them if they recognize the piece or the artist.
Show the slideshow as you tell them about Pollock's life and work.
Show the video segments from the movie, Jackson Pollock.
Go to the interactive website, explain the activity to the students and model it for them.
Allow the children come up to the smart board and/or the computer to create their own art.
Print it out and/or save the artwork so that you can send/email it to their parents.

SUPPORTING ALL LEARNERS
The activity part of this lesson is completely open-ended and therefore accommodates all students. Since the whole activity is tactile, it is great for students with sensory issues or weaker fine motor skills. The actual lesson includes audio and many visuals that help the students get a feel for the artist's style and way of working.

LESSON EXTENSION

The children create their own artwork in Pollock's style. We put the canvas on the floor of our classroom and they drip and splatter paint with brushes, pieces of wood, spoons, and whisks.
Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

ASSESS STUDENTS
The main way we assess students is through conversation and watching how they use their body as they create their artwork. If you continue to study and compare artists and their styles, you will be able to see if the students have internalized Pollock's style and technique. This study works best if incorporated into an artist study curriculum.

HOME CONNECTION
Send a letter home explaining what artist is being studied and encourage the families to visit the interactive art website which the students used in class to create their pieces. This will allow them to create the pieces at home. Also, if any of your local museums features a piece of his artwork, send them to the museum to view the piece.

BOOKLIST
Due to Jackson Pollock's popularity, there are many books that can be used to help strengthen any lesson that you may want to teach about him and his techniques.

Action Jackson (Robert F. Sibert Honor Books) by Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan, and Robert Andrew Parker. This book is a great follow up or introduction to your lesson.
Jackson Pollock (Getting to know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia
Olivia By Ian Falconer.Kindergarten children get to know and love Olivia and her perspective on the world.
You can't take a balloon into the Metropolitan Museum By Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Glasser. This is a great book to read right before you go to visit a museum and you want to talk about proper behavior. It is a fun read for all.
Art is.... By Bob Raczka. This book is wonderful for you to use as you jumpstart your artist study curriculum for the year.

About the Author

A PreK-K Teacher Advisor with co-teacher Naomi Randolph, Alexandra Savvas teaches kindergarten in an independent school in New York City.

Naomi Randolph, co-teaches Kindergarten with Alexandra Savvas in an independent school in New York City.

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Jackson Pollock

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Teacher Store

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Jackson Pollock

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SET FEATURES:

Includes biographical information and analysis of the artistic/social periods in which the artist painted
Features reproductions of at least 11 paintings per book, in chronological order
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