What this site is about…

The majority of the information found here was initially provided via a “very large” notebook to each of our World History teachers. This was not user friendly and used a lot of paper. So the web concept was born out of necessity and economy.

What is provided within is primarily a tool-box or resource material gathered throughout the internet to assist the World History teacher to integrate the ‘Fine Arts’ into their curriculum.

Why? The Fine Arts is an integral aspect of our world’s history. In many cases it is all we have to say that a culture even existed at all. Teaching world history without the arts is to tell a story without all the parts. Integrating the Arts into World History brings everything to life. The painting depicting the French Revolution tells more than just words ever can. Looking at the Egyptian hieroglyphics is a window into the past that if only read in English is a crime. Paintings done by ‘combat artists’ during the world wars show the reality of the events as they happened, thus making learning more meaningful.

This site provides ideas for integration, sample assignments, power point slides, and printable handouts to use in class. There are many web sites provided throughout. The purpose is to provide a teacher friendly resource for many areas of education, such as; museums, the History Channel, PBS, Discovery, or National Geographic sites when feasible. There are a few .com and .org sites but these are kept to a minimum unless left with no other options. The use of EDU sites has been sought out whenever feasible.

Teachers can use the information here as is or as a resource to design other classes. Teachers of any subject area would be able to use this site, such as; English, American History, there are even handouts designed specifically with other curriculum in mind. The organization of the site will hopefully make it as easy as possible to use. The folders marked art or music ‘items’ offer a wide variety of resources. We hope to continue to add to it throughout the comings years.

This site has educationally appropriate information. It is a great opportunity for students to use for research because the sites have already been approved for educational use. While some sites may well contain links that offer ‘advertisements’ this is just a fact of the internet today and are not supported or recommended by this school district or the employees.

Time is of the essences and this site linked to our LPS home page is just another time saving tool for teachers and students.

I look forward to constructive comments to make the site better. Feel free to send me ideas and constructive recommendations.

Mr. Johns
The Art Teacher…