Hot Websites March, 2004
By Linda Lindroth

I have found some really special websites for this month's reviews. Your classroom will be filled with art and the "sound of music" with the lessons and activities to be found at these sites. Enjoy!

San Francisco Symphony Kids
www.sfskids.org

Get your Music in Education Month celebration off to a great start with this interactive symphony site for kids. With a symphony committed to music education, this site for kids is devoted to hearing, learning, and having fun with music.

The Music Lab. Students can experiment with music elements in this lab while learning about tempo, rhythm, pitch, harmony, symbols, and instrumentation. With each element in the Music Lab students get an opportunity to hear music while they follow the notes on the staff and then are able to use buttons to change the music based on the element they select. Two interactive simulators even let students play a tune using the Performalator and create their own tune with the Composerizer. I love the Performalator which helps students read music as they click a computer keyboard to play familiar songs and my students are proud of their accomplishment!

Instruments of the Orchestra. Learning the four instrument families was never like this when I was in school! Just click on an instrument family in the orchestra diagram to get started. From strings to woodwinds to brass and then percussion, students learn about the characteristics of each group, the instruments that make up each family, and can hear each instrument play.

The Radio. Just when you think it can't get any better, all you have to do is click on the Radio button to find a plethora of real orchestra music highlighting the best of music history and the composers that have made music famous. There are "radio channels" that feature music for each of the instrument families in full symphonic sound. Each piece is identified by title and composer. What a great way to play "Name this Tune" with your class before a sympony or concert field trip this spring. Or try the Musical Critters compositions beginning with "The Duck" from Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev.

I have been using this website with my students and am still amazed by the motivation and interest it provides that carries over into every music lesson. Try it - I think you will agree it is an awesome resource.

Color, Contrast and Dimension
www.poynterextra.org/

Experimenting with color has never been easier with this interactive site about color theory. It won't replace the Art Corner or the clean up after a classroom lesson with paints, but it will give your students an opportunity to experience color change and the philosophy and emotions of color in a step-by-step process. Start with a famous painting, discuss the emotion it evokes, and then get a chance to look at the same painting in black and white, and with different primary colors to see how color affects your mood as you study the painting.

The online guide actively shows color theory and teaches students how to use color through eight examples and exercises. Exercises clearly show how colors react to other colors using the Color Wheel to explain primary, secondary and complementary colors. There is even a section devoted to Web Color complete with web color resource links.

Middle School Art Page
www.whsd.org/users/mcb/WEB_PAGES/home_page.html

This school website from Westmont Hilltop Middle School is well-organized and offers the classroom teacher in grades 5-8 a wealth of lessons and art resources to expand the art curriculum. There are grade level lesson plans on color, composition, perspective, expressionism, and creativity - many with printable assessments. The Painting Lessons and Printmaking Lessons are also well done. There are downloadable PDF study cards for art history and links to a number of well-known artists.

The @rt Room
www.arts.ufl.edu/art/rt_room/

This collection of art resources from the University of Florida is rich with art projects, lessons, web links and creative ideas for expanding the art curriculum in your classroom. Whether you begin with one fifteen @rt Sparkers such as a Family Portrait project or Artist Book made from a paper bag, or choose an activity from the @rtrageous Thinking area, you are sure to find a spark to ignite your students' art talents.

As a teacher in Lexington, KY in a school situated between two thoroughbred horse farms, I would be remiss if I did not mention the great art webquest "Horsing Around" to be found in the @rtifacts. Explore the history of art as seen through the horse as an art subject. The @rtifacts also includes Artrivia, an @rt Treasure Hunt to help students learn about artists and their works, and Artist Scrabble to test art knowledge. The @rt Room is sure to fulfill all your needs for the art curriculum with the detailed activities and links to tons of art resources on the Internet.

Linda K. Lindroth is Technology Editor and Web Coordinator for . She is also a Technology Resource Teacher in a K-5 computer lab in Lexington, KY.