Warm Ups That Are Easy and Effective

Do you want a easy and effective Warm Up? Here it is!

Warm Ups are a great way to get your students settled and focused on the work at hand. But since time is so precious in my art class (sometimes only 1 quarter) I need a quick and effective Warm Up. I do two types- written and oral- and they are always based upon the  Principals and Elements of Design. This post is an example of the oral Warm Up.                                 

   

I have the selected art work projected onto the on the front board when the students walk in to the room. Next to the art work is the title of the work, the date and the artist who created the work. Below that I put one of the Elements or Principals that the students are to describe in the art work.

Here’s an example-

   

The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1893 

  

Warm Up Question?- Space

I have a word wall in the back of the room with design vocabulary. The students look under SPACE and find- Deep; Shallow. Then they write the vocabulary word on their mini white board that describes the space in the painting.  Which for The Scream would be- Deep.

          
                         Mini White Boards

Here's a closer look at the single line whiteboards.

When everyone is done, I’ll go around they room and see what vocabulary answers the students wrote on their mini white board.  Then I ask them to tell me WHY they chose that answer. 

This Warm Up is a great way to expose students to art, artists, design vocabulary and Higher Order Thinking. And it only takes about 5 minutes.

I love my 'mini' white boards! 

What do you think? Do you like the 'mini' white boards? Would they work in your class?