Art


 * For art, try:** If Picasso Had Used a Pumpkin
 * Focus skill:** Art appreciation
 * What to do:** Divide students into teams and give each group brushes, tempera paints, a pumpkin, and a reproduction of a famous painting. Provide a wide variety of styles, from Pablo Picasso’s angular shapes to Georges Seurat’s dot-filled compositions. (Use Instructor Masterpiece posters, old calendars, or books.) Before paint touches pumpkin, encourage each group to discuss what they notice about the painting they have been given. Ask students to think about the colors used, the look of the brush strokes, the feeling of the piece, and whether it is abstract or not. Remind them that their goal is not to copy the image onto the pumpkin, but rather to capture the style of the artist in their own unique piece of pumpkin art. When all of the pumpkins are finished, create a gallery featuring the pumpkins and the masterpieces that inspired them.