The Ism's Project: An Introduction to 20th Century Art Movements

This Power-point presentation includes 99 slides which introduce your students to some of the more well-known art movements of the 20th century. It is perfect for 5th grade, as well as middle and high school aged students. Your students will learn what an art movement is (we often referred to them collectively as ISM’S), and how to recognize and discuss their key principles. The students will be introduced to many well-known works of art and popular artists. The students will then use an everyday object as inspiration to demonstrate their understanding of their favorite art movements as they recreate their objects in a number of different styles. They’ll find their own artistic preferences through their choices in style and media. They’ll make connections to artists of the past as they work similarly to how they did, and they’ll use their new-found knowledge of art history to compare and contrast their own unique works of art. I’ve done this lesson with varied age groups and am always pleasantly surprised by the level of engagement, the in-depth learning, as well as the creative finished products. I trust that you and your students will enjoy this unit as much as we did. Enjoy! –Bo (The Art Guru)

Here’s a breakdown of what’s included in the presentation:
Slides1-2: break down the unit objectives (why are we doing this?).
Slides 3-14: introduce what an art movement is, how they are named, and numerous examples are given. An art history timeline is used along with twenty pictured examples of well-known art movements. The introduction of photography is also highlighted as a turning point in arts’ history where we began to see major artistic changes.
Slides 13 &14: introduce the six specific movements that the students will be concentrating on: Pointillism, Realism, Surrealism, Cubism. Pointillism, and Fauvism as well as Op art and Pop art.
Slides 15-17: break down the type of object(s) that the students will need to bring to class, the varied media that they will be able to work with, and an example of the finished product.
Slides 18-88: break down the fore-mentioned art movements (Isms) into an easy to understand format. Each movement includes a definition and/or the common beliefs and key ideas behind each movement. Numerous art examples (many well-known) are shown as well as the main artists associated with these movements. Also included are discussion questions and much, much more.
Slides: 89-96 how 60 individual solutions to this project done by students of all ages and ability levels.
Slide 97: is dedicated to an extra credit opportunity (if students wish to try to demonstrate their knowledge by illustrating more examples than what is required).
Slides 98-99: are for the teacher (and students), and includes printable “fill-in-the-blank” style note-taking as your students follow along to your presentation as well as a scoring rubric sheet.