I've had a great time this term experimenting with new units inspired by Apex High School in North Carolina. We started each unit with some whole class activities, TED Talks combined with online discussion boards and ended with a choice-based project done by each student. Below are some examples of the work and process.
Artists inspire
For this unit Advanced Draw & Paint students collaborated with the Earthbook Staff. Earthbook is WHS's student-made literary magazine. Earthbook staff chose written poems, stories and essays that were submitted to Earthbook and Adv. D & P students created artwork that later appeared in Earthbook next to the text. We looked at the creative process of illustrator Peter Brown and discussed how illustration brings additional meaning to the writing. The end result should be better than the sum of the parts.
Artists Inspire
Advanced Art Students listed to a variety of TED Talks and checked out the artwork by Beehive Design Collective to start off this unit. We also discussed the differences between being inspired and being inspiring. Students created artwork based on an inspiration of their own or something they wanted to inspire in others.