Assessment Workshop at the Renaissance Center

It was a baker's dozen at the Renaissance Center in Dickson this past Saturday who joined me for some assessment fun! Participants explored a variety of assessment strategies for the elementary classroom by participating in a modeled unit plan in which we created Alter Ego sculptures! The results were delightful! What a fun way to learn how to develop check lists, design student self-evaluation rubrics, and link units for evidence collection for the new Tennessee Arts Growth Assessment being implemented around the state and across the country. The link is the nuts and bolts for anyone who is working on the assessment but this link is for the pretty overview, if you wonder about the who, what and why of the Tennessee Arts Growth Assessment. I think some amazing connections were made on Saturday and I hope to see all of you at the Tennessee Art Education Association Conference for my last Elementary Division Meeting in October or the National Art Education conference where I will present a hands on workshop on assessment in March!

Check out some of these amazing Alter Egos!!

 We ran out of time for the reflective writing that would describe these amazing characters in detail so for now they will have to remain the secret identities of some of your favorite art teachers!!

American, part 1 Kindergarten and First

Our district has been promoting an "Artstober artist of the month" each year for a city-wide art celebration centered around one artists. This year it is Norman Rockwell. Well, I personally love his nostalgic storytelling approach to painting and illustration, but I was not totally inspired from a planning standpoint. So, I broadened my approach...







Kindergarten:
Looking at line, shape and color and taking inspiration from Jasper Johns, Kindergarten redesigned the flag! I posted this whole lesson on the old site before the move, but here are some highlights.

And for 1st grade...My student teacher lead a unit on American Symbols and Pop Art that teaches facial proportions inspired by Peter Max. A good unit for her to start on and the 1st graders loved it!! Check out Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty!

Part 1 of our Artstober display was up in time for Patriot's Day (AKA 9-11)

Dots, Lines and Circles

So, I love a good mural as much as the next art teacher, but I get a little freaked out with the whole "kids roaming free with loaded paintbrushes" thing. So here are two approaches to mural painting with young ones you may like!

First, get inspired! Check out circle painting and see this really simple, community centered approach to collaborative art making. This inspired my Grandparent's Day mural. I recruited some kindergarten/1st graders in our after school program to help me. 

Here are the rules:

1. Only paint circles, lines and dots.

2. Do not paint out anyone's work, only embellish.

3. Paint until everything touches.

Of course my usual (control freak) painting rules apply, like not painting on yourself, your friends, or pretty much anything but the paper. 

I know- OOOH! Right!? Need a little more control for a smaller group try this...

Think musical chairs, with paint. I know what you're thinking, "How is that more control-crazy lady??"

Well, the power when out at my house during a Labor Day storm so we made a circle mural like this:

I set the table like this. I happen to have some 6x6 canvas pieces. Everyone painted for three minutes on their own painting with the same rules as above.

Then we rotated and repeated every three minutes. When you returned to your original painting you got to put the last touches on it for the last five minutes.

This is my son's finished piece. (Age 7)

This is my daughter's piece. (Age 4)

This is mine. (Age unavailable )

 This is my husbands painting.

You hang them together for a 13x13 finished piece if you leave a space. You can mount them to a painted board or hang them individually. I love it and my whole family had fun doing it!! I could see doing it by table at school on larger canvases to create six panels per class. The possibilities are endless!!

Elements do-what???

Last night before heading home, I found an "o" on the carpet. And just like all the stupid people in the scary movies, I didn't look up....but my 2nd graders did today.

It made me belly laugh the whole class had to stop for a little laugh-therapy! Oh- what a difference an "o" makes!!

Inferring Meaning through Art

A big topic in most of the language arts classrooms these days is the ability to infer meaning. Our school's new reading textbook adoption is as much focused on inferring meaning and drawing conclusions as it is to the mechanics of reading and remembering. So I started paying with my iPad. First, know that this is not Artsonia.com approved because you can see faces, and second, that these are the faces of my own, personal children, so...I approved of them being published.

App #1- Superimpose (Free) and Fuglestad approved
This is a great app that allows you to combine two images in a really cool way! So I took a surprised picture of my son, and "The Scream" and Tah-dah! Boy screaming. I asked him, "What really makes you want to scream?" I took his saved Superimposed image and imported it into App#2 Comic Touch Lite (free). This app lets you make any image into comic-caption. You have several types of bubbles to choose from and then just type and move the bubble. Each app saves the images as a jpeg. I repeated the process with my 4 year old daughter. Hilarious! It really took my mind off the fact that I was sitting on the couch, on the last sunny-swim-day of the summer between two kids with ear infections. Can you infer meaning into my choice of masterworks? Hmmmm......

Take a photo- Superimpose it and save. Import the photo into Comic Touch and Infer!

 I like the idea of doing this with students because they literally have to put themselves in the picture and create meaning. Below is one of Mrs. Fuglestad's art appreciation iPad lessons with a "Comic Touch". This one is Artsonia approved! Now I just have to commandeer enough iPads to try this in my art classroom....