We Have Been Making, Building, Creating, Learning!

I can't say how  much excitement Choice-Based Art has been this year.  I am astounded at the work my students have done and how much learning and excitement letting them drive their own learning has changed my viewpoint on autonomy in the Art Room.  This has been an amazing year. 

 

Sketchbook Mapping

Every project began with research.  Students had to choose a theme or concept they wanted to convey; they had to think about something they cared about and how they might portray it in an artwork.

Once they had figured out what they wanted to accomplish in their artwork, they built a complex design  plan through mapping it in their sketchbook.  They began to research on the iPads and computers in the classroom; they could also go to the media center to use the computers there, or bring their own devices.  They had to come up with at least one supporting reference picture, but they could have up to three.  They uploaded them to a Google Drive account and I retrieved them and printed them, and they were added to the sketchbook maps.  Once they had their theme, materials list, explanation of their inspiration, reference picture, and layout, they followed up with a paragraph that explained what their underlying meaning was to their planned artwork, and how they planned to get the piece done.  Students could choose any materials I had available, or even bring in their own materials.  My office has been chock-full of extra stuff kids have brought in!  We had some discussion about their projects, and as I looked through their sketchbook maps, I made notes for them to remind them of what we had discussed for their projects as they began.

Here are some of the works in progress:

 

Many students are finished and it's time to reflect on their work.  I will post finished products in the next couple of weeks.  I'm so proud of all they have done.  They have more than risen to the challenge. 

Choice-Based Art and Sculpting Around the Room

I have been so excited to be getting my students ready for Choice-Based Art.  I began working with them on the Elements of Art, graduated to Drawing Around the  Room, and now we are Sculpting Around the Room.  I have to give a huge nod to Cynthia Gaub at Artechtivity.com--she has some amazing things she's doing with middle schoolers, and I'm modifying her Around the Room activities to fit my elementary kids.  They are loving it and I'm so grateful Cynthia rocked this before I tried it.  It's made my job a million times easier.  She even provides the handouts--go check out her website.  Thank you, Cynthia!


Sketchbook Covers

We began our school year working on the Elements of Art, and how to research on our iPads.  We took a "field trip" to the hall outside my room to study the Elements and  Principals bulletin boards, then headed to the media center to learn about safe searches, best practices in research, and effective websites for student inquiry.  Students chose the Element of Art they wanted to work on, researched images for inspiration, and then chose the medium they wanted to use to depict their Element.  Some students chose to illustrate more than one medium.  Afterward we did a quick gallery walk to see what everyone did (they were so amazed at each others' work!) and then they took a bit of time to reflect in writing what they had learned.  I have Art Standards  checklists for them to check off the date when they  meet a standard each quarter, so that was also part of the activity.

Then we turned to the studio introductions for Choice-Based Art.

 Drawing Around the Room
 

In preparation for beginning our Choice-Based Art Studios, we have some activities using various media; the kids are finding out how their art supplies behave.  Our first set of activities was Drawing Around the Room.  In Drawing Around the Room, students worked with 7 different drawing mediums:  drawing pencils, colored pencils, markers, oil pastels, chalk pastels, crayon, and charcoal.  Stations were set up at each table, and students rotated in groups of four to test each medium.  Cards with definitions of techniques were at each station, and students were required to write the definition before trying the medium.  Next, they worked with the medium and tried out various techniques.  They were encouraged to experiment and see how they liked each one.  Afterward, they reflected on their favorites and least favorites in a writing exercise. 

We are now in Sculpt Around the Room, which is the same sort of experiential activities, except I am not letting  them move around the room--I am bringing them the supplies and activities in big boxes--we lost too much time in transition with the drawing studios.  With Sculpt Around the Room, students have a full 45 minute class period to work on their sculptures. 


Boxes, supplies, so much stuff!  But so worth it.

Prepping for this was pretty big.  I was so glad to finally get it put together!  Cynthia had noted on her website that her kids didn't want the projects that weren't pretty--nobody wanted to take them home--so I made sure the paper projects, for example, were monochromatic with lots of size and  color variety so they could make it look really good. 

I totally stole a  beautiful paper sculpture poster idea from Sarah Brooks, once again right off of Pinterest.  Thank goodness for Pinterest.  Reinventing the wheel is over.  Isn't this gorgeous?!

Perfect for giving inspiration--and reminders that they already know so much of this already.

In each box are materials for a different sculpting project--wire sculpture, a paper village, a mobile, modeling clay monsters, and a relief sculpture using straws.  As the weeks are going by, the artworks are getting better and better.  They have the full class period to work, and they are becoming more and more confident as they continue to get new boxes of materials. 

Dr. Seuss Villages

Working on the Kinetic Hanging Sculptures (mobiles)

Examples of kinetic sculptures

Modeling clay monsters

Straw relief sculptures

Wire sculptures
 

 

Everybody is so engaged!

It's been so much fun to watch the kids get the hang of working together on projects--the group sculptures are getting better and better. And the individual sculptures are improving as the students get ideas and inspiration from one another.

It's only a few weeks before we are making Choice-Based Art in earnest.  We will have a Painting Around the Room set of activities, and then we are off.  Can't wait!  I will introduce sketchbook mapping for preparing to make an artwork that is a WOW piece--a Work of Wonder--on which students will work for several class periods, on their own steam, and without my telling them what to do.  I become a facilitator and mentor as they learn the Habits of Mind that help good artists create effective artworks.  This is so exciting.  As usual, stay tuned!


New Stuff for the New Year

What a busy start to the new year!  It's going great but I feel like it's already blowing by.  I changed up a few things in my room this year, getting it ready to start Choice-Based Art classes with my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.  I'm excited about letting the kids loose with the materials as they drive their own learning.  Our STEAM initiative has morphed a bit--rather than having STEAM classes that meet as a separate entity from our other classes, they are now attached to the grade levels' science and social studies classes.  Incorporating PBL (Project Based Learning) into teaching has been a big push at our school, and it's a perfect mix with our STEAM classes.  I feel like I'm living in buzz-word land some days! 

So many students have begged me to do Engineering projects that I am going to give an engineering project to each grade level at some point in the year.  Last year's classes were so much fun and the kids got so much out of it!  We'll tag it "Engineering Design" so that it meets criteria for Art as well as Science.  Gotta love that mix.  I'll take it any day!

The research center has a great mix of books, to use for inspiration
in researching on the iPads and computers.

With the startup of Choice-Based Art in my classroom for my older students, I've tweaked my classroom a bit to handle movement between studios.  Got rid of some extraneous furniture (including a set of shelves under which a boatload of termites were happily munching), and set things up to handle the storage of works in progress.  I've also got a research center now, and students will plan their projects using books, computers, and iPads. 

Drawing stations are set up as we open up the drawing studio in a couple of weeks.

Activities are on the board if you get finished early.

I set my easel up so students can see a painting changing.  When I began,
it was just an underpainting.  Slowly it is morphing.  They love to
see and point out the changes.

 I really love the new stools we just got.  They take up so much less space, are waaaaayyyy quieter than chairs, and allow students some freedom of movement that they did not have before.  Many of my students like to stand while they work, and it's way easier to stick them under the table if they want to stand.

I'm excited about Choice-Based Art.  I'll be posting on that pretty soon.