Revised APPR Assessments Part 2: 1st Grade

In my last post, I told you about my revised assessment for Kindergarten, which is serving this year as my LLO portion of my APPR.  In this post, I'll share how I changed the rubric for my 1st grade assessment and why.

Last year, 1st grade served as part of my SLO and while the assessment itself was a great thing, the rubric I had created was just too simple and hard to get a good, accurate measurement of growth out of.  You can see the post I did at the end of last year here.   This assessment involved asking the students to draw 6 things in 6 squares.  They were to be assessed on the subject itself, use of a horizon line, use of colors, and craftsmanship, but because of the way the rubric read, it was very difficult for the other art teacher who assessed my tests to give an accurate grade.  For one drawing, a student might have received a 4 for one aspect of their drawing but a 1 for another, which made it difficult to give a solid score for each drawing.

It was also hard to assess the "draw anything you want" square because let's face it, a lot of the 1st graders just drew "scribbled abstract art".  In the end, I didn't meet my 80% mark of students who met or passed my goal...I only had about 65% of students meet or exceed the goal.  So, here is how I changed this assessment for this year.

The first thing I did was change the six items students need to draw.  Now, they have to draw a fuzzy dog, a rainbow, a tree, a landscape, a self-portrait, and a still life.  I like the change in the last three options because now they have to prove that they learned content as to what those three subject types are.  I also changed my rubric.  It's a little bit more complex now, but I think it will be a lot easier to grade these drawings and get a more accurate show of growth.  

1^st Grade: 6-Square Drawing Test

Fuzzy Dog	Texture & Color    Student used appropriate colors for the subject and details drawn.  Student made object look like it has the appropriate texture.	4        3       2       1       0
	Dog Body Dog body is drawn accurately and looks like an actual dog.	4        3       2       1       0
	Background Student included appropriate details in the background for the subject, including a horizon line.  Sky is colored all the way to the horizon line.	4        3       2       1       0
Tree	Texture & Color Student used appropriate colors for the subject and details drawn.  Student made object look like it has the appropriate texture.	4        3       2       1       0
	Tree Structure Tree contains all appropriate parts (trunk, branches, leaves and possibly roots).  “Cloud tree”=3, “ice cream tree”=2, “lollipop tree”=1.  No tree=0.	4        3       2       1       0
	Background Student included appropriate details for the subject in the background, including a horizon line. Sky is colored all the way to the horizon line.	4        3       2       1       0
Rainbow	Color Order Correct colors ROYGBIV & order = 4 Correct colors ROYGBV & order = 3 (no indigo) Correct colors but not in order (or missing 2 colors) = 2 Did not use correct colors but has 3 colors present = 1 Used 1-2 colors (or no rainbow) = 0	4        3       2       1       0
	Background Student included appropriate details for the subject in the background. Sky is colored all the way to the horizon line (if one is included).	4        3       2       1       0
	Craftsmanship Student used neat coloring.  Colored the entire square.  Sky is colored all the way to the horizon line; ground is colored from the horizon line down to the edge of the square.	4        3       2       1       0
Landscape	Type of Art Student correctly drew a landscape.  Included images from outside where the nature is more important than man-made objects.  (Mountains, sky, sun, grass, weather, animals, etc.)	4        3       2       1       0
	Details Used appropriate colors for the subject and details shown.	4        3       2       1       0
	Craftsmanship Student used neat coloring and colored everything.	4        3       2       1       0
Still Life	Type of Art Student correctly drew a still life.  Drawing is of inanimate objects such as a vase of flowers, plants,  fruit, cups, dishes, etc.	4        3       2       1       0
	Details Used appropriate colors for the subject and details shown.  Included a horizon line.	4        3       2       1       0
	Craftsmanship Student used neat coloring and colored everything.	4        3       2       1       0
Self-Portrait	Type of Art Student correctly drew a self-portrait.  Student drew a picture of him or herself.	4        3       2       1       0
	Details Used appropriate colors for the subject and details shown.  Included all appropriate facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, eye brows, freckles, glasses, etc.).  If a body is included, student has shown all appropriate limbs (neck, arms, legs, feet, hands, torso, etc.).	4        3       2       1       0
	Craftsmanship Student used neat coloring and colored everything.	4        3       2       1       0

4=Advanced                  3=Satisfactory             2=Improving         1=Needs Improvement            0=Incomplete

________________ / 72 points = __________________ %

Some more DDI...(text heavy post...and not so much about art :-/ )

I can honestly say that I can't wait for September to be over!  There is just SO much paperwork that needs to be done and turned in, too much thinking I have to do to plan ahead for DDI, SLOs, LLOs, etc. that I think my brain is already fried, and it's only Tuesday!!!  (Boy, I'm sure missing have day 6 off at the moment...this being a full time teacher is going to wear me out! ;) )

Monday I stayed for a faculty meeting about DDI, data driven instruction.  The presenter came from our local Boces and has been working with other districts to begin implementing DDI as well.  The information she presented does make sense.  The first year of implementation is going to be a little more work because of the need to build test banks and such, but the concept behind DDI makes sense.  I figured I would just share a bit in this post about what was presented and how I think I'll use it with my high school art classes.

Data driven instruction is built upon four steps.  The concept comes from Paul Bambrick-Santoyo and his book Driven by Data.

1.  Assessment:  Teachers should be using interim assessments (my district is requiring us to do a test at the 10, 20, 30 and 40 week period...the 40 week being the final exam, and also in my case, part of my post-assessment for my APPR) throughout the school year to see what students have a good understanding on and to see what they are retaining.  Using a ticket out the door (or exit slip) and bell ringers are also forms of assessment that should be used to see what students are understanding.

2.  Analysis:  The second step is to analyse the data from the tests.  Ideally, if you're in a large district, you'd have a team of teachers who teach the same subject area that you can sit down with, or, if you're like my district, my principal and I will be a "team" to analyse my data.  As you look at the data, you should be saying, "Why did 70% of the students choose this wrong answer over the correct answer?" Well, maybe it was a poorly worded question on the test, or maybe the concept needs to be retaught.  On the other hand, you would hope to find that 90% or more of students would be getting correct answers.  (This is where eDoctrina will come in handy that I have to use.  Even though it's a lot of work to input questions, the analysis portion becomes easier because the program will automatically calculate the percentage of student answers for each question.  It even creates a bar graph for those people who need it visually!)

The presenter gave another example of how teachers in another district who have already implemented DDI last year analyse the data.  After a test has been corrected, they assign the following as homework:  "Go home and for each answer you got wrong, please write down and tell me why you chose that answer over the correct one."  This would essentially help you understand how the students heard the information that you taught.

3.  Action:  The third step is to take action.  Meaning, what and when are you going to reteach, and how are you going to reteach it so that students grasp the knowledge better?  Basically, it means you might need to change your teaching strategy.  This step is often the hardest step, especially for those on a time constraint because of state testing.  I think this part is a lot easier for us special areas to do because we generally don't have a state curriculum we are mandated to follow.

4.  Culture:  The final step has to do with changing the culture of student learning.  Basically, under DDI, you "own" your lessons for the first 10 weeks of school.  After that 1st interim assessment, the students "own" your lessons and drive the teaching and learning process...they essentially take charge of their own learning.


So, here's the first question this brings up...isn't DDI suggesting that we "teach to the test", which is what everyone hates doing?  Not necessarily.  Those interim assessments aren't supposed to be held against the students.  But then how are we supposed to get the students to take them seriously and actually try on these tests?  That's up to the teacher.  Our district suggested taking the interim tests as a homework grade instead of a test grade so that they are still held accountable, but it isn't going to make or break their report card averages.

Next, how should we be building our assessments, especially if we have extremely high achievers and low achievers in the same class?  The presenter suggested building the assessment for the bulk of the students.  (Hmmm, easier said than done?)

How many questions should be on these interim assessments?  The presenter suggested that for every standard or sub-standard you have covered up until that point, you should have 3-5 questions per standard.  (In eDoctrina, when I input my questions for the question bank, I can also attach a standard/sub-standard to each question.  Again, when it's time to analyse my data, it will automatically tell me the percentage of students that are doing well/poorly on each standard.  I plan on inputting all my questions from each unit test I give so that I can randomly pick a few from each unit for each interim assessment.)

Coming from the CSE angle... how are we supposed to accommodate everyone who needs it? My district has A LOT of students who require services from an IEP or a 504 plan...extended time, test read out loud, etc.  On top of regular class tests, quizzes and assignments, this just adds that much more stress to those services.  According to the presenter, if the accommodations can happen at the summative, it should happen at the interim.  For example, in NY, a math exam for the 3rd-8th grade is allowed to be read out loud to those who have that requirement on their IEP, but certain sections on the ELA are not allowed to be read out loud.  (This is not necessarily going to be a good thing for many districts...especially districts like mine that can't afford to hire more support staff due to the lower scores by the new state tests under Common Core.  My district is going to try and entice students to stay after for AIS services after school.  This would ensure they get the extra support they need without filling up the school day even more.  Our teachers would be paid extra for staying after to work with the students, which is cheaper than hiring more full-time staff.  Only problem is...students aren't mandated to take AIS, so we have to make them want to stay after.)

Wow, so all that being said, DDI is looking good and bad to me right now.  To be honest, checking student understanding at various points using cumulative assessments seems like a no-brainer to me.  I did this last year with my 5th graders and my color theory curriculum.  Each rubric had review questions from all of the previous lessons and units, and each rubric, there were more and more, but they were able to answer just about all of the correctly by the end of the year!  (Thus the reason they did really well on their post-assessment!)  I remember tests from high school that had review questions/bonus questions on them from previous units...

DDI does stink though, because now I'm having to administer more tests in art.  I do think tests are important because I want to treat art, to an extent, like an academic subject so that students take it seriously and actually try to learn and maintain the information I teach them.  But holy tests galore!  I'll have to work on getting a little creative with these interim assessments so that they have some performance based aspect to them...but that might be too much for my plate this year, I'd want to give it serious thought!

I just want to leave you with one more thing.   (And I promise, after this post, I WILL be posting some artwork and such that is starting to be finished up at school!  I still have only seen about half of my elementary kids...!) The presenter gave us this handout to try and explain why DDI needs to be done (and it comes from Bambrick's book):

TEACHER:  Listen; this data-driven education thing seems interesting and all, but why are we doing it?

PRINCIPAL:  Do you watch basketball?

TEACHER:  Sure.

PRINCIPAL:  During a recent high school basketball playoff game, the scoreboard completely malfunctioned midway through the game.  So, the refs kept the score and time on the sidelines.  As it came close to the end of the game, the visiting team was down by two points, but they did not realize it nor how much time was left.  The clock ran out before they took the final shot.

TEACHER:  That's not right!

PRINCIPAL:  Of course not.  If the scoreboard had been working, the entire end of the game could have been different.  So you'd agree that a working scoreboard is critical for sport events, correct?

TEACHER:  Of course.

PRINCIPAL:  At the end of the day, data-drive instruction is like fixing the broken scoreboard.  Relying on state tests is like covering up the scoreboard at the beginning of the game and then uncovering it at the end of the game to see if you won.  At that point, there's nothing you can do to change the outcome!  We use interim assessments to keep the scoreboard uncovered, so we can make the necessary adjustments to be able to win the game.

Ugh...Data Driven Instruction???

Well, today I was introduced to the realm of data driven instruction and if I haven't felt overwhelmed by this point, I sure do now!  Anyone else out there having to deal with DDI?  I feel like I had it easy last year with my elementary SLO's compared to this year!  Luckily, it looks like I may only have to do 2 SLO's and 1 LLO this year (compared to 4 SLO's and 1 LLO last year), but it's going to be SOOOO much more work to do them with this data driven instruction component!

For anyone who doesn't know what DDI is, from what I learned today, teachers must give students an exam-like assessment at various points throughout the year (our school is making us do one at each 10 week quarter to assess what has been taught up to that point).  We have to review what a majority of students are getting wrong/struggling with and readdress/reteach, and then test again at the next 10 week period!

Now, I get the idea behind this, but it's going to be A LOT of work for me!  We are now moving to using eDoctrina (which I found out is a relatively locally ran company in Buffalo, NY...near my hometown and 5 hours away from where I teach).  In eDoctrina, we will enter in our SLOs, pre-assessment scores, target scores for each student, and then the post-assessment scores.  The nice thing is that eDoctrina will automatically weigh and compute our 40% assessment score for APPR. (On a side rant, I'm being encouraged to use my student's STAR scores for my SLO's...something I DON'T want to do!  I'd rather do a two-part assessment...an observational drawing portion and a test portion that tests students on art vocabulary as well as a writing portion, that will probably be analysis of an artwork...but that's another post for the future!)

The other nice thing is that eDoctrina has test banks to build test (for the quarterly DDI exams) as well as for post-assessment tests IN EVERYTHING BUT ART! (Because there is no state assessment for art, and no state assessment for art from other states that I've been able to find elsewhere so far...)  Which therefore means that I will have to start entering in test bank questions!  Argh!  It will be worth it in the long run, but it's so daunting to look at right now! This program will generate tests and bubble sheets to match the test.  After the bubble sheets are filled out, you scan the bubble sheet (which is printed off with a special bar code) into a fax machine to the eDoctrina number and the results are automatically calculated and entered under each specific student's account....thus allowing the program to generate graphs and data for me as a teacher to evaluate and adjust my teaching.

There is so much more I could say about this program, but for now, I'll just ask if anyone else out there is venturing into the realm of DDI and what your thoughts are on it...how is your district approaching the data collection...and are you using a program like eDoctrina?

Really...? One more month to go??!!

Okay, so I'm a tad bit jealous at all of you who are finished or just about finished with school!  I know, I know...you go back earlier than us NYers...but I'm still jealous!   We technically have school until June 21st! (And the bogus part is that our grades and such are all due 1 1/2 weeks before the last day so we can have the awards assembly, so all of the students KNOW the last week is basically a waste because their grades don't count...)

I feel like I've barely had any time to do any posting these last couple of weeks.  Last week was my art show  (and I'll have a separate page to follow in the next day or so with photos).  It was put up on Monday and taken down by Thursday.  I was camping for Memorial Day weekend and now this week and into next week I am giving all of my post-assessments for APPR.

I'm also slightly stressing because there are a few retiring teachers who have not turned in their paperwork for retirement, which means that my job is still up in the air!  It's so frustrating (and stressful!) to be told one thing when it comes to your job and then be told, "Well, until paperwork is turned in, you don't have a job next year."!  I don't feel like my blog is the right place to vent, but this stress is one of the reasons I've been absent from blogging!  It really drags down your moral. :(

Anyways, hopefully I'll have a few posts to share this week with you.  My 5th graders finished their analogous animals that I will share, I've got my art show photographs, and I'll share my post-assessments.  Eventually, when I get together with other art teachers and have them graded, I'll try to share the before and afters!

2nd Grade Elements of Art Quiz

Since I just finished grading these, I figured I would share...my last post for the weekend!

The last few days I've been sick, nursing laryngitis AGAIN and I had a substitute one day.  It was originally for a planned personal day, however I ended up spending the entire day sleeping!  Anyways, I needed to come up with something that the sub could handle doing, as well as something I could handle doing with very little voice!

Since my SLO and pre-assessment for 2nd grade revolves around finding the elements of art in scavenger hunts on famous artworks, I came up with this elements quiz to give the students.  It was a great way to gauge how they are doing learning the things they will be assessed on at the end of the year!

I've seen this drawing prompt on pinterest, so on the back of the quiz, this is the drawing portion students had to complete.  I drew a line that looked like it could be the outline of a snowman, however it was incomplete.  At the top, it says "This is NOT a snowman!  What do you see?"

On the left is supposed to be Mario...I LOVE the one on the right!  Made me crack up when I saw this!  Does everyone else think it's what I think it is???

I must say that I was pretty impressed with some of these!  This particular grouping was from the day I had the substitute.  The group I gave the test to did a lot of soda bottles and (not following directions...) snowmen.  Now, I obviously can't be too sure that the substitute didn't help them out, but none the less, I was happy with what I saw here!

Still Life Assessment

Today I started using my pre-assessments for fourth grade. This is a class I am not including in my SLO's this year, but I am running through the assessments anyways to see how they work. I am giving them two days to draw from the still life, and I didn't give them the rubric for this because I want it to be based purely off of what they currently know how to do. Oh, and here is my finished class door too!

Art Teachers of Saint Lawrence County Unite! (Well, some of them!)

Today we had a regional art teachers meeting to try and work out regional assessments.  We attempted this back in March, but never got very far.  Probably only 1/3 of the teachers were present today, but I think we accomplished a lot more than if everyone would have been there!

Unfortunately, I was the only all elementary art teacher present (everyone else was K-12, 3-8, 5-8, etc.).  The assessment rubric we created was geared towards Jr./Sr. high, but is easily changed for lower grades.  What we ended up deciding on for a regional assessment (for those who would want to use it), was to do an observational drawing.  It could be as simple as an object, such as your hand or shoe, or as advanced as a 3-day still life drawing.  We created a basic, adjustable rubric that included the categories: (1)Technical Accuracy (shape, proportion, contour, detail), (2)Shading/Value (light source, gradient scale, shadows and highlights), (3)Line (range of lines, both real and implied), (4)Composition (positive and negative space, fully developed drawing), and (5)Craftsmanship (no tears, smudges, folds, etc; artwork created and maintained in a professional manner).

Now, a lot of our concerns that we discussed included giving the post-assessment.  First, the guidelines say that we must have another person in our room when giving the assessment.  This could be the person who will fill out the assessments (as we cannot assess our students on the final assessment to prevent favoring a student), a substitute, or a random faculty member.  What happens if our district can't provide us this extra person if we decide we will be doing a 3-day still life drawing?  Unfortunately this isn't something we can control...it's a district responsibility.  I know at my district, it's virtually impossible to find subs at the end of the year.  Hopefully, the districts across the board will report back to the state that it is nearly impossible to do this, or we will have to actually have a testing time to give our assessments at the end of the year.

Our other concerns with the post-assessment is how much we can guide students during it?  Do we just tell them to draw a still life based on what they've learned?  Tell them they have 3 days to do it?  Or can we give prompts..."Remember to check your cast shadows!"  True, this is a final assessment and students should be able to do this based on what they've learned without prompting, but how often do you do an art project that you don't have to remind students what to look for, or give students the extra prompting so they do their best work?  Obviously we can't draw for them, which hopefully not very many art teachers do anyways.  We decided that the best way to "get around this" or deal with that questions was to create a check list for the students to attach to the back of their project.  When the student thinks they're done, we can flip it over and review the guidelines with the student to easily point out that they need to go back and check their value scales...similar to the way someone administering a regents exam might pick up an early finishers exam only to find they didn't fill out questions 1-20 on the multiple choice and will tell them to go back and do it.

And remember when I said all my assessment rubrics were completed, but may need some tweaking?  Well, they do.  Not in terms of what I am assessing, because those are what I assess when I look at the projects, but in my wording.  I created my rubrics based on Marzano, and even though that is the system my school is using, I can't use his wording of "with assistance" and "could not complete even with assistance" because we technically aren't supposed to assist the students during these final assessments.  At least it won't be too much work to re-word my rubrics!

A.P.P.R.: Pre and Post Assessments

I've had a few people commenting on these assessments so I decided I would share what I've come up with so far.  I've already shared my rubrics for the self-portraits but here I will share what I've decided to do for my pre and post assessments at every grade level.

In St. Lawrence county, we had one staff development day in March that we all got together at and tried to come up with regional assessments.  We had a really difficult time and never really finished, nor got back together to finish.  I wasn't really happy with what we came up with either as it was way to specific and for most of the grade levels, didn't match what I taught.  I really don't like the idea of repeating an exact project at the beginning and end of the year, and that's what they wanted to do.  I feel like the following assessments I made allow for students to create something different as their end product so they won't be taking home two identical projects (aside from the test assessments!).


Before I share these though, please understand the following:

         1.  I won't have to use all of these each year...this year I have figured that I will need to do assessments for 5th, 6th, Kindergarten and 1st grade as these are my largest grade levels that will give me my 51% student population.

         2.  I may have to change my assessments at the beginning of the year a bit, depending on whether or not my superintendent approves of them as rigorous assessments.  (I'm guessing that I will have to take the time management aspect out of my rubrics as it will be difficult for the other teacher to assess this since she won't be in my room...unless of course I would be allowed to assess that part of the rubric.)

Kindergarten

I've shared the worksheet that goes with this assessment here.  For this assessment, students will be asked to cut out various shapes (simple to advanced) and to glue them onto construction paper.  I plan to assess their scissor skills and their gluing skills.  I am a little unsure as to if this particular assessment can be done by the other teacher as I am assessing their scissor and gluing skills here and most of the cutting rubric in particular will need to be filled out from observations...

1st Grade

For my 1st grade assessment, I will have student split their paper into 6 sections.  They will receive 6 minutes to draw each item as I call it out to the best of their ability.  Those include a fuzzy dog, a rainbow, a flower, a tree, their family, and anything they want.  The following rubric is what I created for that assessment:

2nd Grade

My 2nd grade assessment will be treated partly as a type of test and partly as a drawing.  (To deal with students with IEPs, I will probably read the scavenger hunt part out loud.)  We start to get into critiques and talking about art in 2nd grade, so their assessment will reflect that.  They will receive three paintings (Picasso's Crying Woman, American Gothic, and the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait).  For the last part of the assessment, they will receive the remainder of the first period to start and one other complete class to finish half of Vittore Carpaccio's painting called Two Venetian Ladies on a Balcony.  Here is the grading rubric for this assessment:

3rd Grade

In 3rd grade, we will focus on depth and landscapes, so their assessment will be for landscapes.  For the pre-assessment, I will read them the story of Little Red Riding Hood without showing them any of the pictures.  They will then have two class periods to draw what they think the path looked like to grandmothers house from the story.  At the end  of the year, they will do the same thing, but I will read them the story of Hanzel and Gretel.  I will look for details in their drawing that they remembered from the story, as well as the characteristics of a good landscape.  Here is that rubric:

4th Grade

In 4th grade, they will start to do more drawings from real life and learn some basic shading techniques so their assessment will be to draw a still life and shade it in black and white.  Here is that rubric:

5th Grade

In 5th grade we will focus on color theory so they will receive a color theory test in worksheet form where they have to color in the color wheel using colored pencil and answer a series of questions by coloring.  I haven't decided if I will give them one or two days for this...I'm leaning towards one day unless they have an IEP for longer.  Here is that worksheet (I plan to score it out of 100):

6th Grade

Sixth graders will also receive a test.  The first part of the test will consist of the students seeing seven different slides.  The second part will consist of 11 vocabulary words that they must define and tell me which culture they come from (Porcelain, capital, altar, cartouche, pictograph, Dreamtime, hieroglyphics, candy skull, animal spirit, Ionic order, nomad).  I am thinking that I will split this test into two days, part 1 and part 2.  Below is what the 1st page of that test looks like:

Name:  _____________________________    Date:  _______________

Class:  ______________________________

Be sure to read ALL the directions carefully in each section carefully.  Answer each question to the best of your ability.  You may not ask another student for help.

     A.   

Prehistoric                Egyptian                    Greek             Asian Aboriginal                 Mexican                    Native American

 For the first section, you will see seven slides.  Each slide will remain on the board for three minutes.  For each slide, you must tell me what culture it comes from and 1-2 sentences explaining why that artwork represents that culture (5 pts. each)

1.    Culture:  _________________________________

Facts:  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6th Grade Culture Assessment

I'm working on my 6th grade pre- and post-assessment test right now and I'm really hoping that I'm not making a test that is too difficult!  My art history major is kicking in right now...When I did my student teaching, I had no problem making tests for the high school level art students, but I haven't ever really had to make a test for my Elementary students before this.

I think my test is pretty simple...like I've said before though, I only worry that I won't have enough time to cover everything that is in it.  The seven cultures I plan on trying to cover with my 6th graders are the following:  Prehistoric, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Asian Art, Mexican Art, Aboriginal Art, and Native American Art.  I'm confident that these students have covered Aboriginal art and Native American art because I know they learn about them in previous grades in the classroom.  I've also covered Day of the Dead with them last year so maybe I'll be good!

Anyways, I have two sections to my test.  In the first section, I will put up a power point that shows a single artwork for three minutes.  In that time, they must tell me what culture it comes from and 1-2 sentences explaining why they know that.  I did give them a word bank at the top of the seven cultures.  I will make sure to use a picture of an artwork that students will see from the power points later in the year for each culture.

The second section of my test is a series of vocabulary words that we will cover over the course of the year from each culture.  They need to write 2-3 sentences explaining what the vocab word is and if it has an asterisks beside it, they need to draw a picture of it as well in their definition:

Porcelain, Altar, Cartouche*, Hieroglyphics, Capital*, Pictograph, Dreamtime, Candy skull*, animal spirit, Ionic Order*, Nomad.

Students will be required to take this test in the beginning of the year and then again at the end of the year as per my SLO's.  For each unit, students will have a packet to fill in as we go through and learn about the culture.  They will be required to keep the packets until the end of the year to study from.  If anything, I will definitely be preparing them for 7th grade art!

Self-Portrait Assessments

Well, after two days of working on these, I think I'm ready to share the self-portrait rubrics for K-6.  I started with Kindergarten and 6th grade, and then worked my way up/down to make sure each rubric was slightly different based on what each grade covers throughout the year.  I tried to make they were vague enough that I won't have to change them based on if I slightly change the self-portrait project from year to year.  (For example if I have them do a shoulder-up portrait in 6th grade for one year and the next I decide to have them do a full body self-portrait.)  I'm pretty happy with them right now, may need to go in and change some wording, but they otherwise have all the information on them that I want.  Did I leave anything out of these???

SLO's and Floor Murals

Well, I finally figured it out.  I am going to have to do SLO's for four out of seven grade levels that I teach...blech!  That means I definitely have to do the  pre- and post assessments for those grade levels.

I think the one thing that I worry about with this whole SLO's thing, is what if I don't cover everything I plan to cover?  For example, with my sixth graders, say we end up not having enough time to cover Native American art at the end of the year due to field trips, assemblies and what have you.  If I included this culture in my pre-assessment, I still have to include them in my post assessment quiz...this is what worries me, at least for the 6th graders who will be taking an actual test for their assessments.  Which brings me to a question that I have been wondering about in other art rooms... Do you impose a deadline to art projects and how strict are you at keeping these deadlines?  


Sometimes I find it very easy to complete projects within a deadline, especially with the younger kids, but with the older kids, I tend to find it harder to make the deadlines, especially when they have more in depth projects.  Some of the kids work at lightning speed and still do a good job on their projects compared to others.  The last two years, I would allow 5th and 6th grade students to come down to my room during their study hall if I had it free to work on their projects, but I have heard through the grapevine that they may not even have a study hall this year due to new additions to their schedules!


On a happier note for me, I started painting the play house floor with my private lesson student today.  Her younger sister and mom also helped out.  We spent about an hour and a half drawing it out and painting the water aspects.  I left them with some homework to give all the rocks a base coat of paint and to paint the grout in between the rocks on the cobblestone path that can't be seen in these pictures below.

We plan on adding some koi fish into the pond, as well as some waterlilies and flowers.  We will also add some flowers in the green grassy area.  The only thing left to do is figure out how to create the effect of grass in the larger areas...I'm leaning towards one of four options:  (1)Just paint using different tints of green, (2) Paint in patches of grass here and there, especially around the flowers we will put in and the stones, or (3) Use a stamping set to stamp in some texture similar to grass, or (4) Leave it the way it is!  The grass is the only thing I'm stressing about...grass seems a little difficult for me to paint from a top view and be successful!  Anyone have any pointers?

Kindergarten Assessments...Check!!!

Well, I was planning on painting one of my bathrooms today, but that plan went out the window after I opened the can of paint we bought last September to find that it was severely separated and very hard at the bottom!  Soooooo, instead I forced myself to work on my Kindergarten assessment rubrics for my SLO's at the beginning of the school year and voila!  They are completed!  Well, completed for now...usually after I create something like this I need to sit back for a few days and then go back to review them.

Our new teacher evaluation system is based on Marzano so my rubrics follow his basic template:

4	In addition to exhibiting level 3 performance, the student’s responses demonstrate in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught in class.
3	The student’s responses demonstrate no major errors or omissions regarding any of the information and/or processes
2	The student’s responses indicate major errors or omissions regarding the more complex ideas and processes; however they do not indicate major errors or omissions relative to the simpler details and processes
1	The student provides responses that indicate a distinct lack of understanding of the knowledge. However, with help, the student demonstrates partial understanding of some of the knowledge.
0	The student provides little or no response. Even with help the student does not exhibit a partial understanding of the knowledge.

 The above two rubrics will be glued to the back of their projects and they will receive a number grade.  I've decided to give number grades instead of my normal E, S, N, U on projects, that way it's easier to show growth and the amount of growth.  They will still receive the letter grade on their report card however, because special teachers in my school are only allowed to give letter grades.

This is a separate rubric to be put onto the back of their self-portrait project.  I'm actually thinking I might be able to use this for both Kindergarten and 1st grade.