Bell Ringers in Studio Art

Last year I really struggled with making the sketchbook a meaningful learning tool in my high school classroom.  Granted, I had quite a few obstacles in my way, including maternity leave and sick time leave for my husband's chemo treatments, however after I was back from all of that, I had the hardest time getting back into using the sketchbook.

I attended a staff development at the end of the year last year that was put on by our Boces.  About 10 art teachers from our county got together and just spent a day brainstorming ideas, discussing APPR, pre- and post-assessments, and basically venting.  It was great!  One of the middle school art teachers from another district shared how he uses bell ringers every day to introduce students to art history.  He uses the first 5 minutes of class every day to introduce, review and expand upon a famous artist from history, spending 1-2 weeks on an artist.

Another high school teacher shared how she calls her sketchbooks "source books" instead of sketchbooks.  She doesn't assign sketchbook assignments on a weekly basis because the students would never do them.  Instead, the source book is used as a place to plan and practice before starting and finishing a final project...(duh!  Isn't that what we teach students the sketchbooks should be used for???)  She had students who completed miniature versions of a large scale project, done perfectly, in oil pastel or colored pencil.  The students then made notes in the margins about their experience with the medium, how the practice product turned out, what they might change or do differently on the final project, and much more.  I thought it was a really cool way to make the sketchbook more of a meaningful tool.

When I stepped away from that professional development meeting, I had tons of new ideas.  I used the summer to figure out how I was going to use those techniques to fit my teaching style, my students, and my classroom.  Bring on the bell ringers!

Because we are using Marzano, bell ringers are one of the big things that the administrators are looking to us to use to show that we are constantly assessing our student's understanding of the material we are teaching. Since I am also an art history major, I decided to use my bell ringers to teach students about famous artists in history and the various art styles (non-representational, abstract, impressionism, realism, etc.).  Last year, I tried to incorporate the styles into my second unit and I failed miserably at teaching the students those concepts.  They did not know them very well at the end of the year and could not describe the styles very well.

So far we have had two complete weeks of school.  I used the first week to introduce Mondrian in bell ringers.  The second week was used to review all of the art concepts we talked about in the unit 1 note packet.  Next week, I will introduce the next artist, which I am planning on being Miro.  The great thing about these bell ringers is that it's a sneaky way to incorporate writing...ahem, common core, ahem...without the students being too suspicious about it!  Once I introduce Miro, we will compare the two artists and their styles, via bell ringers, to discuss why abstract/surrealism is different from non-representational art.

We did 5 day so of bell ringers for Mondrian.  Here is what we did and the order that we did them:

1. On the first day, I had some biographical information on the board for students to copy down.  They also had to paste in a picture of Mondrian as well as "Broadway Boogie Woogie" and its credit line. (This one took about 10 minutes.)

2. On the second day, students inserted "Composition A" and "Self-Portrait".  I gave them both to show them that Mondrian could actually paint quite realistically if he chose to. (5 minutes)

3. On the third day, I asked students to make a list of the characteristics of Mondrian's famous work ("Broadway" and "Composition A"). (5 minutes)

4. On the fourth day, students were asked to compare two paintings I gave them.  They had to tell me which one was a Mondrian and why. (5 minutes)

5. On the fifth day, I asked students to do a quick, 2-minute drawing on their page of a Mondrian inspired design. (5 minutes)

Some students managed to fit everything on one page and those who had smaller sketchbooks did them on two pages.  What I love about this is that they now have a little study guide / note page for a single artist.  

Now that we have done this once, I'm hoping that it will take less time to get them to complete the rest.  The biographical day of bell ringers will probably always take more time, which is ok.  Now, I really just need to hammer into their heads that they actually need to look on the board and do the bell ringer on their own every day...I shouldn't have to remind them!

Studio Art: Unit 1, What is Art?

Over the summer, I did manage to do a little revamping to my Studio Art units.  Last year I had them categorized as the following:

Unit 1: What is art?

Unit 2: 2-D Art

Unit 3: 3-D Art

Unit 4: Ceramics

Unit 5: Zentangles

This year, I have shortened the units in order to break up the information a little more.  I have also rearranged a few of my projects.  This is what my unit order will look like this year:

Unit 1: What is art?

Unit 2: 2-D Art: Drawing

Unit 3: 2-D Art: Painting

Unit 4: 2-D Art: Printmaking

Unit 5: 3-D Art: Sculpture

Unit 6: 3-D Art: Ceramics

This post is basically a quick recap of what we have accomplished for the first unit in the first two full weeks of school.  Much of my original unit is still the same...I use the Art Talk text book (ugh!) to do the first half of the note packet, which is about why artists create art (to be functional, for express oneself, for religious purposes, etc.) and where artists find inspiration from (the person paying them, their culture, world events, past artists, art media and styles, etc.).  Once this was accomplished, I assigned a sketchbook assignment for the weekend.  A fellow art teacher in my county suggested this book at one of our last staff developments.  It has some awesome ideas!  

Unfortunately, this was assigned after two days of school...a time period when a lot of students didn't have their sketchbooks yet (even though it was on their supply list...sigh).  Quite a few were completed on lined paper or computer paper and have already been lost. :(  Here are two though...sorry for the bad pictures!

Mine is the unfinished one on top. :(  The weekend I gave this assignment, my mom's dog was hit by a car and I wasn't thinking...I ran out to the road to scoop her up and she bit me.  I was out of commission from being able to really do any drawing or typing for about a week until it started to heal up.

For the last week and a half, the students have been working on infographics...one for the elements and one for the principles.  I am really trying hard to use sketchbooks EVERY DAY in Studio Art.  Last year I dwindled off on assignments in them and it was virtually pointless to ask students to use them.  (Stay tuned for future posts about how I am using sketchbooks every day!)  If you've been following me for a while, you'll remember the elements of art infographic I had students do last year.  They did these on a separate piece of drawing paper and eventually lost them of threw them out.

This year, I required the students to build them right into their sketchbooks so that they would always have them!  I also required them to make one for the principles of art.  Last year my students did not know these and when we tried to do critiques, it was very difficult to talk about the art.  Here are a few examples, including my own!

My examples of the two infographics.

The second sketch assignment I had students do was a non-representational line design.  This was assigned after their introduction to the elements and principles infographic project.  Again, this is a repeat assignment from last year.  Students were asked to use only one color and line to create an interesting design.  Some students strayed outside the project parameters and used more than one color, but in all honesty, their designs ended up being more successful than some of the single colored ones, so I didn't dock them on the rubric.  This sketch assignment then opened the door for the final project of the unit...zentangled master's paintings!

 I use a standard rubric for sketch assignments that is worth 16 points.  Students are assessed on following assignment criteria, using the elements and principles, creativity/originality, and craftsmanship.  I try to write a comment on all rubrics before passing them back...another one of those things I can check off my Marzano checklist!

The zentangled paintings is something I did last year at the end of the year, sort of as a wrap up.  I decided that this project was an awesome way to reiterate the elements and principles so I moved it!  I expect that it will take the students about a week and perhaps a few days to complete these drawings, making unit 1 a total of about three weeks.  We started off the zentangles by making one 3 1/2" tile during a single class.  I always find it amazing that the students who rush everything else complain when you tell them that this should take less than 20 minutes!

Check back again this weekend and I'll share how I'm using sketchbooks to perform bell ringers EVERY DAY!  Also, if I have time, I'll delve into some Common Core unit plan writing that my district is enforcing this year to replace our lesson plans.  It's a good thing, and a pain in the butt thing all at the same time...  Give me another week and I will be able to start sharing some finished elementary projects too!

Studio Art: Unit 1 Complete!

Today we had the unit quiz (I'm calling them quizzes because I want the projects to be more important to the kids then the tests) for the first unit in Studio Art.  Look back at this previous post to see my unit overview and the unit infographic project here...

When the previous art teacher ordered sketchbooks from our Boces bids, they sent us these little 5"x7" sketchbooks...and not of the best quality either.  It's always hit or miss on those Boces bids as to whether or not you actually get what you ordered!  The students have already complained that they're too small, and pages are already falling out, even though we've only technically had one sketch assignment!  

Anyways, I had the students put a Table of Contents into their sketchbooks so that it's easier for me to do "sketchbook checks" to make sure they are keeping up with bell ringers and sketch homework.  (And, ironically, the one student sketchbook I took a picture of has their page numbers wrong already!)

For the Studio Art's first sketchbook assignment, I gave them a non-objective line drawing (the above drawing is mine).  Since we were talking about the elements, and line is one of the most important elements, I figured this was fitting.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time on my mind to get a generic rubric created for their sketchbooks (since tonight is open house, I'll probably have plenty of time to get that done today!).  Like my zentangle students, I was extremely happy when a few students came in and said they did more than one because they had fun with them!  These are some of the really strong ones that were turned in.  Our critique turned into me giving students my guidelines that a sketch assignment should have at least an hour spent on it (which shouldn't be a big deal since they get them on the weekends).

The last thing we learned about in this unit was the credit line that is always under an artwork that is published in a textbook, in a museum, etc.  For their last exit slip, I had students create a credit line for their non-objective line sketch and stick the Post-It note in their sketchbook.

Update: And only 8 more days to go!

Yup, I'm counting down...8 more days of school left (with 2 half-days in that mix)!  Today was actually my day 6, but I was paid substitute pay to go to Boces to swap and grade my post-assessments with another art teacher from a different district.  Hopefully I'll have some pre- and post- examples to share with you in the next few days, as well as my reflection on how my assessments went!  I can already say that my scavenger hunt idea for 2nd grade doesn't seem to be very successful, at least for that grade level.  I think if I would have had it in more of a test-format, like my mid-assessment I did, it would have been more successful.

Anyways, I can finally share the official (and it is finally official) news that I WILL be teaching K-12 art next year in my district.  I don't have my official schedule yet (that should be to me hopefully by the end of this week), but I have been told that I will have two Studio Art classes (with a total of 19 students between the two), two 7th grade classes (which will be split into 1/2 year classes, one 1st semester and one 2nd semester), and supposedly one elective, which I don't know what it is yet.  The elementary grades will then receive art once a 6-day cycle instead of twice, which leads me to some questions I'm hoping some of you veteran teachers can help me out with!

1. Do you have any good blogs you follow for high school art?  

2. For those of you who have elementary art once a cycle/week, how do you deal with making sure you are doing quality projects?  I feel like I'm going to stress myself out because I won't be able to accomplish as much as I have the last three years, nor will I be able to really have solid units because it will literally take an entire quarter to cover a unit!  Do you do 1 or 2 day projects?  Do you ever do projects that take more than 2 days to complete?

3. Does anyone out there have a link or a copy of their syllabus for high school art classes that they would be willing to share with me?  My e-mail is artroom104@gmail.com.  I kept all of my syllabus from when I was in high school, but go figure, I cannot for the life of me find them!  I really want to start out with a strong syllabus for those high school classes to try and reign them in a bit and start off on a straight-forward foot with the high school students.

4. Sketchbooks:  How do you successfully incorporate sketch books in your high school curriculum?  As weekly homework?  Or, "you must do 5 out of 10 of these assignments to hand in by the end of the quarter?"

5.  And finally, is there one type of supply or brand that you MUST HAVE in your high school classroom that you would recommend?  I am currently working on requisitions for the high school classroom and I am flying by the seat of my pants as the current high school teacher will not let me into the room to scope out what supplies are there until after she has cleaned her stuff out (which is ironically after the requisitions are due).  I do know that painting supplies are of very poor quality in that room, so I will probably be looking to replace a majority of that stuff.  I typically order my supplies from Dick Blick and Nasco, as we have an account set up there and those are the two order books I currently have in my room.

What's your view on sketchbooks in elementary school?

Now that art class counts towards report card grades, I feel like I can hopefully start sending home some "homework" assignments with students and give them the opportunity to have their own sketchbook, something I know a lot of the students in my district wouldn't get at home because of their parent's income.  I don't, however, want to bog the students down with MORE homework on top of what they already do, so this is what I think I want to do.

I want to give weekly sketchbook assignments as a way to enhance a grade, not take away from it.  My thought is that they will be purely optional and those who do them will get a boost to their grade but it won't harm those who don't want to do them.  I know what you're thinking...if they have a sketchbook with optional assignments, they're not going to do them.  I found these book binding kits on-line and ordered a kit to do with my extended day kids.  Yesterday I had my art club kids make a book for themselves so I could give them a sketch assignment to work on while we finish up the mural.  I'm hoping that if the kids actually make their own sketchbook and design the front cover, they'll actually want to keep up with it more.

Eventually, we will do a mixed media collage to design the front of our sketchbook covers...and that's what I would plan to do for their first project next year...design a cover that represents themselves.

I also want to treat the sketchbook more like a sketch journal.  It could be a place for students to write poetry or short stories and illustrate their words if they want to.  I plan on giving sketch assignments that will somehow incorporate words, like a regular journal, and a sketch of some sort.  If they don't do it, they won't lose points, but if they do the assignment, they can earn extra credit points on assignments.  Some assignments may link with things we do in class, some may not.  I'm thinking of doing this for 5th and 6th grade next year to see how it goes...