2nd Grade Printmaking Unit: Introduction to Printmaking

My second graders have just finished up their printmaking unit and I've finally gotten around to photographing, grading and uploading all of their artwork to Artsonia!

To kick off the unit, we did a one day project that involved stamping with Legos (I've seen multiple variations of this on Pinterest...).  I took this opportunity to talk to the students about the Principles of Art.  We've talked about them here and there, one at a time, but I felt like this quick project was a great way to get students to think about the principles all together.  We talked about patterns, having balance (symmetrical and asymmetrical), movement, unity, contrast, rhythm, and emphasis.  Now, a lot of these are a little over some of the 2nd graders heads, but none the less, I think some of them really thought more about their composition.

I showed students these simple visual rubrics I made for the project and we talked about each one.  "Is it interesting to look at?  Why or why not?"

This one would be worth 3 points...

This one would be worth 2 points...

This one would be worth 1 point...

 I posted these on the bulletin board int he front of the classroom and gave the students their instructions.  Keeping in mind the principles of art, they had to create an interesting design using different sized and shaped Legos.  They would only get one color, so that had to use placement of their stamps to create an interesting factor to look at.  I gave each table a small plate of finger paint and a small variety of Legos and let them go to town!

Now, even though we spent about 15 minutes going over what makes a good composition, it seemed as if the combination of using Legos and finger paint made all the other points mute.  The outcome of this project was NOT what I had expected!  I had some students smearing their designs together after they finished with their fingers, some only used one Lego for the entire print, and many tried to make actual, representational pictures instead of non-representational like I asked for.  Next time I think I may have to tweak my instructions a bit!

Visual Rubrics: Do You Use Them?

Fancy that...something I made in college during student teaching actually comes in handy!  ;)  On Thursday and Friday, I started the final project in my Ancient Egypt unit with my 6th graders (see below).  For the final project, we took some notes on Ancient Egyptian artifacts and then I gave students the criteria for their final project for the unit:

     1. Create an Egyptian artifact out of clay using at least one of the three hand-building techniques.

     2. Artifact must include hieroglyphics.

     3. Artifact must somehow reflect yourself in it.

     4. You must turn in a sketch that tells me what your artifact will be, how you will build it, if you plan on glazing or painting it (or both), and you must tell me how you will be reflected in the project.

All of my students have done the three hand-building techniques in class before, either with me or the previous teacher.  We did coil pots last year, pinch pots the year before, and a majority of the students have done slab work with me in the after school program when we have done clay projects then.

However, to remind them what the hand-building techniques are, I brought out some visual rubrics I created when I did my student teaching.  And then I questioned myself as to why I don't make these for more projects!  My craftsmanship rubric does count as a visual rubric (a visual rubric shows students what a project would look like for all grade steps, not just an excellent example), but I feel like I should be using more of these...especially with the Common Core requirements and Marazano way of teaching.

Either way, here are my visual rubrics that I created...one for a coil pot, pinch pot, and slab box.  Unfortunately, my other two slab boxes broke, because ironically, they were put together horribly!  In addition to these ceramic pieces, I had also photographed them and created a poster version, just in case any of them broke in future years (smart thinking on my part! ;) ).

 So my question is, how many of you actually use visual rubrics like these in your class?  Do you find them helpful?  What mediums do you have them for?  Do you make them for specific projects, or do you make general ones that can apply to multiple projects, like a craftsmanship rubric?

 On the opposite side of these rubrics, I have the basic instructions written out as to how to create each one of these projects, just in case students need further reminding.  I did also create separate posters for each hand-building skill as well.

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