One of my absolute favorite things I have incorporated into my art room has been student sketchbooks. I may even be dramatic enough to say they have *revolutionized* the way I teach art to students. This is a funny thing for me to admit because growing up as a young artist, I NEVER kept a sketchbook.
This product includes over 10 generic worksheets for listening to music that are perfect for grades K-6! The worksheets range in difficulty so you can use them for different grade levels or to differentiate in one class. The simplest is a blank face that allows students to draw how the music mak...
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THE HELPFUL ART TEACHER has a wonderful blog about how to create many kinds of animations!
Every quarter in 7th grade art, we attempt an architecture drawing project. Last quarter, it was castle design. This quarter we went back t...
One of my goals this year was to have my students really understand the artistic behaviors. I thought last year the students were looking at them only on the surface. I want a deeper understandin…
Hey guys! I am so excited to get to meet you all! This year is going to be great and a ton of fun! Here is a copy of your syllabus for middle school art.
In this “classic” Calvert project, sixth graders first learned about the history of tessellations (and artist M.C. Escher, who is famous for his unique tessellations like the one pictured here) before creating one of their own. Tessellations, which have been around for thousands of years, are a special kind of pattern/design made from repeating shapes called polygons (closed shapes with three or more sides). In tessellation designs, congruent polygons fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces that repeat again and again- they could go on forever! Students painted their unique tessellation designs using acrylic paint in a warm or cool color scheme of their choice. To create the portrait, on a separate piece of paper, students traced the light and dark areas of their faces using a projected digital photograph. Using the opposite color scheme from their background, they painted their portrait, making sure that the light and dark areas were highly contrasting. Here are the colorful finished pieces!
Make a sub binder full of art sub plans along with lots of helpful information for your sub. Art substitute lessons that are ready to go!
This was one of my favorite lessons from last year. (I feel like I always say that....?) But seriously, this was great. It would w...
In this Aquarium Perspective Lesson, Middle School students will dive right into learning about the principle of perspective while designing an aquarium.
This post covers tips to designing a successful middle school art curriculum. It's all about scaffolding, building confidence, and having fun
The Circle Game asks students to come up with as many different things as they can from one circle. I thought this activity was really fun! However, my elementary students were not that interested. Most of my kids' papers were dull circles with a scribble on them. I think older kids might "get it" better. I have included the handout from Ande Cook's Art Starters as well as my lesson plan with all the directions for a sub. The Ande Cook handouts were part of a SchoolArts subscription, or you can get her book: Art Starters
Portrait drawing...ugh. Most students have this reaction when they learn of our unit on portraits because they feel incapable when it comes to drawing a human face realistically. So...we practice...an
How to Draw Faces Like a Renaissance Master. This is a lesson by studying artist and sculptor Leonardo da Vinci to learn face proportion.
The word resist is used to describe the action in which two materials or media repeal each other either chemically or physically. In this art piece we are using wax and water based paint to resist each other and repel. The repelling of the water in the paint with the wax of the crayon allows paint to be used between shapes of crayon and shows a black line around the edges of the crayon.
For a while I have been writing that I was going to tell you more about this portrait project idea that I had... well here it is. #1 I cr...
I have a new teaching challenge this year... giving letter grades for middle school Art! My elementary school added a middle school this fall, so Art has become an elective for 6th & 7th grade, and letter grades go along with that! Fortunately, my very first teaching job was teaching Art to grades 7-12 at a college-prep Charter School, so I learned how to grade artwork and give semester grades while I was there. Otherwise, I'd probably be freaking out right now! I'll share here what I'm doing for grading. I'd love to hear what others of you are doing, too - so please chime in! First of all, grading artwork is not about making a judgement on any natural talent or ability the student may have, but determining how well the student follows directions and meets the stated requirements. That takes a lot of pressure off of everyone right there! Having a grading rubric posted in the front of the room as we begin each new project is the key to being clear about my expectations and making sure my students understand exactly what they need to do to get an "A". I like to keep my rubrics very simple, usually with just four requirements which are based on a 12 point scoring system. Here's an example of the grading rubric from my "Graffiti Lettering" project: (1) Large, overlapping letters: 3 points, (2) Placement of shadows: 3 points, (3) Use of color: 3 points, and (4) Craftsmanship (or neatness): 3 points. I gave this project a "weight" of 1, but a more involved project could have a weight of 2 for a total of 24 possible points, or 3 for a total of 36 possible points. Then you just divide the student's total points earned by the weight of the project to get their letter grade. Students use a "Grade Record Sheet" to keep a running total of the points they've earned (I round up) and the weight of each assignment. By dividing their total points by total weight, they can figure out their current grade for the class at any given time without having to ask. I'm sure I'll be fine tuning my grading system as I figure out ways to improve it, but this seems like a good place to start. For those of you who already give letter grades for Art, what system do you use?
Arts instructor Ascha Drake shares a second experimental drawing lesson. “To draw, you must close your eyes and sing.” – Pablo Picasso Students in the Drawin…
Middle School Curriculum Map – Visual Art - Collier County Public Read more about curriculum, visual and collier.
Developed in the ’60s by psychologist Ellis Paul Torrance, the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) sought to identify a creativity-oriented alternative to IQ testing. One of the most iconic elements of the TTCT was the Incomplete Figure test, a drawing challenge that’s like a game of exquisite corpse. You’re given a shape like the ones below, and then asked to complete the image. Try it yourself: Using the worksheet below, give yourself the class period to see what you can turn the shapes in to. Uncommon subject matter, implied stories, humor, and original perspective all earn high marks.
Are you teaching Romeo and Juliet? Here's why you should start with the balcony scene instead of reading the play from the beginning.
The high school art class syllabus sets the tone for the year. These tips on how to create a syllabus for art will help you start off your year in the art room right.
Create Art with ME Art Sketchbook Assignment ideas and Art Resources
