Curriculum
Teachers across the country are discovering a new way to motivate children through the method of instruction known as Choice Based Art Education. What is choice based art education? Choice-based art education offers students choices for making art that uses their own ideas and interests. Students learn best when they are interested in and excited about what they are working on. When students are offered choices in art, they need to think about what they are doing, as well as understand why they are doing it. This allows a much deeper level of engagement in their art making process.
There are many different levels of choice within art education, and in my classroom, I provide my junior high students a modified choice curriculum that introduces them to a variety of art media and concepts. Subject matter is often their choice or I may give them a theme (or a boundary) to make personal connections and create meaningful artwork.
7th Grade (1st or 2nd Quarter)
Drawing Unit
Watercolor Painting Unit
Sculpture Unit: low relief and food truck
Ceramics Unit
Printmaking
8th Grade (3rd or 4th Quarter)
Color Schemes Mini Paintings
Doodle 4 Google Logo Redesign
Ceramics Unit
Assessment
When a project is complete, students write an artist statement explaining and reflecting upon their art making process. I believe that their artist habits are as important as their final artwork. Therefore, students are graded both on their understanding and demonstration of our covered art concepts and their art making process. The artist statement is assessed through their reflect portion of the rubric.
