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High School Ceramics-Narrative Relief Sculpture Reflection
I designed this lesson to help learners make connections to prior learning of ceramic techniques and vocabulary. The students in this class had learned how to make coil pots, pinch pots, and slabs. They had recently begun throwing on a wheel. This lesson builds upon learners’ prior knowledge and introduces a new method of sculpting by way of additive and subtractive relief sculpting. As a pre-assessment, I reviewed vocabulary from my handout and basic methods for handbuilding: pinching, coiling, and slab building. I asked for volunteers to explain why wedging, scoring, and slipping were necessary parts of my process during my demonstration and students were engaged and eager to provide answers to my questions.
Once learners began working independently, Student A was reluctant to get his hands dirty and I asked him about the story that he wanted to convey through his sculpture. After we discussed his concept he seemed more enthusiastic after he understood how the assignment could be made personally-relevant to his interests and the student began working and developed a clear narrative through his work. He completed his unique sculpture by the end of class. Student B seemed unenthusiastic about the assignment and although he began working right away he repeatedly showed me his piece and told me that he was “done” well before class was over. I explained that the composition of components in his work was interesting but it might be more dynamic if he experimented with building up in specific areas so the surface of his image would project more and be intriguing from different angles rather than just from directly above. Student B completed his sculpture with a high relief component by the end of class and seemed much more enthusiastic after committing some time and effort to his work.
As I circulated the room every student had a unique story to tell through their sculpture and I was happy to see that all students were engaged in the assignment even if it took a little bit of persuasion and one-on-one attention in the beginning. At the end of class most students had completed their sculptures but there were a couple of students who wanted to continue working next time. Before the class left we reviewed some questions from the handout as a close to the relief lesson and again, I had students volunteer answers to my questions. “What is the narrative behind my relief and what visual clues did I use to convey my story?” Some students shared their personal stories behind their sculptures with the class. “In what instance would a relief sculpture serve my artistic vision better than a free-standing sculpture would? Reliefs are often used as decorations on walls or pillars; what other objects or locations might I be able to embellish with a relief?” Examples that students gave were: plaques, wall-mounted sculptures, and one student suggested using relief sculpture to embellish decorative pots or vessels. All of the students met the objectives of the lesson so I was pleased with the results.
Taco Chameleons: 3rd Grade Lesson Reflection
Overall the taco chameleon lesson was a success. Because clay is a time-sensitive medium to work with, I was really focused on having the students finish sculpting all of the components of their chameleons by the end of class. Although a couple of students' chameleons were not assembled by the end of class, everyone was able to at least sculpt the body, eyes, and tail and all work was fired and ready to be decorated for the next part of this lesson.
This class had diverse learning needs and included one student with an IEP and one student with a 504 plan. Although there are assigned tables, there are no assigned seats at each table. Art, especially clay, is very sensory and I was very pleased to see that none of the learners were afraid to touch the clay; nobody seemed to mind getting their hands dirty. While I was demonstrating, I used relevant academic vocabulary such as scoring, slipping, rolling, coil, slab.
Next time I would like to focus on slowing myself down during the demonstration steps because I had to repeat instructions individually for a couple of students when I went around the room to check on their progress. Because learners seemed to have trouble breaking their clay into pieces and knowing what size to make each piece, many students were asking if they had broken pieces of clay off correctly. For the following classes I provided clay that was already split into appropriately-sized pieces for each component of the chameleon. This eliminated some of the students’ stress about having clay proportioned appropriately for chameleon parts. This strategy worked very well because for the following classes, students were not only able to sculpt each chameleon component but they were also able to slip and score their pieces and successfully assemble their chameleons by the end of the class.
I think it would have also been beneficial to have a demonstration or simple step-by-step instructions on the board for the clean-up part of this lesson. Learners were washing their hands before cleaning up their work stations which resulted in getting dirty again when they had to wipe down their tables and return clay-covered materials. Instructions would have made a more seamless cleanup for these student's first time working with clay.
The best part about how this lesson went was the students’ perceived enthusiasm for this assignment. Many students were excitedly discussing artistic choices they made for their chameleons and no students seemed unengaged/uninterested in experimenting with this new medium.
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Frog on a Log: Kindergarten Frog Drawing Lesson Reflection
This is one of five ICT classes that I work with at BMP Ridge Street School and there are six students in this particular class with IEPs so the class has diverse learning needs. This is the second lesson of four lessons in a technology-integrated unit. My objectives for this lesson were for learners to draw a stylized frog in six simple steps and to paint their frogs while taking into consideration various frog facts from a list that the class collaboratively compiled in the previous lesson.
During the initial demonstration of the six simple steps I used to draw a stylized frog, some students became observably overwhelmed. As I moved around the room between demonstration breaks, I assisted students one-on-one. One learner verbalized her frustration about her drawing not looking like my example on the smartboard. I responded to this by calling the class’ attention and explaining to them that the goal was not for them all to draw a frog that looked exactly like mine, but to draw a frog that was unique. “If we all drew frogs that looked exactly the same, that would be so boring!” I was thrilled to hear that one student who finished drawing her frog early began helping someone who was struggling next to her. Although some learners became frustrated at times, everyone was able to make a frog drawing and once they began painting they exhibited increased confidence and enthusiasm. Learners were focused on painting their frogs using three shades of green paint and sparkly gel. During their work time I moved around the room and listened to them discuss their artistic choices and heard several learners referencing the frog facts “I’m going to draw my frog with a long tongue.” Several learners called me over and proudly explained what they had done to paint their unique frogs. By the end of class students were no longer expressing concern about their frogs not looking like my example and instead were proud of the unique characteristics of their individual works of art.
At the end of class after all of the students had cleaned up their work stations, I had everyone line up where they usually do to exit the art room but as we waited for their teacher to arrive and pick them up we reviewed their list of “frog facts.” I was losing their attention during this final review of the frog facts so I think it would have been beneficial to tell students what to expect as a closure to this lesson in addition to the review of “frog facts'' and it would have gotten their attention again and made them excited to return to art class to see how we would accomplish the animation of their drawings. During the next class when I explained that we were going to make the students’ frog drawings talk to them in their own voices, they were in awe and excitedly asking questions about how we were going to animate their drawings and bring them to life.
Filters and Photography: Lesson Reflection
Learners were actively engaged throughout the duration of this lesson and even experimented and expanded upon my initial instructions and prompts for this assignment. One student had the idea to use her hair as a filter and another student even experimented with video. Everyone was able to meet the established objective of using at least five different filters to take at least five five photographs in which they carefully consider composition, lighting, and perspective. This lesson was designed to give learners a lot of freedom to experiment. Throughout this lesson I used a lot of relevant academic vocabulary including words like Photography, filter, composition, perspective, digital, transparency, lighting, effect, abstract, representational, and realistic.
I was disappointed that the weather did not allow us to go outside in the school’s courtyard for part of this lesson which I think would have been enjoyable for the students and would also have added an element of interest to their photographs because light is such a critical component of photography. Although we had to stay in the classroom, everyone was very excited to be experimenting with photography with the provided materials. All of the learners successfully considered aesthetic qualities of their compositions and planned and arranged their decisions accordingly. Some learners constructed narratives–taking self portraits using a clear blue plastic sheet as a filter and posing as if they were underwater. Some learners constructed more abstract images and one learner described to me her thought process on one of her photographs which was taken using a reflection in a glass window but where the focus was on the reflection rather than the objects behind the glass. I was very pleased at her explanation of what she had achieved. She described the curtain behind the glass as an element that “adds mystery” to the image–a very sophisticated interpretation and explanation of one’s own artwork, especially for a third grader.
Next time I’d like to explain my plan for the next class to students before they leave. I think the lesson would be more cohesive and learners would have further incentive to create great images if they knew ahead of time that we would be uploading their photos to the BMPRSS virtual gallery. In hindsight, I also think taking photographs in the hallway with the large windows would have been a decent alternative to going outside because of the natural lighting. Students seemed to really enjoy taking photographs in the classroom, nonetheless and I’m glad that this was the introduction for a lot of them to the realm of fine art photography.
Blog 1
When I think of literacy, I think of language fluency. I consider language to be a means of communication by which a person can express themselves, and not just through words. Just as in the spoken language, people can become fluent in many modes of communication. When considering visual arts, I think literacy comes from what an individual feels when they look at a work of art. Literacy comes from an ability to interpret a work of art and as outlined in the first chapter of her textbook This is Disciplinary Literacy, ReLeah Cosset Lent describes literacy as “anything that helps us make meaning, whether visual, audio, or multimodal format.” Disciplinary literacy extends to an individual’s ability to learn through their own inquiries and curiosities about specific subjects. In chapter four of her textbook, Lent emphasizes “one remarkable characteristic of inquiry is that it is done by the individual, not to the individual, and this active form of learning is what makes knowledge stick.” For me, my passion for art began as soon as I was old enough to hold a drawing utensil. As a child, I didn't have any siblings so I spent the majority of my free time playing by myself through my drawings. I would play with anything that I had at hand and even got in trouble a few times for doing things like smearing chokeberries on my childhood dog or sculpting little figures out of chewing gum that I pulled off of the bottom of a table at the school where my Dad taught. I also agree completely with the strategy of storytelling to hook the interest of students in a subject. To this day, my paintings are about narrative, and storytelling; that element of play has never left me and for that reason expressing myself through my work is my true, first language. This fluency isn’t only true for the making process of my visual arts practice; I also love to look at the work of other artists because of the richness of that interaction with what another person has made. Art has the ability to move me in ways that other things simply can’t.
The art-making process is all about experimentation, expression, and exploration. Exploration is all about unanswered questions that continuously drive an individual to keep searching, to keep making. Throughout my years studying art in school, I have taken many classes where the same question was posed but never answered: “what is art?” It is a question that people have always stumbled over, but the reality is that there is no definition that is true for everyone. As a teacher, I think this is something that’s really important to remember because everyone defines art differently–everyone values different types of art and has different interests and different ideas, and that is actually the thing that makes art so beautiful–it is the quality that connects art class with every other subject a student may develop a passion for. Art class is that opportunity for a student to ask the questions that they actually want to ask and find the answers through their creative endeavors. Each artist, just like each student, is unique and there are limitless possibilities when it comes to an individual’s personal growth as an artist and learner. The art room should be a space that celebrates the diversity of culture, ideas, and experiences of each student. As much as I feel like setting up a prompt to get the gears moving is important, I also believe in freedom to a certain extent and that there is always room for adaptation and personalization on assignments when it pertains to developing a student’s body of work. As an art teacher, sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is to take a small step back and allow the student to take some control of their own education–a luxury they will not have in other classes.
As someone who has studied art history in school for years, I have found reading to be a critical skill in my understanding and growth as an artist. As Lent talks about in her textbook, “readers must know something about the content in order to use the strategy [in the context of art-making strategies] effectively.” As an interpreter of works of art, I have learned so much more about the works of art and the artists that I admire by reading about them. I would say that print, video, visual, and audio are all essential texts and all very common within the visual art discipline. Many people assume that visual art is limited to painting and sculpting but it is so much more–it literally extends into every other discipline that there is. Art class has the potential to be the bridge that connects subjects for students in school. It has the potential to be that spark that ignites their curiosity and inquiry where they may otherwise struggle to find a hook. Here is a link to a TED talk about interdisciplinary education and why it is beneficial for students to draw connections between subjects rather than compartmentalizing each class in its own category with no overlapping ideas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGtrsv8G9u0
At the end of my students’ learning journeys I would hope that they are more self-assured and have had sufficient opportunity to explore topics which interest them while using creative, art-making approaches. I hope that, through their execution of interdisciplinary assignments, my students will discover new curiosities within subjects that they struggled with before. A great way to highlight the skills and knowledge that students gained in an art class is always to display and share their artwork. Public artwork such as murals, or group shows, performance art for an audience, are some projects that would allow students to demonstrate what they have gained from an art class. There is such a satisfying sense of pride that students have when they are able to share what they have created with friends and family.
Blog Two
Within the Visual Arts discipline, there are so many opportunities for students to collaborate in various ways. I have always felt that the safest place in school (for myself) to experiment and express myself authentically was in the art classroom. I have always been an introvert and making friends didn’t necessarily come naturally to me. However, once I reached middle school, art class was the one place where I always felt confident and like what I had to share through my work would be accepted by my teachers and peers. There were many group assignments that I participated in, but the ones where I felt really confident were the assignments that were either in the art classroom or that involved some degree of creativity and freedom. In elementary school I worked with my grade on a giant mural on the outside wall of the building facing the playground. This is my earliest memory of having to work together with my classmates and I remember feeling a bit frustrated that I couldn’t just grab the paintbrush and paint what I wanted. Instead, our teachers told us about the project in advance and made us all, in smaller groups, collaborate on different parts of the wall. We had to plan together every step of the way and decide what we wanted to paint and had to work together to come up with a plan which was approved by our teacher. When it was over, I was proud of the result and proud that I had contributed to my group’s efforts to paint our section of the wall.
I agree with Fisher and Frey’s argument that establishing behavior/participation and other classroom norms are very important for beginning a school year on the right foot. Having students work on collaborative projects within the first 20 days is not something that I might have prioritized before but I definitely think it is a method that I will use. I see how it would break the ice and have the students get comfortable with each other early on so they can move past any insecurities about sharing their personal work with their peers. The gradual release of responsibility model is beneficial for students who have never taken an art class before and don’t really know how, for example, a critique might work. I really liked some of the spotlight lessons in figure two, and altered some of them for a potential art class:
“silent interview” but with drawn pictures and labels
“Reading partners” but instead of reading, students will work in pairs and write down their own interpretations on a work of art. They will then discuss and compare/contrast their ideas
“Helping curriculum” would encourage students to ask me (or any of their peers) for critiques or suggestions on their work.
“Numbered heads together” students will work in teams to analyze a work of art and present their interpretations to the class.
“Think-pair-square” could work with small-group critiques or analysis of a work of art. This lesson would help students interpret and then re-interpret with the addition of new perspectives.
“Collaborative posters”--collaborative anything!
The critique is, without a doubt, one of the most important features of an art class. During a group critique, the teacher models the academic language to the entire class so the students have the opportunity to listen to art terms in context and while observing the work of art being discussed, which allows them to draw connections between what they are hearing and what they are seeing. This helps them to learn to understand the academic language of the discipline. During a group critique students are also expected to participate and offer insights to their peers about the work being discussed. This allows the students to put their knowledge and understanding of academic language to use. Within my own art education, I would argue that I may have learned more from my class critiques than I did from the act of art-making itself. Here is a video of a final critique taking place for a painting class at Cooper Union. Josephine Halvorson discusses the importance of the critique and how "language is such an important part of how we talk about our work and how we talk around our work."
Cooper Union Final Painting Critique
I was required to take art history classes throughout the entire duration of my MFA in studio art. Up until that point, I had never had to do so much reading for a single class before. Although I felt pretty confident with my use and understanding of academic language within the art discipline, there were still instances where I encountered technical language that I was unfamiliar with. While there is discipline-specific language, I found that in the art-history texts, there was general non-art-specific academic language that I stumbled on. Sometimes the authors did a good job scaffolding my understanding by including images of the works being discussed and describing in further detail using ideas that further supported their points. Other times, I had to look words up to better understand what I was reading.
Context is so important for students to have an understanding of a word they are encountering for the first time. There are many factors that can help a student with deep learning. In an art classroom, it is beneficial to have images–for example, a teacher might put up a Carravagio painting when introducing a word like chiaroscuro to the class. Also breaking down the new word itself into smaller, more digestible (and recognizable) pieces:
Chiaro “clear, bright” + Oscuro “obscure, dark” = chiaroscuro. The teacher could also lead the students, through group discussion, to come up with other terms (“contrast”) to describe chiaroscuro in paintings to help them better understand. It would also be beneficial to discuss and interpret what is happening in the given painting as a hook–we learn better when there is a story to follow.
Blog 3
I thought the celebration of World Read Aloud Day was very cute and a great idea for young students. This lesson combined reading by having the story projected on the wall so the students could listen as the narrator read–this would assist them in recognizing unfamiliar words as they hear them. There was a lot of movement in this lesson (very appropriate for a P.E. class); an additional benefit to having the kids move around and act out parts of the story is that it keeps the kids engaged and thinking about how their movements and gestures represent or connect to the storyline. This lesson encouraged social emotional learning because the students were playing together through activities such as “partner boat pose.” The students all seemed very enthusiastic about the activities and were even playing with each other as a result. I really liked this lesson and have thought about ways that I could apply it to my own classroom and maybe even work with other teachers for a similar interdisciplinary lesson.
I completely agree with Lent’s assertion that reading is an effective method for someone to become familiar with the language of a specific discipline. Visual arts is no exception to this rule. I really noticed this for myself while taking art history classes in grad school where I had to read many peer-reviewed journals to do research for my papers on specific artists. I found that, over the two years of intensively reading these articles/journals published by experts in the art field, I have gained a much better grasp of the academic jargon in my discipline. I noticed that my reading became more fluid and my comprehension of the texts had much improved by the end of the second year.
One type of text that could help students become more comfortable with the linguistic nuances of the art world are art reviews. They are not quite as challenging as peer reviewed academic journals or articles but critics always embellish their reviews with very juicy, descriptive art terminology and they frequently compare what they are reviewing to other artists and other works so the more acquainted a person is with the artworld, the more likely they are to understand those references. Students will gain a better understanding of the language in the visual art discipline if they read art reviews and accompany the review with (an) image(s) of the work being reviewed–this will enable them to form connections between the unfamiliar words within the context of the sentence and the actual work(s) of art. It will also help them to develop a critical lens, which hopefully would lead to a greater understanding. Art reviews are also generally of a palatable length, which makes them more accessible for people who aren’t as fluent with the language of the discipline. Here is a review of an exhibition of Matiss’ work at the MoMA, written by Jerry Saltz, one of the most celebrated art critics of our time:
Obviously, the visual art discipline consists of a lot of visual text. I think being able to decipher narrative in an image (whether it is the narrative intended to be understood by the artist or not) is a critical skill for someone who is fluent at reading a work of art. It all boils back down to that ability to make meaning. I think this is an area where visual arts and social studies work very well together–political cartoons, for example, attempt to send a very specific message or persuade a viewer one way or another on a specific topic. Fine art, or a work of art like a painting, is a bit more complicated than a political cartoon in the sense that its purpose may go so far beyond persuading a viewer. A painting can tell a story and convey a feeling and these viewer experiences may vary greatly from person to person even if they are looking at the exact same work of art.
It’s beneficial for students to look at a work of art and to interpret the work themselves before they are spoon-fed all of the answers. Artwork is made to be looked at, not read or lectured about. Art is, itself, the text. That’s not to say that writing/reading/having a dialogue about the work of art is not also of vital importance.
This is an early self portrait by Kerry James Marshall: “A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of his Former Self”
What does this image make you feel? What is the figure thinking?
Does it make you want to laugh? Does it offend you or make you uncomfortable? Are there aspects of this image that are familiar to you?
Kerry James Marshall’s work “challenges the marginalization of African Americans with canvases that both revere and subvert the western canon… His subject matter derives from black culture and stereotypes, as well as his own life experience.”
Did reading the quoted text above from Artsy change your perspective or initial thoughts on this piece at all?
I definitely agree that accompanying a target complex text with visual and media texts is an extremely effective way to help with comprehension. Not only would this improve the students’ ease of understanding but the multimodal presentation would keep students interested in what they’re learning about.
Quad text set in the art discipline might be necessary for a difficult peer-reviewed journal about an artist for an art history class. The scaffolds for a difficult reading could be images/videos of the artist's work, maybe a video interview with the artist where they talk about their work, and some shorter, more concise articles about the artist and their work. I would say that conflicting texts that present alternative perspectives or themes are the most interesting to me of the four common types of texts. Considering alternative perspectives would always be a beneficial exercise for students for every aspect of life, both in and outside of the classroom.
In the visual art field, artists are constantly coming up with their own questions and seeking solutions through their work. I think DTBQs would work very well during the critiquing process–students formulating questions about their peers’ work. Students constructing their own questions is critical for the creative process but also would be helpful in an art history reading assignment because it would give me a better understanding of what they are interested in and what they are struggling to understand.
I agreed with many of the points made by the National Council of Teachers of English, especially the point about engagement and making sure students are given ample opportunities to read about what is interesting to them. Yes, it’s still important to cover the required material, but students should be reading independently and should be allowed to have some choice in their reading material. Because engagement has an impact on motivation, students will be better equipped to read class material if they are already comfortable with reading because they have had that practice. When it comes to researching artists for assignments, I fully believe that students should have a say in which artist they want to research. Different students are going to have different interests in art styles, media, and time periods. I think my role would be to help facilitate their exploration of their artist of choice by letting them learn more about them for my class.
Blog 4
I love writing. I also love reading but I really deeply enjoy writing. Which is ironic because I’m such an introvert and actually pretty shy. I feel similarly about writing as I do about making art–except I love making art even more. It’s the creative aspect of it–the freedom. Expressing myself comes so naturally to me when I’m writing or painting. Growing up I studied classical ballet too but I haven’t done so seriously since I started college when I was eighteen. I used to love to dance and it became such an instinctive thing for me to do, similarly to drawing and writing. The common theme here is storytelling and personal voice, the only difference is the method of expression.
My earliest memory of learning how to write in school is of copying letters in provided lined paper–that paper with the dotted line between two solid lines. This was a fun lesson but it didn’t help students make meaning from writing. When I got a little older, I remember my teachers in elementary school asking me to write short reflections about my weekend in my composition notebooks to get me more comfortable with writing. Around the same time as I was doing these writing exercises in school, my dad would make up stories for me on the subway going to and from school and I would illustrate the scenes. At school my friends and I would make up fantastical stories and we’d draw out little picture books to go with them. These experiences contributed greatly to the development of my love of art. I make meaning of my experiences, of myself, and of the world around me through art and narrative.
Here is a TED talk by Vanessa Chan about the importance of creative writing which she describes as “intended to entertain rather than to impart information.” Vanessa also describes the freedom that comes from creative writing that cannot be had from more traditional, restrictive writing assignments. She argues that creative writing is an integral part of education.
I feel very fortunate to be going into the visual art discipline as a teacher because I think visual art allows for a lot of freedom as far as how much input a student has in what they can pursue in their learning journey. Students have so much more control over what they can learn in an art classroom and that is greatly attributed to the lack of standardized tests and other state-imposed standards on the curriculum. That’s not to say that there aren’t any core standards to meet but there are just so many ways to go about fulfilling the requirements. Arts and creativity are flexible.
I think the best formula to help students compose a text in the visual art discipline is first to find out what each student is passionate about and to incorporate that somehow into their text. For example, if a student has a favorite band, their assignment could be to make album art for that band or to make a drawing, painting, sculpture, etc. inspired by their favorite song. There is creative meaning-making potential in every subject and in all areas of life, the trick is just to find the spark and the connection that will get the students to eagerly pursue their creative projects.
It is very important for students to not only be able to objectively assess works of art but to be able to formulate abstract ideas based on the work that they are viewing, students should not only be able to think creatively this way when they are making art but also when they are analyzing art. Reading about art is one of the best ways that students can learn how to observe and dissect a work. Making meaning by viewing art is just one of those things that takes practice, in the same way that making meaning through reading text takes practice. I would ask students to write research papers on art topics that peak their interest. I really liked the concept of low-stakes writing as a model to follow for research paper assignments because my goal is not to penalize my students for not using the sentence structure or punctuation that I deem “correct” but for them to learn more about aspects of the art world that are interesting to them. I am not an English teacher and my students will take classes where their punctuation and grammar will be corrected, and their grades will be impacted. I want my students to be engaged enough with what they are writing about to just write without having to worry about their writing abilities impacting their grade. The idea of low-stakes writing, for me, would be to get my students to focus more on the content of their writing than the technical rules of the writing itself. Writing is a tool to help learn about many different topics, and when the student is learning through this process, whether they have made a few spelling errors or not, I see it as a successful exercise. I like the idea of encouraging my students to write, uninhibited by the fear of making mistakes.
In the spirit of art, computer science, data, and math, here is a TED talk by artist and researcher Sougwen Chung, in which she discusses the importance of collaboration and making mistakes. “how does our desire for perfection, precision, and automation affect our ability to be creative?” “embracing imperfection can actually teach us something about ourselves.” I highly recommend watching the video of Sougwen’s collaborative process with her robots because it is so beautiful! “Our imperfections became what was beautiful about the interaction… part of the beauty of human and machine systems is their inherent, shared fallibility,"
I love the idea of having an online blog for an art class too, where students can share not only written text but pair interesting articles or reviews with images. This would also allow students to engage with each other and practice talking/writing about art. It is also a method which would allow students to engage with each other about classroom content, even when they are not in the classroom. An art class would work seamlessly with multimodal blogging composition because art is inherently multimodal.
In an art class, there is a lot more room for flexibility than many other subjects have the luxury to provide. Although I think it’s important to provide students with prompts on assignments, I would hope that the result would be surprising and creative, and I’d hope the process would be fun and informative for the student.
A low-stakes formative writing assessment in my unit is the reflection that students are asked to write using vocabulary terms gone over in class. The assignment asks that students find a favorite work by our featured artist, Piet Mondrian, to write about. This assignment encourages students to use the new vocabulary while explaining why they chose a specific work. The students are also asked to keep a Differentiated Learning Log or “journal” to document what the unit covers so they are asked to do a lot of writing for this interdisciplinary unit.
Once the students are writing, if a student misuses a new vocabulary word, for example, I think it’s important to point that out without penalizing the student for attempting to expand their vocabulary. It’s all a part of the learning process so I would simply offer an alternative word that might be more appropriate in their statement and remind them of the meaning of the new word that they misused. I would never want to deter students from taking chances when creating art or talking/writing about art.
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