check for understanding

Check for understanding by asking, “Who was listening closely that can sum up what we are doing today?” Make sure that student artists can list all the steps and clarify anything that needs clarifying.

independent

The students work independently on their work as the teacher circulates. Foster strong work habits by commenting on student artists who are focused on their work as well as student artist who seems be pushing themselves to try new things.

FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE AND CAREFUL AND THOUGHTFUL COLORING

Students should first outline their drawing with black sharpie (sharpie to keep the lines from bleeding). This will give them clear sections to fill in. After it is outlined, they can choose how to fill in each section, but comment on student artists doing so carefully and thoughtfully rather than scribbling; using the black lines as boundaries between different sections and using different colors or patterns to differentiate. Also comment on the variety of patterns or colors being used by students.

STUDENTS SHARE THE WORK OF THE ARTIST THEY INTERVIEWED.

Depending on the teacher’s style of classroom management, it might be helpful to only choose and train a few kids to clean. Make sure to train these helpers well in advance so that you aren’t left with a messy room.

Clean-up times will vary with materials; get to know your class and allow 5-10 minutes depending on how efficient they are and whether or not the material was messy.

Have the rest of the class gather close, choose a partner, and interview them about the artistic decisions that they made.
Have students come up and present the work of the person they interviewed. The artist is not allowed to say anything until the end.
It might be worth setting aside some time to look at all the work their fellow classmates made; whether through a presentation in the hall or setting them out on a table and having a walk through.

anticipated problems

• Try to remind students to start with the lightest color—if they start too dark they won’t be able to add on top of it. If this happens and they are upset, discuss if there is some way that they can turn their ‘mistake’ into something else. What does it look like? Enlist the imaginations of the other students to see if there is some workable solution. Alternatively, they can turn their color into a wash using water and a brush and minimize the effect a little bit.
• If a student wants to outline in black, that is best to do last so that the colors don’t smear. If they smear and the student artist is upset, the only solution is to add a darker color to hide it.

early finishers

As students finish, tell them that artists should reflect on their finished work to make sure they can learn from what they did. Ask the to write an artist statement using the Lower Academy Artist Statement Handout and attach it to the back of their work.