Kindergarten Portrait Assessment

Last fall the K-6 art PLC was given a morning to come up with a common assessment. We decided to start with Kindergarten and chose portraits as a focus. We thought it would be best to do a portrait at the beginning and end of the school year and use a rubric to assess them. I wanted to be able to display them side by side as a keepsake so that became the plan.

 At first, I gave students a sheet of computer paper, had them fold it in half hamburger style, and tried to get them to write their name and draw a self-portrait on one half, while I added "September". Next year, I will just give the students a half sheet because many drew over the crease or switched sides of the paper after I'd written the month. For the May drawing, I gave the students a half sheet and later glued it onto the "empty" half of the paper from September. Of course, in between the pre and post assessments, there were multiple opportunities to talk about portraits and observation. I know that observation is a difficult task for young students, but we meant it more as awareness- all body parts and facial features present- than photorealism. 

I would like to revamp the rubric. The items we looked for were if body parts were present, if body parts were in the right place (ex: legs connected to the torso instead of the head), if facial features were present, and if colors were selected thoughtfully. Other than the color item, there was no consideration given to aesthetics, emotive qualities, etc. I know those are harder to measure, but they're important enough to try. I would also like to add an "advanced" category instead of just going to "proficient".

Here's what we used this year. I have not yet revised the rubric.

Beginning of Year

Description of Assessment/Key Traits	Beginning	Developing	Proficient
Body Parts Present	Missing several parts	Head, torso, arms, legs, hands, feet	Head, neck, torso, arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers
Body Parts Positioning	Many body parts in wrong position Ex: Legs attach to head	Some body parts in correct position	All body parts in correct position
Facial Features Present	Only eyes and mouth	Most facial features present	All features: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc.
Color Choices	Only uses one color	Little thought given to color choices	Student thoughtfully selected colors

 I will also do my post-assessment in April next year instead of May. Some of the students' drawings scored lower on the post-assessment because they were wound up and just didn't want to work on their drawings more than a couple minutes. It was a rough May around here!

Despite a little backsliding, the majority of students showed a lot of growth. Some showed huge improvements! Now, I know that kids would naturally develop their drawing skills and awareness of self as they grow but I see growth beyond that and beyond what these rubrics show. I'm glad to have a starting point for next year's assessment anyway.

 

Primary Weaving- Collaborative & Choice

I introduced a weaving concept to each grade at my primary school.

Kindergarten- Basic idea of weaving- over-under/ collaboration

1st Grade- Paper Weaving options

2nd Grade- Embellishing options for paper weaving

3rd Grade- Yarn weaving

Instead of asking each Kindergarten student to complete their own weaving project, I really just wanted them to understand what weaving is and to practice the over-under pattern. My first idea was to have each Kindergartener take a short break from their choice project to come to my table and practice weaving one strip in one of the large paper looms (12x18 inches) I'd cut for each class. After each student finished his/her strip, they wrote their name on one of the squares they'd created.

That proved to be a time consuming venture. After two days, a better idea came to me. After the introduction in my last Kindergarten classes, I sent students back to their tables where they worked with their groups to weave strips through 9x12 inch paper looms I'd precut. Not only was it faster, there was teamwork and problem solving. Only one student wove at a time, but they helped each other remember the pattern.

Other than in Kindergarten and 1st grade, weaving projects were optional for the students. Not all of the 2nd graders chose to weave paper, but I think all but a few 3rd graders did because they were SO excited about using yarn. I've found that the easiest looms for students to use are made from foam trays. The space between the suspended yarn and the bottom of the tray makes it easier for students than weaving on a flat surface. We displayed the yarn weaving projects by stapling the piece to a 6x9 inch piece of paper labeled with the student's  name.

Many students tried cutting different designs in the planning of their paper looms. The students who wanted a more traditional grid-like weaving used a precut 1 inch strip to trace the lines they would soon cut.

 Some 1st graders used their paper weavings as an interesting background for something else.

 Here are some 2nd grade projects exploring more ideas for embellishing weavings. From left to right, there is a weaving project with a handprint, weaving through painted paper, weaving through a marker drawing of tie-dye, and circles collaged on top with the letters of the student's name on top.

 Weaving projects with stamped paint on top.

More students want to do extra work outside of class on yarn weaving than on any other project. This student stuck to the rainbow pattern for the entire project. She worked on it in art class for a few weeks before taking scraps to finish it during recess.

Weaving has proven to be a very engaging project for my students over the last few years. Weaving is also one of the lowest cost projects. The looms were made either from meat trays I saved and sanitized at home or from recycled cardboard or mat board. I've also picked up 2 trash bags full of yarn at garage sales for under $5 total. It lasts a long time! I did buy some plastic weaving needles and though they were also very affordable, they are not necessary. Students can weave just using their fingers.

Over the summer I hope to try weaving a pouch. I've seem some lessons online but haven't yet had time to give it a go.

Do your students love weaving as much as mine?

Kindergarten Color Mixing

For my student teacher's first lesson, she wanted to review and explore color mixing with Kindergarten students. She started by reading them the story Mouse Paint, which is always fun.

My student teacher demonstrating proper picture book reading technique. :)

Next, the students got to mix colors by shaking hands! Each student got a dollop of primary colored tempera paint squirted on the palm of their hand and found a friend with a different color. The students made a handprint on paper with their new secondary color and wrote their name on the front with crayon in a later class period.

 After making their handprint, the students finger painted on the tables which we'd covered with big pieces of paper for the rest of class. We squirted other primary colors and let them have fun mixing and experimenting.

 You can imagine how excited the students were- this was a big hit! This lesson is best carried out with at least two adults in the room. I "subbed" for my student teacher when she was sick one day and it was a challenge to be the only one squirting paint and supervising all of the activity.

 Some of the students discovered they could add texture to the paint with their finger tips.

 When the table papers dried, we cut out the blobs of color which were used in a collage lesson with Kindergarten and 1st grade the following week.

Kindergarten Students' First Choice Drawings

The first choice assignment given to my Kindergarten students last fall was drawing. They'd already completed one teacher directed assignment covering many skills and I was ready to see what they would do on their own. Each student had a piece 9x12 inch drawing paper and the choice of basic drawing supplies. Most stuck with crayons or marker to add color to their pencil drawings. I asked them to draw something they wanted, just to make sure they were doing their best. We had talked about filling the space and coloring neatly during the mini lesson at the beginning of class and had already symbolically gotten our scribbles out on the first day of art class.

When students thought they were finished with their drawings, they checked them with me. This way I could encourage them to keep working on it if needed or have them tell me about their artwork if it was really complete. If there was a good unoccupied space on the artwork, I asked the students if they wanted me to write their description on the front. (In first grade, I usually have students write a sentence on the back of their completed work serving as an artist statement).

We're currently working on writing the art curriculum in my district based off of the Core Arts Standards. Here are some "I Can" statements that I think apply to many of these drawings.

• I can explore and play with different art materials.
• I can use my imagination while playing with art materials.
• I can explain how I make my art.
• I can tell what art is about.
• I can describe details in artwork.
• I can create art that tells a story about me. 

I got SO much information from these open ended drawings. I got to know my new students. I found out about interests and ability levels. I saw which students were naturally inclined to be very detailed and which are more expressive. I saw how they think and organize things. I saw who was confident, who was timid, and who needed some extra encouragement. Valuable information.

Kindergarten Holi Portraits

This year our Cultural Heritage Focus was India. My K-3rd grade students each had a more structured lesson while the 4th-6th grade students chose their starting point. Kindergarten students learned about the Holi festivals in India.

First, we watched this news video:

Next, we looked at photos from National Geographic. They're beautiful, check it out!

I asked the students to think about what it would be like at the Holi festival and imagine they were in attendance. The students drew a self portrait and some added a friend or family member with them. The students traced the drawings with sharpie and then we added color, which was the most fun part. As soon as I saw pictures of the colored powder being thrown at the Holi festival, it made me think of powdered tempera.

Students placed their drawings in boxes, used dry paintbrushes dipped in powdered tempera to sprinkle color on top, then we sprayed with water to activate the paint. When the projects dried, I "fixed" them with hairspray.

Powdered tempera is super cheap and pretty brightly colored.

My first class used crayons because I was thinking it would create a resist. I always forget that Kinders have a hard time pressing hard enough with crayons, especially at the beginning of the school year, to create a good resist. We switched to just sharpie line drawings in the next class.

Students did need supervision while applying the powder. Some wanted to just dump a whole bunch in one spot so I had to give reminders about sprinkling and spreading it out. 

Watercolor paper would have been preferable to the drawing paper which wanted to curl as it dried, but I was able to flatten the artwork pretty well.

We have a bunch of powdered tempera left. While I don't like painting with it as intended, I think there are some good possibilities for the sprinkle and spray method!