Spring if finally in Wisconsin I think and we have been working hard to brighten up the hallways. Moonsticks is one of my fa
So what is your SLO? As educators I feel like we have always been effective educators but now there is a way to prove it. My SLO is 80% of students will demonstrate proficiency in the application of the elements of art on the common assessment by the end of the school year. Baseline 2 students were advanced, 2 students were proficient, 5 students were basic, and 8 students were minimal. So as the middle of the year assessment had to also be completed. My fourth graders whom are the ones I collect the data from were not excited to see that quiz again. They were disappointed with their knowledge and application in the beginning of the year. I actually have them keep their quizzes and assessments in the Mrs. Dahl pocket of their sketchbook folders. Most of them, I have noticed, turned them backwards. So as an educator do I want to give them this quiz again? NO!
Part of the SLO process requires me to make sure that I assess the beginning of the year, middle of the year and the end of the year. So even though I didn’t want to break their hearts I gave the assessment again. The results were amazing! The kids and I both did the happy dance. 80% of students will demonstrate proficiency in the application of the elements of art on the common assessment by the end of the school year 7 students were advanced, 8 students were proficient, 4 students were basic, 0 students were minimal. I am so proud of the response that this quiz has given to my students. They as a group scored 67 points higher than the last time they took the test. We are all proud of the results that were given from the data. No students fell into the category of minimal anymore whereas the last time we took the quiz there were 8 in minimal. Five students moved to basic but I feel with more instruction that they will all reach the goal of proficient by the end of the school year. The kids will need to put these in there sketchbook folders this week and I bet they will be facing forward. To make the goals for the final assessment for the year we will continue working on the elements of art. The struggle comes in when we only have a limited amount of art, once every six days for 45 minutes. With all of the other things that a fourth grader needs to remember sometimes art is not on the list. As an educator I need to include the other common core subjects within my art lesson yet art is not included with everyday lessons. We will keep working on our goals but we are pretty sure we will crush the data. I still found that students were struggling with shapes and the difference between organic and geometric shapes. I plan on working on those elements of art through the remainder of the school year as well as continuing to reinforce the learning goals that we have already set in our classroom. I feel that we will be able to make gains and we have already making huge progress going from 76% not being at proficient to just 21% not being at proficient. As resources I have created a Pinterest page https://www.pinterest.com/jensweeney/slo/ and I also have one about assessment that I use as my go to resources https://www.pinterest.com/jensweeney/worksheets-and-rubrics/. My presentation for NAEA Elementary Carousel for bloggers. Do you blog? What are your favorites?
Black River Falls has been part of an art idea exchange for years! At and exchange teachers from pre student teaching to grade 12 gather and chat, share their favorite lessons and collaborate. We just hosted the 31st annual exchange-most years it is in BRF but it has been in other towns as well. This is my favorite day! I love to hear what other art teachers are thinking about and doing in their classrooms.
Click clack moo is a lesson that I did not come up with it was the brainchild of student teacher and dear friend Tiffany Beltz. This is a very successful lesson for 1st grade in learning how shapes put together make a form. I found an old dinosaur typewriter in storage and the kids get to take turns "typing" after their work is done and their table spot is clean. I pray that the typewriter never runs out of the tape inside because they love it.
1st graders got the opportunity to learn about contemporary artist Tyree Guyton. They loved looking at the bright and fun art that Tyree created on Detroit's rundown streets. We read the book Magic Trash and we were so inspired we created some houses of our own using recycled materials.
I only teach one class of Third Grade which is weird and hard at times for planning. But I get to give them tons of different opportunities because there is only one class. When I display their work I always write on the display "This work is created by Mrs. Dahl's favorite 3rd Grade class!" They get a kick out of it when they see them in the hallway. Yesterday being the 100th day of school we had the opportunity to create a portrait. My friend Sarah and her husband Greg had gifted me thousands of old photographs. So I had third graders pick their favorite and showed them how to make it into a frame, drew portraits of the people but then extended the lesson by doing a writing activity. I let the kids take there photograph, writing and artwork home right away. The kids were in love with this and I got wonderful participation and comments. Jackie said " Mrs. Dahl so I get to take my man home?" "This is my favorite day ever I am going to put this picture by my bed." Definitely a great lesson!
Today is the 100th day of school and the second graders are loving mixing 100 colors for their chart. I allowed them the freedom to work on what shape they wanted and I did not get hung up on that their squares were all the same time. This lesson was great for conversations at the table. Students were asking a lot of questions to each other like "What is the name of that color?" "How did you make the color?" I love it when they talk about what they are doing.
1st graders put the finishing touches on their Jim Dine inspired art and we also got to mix our own colors to make ice blocks for outside. Last week when we painted real wood the kids were over the moon excited about getting to paint on wood (seriously they were popsicle sticks) but they were so excited. This week when we were able to finish their wood masterpieces and they got to mix their own color for water that we froze to make ice they were so excited. I got comments like "Mrs. Dahl this is the best day ever!" I was also told many times that I am the best art teacher they have ever had. (Well they have no clue if I am the best art teacher they have ever had because I am the only art teacher they have ever had!).
1st Graders are working with patterns to create these Jim Dine inspired backgrounds. The kids were so very excited to make their art with WOOD. Seriously it is 10 popsicle sticks glued together but they were over the moon excited. Next week we are going to add fun foam hearts to the center as we learn about symmetry.
First graders used printing techniques to make a crazy quilt with real stitching! Week one we printed the quilts and added black lines that helped to divide the space. Week two we added construction paper crayons to the black painted parts and were able to PUNCH our own holes with the hole punch. Stitching was added with a variety of yarn!
A wonderful dream came true for me this week. This is the letter I received from the NAEA Executive Director, Deborah B. Reeve, EdD. I am over the moon with happiness. "On behalf of the National Art Education Association, it is my great honor to inform you that you have been elected by your peers for the office of Elementary Division Director-Elect of the National Art Education Association. May I be the first to extend warm congratulations on behalf of the NAEA Board of Directors as well as my personal best wishes."
Kinders are working on patterns in their art with the medium of print making and collage. The beginning of this lesson started out with the book Hide and Snake. Secondly, we learned all about print making with recycled objects that are donated to my classroom. Students used these recycled items to make their printed patterns. That was the end of the first day! On the second gathering we discussed patterns and what would make a pattern. Students used fun foam to add patterns to their snakes and eyes that are from recycled bottle claps. For this project I also created glue bowls and I really loved the results. Why did I never do glue like this 17 years ago it is so easy and much less mess than bottles of glue. For this glue bowl I used Cool Whip containers and a sponge that is cut in half. The public library in the town I work in is awesome about allowing us to display student work in the library internet cafe. My district has four art teachers so we take turns to rotate through k-12 artists being featured in the library. This month it was my turn. I came up with the clever plan to have this display easy to go up and come down. I used white roll paper and stapled the works to it and added the students' class and grade in marker. I as wrote a postcard to send home to each student and their family to promote the show!
I am part of the family involvement committee at school and it the most rewarding job, other than being an art teacher. We planned a family math night with a frozen theme and I was in charge of the photo booth! I think it was a hit! Students traveled to stations with fun math centered activities.
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AuthorI am an elementary art teacher in a small town in Wisconsin. I am currently the President of the Wisconsin Art Education Association, creator of funky junk, a wife, a gardener, a DIY diva and a mom of two furry kids. Archives
January 2016
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