Formative and Summative Assessments

Formative and Summative are two different kinds of assessments that a teacher can use to evaluate how well a student has learned the subject, in this case, meaning how well a student has learned art.  According to the book,  Emphasis Art, summative evaluations can be assessed through asking:

• Did you learn any new words or art ideas this year?  What?
• What was good about art this year?
• What did you learn this year about how to make art?

Formative evaluations are done at the moment or at the end of the lesson, whereas a summative evaluation is done at the end of the year.  According to Catherine Garrison & Michael Ehringhaus of NMSA, formative evaluations can be assessed by:

• criteria and goal setting
• observations
• questioning strategies
• self and peer assessment
• student record keeping

I like what Laura Greenstein says about formative assessments: "Formative assessment is also a systematic way for teachers and students to gather evidence of learning, engage students in assessment, and use data to improve teaching and learning. " (from What Teachers Need To Know About Formative Assessment).

Reflection #3: Art Criticism

Art criticism is the part of art that gives the piece meaning and importance.  Art criticism has various parts to it, such as depth, texture, color, and even evoke emotion.  According to Emphasis Art, "skill in art criticism can also be assessed by asking students to identify how art suggests feelings" (p. 54).
When doing art criticism in an elementary school, the teacher should not let the students' criticize their peers art, because they are at an age where they take everything seriously.  The best thing to do in this case is to showcase a piece by a famous artist, such as Picasso or Van Gogh.  They discuss the piece as a class, with you, as the teacher asking questions about the expressive qualities, balance, repetition, or unity in the piece (Colleen Madonna Williams, Art Criticism Lesson Ideas for Assemblage Sculpture Project).
Another thing that can be done to "criticize art" is to write about it.  Before fifth grade, most teachers just have their students talk about the piece.  Talking about the piece isn't necessarily bad, it's just that the student needs to learn how to write about as if they are art critics themselves (http://www1.cbsd.org/curriculum/art/pages/elementaryart.aspx).

Self Portrait

For our self portrait assignment, we were to take an 8" x 10" head shot of ourselves.  The first picture (top left) is one drawn from memory, without looking at the head shot.  The second picture (top right) was drawn with the picture.  The last picture was the most real life and dramatic of the three.  We were to create a grid on both our picture and our sketch paper.  We were to fill in each box with what was in the coordinating box in the picture.  These are how my self portraits turned out.

Texture/Picasso Head Assignment

Picasso Head Portrait


For this assignment, we were to use the 8 texture/color squares and fill in our Picasso Head.  Our  Picasso head was created by doing a blind contour drawing.  We were to look at our partner and draw them without looking or lifting up our pencils.  This is how mine came out!

Why Teach Art?

Art can sometimes leave people wondering, "Why teach art? It's a waste of time. I don't need someone to teach me how to do that, my two-year old could do that".  All of these reasons may be said at some point, but art is one of those areas that people turn to when they are stressed, need vent frustrations, or say things in picture rather vocally.  According to Emphasis Art, art is one of the only subjects, quite possibly throughout the entire world, that can be understood by everyone, such as an international language.  There is no need for an interpreter because there are no words and the pictures generally get the message across.
In the book What Arts Teach and How it Shows, it mentions something that I think is important for students to know.  I briefly mentioned it before, but it mentions how we can use art to show feeling.  Again, if something cannot be said verbally, art may be another option for saying something.  Many artists in the past have used art as a way to make a statement.  Think about the African American slaves in the 1800's.  They were not allowed to verbally express their feelings, but there is art created by the slaves that expresses their unhappiness.
On the website www.artally.com, it tells a story of an autistic boy who creates masterpieces of art.  This young boy has trouble speaking and talking, so he creates art as a way to express himself.  That is one more reason why teaching about art is a positive thing.

Mandala

A Mandala is a piece of art that has radial symmetry.  For this assignment, we were required to experiment with markers, use the whole page, and tell about ourselves.  This is what I came up with:

What is art?

Art is a tricky word to define.  To every person, art has a different meaning.  To some it might be a way to express emotions, thoughts, feelings, or even as a way to say things that cannot be said vocally.  However, every form of art has three main things: line, shape, and color.  Not every artist uses these three things in ways that are pleasing to every person who views their art.  Sometimes art is not pleasing both visually as well as emotionally, and by definition, it doesn't have to be.  Art can be anything!  A skein of yarn thrown around a room, for example, can be considered art.  To me, art is something visual or tactile that expresses an emotion, whether it be happiness, fear, anger, distress, sorrow, or even pain.  It doesn't necessarily have to look like something or even resemble anything, it just needs to be visual and have some form of color, shape, and line incorporated into the piece.