Mark making with light.

This week students made marks with something completely different: light.

Three groups were divided into stations where they rotated to anticipate in each activity. First students drew on a large scale projection. The projection's composition was altered by the students that put assorted objects on the screen.

Demonstrating light drawings

Another station had students picking out their artwork for the show. They chose the their best works out of the projects they did for the semester.

The station that I was at involved making marks with glow sticks. The kids were so excited about this. We set up a partition with black fabric so it would block out bright light.

Once the students became situated with their glow sticks I gave them some direction. I had them try a variety of things like stand against the wall and draw shapes, make big movements, small movements, stand in a circle and put int he glowsticks in the middle for collaboration, connect the glowsticks, move them really fast, really slow, and try to think of their own ways to use the glowsticks.

Madisyn drawing with her glowstick

Since my documentation was integral to the actual making of art I tried a lot of different ways to photograph the students. This was actually one of the very few times I actually got to actively take part in artmaking with the students I was teaching. Most of the time it is based on direction, example, and guiding. I really enjoyed that! It allowed me to step back and have a lot of fun with the kids.

This lesson gave me a chance to create as well, I utilized what I knew about photography to use shudder speed in a way that I could play up color and capture light in different ways

Since I was also a participant in the artmaking I experimented with all the groups. I tried to photograph facing towards the light; this picked up an amazing amount of color even in the children's clothing. I faced away from the light on the black wall which was difficult because SLRs have a tendency to refuse to take photos if there isn't enough light on the subject. I also stood above the kids on a chair. This captured the texture of the floor which served as a background that worked unusually well.

One of the best results from my documentation was when I had the students hold their glow sticks still and I moved the camera around. This time I was the one making the marks and the kids were facilitating me. It was interesting to think about that relationship.

Students explored what kinds of motions made particular shapes. In this photo students made rounded marks with light.

The students thought of some great ways to utilize the glow sticks. They put the through belt loops, spun them on string, wove it through their clothing, and best of all collaborated with other students. I didn't have much intention of having the kids work together at first because I thought it would be a little crazy. However they chose to put the glowsticks together, formed lines, links, and saw what happened when colors were combined.

Since this lesson was in rotation I didn't get a chance to see the other parts of the lesson however there seemed to be a lot of excitement when the materials were presented in demonstrations. However I did get to refine my teaching because I was able to teach three rotations of the same thing. This lesson was a nice wrap up to Saturday School since students were able to have a large amount of input into what work was going into the show.


On Your Mark Class Photo
Fall 2009

Full Circle

This week was a head-spin! We worked hard in helping Amanda conceptualize a lesson that would be fruitful in learning a new technique in markmaking, but that wouldn't be too over-the-top for a final lesson (especially coming off a two-week break). It was a very successful lesson.

We learned about composition and the different techniques that add to creating a successful composition: symmetry, asymmetry, repetition, run-off, overlap, etc. Then, Amanda showed a video on light art. Next, we broke into stations to create several different works of art and critique what we've done the past 9 weeks.

I worked with the station that involved critique and having students choose which artwork they would like to see in the exhibition. This was interesting for me because I enjoy hearing students talk about their artwork as well as assess them based on what they say in discussing each others' work. I was thrilled that a lot of the students used vocabulary that has been introduced since the first week in the classroom! Students chose their "favorite," which would represent their best work, plus two additional pieces that they felt showed their best artistic skills. The rest of the artwork was placed into individual portfolios, which made students even prouder -- having that "real artist" feeling because they had a solid portfolio was really an excellent way to boost their confidence in art. After each selected their favorite piece, we discussed it in groups of 6. This went beyond asking "Why is this a good piece?". Students were eager to share what they thought their peers had done well in their work, which was nice to see. Even better, many of the reasons involved key terms, such as "texture," "pattern," "value," and "color."

Because the students soaked up this terminology, I feel it is important to create a worksheet for them to take home after the exhibition. This worksheet will list all of the vocabulary that we have learned about this semester, possibly with examples and definitions. I think it is necessary to encourage the students in their quest for learning art, beyond the construction paper projects that so many are forced to participate in in their public schooling. It shows how much students are capable of, and that is really important and encouraging for a future educator!

Different Students, Different Ways...

Just a note about Colin... Colin is a student who needs a lot of individual attention. He is teaching me to have more patience as an educator. I realize that my ability to give him a lot of one-on-one attention is possible because Amanda is leading the class, and I have more freedom to attend to his needs.

Colin likes color. Specifically, he likes to color with markers. And nothing else. He does not like the 3-D projects we have taken part in, nor did he like to use only black pencil for our "color-by-number" this week. In fact, he "hated it." I sat next to him and asked him to help me with mine. After lots of grumbling, he did. And when the picture was complete, I asked him to sign his name, since he had helped with it. He would not. Eventually, he said he would do so only if I helped him finish his own "color-by-number." I happily obliged.

This is a video during the erased drawing activity:

As I noted in a previous week, it is important for students, particularly at this age, it seems, to be able to create artworks that include their interests. Colin loves superheroes and fiction characters, such as this "barnacle" he is referring to. If we allow students to incorporate their interests (and prior knowledge) into their work, they are more engaged, interested, and learn even more.

Later, in the museum, Colin "hated" the discussion we were having as a group. So, I took him by the hand and allowed him to speak to me about any artwork in a separate gallery. He clearly demonstrated the knowledge that we had discussed earlier in class, and that the rest of the class was discussing together. However, Colin needed that extra attention to show his understanding of value and to just talk about art. I was proud of him. Different students learn in different ways. I discovered how Colin learns. If it isn't entirely feasible to give such individual attention in a "real" classroom, it was certainly possible this past week. And I am glad it was.

A Trip to the Museum...

This week was fun and definitely a learning experience. We discussed value and its relation to art and form. I am not sure that all students grasped the concept, but nevertheless, we engaged with them both individually and as a group.

After completing a "color-by-number" parody using different shades, we discussed the ideas of realistic (or representational) and abstract (non-representational) art. Specifically, artist Chuck Close's work was looked at to gain an understanding that an artwork may look either realistic or abstract from a distance, but that understanding may be reversed when looking at the same work close up.

In order to reiterate the students' comprehension with different shades and values, we participated in an erased drawing. This was fun, because when doing the "color-by-number" activity, students enforced the notion of using more pressure to obtain a darker value and using a lighter touch to get a shade closer to white. In the erased drawing, however, the opposite occurred -- students were given pre-shaded sheets of paper, then had to apply pressure onto an eraser to get a lighter mark. It was an entertaining concept, primarily because students never get the chance to do an artwork backwards.

In the museum, we looked at the "Leaded" exhibition, which has a few artworks specifically made by erasure. Students made the connection right away and were absolutely excited to be looking and engaging with "real" art. We broke up into groups of 6-8 to fill out worksheets finding four different values. This was an enjoyable activity because of the tools we employed. Each student had a keychain with the four different values of paint swatches hooked onto it. Students were able to hold up each value to find a matching one in an artwork. Together, students filled out worksheets. But, we discovered that integrating spelling and writing into art at this age and in this way was a little too advanced for some and tedious for others. I felt that simply discussing the values and artworks with them was just as fruitful. Regardless, students had fun and got to take home their "color-by-number" papers and value keychains as a reminder to employ this knowledge outside of the classroom.

Interacting with Clay and with Each Other

The most interesting part of working with young students with clay is observing the way in which they interact with the material itself. Not only do they engage with the clay in apparently tactile ways, but they bring a nurturing tendency to the material. For instance, Kate created a model of a cat (above). Look at how gently she displays it to the camera.

Clay is a nurturing material. The way in which students work with the clay adds to this. It is extremely tactile: we pinch, we pull, we cup, we twist, we push, we squeeze. Due to the nature of the assignment (creating hybrid animals which show textural qualities), students were encouraged to exhibit several of these actions with the clay.

Students also bring prior knowledge to their artwork. This is where meaningful connections are made. For example, several of the boys in our class are interested in dinosaurs. In creating models, drawings, or other artworks of these dinosaurs, not only are they learning about the art materials, but they are integrating subjects, such as science and art, and perhaps even history.

We must remember to facilitate lessons which can include these interests. This way, students will stay interested and motivated to participate. Furthermore, they can create a broader knowledge base of integrated material. This also leads to a relational approach to teaching; we can build better relationships with our students if we learn more about them through their interests, which they are free to explore and depict through art.

Sculptural Markmaking

Amanda led this week's lesson on making marks with clay sculpture. Each student got ball of clay and jumped right into sculpting their own forms during sketchbook time. When working with clay some students became very kinetic.

Ginger stabs he clay, according to her " I can punch the clay, to let out some anger."

To most kids sculpting with clay comes naturally and results in a very enjoyable lesson. Students could expand their understanding of concepts because of the ease of the material. It did not take a lot of instruction for students to grasp techniques like modeling, scoring, sgraffito, and impressing. I found it was also easy for students to explain their process.

Amanda also led a clear demonstration of the techniques that we used for the sculptures by having the kids work with large slabs of clay during the demonstration. Having an interactive lecture portion of te lesson really engages students and ensures that they understand the directions you give them at the time you are giving instruction.

Students experiment techniques as a group on large clay slabs.

They seemed comfortable outlining the steps they took to reach their end result. Due to review of concepts in the past students could easily identify what it meant to make a texture and what kind of shapes were inherent in each of their sculptures. It was refreshing to hear students really apply the vocabulary they picked up from previous lessons.

Ava came up to me and showed me how she made her elephant/bee creature.

This lesson integrated mark making into figurative creation by asking students to create several textures on each figure. They worked from models of animals to combine the creatures into animal hybrids. Hybriding the figures allowed students to explore several textures at once.

Garrison was able to go through and identify the forms and shapes that he made to make up his whole piece.

Amanda chose to spotlight a sculptural artist to set the theme: Giacometti.

Presenting the artist's spotlight: Giacometti.

Kiran chose to make a Giacometti-like sculpture and he showed how he used the clay tools to form an inner structure. Giocometi actually used wire to reinforce his pieces, something that was not previously reviewed. I surprised to see that Kiran thought of how to create tall thin structures by using what was around him.

Kiran shows how he made his "Gooz" figure and gives it a good punch.

The final part of the lesson corresponded to Giacometti's process of documenting work by drawing the finished sculptures. Students were very familiar with drawing from real life due to past lessons where they became familiar with drawing from life. One of the best/funniest drawings that was produced by Hynwoo who actually contexted his documentation. He drew his figure (which was a face) as a waiter that was bringing food to customers in a restaurant. The end result was hilarious!

Hynwoo documenting his sculpture.

Opportunities for Learning

I enjoy seeing such young students work from life. It's uncommon for children to use direct observation in drawing and creating art. It's interesting to see the differences between drawing from their imaginations and from life, such as this still-life set up. It really broadens their abilities, beyond filling a sketchbook with page after page of fairies and dinosaurs.

Students were hesitant to engage with the wire materials this week. However, once they began manipulating the wire, they were more comfortable and really succeeded in creating interesting wire sculptures.


I think it is important to note that while we are writing a lesson plan, we have a preconceived outcome. Yet this outcome is bound to change. Yes, specific objectives may be noted and expected in the plan, but other objectives may not come forward until they have the opportunity to present themselves in the lesson. It is so important that, as new teachers, we are open to having malleable plans, goals, and outcomes. I was not disappointed that this lesson was imperfect. I was excited about the goals, outcomes, and objectives that the students discovered themselves through experimenting with the novelty of wire as an artistic medium. After all, aren't we trying to learn through experimentation?

Week 6- Wire Marks

This was the first week where we had a more formal critique of student work. By displaying the murals in the front of the room from the start of class, it allowed students the opportunity to go up and investigate what they had created. In the beginning of class, some students were going up to the murals and having their own informal critique among themselves about their artwork. They talked about the parts they liked, the parts they made, and other parts that they remembered seeing last week. This video captures one of these informal critiques in which Melanie was able to participate and guide the students in a small discussion.




The actual class critique portion of the lesson was rather effective and enlightening about student engagement with the artwork and their reflection about creating it. They stayed more engaged in the discussion because they had the opportunity to go up to the mural and take a picture of the part that they liked the most. After the picture, the student had to explain in front of the class their reasoning for why they liked that particular part of the mural. Planning for a lot of student interaction and student-led discussion helped to keep them focused on what was going on.

There was some wonderful dialogue that occurred with the students. My favorite was when Kiran showed us his favorite part of the painted mural:

Melanie: "And why did you choose this part, Kiran?"
Kiran: "I chose it because it uses all cool colors and Ginger's used all warm colors."

Hearing him apply his knowledge about the color wheel to this activity was music to an art teacher's ears.

One of the many issues we ran into this week was the fact that we, as instructors, did not work with the materials beforehand to work out the kinks of the projects. Unfortunately this caused a lot of frustration among the students and it gave off a vibe of frustration to the whole classroom in general, including us teachers. In response to this overall frustration, we worked with the students to try to help them with the task at hand with the allotted materials for the activity. At the end, instead of working with the wire, I had the students try using yarn in the jig. Toby played around with the yarn and was able to create a great project using modified materials.





Through this experience, I think we learned as teachers that adapting to "special needs" students needs to have a broader definition in that the student may not have an IEP, but they are tired that day, or confused or have some other issues going on that are affect his or her performance with the project. Although working out some issues before we even presented this lesson to the students would have deterred a lot of the frustration.

One of the most special and gratifying moments of the lesson happened in the last 10 minutes of the day where they were instructed to sculpt anything they wanted out of the wire. Here the students were so imaginative and animated. You could see them making objects that made sense to them and that they could relate to their lives. For example, the picture of Kiran shows him holding up a pair of Darth Vader glasses he made, and the picture of Madisyn holding up her wire mustache. I also included a video of Ginger explaining her 2 wire objects which shows the increased level of creativity and enjoyment than the previous frustrations earlier in the lesson. This part of the lesson allowed them to have the most imaginative play which as we could see was the most fruitful and rewarding part of this week.

It's about time I get into the whole blog-thing!

Over the past few weeks, we've been discovering the process of markmaking, and lately we've focused on line and pattern. It's interesting to note the different ways students think, process, and show their learning. Each student shows his or her learning by way of their personality. Some are shy, some are bold, some are quiet and contemplative, others are direct and loud.

In being the "head" teacher the first few weeks of Saturday School, I didn't get to relax and observe the students. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to multitask, simultaneously interacting, speaking, documenting, and teaching. Since Melanie took over, I enjoyed simply being along for the ride and letting the students teach me a thing or two.

In socially interacting with the students, I get to check for their retention and understanding of the concepts being discussed. For instance, in this video, I ask students questions and have them explain to me what they are doing...




This short discussion happened after students had me step on the paper in order to show the pattern on the sole of my boot.

ME: "So.. why is that a pattern?"
GARRISON: "It's 'cause what's there is there."
ME: "So, it's doing what?"
GARRISON: "Repeating."

Thus, we can conclude that the student understands that patterns can be made by repeating lines or shapes.

Week 5-Collage Murals

Demonstrations were a major part of the lesson this week. This picture documents one of these sessions, specifically demonstrating collage techniques using paint and stencils. Notice the orientation of the students in relationship to the materials, each other and the Miss Melanie. Some are sitting on the canvas and others are standing, but both are close to Miss Melanie so they can see. It is also important to note Jason's interaction during the demo. Melanie allowed him to participate in facilitating that part of the lesson which I think helped the other students relate to and better understand what they were supposed to do. The level of student engagement seems to rise when another classmate is given the opportunity to participate in the demonstration. The students seem to be able to identify with the task on a more personal level since one of their peers, and not the experienced art teacher, is creating the art. The positioning of the students is also part of an effective demonstration. Melanie created a space where the students could have enough space to get close to the point of instruction and engage what is going on. This set-up also helps the teacher manage the students and asses their understanding as she explains the information.


Here is another example of the students interacting with a teacher-led demonstration:


Attention and exploration of materials was another important component of the lesson this week. Students were allowed to work with many different techniques of collage using paint and paper. This image shows an example of one way students experimented with these materials and how they created the final composition on the larger mural. Here, Kiran is implementing chance into his creative process by allowing the pieces to fall on the canvas.




In this image is an example of a student exploring materials once they were placed on the canvas. As she applied the glue to the surface of the collage pieces, the ink started to bleed. The brushstrokes left residue of the ink color on the canvas adding another dimension to the materiality of the work.

Both of these examples are important when art teachers consider what materials they allow students to use in a project and the balance of teacher-based instruction verses student-led experimentation/self-guided learning. They offer issues to ponder such as how a teacher would be able to recreate something like this in a normal classroom setting, where there are more freedoms with materials and scale of the work? Or what kind of environment you create that allows students to respond in an unmitigated and creative way?

Week 4- Pattern and Collage

This image captures the many layers of learning and teaching that were going on in the classroom this week. Both the teacher and the instructor are engaged in this activity; both parties are working together equally to create the artwork. Uninhibited exploration is also evident in this image. The students noticed that as they moved around the paper, their shoes would make patterns and marks as well. They took this idea and pushed it further by coloring the bottom of Leigha's boots so she could make marks on the paper. In the following image, you can see the students emphasizing the pattern by tracing over it to make them stand out as intentional marks. It was interesting to see the students form together as a group to accomplish this episode of experimentation in that they saw this as a opportunity, executed it, and reflected on it with very little if any guidance from the teacher.
Also, one cannot deny the overwhelming sense of joy and laughter that is captured in this moment. This opportunity to color on a teacher's boot is not something that happens everyday in the regular art classroom. By setting up a classroom environment that encourages unique approaches and challenges seems to bring forth excitement within the students which I hope will continue to happen each time we meet. When planning future lesson, it is important for the teacher to keep this moment in mind, and how the activity provoked such excitement and energy in hopes of planning other activities which achieve the same goal.




This image marks another special moment during class where a student observed unintentional pattern in her work. At first, this student had just drawn the grid outline and said she was done. I thought she could explore more pattern and layering of pattern in this piece, so I asked her what she could do or add to make it have more. With my prompting, she started to color in the squares to make another kind of pattern. The most exciting moment was when she had finished this layer of pattern, she stood back, looking at what she had done, and said,

"Look! There's pattern coming through the pattern!"

What a great example of a student comprehending a concept in that she can both execute it and recognize it in her work! From a teacher standpoint, this also speaks to the importance of reinforcing an idea in various ways throughout the lesson. We, the teachers, were paying close attention to pointing out different kinds of pattern as well as different examples of where it exists in everyday life within the classroom. It seems that the breath of reinforcement allowed students to recognize patterns in a new way, which is what is happening in this image.





This image captures another important moment where students were participating in unprompted informal critiques of each others' artworks. This is a conversation happening between students themselves as they created their photomontages. The materials were spread out all over the table, so many of the students had to get up from their chairs and move around to retrieve the photos and supplies they needed. Creating an environment that permits students to move in and out of their seats helped to facilitate great discussions between students about their artwork.
Freedom to move around also helped facilitate moments of student to student instruction with is also going on in this image. In particular, the student in the middle had traveled to this side of the table to get some more pictures for her artwork, but she stopped to look at the work the other two girls were creating. She made some comments about how she liked what they were doing, and then she proceeded to give a demo of sorts about how she would put 2 of her pictures together on the photomontage. It was wonderful to see these students interacting, helping one another, leaning and teaching from one another without the "real" teacher being present.
With regard the conversation happening between these students, it is important to keep in mind how we as teachers allow students to move around the classroom and what affects that decision will have on opportunities for spontaneous conversations to develop between students. This kind of peer interaction is important and can be scaffolded by the teacher so that it becomes an encouraged activity happening within the daily routines of the classroom.

Here are a few more images of what students were learning and creating:

Week 3- Watercolor Narratives

"Johnny on the woodpile,
Johnny on the fence
Johnny got a haircut
For fifteen cents."

This was the narrative that the student selected to draw for her sketchbook assignment. At first, she had just the figure and green marks, but then I asked her what else she could add to that helped to tell the story she read. She continued to add the blue marks and flowers. The most interesting part of this drawing is what she had transformed it into in the artwork on the left. The students were told to recreate their sketchbook narrative onto the watercolor marks. Look at the wonderful changes!You can see the evolution of ideas that already existed in the preliminary drawing. The oval shapes she described to be the woodpile and happily pointed out the wonderful mohawk haircut of the figure. It seemed as though in the second project that the student extended her ideas from the first drawing in a more creative and exploratory way. Whereas in the sketchbook drawing, the initial confines of illustrating a narrative might have influenced her ideas and level of creativity. This image is a great example of the progression of the student's thought process and ability to combine old and new ideas into one artwork.




When the students were working on the collaborative mark-making exercise, there was a low mumble of sound effects filling the classroom as the students vocalized what sounds the marks made. For example, this student picked the emotion, "jealous", and would make aggressive sharp, short marks each accompanied by her saying "jealous, jealous" quickly followed by "Andele! Andele! I love scribbling!" Many students did the same thing where they combined a vocal and kinesthetic reaction to the marks they were making.

A challenge with using "mark-making" as a unit theme is to help students realize the differences between just scribbling and deliberate mark-making. There was a wonderful moment of dialogue about this during a discussion about Cy Twombly's marks in his drawings. The question was raised:

Teacher:"So what is the difference between scribble and marks?"
Student:"Marks are when you are focusing. When you think about the mark."
Student" Scribbles are when you are having fun. They are when you are not thinking."

It is interesting that the student attributed "fun" to scribbling and not to mark-making. However, the fact that they realized you need to focus more for making marks shows that they realized the difference that certain marks need more thinking then just the innate, kinesthetic reaction of drawing scribbles on the paper. Discovering and exploring the boundaries between scribbling and "mark-making" will continue to unfold in different forms each week.









While students worked in this collaborative setting, there was an exchange of teaching and learning happening within each group individually. Each member of the group saw each others' marks and some responded to them by repeating them while others made up an opposite form of that mark. At different times within the activity, different students rose up as leaders and facilitated the activity as well. One student noticed that only one half of the paper was being filled with marks, so she took the initiative to turn the paper in order for them the fill the other side with marks.