Claire's Primary School Art: Planning

Assessing Art

Informal:

Observation
Teacher may notice engagement in the art lessons. Children who tense up during creative moments in art may have trouble in other subjects- such as creative writing ideas and drama. Mind Maps may help them filter out ideas.

Children who may need encouragement. Fear of expression- does the child feel happy and safe in their learning environment? I often find this brings lots of circle time discussions about school being a place to make mistakes and learn.

Formal:

Portfolios- staple two A2 sheets together as a folder if you wish to keep the children's work for the year. I find younger ages prefer to take their work home with them throughout the year. They can't wait to show it off! :) Take photographs of the work to keep a record if you decide to send the work home. The photographs are good to keep- who knows when you will need them again! ;)

Self Assessment- a simple smiley/sad face on the back of the work can show this.

Teacher Checklist:

Is there a progression in the child's abilities?
What are the students learning? Does this build on prior knowledge?
How can the teacher communicate positive points and encourage the child to progress further?

Art Policy

What to use in creating an Art Policy document?

Introductory Statement:

Who was the plan drafted by and in consultation with who?

Rationale:

What is the plan hoping to achieve?

Vision:

i.e. Hope for the holistic development of the child.

Aims:

Primary School Curriculum/ School Ethos

Curriculum Planning:

Strands and Strand Units

Approaches and Methodologies:

i.e. guided discovery

Linkage and Integration:

Assessment and Record Keeping:

Children with Additional Learning Needs:

Equality of Participation and Access:

Organisational Planning:

Timetable

Displays

Resources and ICT

Health and Safety:

Individual Teacher's Planning and Reporting:

Staff Development:

Parental Involvement:

Community Links:

Success Criteria:

Success of plan based on...

Implementation:

Every teacher being responsible for this etc

Review

Ratification and Communication:

When ratified by BOM will become part of the Plean Scoile.

Date, Signed.

Many Art Policies are available on school websites. They are really handy to consult for reference when creating your school's policies.

Some Online Samples:

http://www.ballyeaschool.ie/attachments/050_Visual%20Art%20Plan%202011%20final.pdf

I liked this forward thinking.

This one is good for an Educate Together ethos:

http://www.eetns.ie/?page_id=569

http://tunnyduffns.schoolsites.ie/visual-art-policy/

What Drawing Materials to Use?

Infants:

Markers and Crayons- These are harder and can stand up to their quicker drawing methods.
Children should be moved to finer point pencils/crayons when they begin to colour neatly and look for them. The larger crayons can be very frustrating to use in smaller areas.

Oil pastels are great to get bright, vibrant colours and are very effective on displays.

There should be a range of paper types and sizes available at this age.

First Class to Fourth:

Soft chalk pastels are suitable to introduce at this stage.

Smudging and blending can be achieved with charcoal. I like to use this on newsprint paper.

Children draw their interests and what they observe at this age.
They use symbols to represent objects ('m' for bird in the sky). It is beneficial to encourage the children to observe what they are drawing at this stage to aid the development of their drawing.

Fourth Class to Sixth:

Drawing skills can be introduced at this stage. (See Previous Post). Children will have been given the opportunity to experiment with different drawing materials and may have preferences.

Other ideas:
Drawing objects one in front of the other.
Objects getting smaller as they are further away.
Objects moving up the page getting smaller as they are further away.

Still Life:
Recognise size difference
Edges of objects
Shadows