elements of art: art journal pages

       The following pages are from a journal created by my child when she was in seventh grade. Her teacher was Alvina Becker. Mrs. Becker taught her art students from a manual that she wrote herself, “Elements of art: a practical  approach for teaching art in the upper grades:  step-by-step projects for one full year."

       The first example is the cover page of her "Elements of Art" art journal. I have included only a few of the sample pages but, I think most of these will give teachers some ideas about what is normally assigned to this particular type of art journal.

In this journal, she was required to take notes
about the elements of design and then complete
simple projects demonstrating these elements;
space, light, color, line, shape, and texture.
After the completion of the project, students
were then required to include a few design
pages to demonstrate the use of materials.

This page and the one just above demonstrate
the use of positive and negative space. I did
not include the notes among these pages for
obvious reasons. Should I ever need to give
a similar assignment, I want my students
to write their own answers, instead of copying
what they may find here.

I think this magazine collage demonstrating a "textured
landscape is my favorite page.

Texture is experimented with again in this
rubbing.

This is her texture duplicate page. Those of you
who are art teachers know, texture must be assigned
several times in order for the student to demonstrate
both literal texture and implied texture. This
was her implied texture page.

Here is her exploding shapes page. This is fun
for students to experiment with, I think.

Here is her light source page. This is her first
attempt at shading, I'm happy to report that
Natalie became much better at this process
over time!

This is perhaps the most difficult page her art teacher assigned, the
reflective light page.

This is the paper strip design demonstrating line.

Above is a crazy quilt design showing monochromatic
color relationships.

This design shows the use of oil pastel medium.
I believe students were required to demonstrate analogous
and complimentary colors in at least three of the
squares above. What I like most about these
art journal pages is that students were encouraged
to "show case" the aesthetic qualities of the
art elements. My daughter's journal included
notes but these were even written attractively.

the benefits of assigning student art journals

"An art diary, art journal or visual journal is a daily journal kept by artists, often containing both words and sketches, and occasionally including Mixed media elements such as collages. Such books will frequently contain rough workings, in cartoon form, of ideas later to appear in finished works, as well as acting as a normal diary, by allowing the artist to record their day-to-day activities and emotions. These diaries not only give art historians a valuable opportunity to explore the creation process of these finished works, but they are a useful biographical tool." (Wikipedia) 

Types of art journals used within the context of a fine arts course include:

• Art journals may be created to address specific subjects or themes about art in general. The  elements and principles of design is probably the most common art subject assigned to student journals. Click here to view a seventh grade journal about the elements of design. I've also posted worksheets that were used to teach the same material to ninth graders. There is a very distinctive difference between the two assignments. One of them is definitely more pleasing to look at. Don't forget, young people also want their work to look attractive!
• Journal themes may also closely relate to the course of study for the specific class in which the assignment is made. Sketch books in a fashion design course, for instance, are frequently assigned to students. Fashion sketch books become art journals when additional notes and written entries are also included among the pages of these visual documents.
• Journals may be a collective work addressing a wide variety of questions that the student is required to reflect upon throughout an entire year or semester. Bell questions may be assigned to students as soon as they enter a classroom in order to promote attendance, class participation and discipline. Art instructors may choose to include these bell questions within the pages of an art journal along with a selection of short stories, biographies and research papers designed to teach students about art appreciation. 
• Art journals are also very helpful when integrating a specific subjects into student art activities such as: zoology, botany, literature, poetry, history etc... Students may be assigned additional reading or research that coincides with art projects that address specific topics that their art teacher is either very familiar with or trained in professionally. 

      Requiring art students to keep journals promotes excellence in the fine arts. This is because much of the student's free time must be spent thinking and researching how art becomes important to different communities, both professional and novice artists, and to themselves. This reflective practice stretches the brain and offers yet another venue type for students to achieve goals dedicated to comprehension, interpretation, and literacy. By these means, art teachers may also be able to assess whether or not their students are understanding the concepts necessary to the completion of art projects.
      Art journals are also excellent replacements for final or midterm exams in an art class because these diaries are the accumulative proof of the students participation in the classroom. If kept under lock and key within the room, art teachers will soon discover this to be the case. However, in order to teach through journaling, art instructors must be prepared in advance to assign pages to the class on a regular basis.
      I prefer to require a mix of pages that not only assign art methods but also the reading of short articles and reflecting upon the content found in them. (approx. 150 words) Once students become familiar with the process, many of them learn to look forward to it. Do not make the pages too difficult. Students should be encouraged to share their own opinions and not to fear censure for them. As long as they are responding with genuine care or enthusiasm, this can be a very successful assessment process.
      There are also many disciplinarian benefits that may be derived from this activity, benefits such as: the productive use of time, the use of technology for research, the active necessity of participation, and the creative interpretation of events or written materials.
      Free time in the classroom after the early completion of art projects may be used for journal entries and so may the few minutes at the beginning of each class period. This teaches students to use their time wisely and to also direct their attention to a task at hand until it is completed.
      Teachers may include research to be performed in the library or computer lab in order to complete assignments or they may also design a reflection dependent upon outside visits to museums or sculpture parks. It is important for students to actively respond to a project that requires physical research and discovery. This form of discipline builds self confidence and independence. Give students a task to perform in order to fulfill an assignment outside of the classroom. They will discover that art is a part of life on a much grander scale.
      Not every page should include written reflection of an event. Sometimes the pasting of brochures, tickets, or photographs of a visit to a play, park or museum may suffice. Encourage the discipline of creative interpretation. Not every page needs to represent "written words." There are multiple forms of communication in art, so require students to think differently about how they produce material for the journal. For example, if they should choose to produce video for a page assignment, play their alternative "page" for the class and develop a fun discussion around the topic. Help students copy their video for their journal on a CD. Cut and paste an envelope to hold the CD on a journal page. This encourages students to see their journal as a record of their school experiences as well. Your students may treasure their art journal above all other mementos by the time they graduate; don't be surprised by their concerns for it's safety.

Examples of both professional and novice art journal pages and techniques on the web: Art Journal Obsession * Kater's Art Journal * Teesha Moore Art Journals * Twirly Swirly Journals * Soft and Squishy: An Intro to Fabric Art Journals * I Dare You * Amber Gibbs * Aisling's Personal Art Journals * Meandering Muse * Journal Craft Inspiration * Detour Moleskine Exhibit * Trish Bee's Art_Venture * Art journal pages from Hanna * artist music journals * Collaborative Art Journals * I Heart Junque/Art Journals * Utilitarian Resources or Works of Art? * Signature * Books to Use for Art Journaling *

Children create art journals too!!: The adventures of Bella and Blythe * Watercolor Journals for Children: Lake Hills Library * Art Journals for Children * Children's Art Journals * Art Journaling Prompts *

Artists from the past sometimes kept journals: Many famous artists are known for their art diaries - the sketchbooks of Leonardo da Vinci are probably the best known example. More web pages:  Da Vinci's Secret's * Joseph Mallord William Turner * John Constable * Conrad Martens * Vincent Van Gogh * David Hockney *

More opinions from teachers about student journals:Why Should Students Journal? * Reflective Journals * Encouraging Students to Keep a Nature Journal * Instructional Strategies Online * Learning Journals * Academic Reading Journals *

Cut and paste Halloween sucker sleeves

Construction paper samples of
the design templates below.

       These Halloween sucker sleeves will surely please any small student in your classroom this year. The Bats, owls, and even a friendly ghost are simple design templates that any student or teacher can trace, cut out and glue together. Add a few wiggly eyes and some delicious suckers too!

Supply List: black, white, and brown construction paper, white glue, stapler, suckers, templates, wiggly eyes, and scissors

Directions:

   1. Download the templates below, print and cut out the designs.

   2. Trace around the Halloween critters and cut out two of each design.

   3. Glue together a front and a back side for each design and let the glue dry completely before inserting a sucker. Leave the bottom edge of each design unpasted.

   4. Add additional trims like wiggly eyes, bows, silly expressions etc...

   5. Carefully insert the sucker up through the bottom edge of the design and staple it firmly in place.

Additional Suggestions: These patterns may also be crafted with felt and sewn together.

Friendly ghost for Halloween sucker sleeve template.
All of these templates may be downloaded and sized in a
word document to fit the above measurements.
Read the Terms of Use before using it folks.

Owl template for Halloween sucker sleeve.

Bat and moon template for Halloween sucker sleeve.

Kids can decorate their suckers for Halloween.

From Sugar Bee Crafts.

More Halloween Crafts:

• Five simple Halloween crafts with templates: shredded paper pumpkin craft, a friendly ghost in a window craft, a tube shaped batty candy container, recycled printer's paper ghosts, and a googly-eyed spider puppet
• Craft a Ruote Pasta Spider Web for Halloween
• Learn how to cut paper spider webs to hang about the classroom... - cut these from black, white or orange construction paper
• Primary students will love painting a "spooky" watercolor tree and fence using straws!

All patterns and photographs by Grimm copyrighted 2024.

observing a local school board meeting

"A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level. The elected council helps determine educational policy in a small regional area, such as a city, county, state, or province. It usually shares power with a larger institution, such as the government's department of education. The name of the board is also often used to refer to the school system under the board's control." (Wikipedia)

      I was required to attend a Saint Louis area school board meeting during my certification course work. Below you will read the list of questions I was given to answer during that meeting by my professor. It is important for preservice teachers to learn just what is involved in the practice of maintaining school policy so that they will be better prepared for their future employment.

School Board Meeting Report

1.     What is a school board and what is its purpose? A school board is a policy making body of the school district that performs many services such as: hiring school personnel, determining administrative policy and also raising money for schools through taxes.

2.     Explain the general structure of a school board. A school board consists of a president, a vice president, a secretary, treasurer, and two or three directors.

3.     How are the members of a school board selected and when does membership end? School board members are most frequently elected by the citizens of their local district. Members typically serve either a two-year term or a four-year term, depending upon the district they serve in.

4.     How does a school board make decisions? They must review data and make informed decisions based upon that research. Policies may only be instituted when the majority of elected board members have agreed upon them.

5.     What types of questions are discussed and decided upon by a school board? The salaries of educators, tax revenue, how to balance the district’s budget, property management and the kinds of programming offered by the district are just a few of the kinds of questions discussed among board members.

6.     Indicate date, place, and time of the meeting and the school district. I attended the school board meeting at Lindbergh High School, 4900 South Lindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis, MO. at 7:30 p.m. in room 323 on March 10, 2009.

7.     What is the specific make up of the school board of the school district you attended (i.e., how many members; gender and race distribution; general professional background of each member; etc)? There are seven members of the Lindbergh district school board, two of them are women and all of them are white. I was unable to find specific information of their previous experience on the school district web site.

8.     What issues were discussed and what decisions were made during the school board meeting? The issues covered a wide agenda during this particular school board meeting. Topics such as student awards, payroll warrants, revised budgets, budget cuts, local merchant tax laws, the sale of real estate and Lindbergh building programs were all a part of the discussions through out the course of the evening. The board decided which of two bids from food suppliers to accept for 2009. They agreed to cut back on summer arts education programs. They decided to flip an architectural draft of a new building proposal and where a new parking lot would be in relationship to the changes made in the plan. Board members also agreed not to give teachers the salary increases they were asking for. I believe also that the sale of several bonds was agreed upon in order to avoid budget problems for 2009.

9.     To what degree was the school board complete—were any of its members missing? There were two school board members absent.

10.  Estimate the size of the public that attended the school board meeting. There were approximately seventy five people in attendance, many of whom were teachers.

11.  Briefly describe the level of participation of each school board member in the general discussion of the agenda items. At the start of the meeting, all board members seemed to participate together in order to welcome the teachers and public. As the meeting progressed, budget adjustments became the second of three major topics discussed at length by the board. During this discussion, the treasurer, Mark Rudoff discussed budget cuts, food service bids and the sale of bonds for approximately an hour. During the third hour the board listened and questioned a representative from an architectural office. The architect was primarily questioned by President Kenneth Fey. Their discussions concerned energy initiatives and building plans. During these resolutions the rest of the board members quietly listened to the conversation.

12.  Briefly describe the level of participation of the public in the school board meeting. The public came to this particular meeting to celebrate the awards given to local students through “Glory of Missouri Awards,” to discuss and show their concern for the continuous support of gifted education programs and to support their local teachers from Lindbergh High School protesting the nominal salary increases for 2009. The meeting was heavily attended for approximately an hour. The board members were polite and gave the public ample time to voice their opinions. Although the meeting lasted approximately three hours, the general public did not stay for the discussions involving budget agendas and the interview with an architect, who came to propose two possible rough drafts of a new building project (Prop-R 2008 ECE Flipped Design Review).

13.  Was the school board meeting and its outcomes covered by the local media (i.e., print, radio, TV)? I believe newspaper reporters were present several rows behind myself. I sat next to the reporter from an internet media resource, watched her take notes and made casual conversation with her.

14.  Do you think that it is important to become a member of a school board? Explain. I do believe that it is very important to serve on a school board if you are politically minded and understand the issues and needs of your education community. School board members must be trained in specific interests, however, not every person is qualified to be a school board participant.

15.  Would you volunteer to be a candidate for a school board? Explain. I would not volunteer to be a candidate for a school board because I feel my skills are that of an artist. I do not believe that I would have the qualifications needed to be an excellent school board member.

16.  Do you think that it is important to attend school board meetings as a member of the community? I do think that it is very important to attend meetings both as a teacher and as a member of the community in order to better understand the policies and needs pertaining to the education of your community’s children. I might also add that it is also important to know how your taxes are spent on local education. If you attend a school board meeting, you will better understand how all of these issues are affected by legal obligations and why particular choices concerning teachers and students are made.

the most important western european paintings?

The Starry Night, June 1889,
The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Question: Could you list most important Western European paintings you feel American students should be able to recognize by the time they graduate from high school?

Answer: This is the sort of request that is, of course, impossible to answer absolutely. Not only is it a question of taste, but also the answer would be different given the location and cultural history of the students who are being taught the material. Personally, I believe that young people should become most familiar with art that is both local and relevant to their own culture. However, I will include here a listing of those artworks painted by Western Europeans that young students in the United States should be able to identify by the time they graduate from any high school. This listing is influenced by the number of lesson plans that I have read over the years, the art history classes that I have attended in college, and also upon my own tastes. 

Marc Chagall's painted the ceiling of
the Paris Opera house in 1963.

      The listing is not random; I believe that most young scholars should be familiar with the paintings I have included here in order to claim that they have some descent exposure to the "appreciation" of the fine arts. All the paintings are world renowned. Countless scholars have written praises for these artworks and have agreed that their creators are some of the finest painters who have ever lived. Some of my choices are not only based upon exquisite technique but upon the importance of ideas represented in the artwork that are historically important.

      If and when students should ever attend art appreciation in college or even general western art history courses, they will be expected to identify these paintings, the artists who created them and most probably the museum collection or building where the artworks may be viewed.
      The paintings are not listed in any particular order and I will probably continue to add to the listing over time.

Guernica, 1937, Museo Reina Sofia

"Primavera" also known as the Allegory of Spring by Sandro Botticelli.
The painting hangs in the Uffizi Museum of Florence.

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?,
1897, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda or La Joconde,
or Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo)
is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in
oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519.
It is on permanent display at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.

Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway
painted (1844) by Joseph Mallord William Turner.

Ophelia (1852) Tate Britain, London by John Everett Millais

The Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,
1884–1886, at The Art Institute of Chicago,
depicting petite bourgeoise and prostitutes
on the right bank of the river is by Georges Seurat

Water Lilies, 1906, Art Institute of
Chicago is by Claude Monet.

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali hangs
in The Museum of Modern Art, New York City

The Sistine Chapel's ceiling was painted by Michelangelo.
This particular scene is of "The Last Judgement."

"The Scream" by Edvard Munch hangs in
The National Gallery of Oslo

The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599–1600).
Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi,
Rome is by Caravaggio. The beam of light, which
enters the picture from the direction of a real window,
expresses in the blink of an eye the conversion
of St Matthew, the hinge on which his destiny will turn,
with no flying angels, parting clouds or other artifacts.

"St. George and The Dragon" by Peter Paul Rubens

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz
(1586–1588, oil on canvas, 480 × 360 cm, Santo Tomé, Toledo),
now El Greco's best known work, illustrates a popular local legend.
An exceptionally large painting, it is clearly divided into two zones:
the heavenly above and the terrestrial below, brought together compositionally.

Composition VII by Wassily Kadinsky

Open Window, Collioure, by Henri Matisse,
1905, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez

Natalia Goncharova’s Cyclist, 1913

the life of a scribe or the "I Spy Literacy Center" by donna grimm

Front view of the literacy center.

Topic: The Life of a Scribe or the “I Spy Center”

Grade: k-6^th - Because I will be displaying my center in a classroom for students ranging k-6^th, I chose to cover all of those grades with literacy projects that were applicable to my classroom.

Literacy Objectives: Because I will display this center inside of an art room, I will be most interested in teaching the comprehension of ideas and professions associated with the fine arts. Literacy is a subject easily reinforced in the art classroom by including it in the methods and practices of lessons daily. However, it is not the primary goal of an art teacher to ultimately teach children “how” to read in specific. This is why my stated objectives lend themselves to broader analysis of what children will absorb from having a literacy center in the art classroom in specific.

• After reading or hearing “Marguerite Makes A Book” and/or “The Medieval Scribe” article, students will understand that scribes must interpret what they read and write in order to illustrate those ideas and stories accurately.
• After reading and looking at the books on display, students will comprehend how those skills needed in literacy activities are important to people who choose the professions associated with scribes.
• Students will learn spelling, comprehension, reading, and gaming skills needed to better achieve literacy goals, within the parameters of their own age group, after playing the games at the literacy center.

Books On Display:

• “Marguerite Makes A Book” by Bruce Robertson, Illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt (This book is published by the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and is primarily written to teach children about the arts and literature during the medieval era.)
•  “I Spy A to Z” by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick
• “A to Z of Animals” by Peter David Scott
• “ABCD3D” by Marion Bataile
• “The calligraphy bible” by David Harris
•  “Masterpieces of Illumination” by Ingo F. Walther and Norbert Wolf
• “Word Fun” by Sara Gray
• “ABC A child’s first alphabet book” by Alison Jay
• “Calligraphy Techniques” by Mary Noble
• “D is for Drinking Gourd” by Sanders and “D is for Dancing Dragon” by Crane any books published in this series will do
•  “How Many” by Ron Van Der Meer

Closer view of the literacy center with the "I Spy" cabinet
doors open.

Activity books for young students:

• “Follow the Letters” by Sandy Creek publishers
• “Colors and Shapes Discovery” by Disney publishers
•  “Write & Slide Phonics” by Hinkler Books publishers

Materials Needed: If another teacher were to create this center, these are the materials they would need.

1. One large box covered with newsprint and letters. I used Mod-Podge to put this together quickly and economically.
2. Inside of this box I hot-glued a wide variety of small toys and letters to create my “I spy” cupboard.
3.  Cut the backboard for the display from a large refrigerator box and cover this also with newsprint down one side and a more decorative paper down the opposite half. I used a medieval looking printed paper for the half of the display representing the time period of my characters in “Marguerite Makes A Book”
4.  I also used small boxes wrapped in the same papers to display may card games and vocabulary strips. After wrapping these I glued them to the backboard. This application helps teachers to use space effectively and also helps with organization.

Four Literacy Activities Are Required: Teachers may develop literacy activities for their classroom from this plan even though I would use it also to introduce art activities associated with it’s theme. Because most people who will be viewing my center are to become “homeroom” teachers, I have decided to list here the literacy activities in particular. I also have art lessons planed to use with this center but these are not included on the discussion board at this time.

1.) Read “The Medieval Scribe” and fill out the graphic organizer is an activity for 5^th and 6^th graders: This is a reading activity that helps students discern important facts about scribes from the Medieval Era.

Above are the alphabet soup bowls made from paper mache and yarn.
I also include many different letter styles, types and fonts for students
to work with.

2.)“Alphabet Soup Game” Spelling Game Activity for 1rst- 3^rd Graders: This activity can be played by many children all at once but they need the guidance of an older student, teacher, or a child who can read relatively well. The activity reinforces phonics and many other important literacy strategies depending upon the lists of words the instructor chooses to use with it. I included these lists to read from:

•  High Frequency Words like: a, about, be but, call, called, did, down, each, eat, find, for, get, good, had, how, into, it, just, know, like, made, no, of, out, people, said, then, up, us, was, water, etc...
• “Word families” lists such as: phonograms using ill – bill, chill, fill, hill, kill mill, pill, quill, spill, still, and will

The teacher or student in charge of the lists simply reads words aloud from them while students playing alphabet soup use the letters in their bowls to spell out the recited word. I’ve also included small sand timers so that the students will be limited to the amount of time they take to spell the word out correctly.

A closer look at the "I Spy" game cabinet that I made for my classroom.
This game also doubles as an interesting still life presentation for budding
young artists to draw from!

Optional “Alphabet Soup Game” Activity: Older students may also roll dice in order to make spelling games more challenging. Each player would roll the dice to discern the number of letters in a word they would be required to spell. After words have been used by one player, other students should not be allowed to repeat those same words during the same game.

3.) “I Spy Game” for emergent readers and beginning readers: This activity helps young students visually identify shapes, letters, colors, and also to solve riddles/clues associated with those objects.  Practicing these skills will help young readers to identify the visual differences in the alphabet. Students may either play this game alone or with two or three other people.  This game may also be played with a larger group. There are two sets of cards for the “I spy” cupboard. One set of flash cards has objects listed for the students to find, the other set of  cards gives students the more difficult option of solving a riddle before finding an object.

4.) Play “Medieval Trivia” for 4^th – 6^th graders: This comprehension activity helps students remember the characters and vocabulary found the book, “Marguerite Makes A Book” Students should read the book first, then partner up with one other student to play with the flash cards. (I will also read aloud this book to a younger class in cases where the students are to young to read the story on their own.)

I made this alphabet pocket chart from felt and
then trimmed it with blanket stitching.

 5.) Play with an “Alphabet Pocket Chart” for emergent and beginning readers: This activity helps early readers identify their alphabet letters and the phonemic sounds these make. Students are given pictures of objects and asked to categorize these according to the first letter used to name the object, action, or person pictured. An example of this would be:

·      If the child has a picture of an apple he or she would put this picture in the pocket labeled “a” for apple.

·      If the child has a picture of two people hugging he or she might put this picture in the “h” pocket for hugs or he may put the picture in the “p” pocket for people. Both answers would be right but, you may need to ask the child why he or she has put it in a particular pocket in order to assess his/her success at this activity.                          

Word Walls: I included two word walls and tag board vocabulary strips as well. The vocabulary of a medieval scribe is pasted on the right hand side of the display and the vocabulary of a modern scribe is pasted on the left hand side of the display. I felt the two lists would give my center greater flexibility in the future because I would be able to use it when teaching any future units on illustration/web design as well. I have yet to find a book based upon the modern subject but, I will be looking for it during the summer months. After I have purchased it, I will then develop a compare contrast activity to go with the two word walls. 

Left, is a close-up view of the modern language word wall. Vocabulary listed 

here is used in modern publishing: scene, gutter, hard copy, editing, author,

illustrator etc... Right, is a close-up view of the medieval word wall. 

Vocabulary list here is much older: manuscript, quill, scribe, gold leaf etc...