Pre AP Studio Art Workshop
Foundation of Advanced
Placement in Studio Art:
Starting at Elementary
School
Kimberly Artman
Western New Mexico
University
Introduction
If you ask any Elementary Visual Arts
teacher if art education is important to the overall development of a child,
the answer would be an overwhelming response of “yes”. The arts are linked to the core subject areas
and are vital to a childs’ development in concepts, theories, multiple
solutions, and of course, imagination and creativity. What then can a teacher do to advocate for
the development of the right side of the brain?
How can I assess the various works of art the students produce and give it
a grade? This was currently being done
with high school students in preparation for college so I became intrigued and
enrolled in an Advanced Placement Workshop held at the University of New Mexico
the week of June 22 to June 25, 2012.
What was learned in
the workshop
I didn’t know what to expect from a
workshop on advanced placement, as I often associated the classes with high
school students who wish to gain college credit. I was drawn in by the title of this
particular workshop (Pre AP Studio Art) as it was designed specifically for
middle and elementary art teachers in how to prepare the students before they enter high school. The class was taught by Jane Harlow whom had
42 years of experience in education and was an APSA College Board reader for 18
years. She had a lot of information and
hands on assignments to share with us as we learned how to prepare our young
students in visual arts.
Ms. Harlow started the workshop for the
week with a brief background about herself and the AP program mission for
professional development for visual arts teachers. She agreed that the visual arts are essential
in the AP program and that knowledge started as early as elementary level
students. She hadn’t taught much in a
middle or elementary school but knew of the importance of those teachers to the
success of the students in the AP program in high school.
The remaining teachers introduced
themselves and the districts they represented.
We talked briefly about our classrooms and the ages of the children we
taught in visual arts. There were 3
middle school teachers and myself who teaches at 3 elementary schools. We were excited to hear how we could help
students, being elementary and middle school teachers, at a high school level
and Ms. Harlow showed us a sample portfolio which included 2D, 3D, and drawing
folders. Within each of the content
areas, students had to apply 3 levels of competency.
The first level called “Quality” involved
the students understanding of a concept, composition and execution of a work of
art they had completed within the last calendar year. The student would submit 5 examples in each
of the 2D and drawing categories and 10 examples in 3D work. This part of the portfolio would receive 1/3
of the students’ grade.
The
second level called “Concentration” involved a theme or area of focus. Students could use an object or image as part
of their investigation in their work.
Students were to submit 12 images of work which included a close up view. This section of the portfolio can show
development of the artist from the first slide or picture to the last. This section was also 1/3 of the students
overall grade.
The third level called “BREADTH” is an
execution of the artist’s talents in variety and broadness in their work. Students submit 12 images that show a range
of artistic ability. A variety of
mediums and subjects are encouraged to be submitted digitally. This shows that the artist has diverse
talents in multiple fields. Again this score
represented another third of their combined grade.
Ms. Harlow showed us digital examples of
student artwork. We decided on a score
as a group (as the readers for the AP program do individually) and learned how
to look for each of the levels in each concentration. This gave us an idea of what type and level
of artwork is needed for a high scoring portfolio. The artist needed to know the basic concepts
of art that are learned at an elementary level.
She also took some time for hands on projects which can teach our
students various forms of expression.
We had a compilation of lessons that we
wanted to try as a group. One of the
lessons showed us how to use mediums of magazines and glue to produce a
completed work of art. Mrs. Harlow
showed us levels in the lesson that can be used in the elementary school and
more difficult techniques for middle and high school. We covered a 12 X 14 piece of cardboard and
images from quality magazines. We glued
a collage of our choice and each of us picked different colors and
subjects. Next we drew on the magazine
collage with Elmers glue. Mrs. Harlow
explained that the contents underneath the Elmers glue would remain brilliant
in color whereas the surrounding negative area would be washed or dulled with
Never
Dull. As the polish was added to the
collage (after the glue dried) the background faded in color and the glue was
then removed to show the magazine colors underneath. What a great way to tie Science into the
visual arts.
The next project could also be used to
link Science to visual arts as a lesson on color theory. The teachers were asked to pick a particular
color of construction paper and paint a picture of our choice on top of it. We were told that the areas with the least
amount of tempera would be dark in color as we were going to be adding black
ink over the entire painting. The areas
left blank would be dark black as the ink would be readily absorbed in the
paper. The areas of the painting that
had a heavy amount of paint would remain somewhat light. It was a great project and a learning
experience for those of us who did not typically use ink in the classroom. After 20 minutes of drying the ink over the
painting Ms. Harlow told us to rinse the painting under the sink water and gently
rub the areas to the desired look we wished to achieve.
How it will be applied to the classroom
I like to demonstrate artwork because
I am a visual learner. The lessons I
teach are written down on the board, restated verbally, and shown in a demonstration
as I feel all areas of learning need to be taught. The examples above show a more complex
subject matter and would be made more generalized for an elementary crowd. So instead of a complex tree drawing in glue
or a heard of wild horses in ink, I would do a simple mountain or fish shape.
The lessons above can be used at any grade
level as the lesson can be tapered to the intellectual level of the audience. Since I am an elementary school art teacher I
would focus more on the basic elements of art (line, shape, form, texture,
color, space and value) whereas a middle or high school teacher would teach the
advanced techniques we did during the workshop.
I would use primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) for the magazine
project and basic shapes for the tempera resist with ink. One shape would be painted in and the other
shape would be outlined only in order to show how ink absorbs into the texture
of the paper and not into the paint that was thickly layered beforehand. This activity gives a lesson in problem
solving as demonstrated by my son who will be entering fifth grade.
Step
one: Choose a colorful magazine that has
quality photos. Cut colors and images
that are attractive.
Step
two: Glue colors and images onto a
cardboard piece. Images and color strips
should cover the whole board and extend toward the back. Make sure all pieces are glued flat.
Step
three: Add glue on top of the dried
magazine strips. Think of an image to
draw with glue (possibly sketch it on the back or on a blank paper) and apply
carefully. The glue should be uniform
and thick but not solid to allow the magazine colors to come through. Let dry overnight.
Step
four: Carefully remove glue. Use a rolling pin or cup to apply pressure as
this will loosen the glue to be taken off.
Touch up any spot with glue or paint as needed to complete the artwork.
ART
Assessment
Name:
______________________________________ Class: ___________
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Ex |
Ad |
Ac |
NW |
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Pre |
Lesson |
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3 |
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3 |
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3 |
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3 |
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16 |
12 |
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Studio |
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3 |
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4 |
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4 |
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2 |
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3 |
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2 |
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24 |
18 |
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Work |
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4 |
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4 |
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3 |
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3 |
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3 |
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13 |
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24 |
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+ |
12 |
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16 |
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+ |
18 |
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16 |
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43 |
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56 |
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x |
2 |
x |
2 |
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= |
86 |
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112 |
Student max. total
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Artwork
Critique Form
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Brannan, what a great idea to use a simple design to try
with this project! I like that you used
dark colors since you knew that the color would fade with the solvent. I also like how you used texture on the cone
and the ice cream. Maybe next time you can
add more glue on the top part so you don’t have to cover up with more magazine
colors. Remember to use complimentary
colors to make the positive image stand out.
I am excited to see what the next design will be. Mrs.
Artman
I
decided to use a comparative assessment similar to projects that he has have
done in the past. The only difference was
that the one I had Brannan do after the workshop was removing elements from the
piece of art instead of the addition of various mediums. The artwork below shows the various types of
assignments done by Brannan the year prior to the workshop whereas the
assessments earlier were specifically for the assignment for this study.
One of the main things I took from the
program was that vertical alignment is a must in all districts. This can be obtained from a monthly or
quarterly meeting with all the visual arts teachers in the district, by discussing
ways in which techniques can be built upon to achieve a higher level of
learning at a high school level. For
instance, if an elementary teacher taught students the primary and secondary
colors, then the middle school teacher could teach about intermediate and
complimentary colors. Then the high
school teacher and the student that may be interested in doing an AP class
would have a foundation in which to use advanced coloring techniques like
analogous, triad, or split complimentary colors. If the skills were not acquired at an
elementary level, time would be wasted on teaching basic concepts and the skill
level would not be as high.
American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington ,
DC
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