In my district, the art teachers have 3 assessments tools that we use; a color theory test, that is a pre-and post-assessment used to collect data on student growth, a common assessment for ceramics and an overall portfolio assessment used to give report card grades. While we have 5 units of study that we teach each with 2-3 objectives/targets, we do not have any other types of assessments in place. Currently, the types of formative assessment that I use are observations and conversations with the students. A formative assessment I would like to add would be a quick draw in seesaw, to assess first grade students understanding of overlapping shapes.
The purpose of this assessment is to check for students understanding of overlapping. One of our targets for first grade students within the drawing unit is: I can demonstrate overlapping of shapes in my art. This upcoming school year, I will be switching to a TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behaviors) room, which is a choice-based art studio. In this setting, students will receive mini-lessons about art concepts, related to the targets in our various units. The students will no longer be completing teacher directed projects. Due to this new format, formative assessments and feedback will be imperative to student growth.
The mini-lesson that will be taught to introduce students to overlapping shapes will be very basic. Students will look at artwork from two artists: Kandinsky and Matisse. Both artists use overlapping shapes to create works of art, in different ways. Kandinsky mainly uses circles, creating non-representational artwork. Whereas, Matisse uses shapes to create more realistic paintings, as well as, non-representational and abstract paper cut-outs. We will look at these two artists, because of their use of overlapping shapes is apparent and will be easy to point out to students, which will help them grasp the concept of overlapping when drawing. During the mini-lesson I will do some examples of how to draw overlapping shapes, and then the students will have the opportunity to draw overlapping shapes in their artwork.
Wassily Kandinsky, Color Study. Squares with Concentric Circles (1913) Watercolor, gouache and crayon on paper
Henri Matisse, Sorrow of the King (1952), gouaches découpés.
This assessment will be administered, near the end of class, on the first day that students were introduced to the concept of overlapping shapes. I will use the results from this assessment to guide future mini lessons. I may need to reteach the same mini-lesson or move on to more complex overlapping lessons. I will give this assessment several more times, throughout the year, as overlapping is a concept that transcends many units within the art curriculum. In addition, as students are not doing teacher directed projects, some students may not be using overlapping shapes, right away, when the original mini-lesson is taught. As time goes on, I may not need to do a whole group mini-lesson about overlapping, but just work with a small group or individuals who are still struggling with the assessment/concept.
I will call this assessment Quick Draw: Overlapping Shapes. Using the seesaw application, I will have students create a quick drawing of their choice that uses overlapping shapes. All teachers in our school are supposed to be using seesaw with their students. Therefore, the students are familiar with seesaw and how to use it and all its features, including the drawing tool. However, depending on the time of year, I may need to give students reminders on how to access their class and how to complete the activity (the assessment) that has been pushed to their account. All students will need either an iPad (preferred) or a Chromebook to access seesaw and take the assessment. Activities are fairly new in seesaw, when setting up this activity, I was able to assign it as a skill, which I believe is a way in which I can give students feedback on the skill, directly in seesaw.
When students open the seesaw activity the following directions will be shown: Using the drawing tool, create a drawing that uses overlapping shapes. Tap the microphone and tell me what you created and how the shapes overlap. Then submit your work. The drawing needs to include several shapes, and a variety of details. An example is a robot, animal or building. Throughout Kindergarten and continuing throughout the art curriculum, students are familiar with adding details to make their artwork recognizable, for instance, they know that a building needs certain details to make it recognizable as a building (is it tall or long, does it have windows, a door, possibly a chimney, is it made of brick, is there a sign).
A view of the directions within Seesaw
I chose to use seesaw because of the affordances of the app with first grade. The students are familiar with the app; therefore, I do not need to spend their limited art time, teaching how to use the app. They can easily draw within in the app, especially when using the iPad. Of all the digital tools that I have researched, this one is the best, in my opinion, for this assessment, age group and subject. If I had to choose a second digital application for this assessment, I would use artsonia. The students would have to create artwork either in a paint app or on paper then upload a picture of it to artsonia. From artsonia, I can view the image and provide private feedback. I image can then go public or remain private. You can view artsonia here.
Because of the nature of TAB, I wanted to make sure students also had some choice in the assessment as well. Therefore, I left the directions open to allowing them to draw whatever they choose, as long as they demonstrate overlapping shapes. Once the activity is completed I will be able to view it and provide feedback, either verbally (individually) or through the app (I think). The students would receive their feedback during their next art session, in the beginning to clear up any misconceptions they may have or to push them forward with their drawing. Because this assessment is digital, I would like a record of the feedback that I am giving the students. I keep a notebook, that will indicate the feedback I give to students (if it is verbal). Here are some examples of what I might see from students, and the feedback I could give, verbally, as I am not sure yet how the feedback works in seesaw.
Example 1, from a drawing within seesaw
Example 1: No overlapping shapes.
Feedback: First, I would ask them to tell me about their drawing, before assuming it is a robot, since there is not a lot of detail. Then I would tell the student I do not see any overlapping shapes in your robot drawing. I would explain how their shapes touch each other, but do not overlap anywhere.
Example 2, from within seesaw
Example 2: Right on Track
Feedback: First, I would ask the student to tell me about their drawing, to see if they can verbally show/tell me about the overlapping shapes and details. Most likely, I will get some story about their robot. Then I would tell the student I like their overlapping shapes. I like how they used overlapping shapes to create eyes and a mouth, the square buttons and the gauge. I would ask them if they think they could add any more details or shapes. However, this is an expectable demonstration of overlapping shapes.
Example 3, from within Seesaw
Example 3: Above and Beyond
Feedback: Again, I would ask the student to tell me about their robot before giving feedback. I would talk to them about all their details and how these details are their overlapping shapes. I like how they used the overlapping shapes, lines and colors on their robot. I suggest that they work on making more detailed shapes that overlap, like they did with the yellow circles. However, this is an expectable demonstration of overlapping shapes. While using different colors, does not make this example above and beyond, but the details of the overlapping shapes, and how the circle shapes are several overlapping to add detail.
Students who fall into example 1, will need an additional mini-lesson on overlapping shapes. Instead of looking at an artist’s example, I would do an example and have them practice with me at the demo table, before moving onto their studio time. This way, I could monitor their practicing of overlapping shapes. For students in example 2 and 3, they would not need a repeat of the mini-lesson. However, they could learn more abstract ways in which they can overlap shapes, looking at a different Kandinsky artwork
.
Wassily Kandinsky, Several Circles (1926), Oil on canvas
References
Kandinsky, Wassily. Color Study. Squares with Concentric Circles. http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-370.php.
Kandinsky, Wassily. Several Circles. http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-370.php.
Matisse, Henri. “Sorrow of the King.” https://www.henrimatisse.org/sorrow-of-the-king.jsp
Jennifer Boehm 