Brandon Sexton

Teacher Work Sample

May 3, 2016

Teacher Work Sample: Conveying Social Issue Through an Artists Eye

East High School, grades 9 - 12

Brandon N Sexton
Metropolitan State University of Denver
2016

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School Population
East High School, the oldest high school in Denver Public Schools, is a traditional
education program informed by the Colorado Standards and DPS policy. Denver Public
Schools, in their mission statement, to provide all students the opportunity to achieve the
knowledge and skills necessary to become contributing citizens in our diverse society,
focuses on closing the achievement gap and culturally responsive pedagogy. Daily content
language objectives and overarching student learning objectives drive instruction district
wide. The total number of students at East is approximately 2,600 with 36% free/reduced
lunch. The population is 45% caucasian and 55% minority enrollment: .1% Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander, .4% American Indian, 2% Asian, 24% Black, 23% Hispanic, and 5% two or more
ethnicities. 65% of the schools population is enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement
course.

Department of Art Philosophy

There are 5 full time teachers in the Visual Arts Department offering courses in
Drawing and Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Digital Photography and Graphic Design to
students aged 14-18 in grades 9-12. The Visual Arts Department courses offer entry level
classes in each discipline mentioned designed to prepare students for Advanced Placement
(AP) Studio Drawing, AP 2-D Design, and 3-D Design. The art teachers work together toward
developing vertical alignment of curricula to support students academic art career. That said,
each teacher has a unique epistemological approach to getting students to engage and think
beyond technical exercises in craftsmanship. People sometimes distinguish between making

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and thinking. This is how art classes come to be seen as non-intellectual or nonacademic.(Hetland, Sheridan, et al., p85) Easts administration understands the importance
of art, the role it plays in developing young minds into dynamic thinkers, and supports the Art
Department wholly.
My cooperating teacher instructs the upper level Drawing and Painting courses: Draw/
Paint 2, Draw/Paint 3, Portfolio Development, and AP Art. In these courses students are
expected to improve and demonstrate their mastery of skills while learning the academic
language associated with artistic disciplines in order to meet district content learning
objectives. Units in Draw/Paint 2 and 3 consist of smaller projects that scaffold the artistic
technical proficiencies needed to successfully complete the larger project. Through this
method of instruction, students are taught how to use the tools of artistic expression which
prepares them for AP art and instills in them the desire to make art beyond assignments. In
AP art, students are encouraged to work thematically, independent of assignments. They are
given quantity and quality standards that focus on developing a portfolio that has both
breadth and depth. Breadth, here, refers to a demonstration of mastery of multiple media
and styles. Depth, then, refers to an exploration of one theme or concept across several
works created in the same style with the same medium. Both are essential requirements of
the national AP art curriculum.

School Mission
By holding every student to stringent standards of excellence both in the quality and
quantity of work produced. Easts art program requires that work produced be socially

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relevant or require higher order thinking, keeping in line with the schools Common Purpose
Statement: At East High School, we provideevery Angel with a rigorous learning
experience preparing them to become creative, active citizens ready for academic and career
successbeyond graduation.
East High Schools Common Purpose Goal asserts a constructivist stance on education
that students become better citizens capable of critical and dynamic thinking through
effective educational discourse. Constructivism is based on the assumption that people
create knowledge from their interaction between existing knowledge or beliefs and the new
ideas or situations they encounter(Airaisian & Walsh, 2007).

Student Services and Support

The Angels Foundation, an in-school foundation that aims to remove school related
expenses for students with economic need so that they only need to focus on their
academics. The necessity of the Angels Foundation underscores the disparity of the
opportunity/economic/achievement gap(s) at East, which serves some of the poorest and
wealthiest students in DPS system. In my classroom each student is charged a forty dollar
materials fee, which can be mitigated by the foundation if need be. We strive to provide
students with the same sort of materials they would be exposed to in introductory university
art courses so that the materiality of art-making does not interfere with their art-making
experience.

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Use of Technology
My art room at East is equipped with a desktop and two laptop computers. We also
have access to a classroom supply of laptops upon reservation. Having a class supply of
laptops allows us to have students complete research before making art. This helps students
gain a deeper understanding of art-making, bolsters the content of the art being produced,
and allows every student equal access to the internet in their academic endeavors.

Classroom Environment
Room 126 at East has radiator heat, overly heating one half of the room and underheating the other, on the west and south external walls. These two walls are essentially banks
of windows, basking the room in natural light. The west wall houses portfolio storage along
the southern half and a drying rack and book shelves along the north half. The entrance to
the room is on the east wall in the northeast corner. Also on this wall are an entrance to an
office used by both the math and art department along with a supply cabinet. The north wall,
coming from the east, houses a wall mounted mat cutter, a printer, a paper cutter, a
promethean board, and an old science cart that doubles as the teachers desk. Then a
peninsula counter juts from the wall. It is home to the rooms sink, computer, light table, with
storage cabinets below. In the middle are five tables: four arranged going east/west and one
on the western end that is oriented north/south. Each table is able to support eight students:
three along each long side and one per end. While my cooperating teacher has tried several
arrangements, this classroom does not flow well. Instructions must be explicit and detailed
when all students are moving about the room.

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Behavior Management Plan

My cooperating teacher established her BMP at the beginning of the school year by
laying out clear, straight forward expectations. She expects her students to come in and sit
quietly through announcements or instructions before getting to work. She speaks loudly and
clearly, directing her voice at students who speak while she is speaking. If this does not work,
then she will move near the offending students, then she will wait for the students to become
silent. Students will self govern in this instance. Students are allowed to use their phones for
research and to listen to musicwith one ear bud in. While she tries to leverage the
technology, the novelty of social media or the immediacy of texting often wins out.
I have not yet become confident/comfortable with my teacher voice, and as such
had to retrain the students to behave accordingly. My voice cannot be weaponized as my
cooperating teachers does, so I must rely on other indicators of needing silence: moving next
to the offending student, playing the waiting game, or turning the lights off. I value the work
time of students and work hard to effectively communicate instruction, information, and
objectives in a concise manner. I found that expressing my dissatisfaction with the students
interruptions worked best to curtail the interruptions. An aspect of my cooperating teachers
routine that I changed was having students get their work and materials as they came in, so
as to lessen the swarm of students moving around the room at once. I found that this simple
change added to work time. Overall, the students of East are well behaved, driven students
and required minimal management.

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Description of Teacher Work Sample

The unit that I will be designing for my TWS is an introductory acrylic painting
unit. I am focusing on developing introductory exercises that appeal to both ends of my
students ability spectrum, those who have experience painting with acrylic and those who
have no experience painting. In striving to meet the needs of those students with the least
experience while trying to keep those students with the most experience engaged, I am
designing exercises that differentiate technical skill and mental acuity while checking for
understanding. These exercises are scaffolding the technical skill and critical thinking needed
to have the students complete their painting assignment. The final paintings will be the
product of the students analytical research and practiced skill a synthesis of theory and
practice. Students who are able to put things together in new ways can observe things
others might miss, construct more novel products, give more novel performances, use more
unusual or unconventional imagery to make points observe ordinary things and find in them
an area to wonder about or a problem to solve, and the like.(Bookhart, p30)
The students will research an artist from a provided list, in order to synthesize their
stylistic choices while analyzing that artists impetus for making. Students will then, through
group discussion and introspection, choose a social issue to take as their subject matter
crafting a painting that emulates an artist while speaking about a social issue. The
expectation in the lesson for emulation is designed to help those students least familiar with
painting techniques be able to achieve some confidence with the media. The incorporation of
a social issue, crowd sourced in class and then individually researched, serves to leverage

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adolescent fervor with the creation of an impassioned painting. This unit, combining the
acquirement of technical skill through visualizing an abstract concept, begs students to play
with what they are learning. By this I mean that they are not regurgitating facts, but rather
they must synthesize what have learned in order to convey an idea. I am trying to get
students to see that what they are learning is more than the text of painting: to see the
meta-narrative of what they are learning, the text...decants the work (the work permitting)
from its consumption and gathers it up as play, activity, production, practice(Barthes, 1971).
The text is akin to the part of knowledge we can take out of the box and play withthat
through our own exploration we come to make the knowledge our own, and it is this version
that we share with the world.
Students will peer-critique artwork throughout the process so they have ample
opportunity to check for understanding and conveyance of their ideas from their peers. This
process is borrowed indirectly from IDEO, a global design company that makes use of design
process to create impact through design. This process aims to produce high quality work
through a cycle of exploration, ideation, evaluation, refinement, reevaluation, repeating as
necessary. This process has the added benefit of keeping students moving at relatively the
same pace regardless of speed or ability students that hurry through will have more time
for reflection and refinement than their more concerted peers.
This unit will take approximately six weeks and will consist of three introductory
lessons, six mini-lecture, one in-class research day, two in-process critiques, one day of class
discussion and individual writing, and a final critique. The first lessons introduce the medium

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of acrylic paint, basic color theory, composition, and metaphoric thought. The in-class
research day provides students time to research an artist or movement and removes any issue
of out of class access to technology. The in-process critiques allow students to see what their
peers are working on, providing motivation for the slower students to accelerate their pace
while allowing every student to check for conveyance of their issue. In-process critiques are
quick and informal, and are scaffolded through the use of guiding questionnaires to provide
honest, constructive feedback and push metacognitive thought. Having the students speak in
groups about sociopolitical issues important to them is aimed at engendering the painting
project, getting them to care about what they are making.
The impetus of this unit is to foster metacognitive thought through combining a
researched artists style with an issue personal to the student artist. This combination also
pushes students to think metaphorically about meaning-making and big ideas.
For learners, big ideas make sense of lots of information and discrete skills. Without
ideas to inform our perception and problem solving, every new situation would look
unfamiliar, isolated, or puzzling. In other words, they are not mere ideasOn the contrary,
they illuminate experience.(McTighe, Wiggins, 2011)

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Standards Covered in This Unit

Visual Arts

Reading, Writing, Composition

Social Studies

HS: 1; GLE 1, EO a, b, c, d

9: 2; GLE 2, EO e

HS: 1; GLE 3, EO c

HS: 1; GLE 2, EO a, b, e

9: 4; GLE 1, EO a

HS: 1; GLE 3, EO f

HS: 1; GLE 3, EO a, b, c,
HS: 2; GLE 1, EO a, b, c, d, e
HS: 2; GLE 2, EO c

10: 2; GLE 1, EO a (iv)

10: 4; GLE 1, EO a
11: 2; GLE 1, EO b (iii)
11: 3; GLE 2, EO b (iv)

HS: 3; GLE 1, EO a, b, d
HS: 3; GLE 2, EO a, b, d
HS: 3; GLE 3, EO a
HS: 4; GLE 2, EO a, b

Objectives
Students will explore the medium of acrylic paint to begin to gain technical skills in painting.
Students will learn best practices for handling and cleaning up acrylic paint.
Students will learn about the terminology used in painting while learning about the chemistry
of acrylic painting.
Students will learn to mix a full range of values and hues from a limited color palette to create
color that conveys form and shape in warm and cool hues while conveying emotion.
Students will experiment with composition to see its effects on how an artwork is viewed.
Students will research a contemporary/modern famous artist of their choosing, from a list, to
inform their own stylistic choices in creating an acrylic painting.
Students will convey metaphoric thought by creating a visual pun or idiom as an introductory
exercise in utilizing metacognitive thought.

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Students will collaborate to compile a list of social issues and discuss the role their personal
narratives play in selecting an issue to make art about.
Students will combine their artist research with their social issue to create an acrylic painting,
utilizing metacognition to convey an abstract concept through symbolic imagery.
Students will consider the views of others when deciding how to convey an issue through
imagery.
Students will critique the progress and stylistic choices of their painting and those of their
peers.
Students will reflect on their ability to convey meaning through the medium of paint both
orally and through critical writing.

Accommodations
In the class which I have chosen to represent my student teaching experience there is
one student with an IEP in place. I was only informed of this after the first pre-assessment.
Once aware of the students needs, I provided printed copies of all slide presentations and
allowed extra time for the completion of the research portion of this unit. I checked in with
the student daily, as was done with every student during studio work time. One of these
students said they were diagnosed twice-exceptional, and this was the reason for their
outbursts during instruction time. It is in these interactive and independent relationships
that have helped teachers survive to this day. But we need to do more than survive. School
should be a space where teachers grow alongside students as co-learners.(Gaudelius and
Speirs, p57)

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Also in this class were two students that felt offended by gender specific language.
They asked that I accommodate their request and I obliged. Speaking in only gender neutral
terms proved to be more challenging than I anticipated, but with patience and concerted
effort, I was able to meet the request of these students.
The final accommodation in this class was to make use of one of the schools laptop
carts. I designated an entire class period to using the laptops, which were accompanied by a
handout designed to scaffold inquiry and a slide presentation that included quality examples
and suggested websites. This day was intended to eliminate any burden caused by not having
access to internet or lack of familiarity with internet research.

Unit Lesson Plans

Pre-Assessment 1st Lesson-Introduction/Motivation: Teacher will introduce the big idea and
the medium the students will be working with. Guided Questions: What is paint? What do
you think of when you hear that word? What terminology is used when discussing painting?
Objectives Taught This Day: Students will learn about the terminology used in painting while
learning about the chemistry of acrylic painting.
Students will learn best practices for handling and cleaning up acrylic paint.
Students will explore the medium of acrylic paint to begin to gain technical skills in painting.
Students will convey metaphoric thought by creating a visual pun or idiom as an introductory
exercise in utilizing metacognitive thought.
Teaching Procedure: Teacher will pass out graphic organizers that follow Intro to Painting
slide lecture. Teacher will underscore important points, using open-discussion and question
asking to ensure that students are engaging. After the discussion/lecture, Teacher will collect
graphic organizers. The open ended questions on the graphic organizer will serve as preassessment of knowledge. Teacher will introduce pre-assessment painting assignment, Visual
Pun/Idiom. Students are given two complimentary colors plus white and asked to fully
render an 8x8 square of canvas paper with their interpretation of the assignment. This
assignment will serve as pre-assessment of technical ability.

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Student Work Time: Students will have a 15-20 minute discussion/lecture that introduces
acrylic paint: touching on the chemistry of the medium, the terminology commonly used
when discussing painting, and introduces a bit of color theory. Students will have a graphic
organizer that asks them to copy definitions, respond to short answer questions, and answer
open ended questions about painting. Students will then have 15-20 minutes to begin their
introductory assignment. They will sketch their idea and then begin painting. Students will
then be given a detailed demonstration of how to properly clean up and store their art to
ensure that classroom supplies and their artwork are not ruined.
Conclusion: I will assess student understanding through one-on-one check-ins while they
work during class, through responses on the collected graphic organizers, and through their
demonstrated level of skill on the introductory painting assignment. These assessments will
inform instruction going forward.

Reflection
I planned on having this first introductory lesson on block day, meaning that I had
90 minutes instead of 50. The first day of my unit plan began on a rocky note when I spent
more time than I wanted to getting students ready to learn. I went around the room handing
out the graphic organizer I made to accompany this introductory presentation. As I moved
about the room, I gave instructions for students to put their name and period at the top of
the sheet. I then explained that each question directly corresponded to the presentation I
was about to give. A few students just would not stop talking and since I had already lowered
the lights for the slide presentation, I turned them back on to underscore their interruption
and to reestablish my role as speaker. I really dislike wasting time waiting for students to
quiet down for instruction, but I understand the importance of having a quiet room so that
every student has the opportunity to listen sans distractions. After I quieted the room (and
woke my laptop back up), I began by reexplaining my expectation for students to complete
the graphic organizer so that I could collect them to determine what most of the class knew
and could alter my future presentations to be shorter if they demonstrated that they already
knew more about painting than I had planned for.
As the presentation began, I reminded students again that the words on the screen
directly corresponded to what they needed to write/define on their sheets. I then spoke,
paused for them to write, and spoke again. Again, I reminded a few students to write. I then
spoke some more, asking questions every couple of minutes. It is hard to establish dialog
with teenagers in a low-light room when you do not know their names. I should have had the
seating chart with me so that I could call students by nameboth those who were
participating and those who were talking/texting.

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Another aspect I had not planned for when preparing my presentation was that I
depended upon the Promethean board to display colors and images as they appeared on my
laptop. The result of the Promethean boards desaturated colors and low-contrast image
display was a lackluster presentation that caused some students to disengage completely
while others misinterpreted definitions of warm and cool color because the videos colors
were just terrible. As the presentation ended, I noticed that some students had not
completed their graphic organizer. In response, I made eye contact with those I noticed had
not completed their sheet while telling the class I would give them a few minutes to finish up
before moving onto the painting portion of the class.
I showed a few examples of visual puns, (a bottle of soda baking cookies, etc) while
explaining my expectations of this pre-assessment exercise. I wanted to gauge students
compositional sensibilities, their dexterity with a paint brush, their ability with mixing paint,
and their understanding of value. I modeled getting paint, how a tiny dot can go a long way,
how to get water, which brushes to use, and explained that acrylic paint dries quickly so not
to get paint until they were ready. I told students that these needed to be completed by the
end of the next class, giving them roughly 80 minutes to complete their painting. This was
done to motivate them to work faster. Despite my instruction, many students grabbed triple
the amount of paint they needed and some before they had sketched their visual idiom/pun. I
navigated the room, collecting their graphic organizers and checking in to see their progress.
I quickly made suggestions about their sketches regarding composition or subject matter. The
students loved that I was able to guess what their sketch was, and this motivated other
students to put more effort into their sketches.
I stopped work-time early so that I could model clean-up protocols. I picked a student
who was not working, and pointing out this out, asked them to be my model for cleaning up.
I demonstrated scraping the palette into the trash, rinsing the palette, washing and storing
the paintbrushes, and using a scouring pad (scrubby) to clean paint from the tabletop. I
thought I had done an excellent job explaining my expectations based off students
affirmative responses when I checked for understanding. I was sorely, sorely mistaken. I
should have stood by the sink to ensure that students followed protocol. I should have
appointed a sink manager or something similar. I was dismayed when the bell rang and my
sink looked like it had been in a fight with a Bob Ross fan club and lost.
My cooperating teacher (CT) was appallednot by the mess, she expected that. She
was appalled by the low quality of the work being produced. I tried explaining the purpose
of the exercise, how I wanted them to explore painting and cared more about the experience
the students had with painting than with the artifact. She suggested that I create a series of

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introductory exercises that explicitly demonstrated skills. I could see her point so I agreed to
rework the unit to accommodate students who were used to a rote-learning approach to
learning.

2nd Lesson-Introduction/Motivation: Teacher will introduce the painting skill-builder exercises

with a slide presentation and discuss the fluidity of painting. Guided Questions: How do you
create the illusion of form with paint? How do you mix black from complimentary colors? How
do you achieve a full range of value from white to black using complimentary colors plus
white?
Objectives Taught This Day: Students will learn about the terminology used in painting while
learning about the chemistry of acrylic painting.
Students will learn best practices for handling and cleaning up acrylic paint.
Students will explore the medium of acrylic paint to begin to gain technical skills in painting.
Teaching Procedure: Teacher will introduce painting exercises via slide presentation,
emphasizing and demonstrating the looseness of painting. Teacher will list exercises to be
completed: 1) fill a page with brushstrokes using a flat and round brush, 2) paint an
achromatic, monochromatic, and complimentary value scale, 3) blend two analogous colors in
a gradient and by scumbling, and 4) render an egg from observation using two
complimentary colors plus white. Teacher will explain that these exercises are necessary to
understanding how making art with paint is vastly different than making art with graphite/
charcoal. Teacher will reiterate the necessity of proper cleaning and demonstrate protocol at
clean-up time.
Student Work Time: Students will work in their sketchbooks and will paint from disposable
palettes in an effort to shorten clean-up time. Students will have one on one conversations
with Teacher throughout work-time to demonstrate understanding, to ask questions, or to
have techniques demonstrated.
Conclusion: We will discuss successes and struggles with manipulating paint, how painting
differs from drawing. I will speak briefly about the upcoming assignment to assuage concerns
that these exercises are frivolous.

Reflection

As suggested by my cooperating teacher, I created seemingly simple exercises that

aimed to teach essential skills of painting. I introduced each exercise and demonstrated
exactly what I was looking for. The classroom is not conducive to doing a group
demonstration at a table, so I taped paper to the Promethean board and painted on that.
After reiterating the importance of cleaning brushes properly, I released students to their

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work. I emphasized not taking an excessive amount of paint, but students still did not listen. I
circumnavigated the room during work-time, speaking with each student to ensure they
understood their expectations and to demonstrate paintbrush and color-mixing techniques.
Many students expressed their frustration with these exercises and wanted to finish their
visual pun painting exercises instead. I replied by stating that completing these exercises
would make their visual pun paintings stronger. The students had a hard time loosening up to
paint their value scalesthey wanted to draw scale boxes using a ruler, and they all painted
much smaller than I told them to. I felt these technical exercises should have taken no more
than two class periods but ended up consuming three class periods. Students that finished
early had their visual pun paintings to finish so there were no students sitting and waiting for
their peers to finish. During the course of this exercise I learned that not grading an exercise
devalues that exercise in the eyes of students who have been trained to get good grades,
that only important things are graded. I then assigned weighty point values to these exercises
to demonstrate the importance of being able to manipulate paint when attempting to convey
meaning through the medium of paint. At clean-up time I reiterated the importance of
properly cleaning brushes. Students spent the next two class periods working toward
completing these exercises and completing their visual idiom.
3rd Lesson-Introduction/Motivation: Teacher will introduce composition and color mixing
through a guided exercise. Guided Questions: What is composition? What is the Rule-ofThirds, the Golden Mean? How do you mix a full range of color from primary colors, using
both warm and cool blue hues?
Objectives Taught This Day: Students will explore the medium of acrylic paint to begin to
gain technical skills in painting.
Students will learn best practices for handling and cleaning up acrylic paint.
Students will learn about the terminology used in painting while learning about the chemistry
of acrylic painting.
Students will learn to mix a full range of values and hues from a limited color palette to create
color that conveys form and shape in warm and cool hues while conveying emotion.
Students will experiment with composition to see its effects on how an artwork is viewed.
Teaching Procedure: Teacher will pass out the following hues: ultramarine blue,
phthalocyanine (phthalo) blue, medium cadmium yellow, medium cadmium red while students
get brushes and water cups. Teacher will demonstrate how to mix a full spectrum of color
using these four, pointing out the need for two blues. Teacher will revisit color bias. Teacher
will then demonstrate painting a color field spectrum, from red-violet around the color wheel
to red. While students are painting, teacher will emphasize the need to work quickly, to paint
lightly. While paint is drying, teacher will give a brief talk about composition, questioning

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students to reach a group definition. Focusing on the rule-of-thirds and golden mean as tools
for achieving an optimal or pleasing composition, teacher will introduce the composition
experiment: by reading off a series of vague instructions, i.e. draw two large squares, three
small circles, students will create unique compositions that demonstrate their own aesthetic
sensibilities. Teacher will then instruct students to draw a lightbulb in one corner to serve as a
reminder of the images light source. Teacher will then instruct students to render each shape
in the hue opposite the color it is drawn on top of, i.e. if a square is drawn over a blue, then it
should be rendered orangehighlighted with white at the corner closest to the light source
and shadowed with black at the corner furtherest from the light source. Teacher will then
incentivize this assignment with a point value and a cookie composition competition:
Students will have this class plus one more to complete this exercise, students will then vote
on the top five who will receive a fancy cookie from Whole Foods.
Student Work Time: Students will have to work efficiently to complete the first series of
instructions: creating a spectrum using a warm and a cool blue, a warm red, and a warm
yellow. Students will discuss composition and learn about the rule-of-thirds and golden mean
as tools for developing an interesting composition. Students will then follow a series of
intentionally vague instructions for drawing shapes on top of their spectrum. Students will
then apply basic color theory in rendering these shapes. Students will be informed of the
cookie composition competition, incentivizing their efforts in completing this exercise.
Conclusion: This is a dense exercise that requires students to work fast and trust their
teacher, while requiring much higher level thinking. Students will resist the vague instruction,
but will be impressed by the variety of compositions created and also by the high chroma
created by mixing artist grade acrylic colors. This exercise requires a lot of front-loading work,
but the discoveries made by the students are well worth it.

Reflection

This is, for the majority of students, their first experience with artist grade acrylic

paint. My cooperating teacher graciously spent some of her budget on my painting unit. We
sat down and figured out how much paint we would need to order, knowing that, for
whatever reason, yellow and white always get used up first. Between my knowledge of how
much paint is used on an 15x22 painting and my cooperating teachers knowledge of how
much would be wasted, we ordered seven hundred dollars worth of paint. I was incredibly
fortunate to be at a school with a large budget! I was so excited to introduce color and
quality paint to my students!
This exercise was met with pushback from the students from the moment we began. A
few vocal students were so overwhelmed by the speed at which I was asking them to work
that they almost refused to do any of the work. I explained to them that we would have time
devoted to developing a color palette another day and that I really needed them to work
quickly to mix their spectrum so that we could continue. Using two different blues also set a

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few students off. I did trick them thoughI only gave them ultramarine blue to mix with at
first and showed them the spectrum that I painted mixing my greens with phthalo blue.
Ultramarine goes dark and muddies out when mixed with cadmium yellow as opposed to
phthalo blue, which makes brilliant greens. Once I revealed my trick and doled out the
phthalo blue, students were back into completing their spectrum. I did this in order to make a
more lasting impression on them, hoping that they would remember that different hues mix
differentlythat color is complicated, that when they look at paintings in a gallery or museum
they will have more appreciation and more understanding of art.
After the majority of students had finished their initial paintings, I began a short slide
lecture that would last about as long as it would take for the paint to dry. The lecture covered
the concept of composition and ways to implement either the rule-of-thirds or the golden
mean. Slides consisted of before and after images in order to demonstrate the power of
these simple rules.
Once the lecture was finished, I told students that I would read off a series of simple
instructions that are intentionally vague. This did not sit well with the students. I explained
that the instructions were simple, draw a large square for example, and the students calmed a
bit. I explained that the idea behind this exercise is to experiment with composition and to
make artistic decisions in response to my instruction. I explained that once I began reading
off the instructions I would not be answering any questions about the instructions. As I began
to read the instructions aloud, students questioned where on their page the shapes should go
or what I meant by large or small. I reiterated that I would not be answering any questions
and that they should use their best judgement in placing the shapes and determining the size.
After the instructions were all read off, I asked the students to discuss the similarities and
differences among the drawings at their table. After a few moments, I asked students to
share out what they had uncovered about composition. They all agreed that each drawing
was very different, but that there were similarities among the decisions of sizemost
everyones definition of large and small were similar.
In the final step of this exercise, students return to paint. They are instructed to paint
the shapes with the compliment of whichever color they were drawn upon: paint the shape
orange if it is drawn over blue, red over green, purple over yellow, etc. To up the ante on
their paintings, I instructed the students to draw a small lightbulb in one corner and then
paint each shape as if it were reflecting that light. This means that the corner of a square
closest to the light source would be lighter, the one furthest would be darker. I then
demonstrated this on the example that I had been working on. I set the students to work,
knowing that they would not finish this exercise today, but I had work time built into the

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following lesson because art students get unruly when they do not get to make art in art
class!
4th Lesson-Introduction/Motivation: Teacher will introduce the apex painting assignment that
the previous exercises have been building toward. Guided Questions: What does artistic
influence mean to you? How do artists influence other artists? How is art like a conversation?
Objectives Taught This Day: Students will learn to mix a full range of values and hues from
a limited color palette to create color that conveys form and shape in warm and cool hues
while conveying emotion.
Students will experiment with composition to see its effects on how an artwork is viewed.
Students will research a contemporary/modern famous artist of their choosing, from a list, to
inform their own stylistic choices in creating an acrylic painting.
Students will convey metaphoric thought by creating a visual pun or idiom as an introductory
exercise in utilizing metacognitive thought.
Teaching Procedure: Teacher will hand out rubric for painting project, discussing the
importance of students knowing what is expected of them at the outset of the project.
Teacher will then read through the rubric, checking for comprehension periodically. Teacher
will then give a 15-20 minute lecture, depending on questions, that introduces the artists and
movements that students can choose from for the research portion of their painting project.
Teacher will initiate a dialogue about artistic influence and how influence serves to situate the
viewer in a conversation between artist and viewer. Teacher will then let students know that
laptops will be available next class so that students will not have to do work outside of class
for this project. Teacher will then release students to work, reminding them of deadlines for
their painting exercises. At the start of the next class, Teacher will hand out research sheets
and laptops. Teacher will iterate research expectations and requirements, emphasizing that
research should be completed by the end of class.
Student Work Time: Students will be given rubric to be turned in at projects end. Students
will be introduced to the artists selected for the research portion of their project which will be
completed next class and have a brief discussion about the importance of researching artists,
and about artistic influence. Students will then use remainder of this block day to finish
their painting exercises. The next class, students will work on laptops to research artists and
to complete the worksheet that I made to scaffold their research. Students will be expected
to find ten different images of their artists work. Students will be expected to complete their
research by the end of class.
Conclusion: Students will be informed of the expectations of their painting project and be
given the means to meet those expectations. Perhaps I misgauged the speed at which

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students work, and at the end of this lesson, I extended the deadline. Students will learn
about artist research methods, using credible websites that convey more than Wikipedia and
have more vetted images than a Google image search.

Reflection

This lesson was supposed to help situate students into the greater conversation of art,
but was met with pushback, I dont even have to write this much in English, one student
blurted out. I explained that working artists do research in order to give their work substance.
I explained the importance of having substance in their work. The rubric explained the nature
of the project, combining the style of a researched artist with a social issue. Students became
more excited about the project once I began the slide lecture and discussing the artists.
Leveraging the allure of more contemporary artists, students gravitated toward those artists
with exciting work and became engaged in the discussion. After the slide lecture and
discussion about artistic influence, the students seemed more okay with the project and
understood that their artwork would still be an original expression of their individualistic
creativity. I wanted this project, this unit, to be my affront to school art where every
student is making the same artifact at the same time, but rather to have each student explore
the same concept, bringing into it their own style and previous knowledge. When students
work in isolation from work made by others, such separation leads to solipism, triviality, and
school art.(Efland, 1983) Students are still working slower than I had anticipated and I am
constantly having to juggle lessons to accommodate the time needed v. expected time.
The students understood the importance of getting their rubric at the onset of the
project, that it would help them know what I was expecting of them. At the suggestion of my
cooperating teacher and because the format was unfamiliar to the students, we read through
the different areas, focussing on the markers that would ensure an A for the project.
The root of the word evaluation is value, and authentic assessment includes
understanding what students value and building from there. Students need to know that their
presence in the classroom is both valued and valuable. Authentic assessment is inside-out
rather than outside-in. It is an attempt to get away from sorting a mass of students and closer
to the teachers question: Given what I know now, how should I teach this particular
student?(Ayers and Alexander-Tanner, p. 81)
The research assignment, the actual doing of the assignment, did not go smoothly. I
assumed that there would be some pushback because the students were not actively making,
but so many students resisted this assignment during class time that I had to assign it as
homework over the weekend. I went as far as to give students my email address and telling
them to email me with questions. The students went against my instruction and used Google
image search and Wikipedia as their sources. I explained that they were missing out on better
images and more in-depth learning. Even though students were not conducting in-depth
research like I wanted them to, they were still being exposed to the world of art, When
students learn about the domain of art, they can use artists as models of thoughtful process
and see the potentials of artworks as sources of new ideas and standards of quality.(Hetland,

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Sheridan, et al., p104) The next iteration of this research assignment will be more inquiry
based, requiring more in-depth research. Going forward, I will leverage students access to
email and send out an interactive pdf so that the information I collect is in a standardized
format and to push the explicit instruction of this assignment.
5th Lesson-Introduction/Motivation: Teacher will introduce the subject matter of the painting
project, a sociopolitical issue, through group discussions. Guided Questions: What is a social
issue? What is a political issue? What is important to you? How can you convey your stance
on an issue through color and image in a painting?
Objectives Taught This Day:

Students will collaborate to compile a list of social issues and

discuss the role their personal narratives play in selecting an issue to make art about.
Students will consider the views of others when deciding how to convey an issue through
imagery.
Students will combine their artist research with their social issue to create an acrylic painting,
utilizing metacognition to convey an abstract concept through symbolic imagery.
Teaching Procedure: Teacher will crowd-source topics from the class, recording these broad
concepts on the board. Teacher will group subtopics together, creating a word web for
students to see the interconnectivity of issues. Teacher will then group students by issue and
provide markers and large sheets of butcher paper. Each student group will be instructed to
write their topic in the center of the paper and then write what they know about this issue for
3 minutes. Groups will then rotate, leaving an ambassador behind to explain to the incoming
group what the topic issue is. Students will be instructed to add to the list. This protocol will
persist until groups return to their original sheet. Teacher will then ask groups to share out
about their issue. Teacher will then ask students to write a topic sentence for their individual
painting, considering the information/opinions gained from this exercise.
Student Work Time: Students will participate in the group discussions about various social
issues in order to refine the subject matter of their own painting. Students will be respectful
of the views of their peers. Students will write a topic sentence to guide the subject matter of
their painting. Students will then begin sketching three variants of their idea in their
sketchbook before beginning to draft their painting, being reminded that sketches serve to
roughly layout composition and convey general ideas and should in no way be well rendered
drawings. Students were reminded to sketch through the lens of the artist they had
researched.
Conclusion: We will talk about the effectiveness of listening to others interpretation of social
issues, if their opinions affect how we perceive the issue and how we will convey our views
through imagery.

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Reflection
Though students were slow to start, they finished this exercise terrifically. Sharing our
viewpoints on charged sociopolitical issues can be frightening, and I tried to ensure that the
students understood that they were in safe place, free of negative judgement. I told them
that any sort of negative speak would not be tolerated and that the offender would be
removed from class and given a zero for the day.
I wanted students to think about the issues affecting their world, to speak about that
which affects their lives. By having students work beyond rote learning, my aim was to assist
students in finding their voice, or becoming more confident in speaking about issues that
affect their communities, students and teachers, need to develop a critical consciousness,
voice, and language of possibilityall of which provide the underpinnings for developing
knowledge and changing society (Barakett & Saca, 2002).
When I began asking for social issues I said gun laws as a starter seed to get the ball
rolling. This helped, and students began talking about gender roles/rights and sexuality
discrimination, government control, the environment, animal welfare, immigration, and social
in/equity. I was amazed at not only their forthcoming, but at their knowledge and groupings.
If one student said gay rights, another would chime in saying that that falls under
sexuality/discrimination because to separate it furthers its discrimination.
When it came time for students to choose an issue and move about the room in their
groups, my instruction on how to do so were not explicit enough and it appeared as though I
had asked a group of cats to move in formation. I later learned that this is just what these
students do as a form of protest of having to move around in their other classeshow core
subjects have adopted similar protocol to stimulate engagement. These students are hip to
the score and protest by moving erratically.
I collected the topic sentences that students had written, so that I could check for
understanding, and to make sure they understood their issue and how to convey the concept
visually. I used the following class, a work day, to chat individually with each student about
their ideas and their plan for imagery.
Students were already planning out how their paintings would look, what images
would convey their opinions about their chosen issue. These adolescent artists were
translating an abstract concept into a visual language.Artists reflect metacognitively when
they explicitly consider their works or what they are trying to do, why they used a particular
technique or color or composition, what meanings they are trying to convey, and so
on.(Hetland, Sheridan, et al., p81)

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6th Lesson-Introduction/Motivation: Teacher will have students check for their ability to
convey an idea during an in-process critique. Guided Questions: How do we interpret
metaphor? How do we convey metaphoric thought? How does image make others think
about the concept we are portraying?
Objectives Taught This Day: Students will combine their artist research with their social issue
to create an acrylic painting, utilizing metacognition to convey an abstract concept through
symbolic imagery.
Students will consider the views of others when deciding how to convey an issue through
imagery.
Students will critique the progress and stylistic choices of their painting and those of their
peers.
Teaching Procedure: Teacher will tell students to place their sketches on their tables and
collect three TAG sheets. Teacher will then instruct students to move about the room,
completing each of their TAG sheets for a different classmates painting. Teacher will then
discuss as a group, and then individually, the importance of quality feedback.
Student Work Time: Students will participate in an in-process critique. Students will consider
feedback in their success to convey an idea through visual language. Students will make edits
as needed for their final sketch, which is to be begun after checking in with Teacher.
Conclusion: Students will learn the importance of having peers view their work in-process
having others check for understanding, seeing if your peers understand what your are
conveying. Students received quality feedback and most were pleased that their idea was
understood by their peers. Students were now chomping at the bit to being their final sketch
on the acrylic paper they would be painting on.

Reflection
I drafted a simple, quarter sheet handout for students to use for their in-process
critique. The sheet has three prompts that could each be answered in a sentence or two: Tell
the artist which aspect of their work is most successful, Ask the artist one clarifying question,
and Give the artist one suggestion to strengthen their work. I also asked students to sign
their TAG sheets in order to keep everyone accountable. While some students responses
were superficial, others had genuine, useful feedback. When students were asked to move
around the room this time, I did not prescribe any order. I only instructed them to make sure
that every sketch had at least three TAGs. I purposefully did not say that this would be for
points in the hopes that students would provide honest feedback without reward.

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As I made my way around the room, doling out acrylic paper for students to begin
their final sketch, I spoke about source imagery and composition individually because it is
something that I noticed was lacking in the sketches. I will give a quick talk about source
imagery next class. A majority of students have smart phones and I encouraged them to look
at images in order to make their sketches more readable. If you need a boat in your
painting, look at pictures of boats. Think about how your artist would draw a boat and draw
that boat. This is something that I said at least ten times during my quick one-on-ones with
students. A majority of students said that they would change some aspects of their sketch
based on feedback received, making me feel that this exercise is valuable. I will have students
do this again when most students are about halfway finished painting. Students think about
their own goals and the goals of others. Students learn about themselves and their reactions
and judgements as they evaluate work, whether their own or that of others.(Hetland,
Sheridan, et al., p81) The quick conversations I had worked to crystallize students ideas for
conveying their idea and incorporating the style of their researched artist.
7th Lesson-Introduction/Motivation: Teacher will introduce different strategies to start a
painting with a short slide lecture and discuss color mixing. Guided Questions: What
strategies do artists use to begin their paintings? What are the advantages of choosing a
color palette before beginning a painting?
Objectives Taught This Day: Students will combine their artist research with their social issue
to create an acrylic painting, utilizing metacognition to convey an abstract concept through
symbolic imagery.
Students will critique the progress and stylistic choices of their painting and those of their
peers.
Teaching Procedure: Teacher will introduce lesson with short slide lecture, pointing out how
different strategies would be best suited for various strategies to ingratiate the lesson to the
students. Teacher will then discuss color palettes, asking students to experiment with mixing
colors similar to their researched artist.
Student Work Time: Students will discuss different methods for starting a painting, deciding
which would best suit their work. Students will experiment with mixing color, writing down
recipes that are successful. Students will then have one week to complete half the work of
their painting, checking in for an in-process critique.
Conclusion: We will talk about strategies for beginning their painting, reminding them of the
skills gained through the various exercises and lectures leading up to beginning this painting.
We will mix paint, aiming to mimic the palette of the artist we researched and then record
successful recipes.

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Reflection
I wanted to give students every opportunity to be successful with their acrylic
paintings, so I tried to tell students to block in color, or to begin by doing an underpainting. I
explained that both of these methods result in paintings with rich, dynamic color. I wanted
students to get away from the paint by number aesthetic, but felt the need to touch on it
during my slide lecture. Students, to my chagrin, mostly picked this method for starting their
paintings.
I demonstrated how source imagery is important in conveying ideas and explained
that if the viewer can easily recognize an object, then they can better focus on discerning
meaning in the artwork. I showed a few slides of this practice to further drive this point home.
I reminded students that they had done this with an earlier project.
Students took to experimenting with mixing color, there is something magical when
you mix brilliant hues together and they explode into new invigorating colors. I explained to
students that writing down how a color is made would be beneficial to them as we had no
way of storing paint and colors would have to be mixed daily. I explained that they should
also plan for this and should cover large ares in a single class period to avoid having to remix
colors.
I spent the next few studio days talking with students individually, only addressing the
students as a whole to remind them of approaching deadlines and to keep them on pace for
their upcoming in-process critique. Teachers can help students develop the inclination to
Stretch and Explore by infusing their conversations to try new things(Hetland, Sheridan, et
al., p96) Working individually with students provided opportunity for authentic feedback
about the progress of their painting, if they were staying on message and true to the style of
the artist they were emulating. It also provided students with the opportunity to provide me
with feedback on how I structured this unit and their thoughts on my education style and
teaching ability. On the whole they had good, positive things to say. I received some quality
feedback that I implementedmostly on being more outwardly approachable. I did not know
that some students were scared to talk to me or that I was coming across as sterile or
unapproachable. One student said that I was not giving enough praise to students. I thanked
each student for their honest feedback, explaining how helpful it is to have students that are
confident enough in themselves to express their opinions about me.
During the final in-process critique before the paintings were due, students followed
the same protocol I established with the first critique. They each filled out three TIP, instead
of TAG this time, cards aimed at improving the successfulness of their classmates paintings.
This critique focussed more on meaning-making and artist emulation: asking students to
answer a question from the point of view of the artist being emulated and to state the
meaning of the painting they were critiquing.

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8th LessonCritique Introduction/Motivation: Teacher will establish rules for critique.

Teacher will collect completed rubrics. Guided Questions: What are good guiding rules for
critique? How do we speak about artwork?
Objectives Taught This Day: Students will consider the views of others when deciding how to
convey an issue through imagery.
Students will critique the progress and stylistic choices of their painting and those of their
peers.
Students will reflect on their ability to convey meaning through the medium of paint both
orally and through critical writing.
Teaching Procedure: Teacher will pin up all artworks, regardless of completeness. Students
will be asked to complete their rubrics while artworks are being hung. Teacher will facilitate
discussion about the artwork. Teacher will collect artwork and completed rubrics.
Student Work Time: Students will display their artwork, regardless of completeness.
Students will complete their rubric, answering questions and self-assessing their work.
Students will participate in group critique of their peers artwork.
Conclusion: We will have a discussion based critique that focusses on meaning-making and
technical skill gained while producing these artworks.

Reflection
The hardest part of this class was having to reprint the rubrics that I gave to students
at the outset of this project in spite of telling students to store them in their portfolios or
sketchbooks. Students provided authentic feedback when answering the open ended
questions on their rubric. Most students self-assessment was accurate, grading themselves
based on the efforts they put into their work.
The students spoke well about their peers work during the critique, providing
constructive feedback and praising those students whose work was well above the mean
paining. Most students were satisfied with their work, and they rightfully should be. I was
satisfied with how students became more vocally impassioned about their issues, Within the
sociopolitical perspective, knowledge is seen as constructed by an individuals interaction
with a social milieu in which he or she is situated, resulting in a change in both the ff, This
project, according to my cooperating teacher required more high level thinking than any
project they had completed before. She said that she was impressed that I was able to
maintain student engagement with such a difficult project. I can only attest this to speaking
with every student every class. Being able to have quick two to three minute conversations
allowed me to provide authentic feedback and give constructive criticism that most students
evaluated and then augmented their paintings accordingly. The aim of this project, beyond an
exploration of paint and color, is to underscore for students the interconnectedness of school

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and the world beyond those locker-lined walls. The best type of teaching bears in mind the
desirability of affecting this interconnection [school and everyday-life]. It puts the student in
the habitual attitude of finding points of contact and mutual bearings (Dewey, 2008).

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Bibliography
Ayers, William. To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher. Second Ed. New York: Teachers College,
2010. Print.
Barakett, J., & Saca, E. J. (2002). Narratives empowering teachers and students: Educational
and cultural practice. In Y. Gaudelius & P. Speirs (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Art Education
(pp. 39-50). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Barthes, R. (2002). Roland barthes (1915-1980). In C. Harrison & P. Wood (Eds.), Art in Theory
1900-2000 (2 ed., pp. 965-969). Malden: Blackwell.
Brookhart, Susan M. "Assessing Creativity." Educational Leadership (2013): 28-34. Web.
Dewey, J. (2008). Democracy and Education. New York, NY: Project Guttenberg. Retrieved
from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/852/852-h/852-h.htm
Gaudelius, Yvonne and Speirs, Peg. Contemporary Issues in Art Education. Upper Saddle
River: Prentice-Hall, 2002. Print.
Hetland, Lois, Kimberly M. Sheridan Ellen Winner, and Shirley Veenema. Studio Thinking 2:
The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education. Second ed. New York: Teachers College,
2013. Print.
McTighe, Jay and Wiggins, Grant. The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High
Quality Units. Alexandria: ASCD, 2011. Print.

Page 28 of 34

Explain the difference between opaque, translucent, and transparent:

value:

HUe:

chroma:

paint:

Write the definition of each term so that

you will understand it.

Why paint?

Name, Period:

Painting: Terms

List as many colors on the color wheel as you can. start with red purple.

palette:

shade:

tint:

Write the definition of each term so that

you will understand it.

explain color bias:

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Appendix

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Describe your social issue: why is it important to you? who/what is affected by this issue?
what do you want your audience to take away from viewing your painting?
(answer these questions and include any other information about the issue in a TYPED,
12pt, 1.5 spaced response. Type as much as is needed to convey the importance of this
issue *hint: its more than 5 sentences*) bring a printed copy on ________

**print out the images for reference**

Find 10 images of their paintings. Email them to yourself in one Word document. Drag and drop,
resize as needed to have 2-3 pages of images.
**for each image, include: Title, year made.
materials. size

Describe the artists style (color, design, etc):

Who/what influenced this artist?

What societal issue was their art about?

What movement/period do they belong to? Describe the movement/period.

Artist:_______________

The aim of this project is to introduce you to various artists that have influenced the progression
of art making and viewing. You will research an artists style, life, and work in order to gain an
understanding of why they painted the way they did. What influenced them? Many of these
artists made work in response to the world they inhabitedsocial changes, technological
changes, or other societal issues. You will take a social issue (that you care about) as your
subject matter and create a painting in the style of your chosen artist.
(social issue+artist style = your painting)

Name, period:_______________________

DRAW/PAINT 2
ARTIST RESEARCHSOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
PAINTING RESEARCH

Umberto Boccioni
Jacob Lawrence
Keith Haring
Jean-Michele Basquiat

Louise Bourgeois
Sonia Delaunay
Deborah Butterfield

Frank Stella

Jenny Holtzer

Faith Ringgold

Yves Klein

Cindy Sherman

Thomas Hart Benton

Kazimir Malevich

Barbara Kruger

Francis Bacon

David Cho

Andy Warhol

George Bellows

Takashi Murakami

Richard Hamilton

Yoko Ono

Henri Matisse

Salvador Dali

Gerhardt Richter

Paul Klee

Rene Magritte

Jeff Koons

Wassily Kandinsky

Sergei Gerasimov

Damien Hirst

Edward Hopper

Frida Khalo

Willem deKooning

Mark Rothko

Jose Clemente Orozco

Jenny Saville

Jasper Johns

Diego Rivera

Paul Cezanne

Robert Rauchenberg

Romare Bearden

Artists
*select from this list or come to me with your ownbe ready to defend your choice*

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ARTIST RESEARCHSOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

PAINTING RESEARCH

Describe your social issue: why is it important to you? who/what is affected by this issue?
what do you want your audience to take away from viewing your painting?
(answer these questions and include any other information about the issue in a TYPED,
12pt, 1.5 spaced response. Type as much as is needed to convey the importance of this
issue *hint: its more than 5 sentences*) Bring a printed copy on __________

Find 10 images of their paintings. Email them to yourself in one document

**for each image, include: Title, year made.
materials. size

Describe the movements style (color, design, etc):

Who/what influenced this movement?

What societal issue was their art about?

What artists were members of this movement? Describe the movement/period.

Movement:_______________

The aim of this project is to introduce you to various art movement that have influenced the
progression of art making and viewing. You will research an art movements style, members,
and work in order to gain an understanding of what the movement was about. What influenced
them? Many of these movements were in response to other movements or to social changes,
technological changes, or other societal issues.
Your painting will be a response to the question What connects us/What separates us?
in the style of your chosen movement. (Visual Response+Movement=your painting)

Name, period:_______________________

DRAW/PAINT 3

Teacher Work Sample

Ashcan School

Pop Art

Concept Art

Rocky Mountain School

Mexican-Muralism

Harlem Renaissance

Post-Modernism

Expressionism

Metaphysical Painting

Neo-Expressionism

Post-Colonialism

Fauvism

Realism

Abstract Expressionism

Dada/ Neo-Dada

Surrealism

Precisionism

Modernism

Cubism

Futurism

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Name:

Praise the artist: tell them what is the

most successful part of their artwork.

Imagine you are the artist being emulated: What would you have to say
about the work?

Tell the artist what you think the

meaning of their artwork is.

Name:

Praise the artist: tell them what is the

most successful part of their artwork.

Imagine you are the artist being emulated: What would you have to say
about the work?

Tell the artist what you think the

meaning of their artwork is.

Use Complete Sentences

Use Complete Sentences

Praise the artist: tell them what is the

most successful part of their artwork.

Imagine you are the artist being emulated: What would you have to say
about the work?

Tell the artist what you think the

meaning of their artwork is.

Name:

Name:

Praise the artist: tell them what is the

most successful part of their artwork.

Imagine you are the artist being emulated: What would you have to say
about the work?

Tell the artist what you think the

meaning of their artwork is.

Use Complete Sentences

Name:

Praise the artist: tell them what is the

most successful part of their artwork.

Imagine you are the artist being emulated: What would you have to say
about the work?

Tell the artist what you think the

meaning of their artwork is.

Use Complete Sentences

Name:

Praise the artist: tell them what is the

most successful part of their artwork.

Imagine you are the artist being emulated: What would you have to say
about the work?

Tell the artist what you think the

meaning of their artwork is.

Use Complete Sentences

Teacher Work Sample

Use Complete Sentences

Brandon Sexton
May 3, 2016

Page 32 of 34

Give the artist a suggestion to help

stregnthen the message of their work.

Ask the artist one clariflying question

Give the artist a suggestion to help

stregnthen the message of their work.

Tell the artist which aspect of their

work is most successful.

Ask the artist one clariflying question

Use Complete Sentences

Tell the artist which aspect of their

work is most successful.

Use Complete Sentences

Give the artist a suggestion to help

stregnthen the message of their work.

Ask the artist one clariflying question

Tell the artist which aspect of their

work is most successful.

Use Complete Sentences

Give the artist a suggestion to help

stregnthen the message of their work.

Ask the artist one clariflying question

Tell the artist which aspect of their

work is most successful.

Use Complete Sentences

Give the artist a suggestion to help

stregnthen the message of their work.

Ask the artist one clariflying question

Tell the artist which aspect of their

work is most successful.

Use Complete Sentences

Give the artist a suggestion to help

stregnthen the message of their work.

Ask the artist one clariflying question

Tell the artist which aspect of their

work is most successful.

Use Complete Sentences

Brandon Sexton
Teacher Work Sample
May 3, 2016

Page 33 of 34

Painting emulation is
hardly evidenced. Figurative
imagery is poorly crafted.

3. What could I have done to expand your learning and

enjoyment of this project?

2. What did you learn about conveying an idea from

this project?

1. What is the most successful part of your painting?

What was the least?

Composition
Layout
Rule-of-Thirds
Unity
Balance
Movement
Blending
Gradiation
Pallete
Muted Color

(for answering the

Reection Questions)

Social Issue is not well investigated. Meaning is not

discernable in the artwork.

Emulation
Technique
Brushwork
Masstone
Tone/Tint/Shade
Value
Art Movement
Influence
Social Issue
Space
Perspective(Atmospheric)
Emphasis

Painting technique shows

lack of mastery of the media.
Checklist items are dissregarded.

Evidence of some
Painting technique shows
investigation about social
some mastery of the media.
Some Checklist items are met. issue is readily evident and
meaning is somewhat
conveyed in the artwork.

Word Bank

Painting has a belly button

composition. P&E of design
are not employed to enhance
the artwork and viewer
cannot discern meaning.

Painting emulation is
Painting does not have a
somewhat evident and does
belly button composition.
not detract from the artwork. P&E of design are in play.
Figurative imagery is mostly
accurate.

Paint/ Checklist
Requirements
Treatment of the media is in
Painting has a strong,
dynamic composition. Use of line with the emulated artist
and demonstrates a mastery
P&E of design enhance the
of the media. All Checklist
readability of the painting
items are met.
for the viewer.

Conveyance of
Issue
Evidence of broad investigation of social issue is
readily evident. Issue is
well conveyed through
imagery in the artwork.

Name, Period:___________
Principles & Elements
of Design

Answer the Three(3) following QUESTIONS on the back

of this sheet in at least Two(2) COMPLETE SENTENCES.

Reection:

Teacher Student
Total
Total

100 possible

-Points-

Applied Stylistic
Research
Painting emulation is
readily evident and is used to
strengthen the artwork.
Figurative imagery is well
crafted and accurate.

Rubric: Painting Project

Advanced
Meets
Emerging

Brandon Sexton
Teacher Work Sample
May 3, 2016

Page 34 of 34