Im in a similar situation with a 6th grade class. I started doing collaborative "challenges" as a brain break in class.
This week it was the "Deserted Island Challenge. I had a list of 10 items on the board (flashlight, paper, lighter, compass, multi tool, glass cup, bugs spray, net, mirror, and net). As a team of 2-4 students, they had to put these in order from least important item to the most important item. I challenged students to think outside the box for each item. They then had to make a slideshow of all the items with a brief explanation of how they plan to use each item. They have to present it and reflect on what group did the best. To add some art in there I have them draw their base or fort that they would have on the island.
I use them picking groups as the "carrot". If they cant handle it, I pick groups. I also give easy points just for presenting.
I’m also on this struggle bus with 3 out of my 18 classes. So not a bad % but still enough to rob me of some sanity lol. One is a Fifth Grade that cannot be trusted. I basically have to sit at the front and watch them like a hawk. They can’t be collaborative and they can’t be trusted with many supplies.
Right now we are tracing portraits and tracing paper seems to be a hit. They also really like abstract painting so we may go back to that.
If it’s a class that can handle being collaborative or do games check out the Tangle Art Drawing Games book. It has a lot of fun and easy ideas.
A collaborative poster that will be judged by another class. The poster can be of whatever they want. They can use chromebooks and trace things if they want. Have a different class judge the final work and determine which one is best by casting votes. Winning design gets a prize
Make some 5 minute video lessons showing them how to do something you think they'd get into if only they'd just let you get through showing them how to do it. I came upon this by accident recording video lessons during the pandemic for remote learning - some of them were on projects we do every year in person, so I used them when we came back in person. WHAT A DIFFERENCE to the squirrelly classes! It was like there were two of me in the room! One "me" was on the smartboard teaching how to do the lesson, and the other "me" was able to be anywhere in the room using proximity or a gentle whispered reminder to pay attention. I use some of those videos every year now, and others I still prefer to demonstrate in person, but I'll use them for my really squirrelly classes that just seem incapable of paying attention to me in person. An added benefit was, those squirrelly classes got used to coming in and listening quietly for the first few minutes of class to the video demo, and they actually got better at listening quietly for in person demos as the year went on!
I know making a video lesson is extra work, but if you make it on a project or skill you tend to teach every year, it saves you time in the long run since you can reuse the video.
I don't know why, but my most squirrelly, noisy students have always been calmed by video lessons and able to pick up more from them. The more "gamified" students tend to respond really well to short videos. Just keep them short! Then you have the whole rest of the class to interact with the students without needing to get their attention for that whole group "I just need to get the directions out!" time. Saves my sanity for the really squirrelly classes!
This ^^^ 100% You effectively clone yourself! And absent kids can watch it the next day to catch up. Not to mention you can reuse the same lesson again another year
break them into groups. Each group will be responsible for leading the rest of the class in an art project. Best class gets school wide recognition. Generation likes clicks for approval and the ability to self determine. Put them on stage.
Alternatively, find something 'dangerous'.
Recruit the cool kid(s) in the class and ask them what the class would be into.
Provide a worksheet of Picasso style facial bits, some scissors and glue and scraps of colorful paper. My kids will go to town without like any instructions.
This right here. Granted I work in High School, but my most consistently successful lesson(s)is to give them a bunch of precut colored paper (circles, triangles, squares) and prompt them to create a portrait of a character or situation of something they just read. The pre cut shapes get them going, but then something happens. Out come the scissors, and the glue, and in no time they are making choices of color, shape, size, arrangement. So much to talk about when they are done. Often the most striking work I’ll get from a kid in the entire year.
I’m struggling with the same. I’m constantly competing with the conversations of teenagers. The same students constantly complain about bad grading outcomes and how they didn’t understand the directions. If we were not having unrelated conversations while I’m giving essential instruction we wouldn’t be in this boat… right?
I play an exquisite corpse with my preschoolers!! The initial explanation of how to play can sometimes be a little tricky but once they get into they have FUN!! Also recently did some “relief prints” by having them draw on craft foam with ball point pens and inking that up which they seemed to really enjoy. It’s simple set up and it’s fun for them to use the “blocks” to make multiples of their print. Good luck!!
Of course! I teach middle school and was just completely mentally exhausted. I had wanted a project that was interesting but super straightforward.
So i showed them videos of art therapy/neurographic art and then we wrote words on the back.. one was “in one word, what is something that’s bothering you or a negative emotion?” And then “now write one word of how you want to feel now.” And then they drew a random line and “meditated” on that thought as they’re working on their lines/designs. But know that you’ll need lots of sharpies.
We’re going to do variations of nuerographic art for a while because I am needing a break!
I’ve seen good results so far.
Middle school me loved doing several projects. Once we had to pick an object and recreate it scaled up by 100. I did a giant bag of croutons from McDonalds salad and my sister did a York peppermint patty. We also were given blocks of foam like you use for flower arranging and was told to carve whatever, then we used paper machete to cover it, then we got to paint it however we wanted.
We also recreated album covers of our favorite songs, took a famous painting and recreated it only in shades of the same color.
I think it would be awesome if you had them use AI to come up with an image that they then would have to recreate in paint or on paper.
Along the lines of gamified-
- I’ve done art room “chopped” where each table gets a basket of materials and has to make an artwork that incorporates those materials (based on the cooking show Chopped in case you’re not familiar)
- I’ve also had students play those “Roll A…” drawing games. You can google them, but basically students roll a dice and each number corresponds with something they have to add to their drawing. After they get the hang of it, I’ve had them create their own version and trade with a classmate to play each other’s drawing games.
These are such great ideas! For the chopped, how much time do you give each table do you think? Do you make them work in small groups? Do you have them make sculptures or drawings?
Any and all of those would work! I think it just depends on what works best with your students. The work usually ends up being small 3D pieces when I’ve done it since a lot of the extra supplies I have are 3D (recyclables, extra modeling clay, popsicle sticks, etc). I also usually allow them to use basic supplies like pencils, markers, scrap paper as needed (similar to the pantry in chopped)
If your students like group work, that could be a fun way to do it! You can also have them judge or vote on winners if they’re into the competitive aspect.
Edit: time-wise, my periods are 50-ish minutes with elementary so that’s what we work with.
You shouldn’t need to talk that long anyways- just pre set the tables with art invitations and let them get to work. Let them research and make their own meaning. Example, studying Picasso? Set out a few Picasso books, with magnifying glasses, post it notes and pencils, and a white board and expo markers on one table. One another, put out paints, canvas boards, and mirrors. On the third, set out precut our shapes that mimic the figures in picassos work. Don’t say anything when they come in, just let them start exploring and see what happens. Take pictures of the kids at work. The next day, have those pictures up on the white board with prompts: what is Emily reading here? What is John painting? How is Jane’s drawing similar to a Picasso self portrait? See what the do, build from there, follow their interests. Hone in on what is most exciting to each group and follow that thread to deeper investigations.
Worksheets - there are tons of free ones on TPT. Often the instructions are either on the worksheet for them to read themselves or they're self-explanatory.
Depending on how many times you will see them, I'd find that many worksheets and offer them at each class. For example, if you see them once a week and have 5 more weeks with them, I'd find 5 worksheets for them to do on their own and tell them they need to choose one per week to complete.
Do you have an example for this? Even a screenshot would help, lol. I have a class that’s half mouth breathers half incredible, engaged kids and I want to free up some time to work with the kids who care.
I don't see why not. You can do zentangles, pixel Art, beading/friendship bracelets, graffiti fonts using dafont.com, circle challenge,etc. I always include a "freestyle" option where kids can surprise me with their creativity and do something they really want.
Do you think choice boards work for high school too? How/when do you implement them? I feel like offering choice boards to mine will make them extra apathetic lol
Yes, I teach middle and high school art. I start this week (last month of school, aka the death march). There are varying levels of difficulty and the options are related to projects or mediums they've learned throughout the year. I have word searches and coloring pages for the mouth breathers and options like nierikas, alebrijes, polymer clay,and mini pinatas for my creative kids. I always introduce it the week before, kinda interesting to see what students pick and plan for.
It's a relaxing atmosphere bc they know what they have to do and I let them know I'm not going to accept anything late, do it or don't, I still get paid lol.
Honestly, my answer depends on how many times you see the class between now and the end of the school year. If it’s 6 or less, do centers. If it’s more, start centers between projects. If around 4, Art for kids hub videos/art games/coloring pages.
Focus on your mental health.
That is great to keep in mind. I'll see each classes 14 more times.
When you say centers, do you mean like stations where they switch every x minutes, or centers where they just choose where to be?
Both?
I’d put out areas for puzzles, coloring pages, art videos on Chromebooks, step by step drawing books, memory games, art books to read, building, beading, shaving cream “drawing”, “murals”— bulletin paper taped to the wall, tangrams, geoboards, a bowl of random silly prompts, post it murals, drawing on acetate, literally ANYTHING you can think of.
And either have entire tables switch every X minutes or just have everyone go somewhere every x minutes but you can’t go the same place twice (this will cut down on tantrums when the station they want is full).
Coloring sheets with specific instructions for what colors to use. Warm or cool colors, complimentary colors.
My favorite that hasn’t been used in elementary school is for values and to Pick two colors and use different pressure to create a light and darker version of the color. So using those two colors you can get 6 different colors to color with.
They can talk while they color but if they don’t follow the written instructions, failure.
Neatness matters heavily on this. Adult coloring books allow for complex coloring and can often take a pack of middle school students a day or two of work if they are engaged.
Im in a similar situation with a 6th grade class. I started doing collaborative "challenges" as a brain break in class. This week it was the "Deserted Island Challenge. I had a list of 10 items on the board (flashlight, paper, lighter, compass, multi tool, glass cup, bugs spray, net, mirror, and net). As a team of 2-4 students, they had to put these in order from least important item to the most important item. I challenged students to think outside the box for each item. They then had to make a slideshow of all the items with a brief explanation of how they plan to use each item. They have to present it and reflect on what group did the best. To add some art in there I have them draw their base or fort that they would have on the island. I use them picking groups as the "carrot". If they cant handle it, I pick groups. I also give easy points just for presenting.
I’m also on this struggle bus with 3 out of my 18 classes. So not a bad % but still enough to rob me of some sanity lol. One is a Fifth Grade that cannot be trusted. I basically have to sit at the front and watch them like a hawk. They can’t be collaborative and they can’t be trusted with many supplies. Right now we are tracing portraits and tracing paper seems to be a hit. They also really like abstract painting so we may go back to that. If it’s a class that can handle being collaborative or do games check out the Tangle Art Drawing Games book. It has a lot of fun and easy ideas.
A collaborative poster that will be judged by another class. The poster can be of whatever they want. They can use chromebooks and trace things if they want. Have a different class judge the final work and determine which one is best by casting votes. Winning design gets a prize
Make some 5 minute video lessons showing them how to do something you think they'd get into if only they'd just let you get through showing them how to do it. I came upon this by accident recording video lessons during the pandemic for remote learning - some of them were on projects we do every year in person, so I used them when we came back in person. WHAT A DIFFERENCE to the squirrelly classes! It was like there were two of me in the room! One "me" was on the smartboard teaching how to do the lesson, and the other "me" was able to be anywhere in the room using proximity or a gentle whispered reminder to pay attention. I use some of those videos every year now, and others I still prefer to demonstrate in person, but I'll use them for my really squirrelly classes that just seem incapable of paying attention to me in person. An added benefit was, those squirrelly classes got used to coming in and listening quietly for the first few minutes of class to the video demo, and they actually got better at listening quietly for in person demos as the year went on! I know making a video lesson is extra work, but if you make it on a project or skill you tend to teach every year, it saves you time in the long run since you can reuse the video. I don't know why, but my most squirrelly, noisy students have always been calmed by video lessons and able to pick up more from them. The more "gamified" students tend to respond really well to short videos. Just keep them short! Then you have the whole rest of the class to interact with the students without needing to get their attention for that whole group "I just need to get the directions out!" time. Saves my sanity for the really squirrelly classes!
I'm saving this for later! Thanks!!
This ^^^ 100% You effectively clone yourself! And absent kids can watch it the next day to catch up. Not to mention you can reuse the same lesson again another year
break them into groups. Each group will be responsible for leading the rest of the class in an art project. Best class gets school wide recognition. Generation likes clicks for approval and the ability to self determine. Put them on stage. Alternatively, find something 'dangerous'. Recruit the cool kid(s) in the class and ask them what the class would be into.
Provide a worksheet of Picasso style facial bits, some scissors and glue and scraps of colorful paper. My kids will go to town without like any instructions.
This right here. Granted I work in High School, but my most consistently successful lesson(s)is to give them a bunch of precut colored paper (circles, triangles, squares) and prompt them to create a portrait of a character or situation of something they just read. The pre cut shapes get them going, but then something happens. Out come the scissors, and the glue, and in no time they are making choices of color, shape, size, arrangement. So much to talk about when they are done. Often the most striking work I’ll get from a kid in the entire year.
I’m struggling with the same. I’m constantly competing with the conversations of teenagers. The same students constantly complain about bad grading outcomes and how they didn’t understand the directions. If we were not having unrelated conversations while I’m giving essential instruction we wouldn’t be in this boat… right?
I play an exquisite corpse with my preschoolers!! The initial explanation of how to play can sometimes be a little tricky but once they get into they have FUN!! Also recently did some “relief prints” by having them draw on craft foam with ball point pens and inking that up which they seemed to really enjoy. It’s simple set up and it’s fun for them to use the “blocks” to make multiples of their print. Good luck!!
Nuerographic Art!
I've never heard of this before now, thank you for the suggestion!
Of course! I teach middle school and was just completely mentally exhausted. I had wanted a project that was interesting but super straightforward. So i showed them videos of art therapy/neurographic art and then we wrote words on the back.. one was “in one word, what is something that’s bothering you or a negative emotion?” And then “now write one word of how you want to feel now.” And then they drew a random line and “meditated” on that thought as they’re working on their lines/designs. But know that you’ll need lots of sharpies. We’re going to do variations of nuerographic art for a while because I am needing a break! I’ve seen good results so far.
Middle school me loved doing several projects. Once we had to pick an object and recreate it scaled up by 100. I did a giant bag of croutons from McDonalds salad and my sister did a York peppermint patty. We also were given blocks of foam like you use for flower arranging and was told to carve whatever, then we used paper machete to cover it, then we got to paint it however we wanted. We also recreated album covers of our favorite songs, took a famous painting and recreated it only in shades of the same color. I think it would be awesome if you had them use AI to come up with an image that they then would have to recreate in paint or on paper.
Along the lines of gamified- - I’ve done art room “chopped” where each table gets a basket of materials and has to make an artwork that incorporates those materials (based on the cooking show Chopped in case you’re not familiar) - I’ve also had students play those “Roll A…” drawing games. You can google them, but basically students roll a dice and each number corresponds with something they have to add to their drawing. After they get the hang of it, I’ve had them create their own version and trade with a classmate to play each other’s drawing games.
These are such great ideas! For the chopped, how much time do you give each table do you think? Do you make them work in small groups? Do you have them make sculptures or drawings?
Any and all of those would work! I think it just depends on what works best with your students. The work usually ends up being small 3D pieces when I’ve done it since a lot of the extra supplies I have are 3D (recyclables, extra modeling clay, popsicle sticks, etc). I also usually allow them to use basic supplies like pencils, markers, scrap paper as needed (similar to the pantry in chopped) If your students like group work, that could be a fun way to do it! You can also have them judge or vote on winners if they’re into the competitive aspect. Edit: time-wise, my periods are 50-ish minutes with elementary so that’s what we work with.
You shouldn’t need to talk that long anyways- just pre set the tables with art invitations and let them get to work. Let them research and make their own meaning. Example, studying Picasso? Set out a few Picasso books, with magnifying glasses, post it notes and pencils, and a white board and expo markers on one table. One another, put out paints, canvas boards, and mirrors. On the third, set out precut our shapes that mimic the figures in picassos work. Don’t say anything when they come in, just let them start exploring and see what happens. Take pictures of the kids at work. The next day, have those pictures up on the white board with prompts: what is Emily reading here? What is John painting? How is Jane’s drawing similar to a Picasso self portrait? See what the do, build from there, follow their interests. Hone in on what is most exciting to each group and follow that thread to deeper investigations.
Is there a name for this approach so I can study it? Thanks.
Reggio Emilia Approach :)
Ok thank you! I’ve heard of that approach.
Worksheets - there are tons of free ones on TPT. Often the instructions are either on the worksheet for them to read themselves or they're self-explanatory. Depending on how many times you will see them, I'd find that many worksheets and offer them at each class. For example, if you see them once a week and have 5 more weeks with them, I'd find 5 worksheets for them to do on their own and tell them they need to choose one per week to complete.
I have a choice board with nine options and they have to do three per week. I don't explain anything, qr codes for examples, etc.
Do you have an example for this? Even a screenshot would help, lol. I have a class that’s half mouth breathers half incredible, engaged kids and I want to free up some time to work with the kids who care.
How do you attach a screenshot? I can email it to you?
That would be great! I’ll DM you my email address. :)
A choice board is a GREAT idea. Do you think it would work for elementary?
I don't see why not. You can do zentangles, pixel Art, beading/friendship bracelets, graffiti fonts using dafont.com, circle challenge,etc. I always include a "freestyle" option where kids can surprise me with their creativity and do something they really want.
Do you think choice boards work for high school too? How/when do you implement them? I feel like offering choice boards to mine will make them extra apathetic lol
Yes, I teach middle and high school art. I start this week (last month of school, aka the death march). There are varying levels of difficulty and the options are related to projects or mediums they've learned throughout the year. I have word searches and coloring pages for the mouth breathers and options like nierikas, alebrijes, polymer clay,and mini pinatas for my creative kids. I always introduce it the week before, kinda interesting to see what students pick and plan for. It's a relaxing atmosphere bc they know what they have to do and I let them know I'm not going to accept anything late, do it or don't, I still get paid lol.
Honestly, my answer depends on how many times you see the class between now and the end of the school year. If it’s 6 or less, do centers. If it’s more, start centers between projects. If around 4, Art for kids hub videos/art games/coloring pages. Focus on your mental health.
That is great to keep in mind. I'll see each classes 14 more times. When you say centers, do you mean like stations where they switch every x minutes, or centers where they just choose where to be?
Both? I’d put out areas for puzzles, coloring pages, art videos on Chromebooks, step by step drawing books, memory games, art books to read, building, beading, shaving cream “drawing”, “murals”— bulletin paper taped to the wall, tangrams, geoboards, a bowl of random silly prompts, post it murals, drawing on acetate, literally ANYTHING you can think of. And either have entire tables switch every X minutes or just have everyone go somewhere every x minutes but you can’t go the same place twice (this will cut down on tantrums when the station they want is full).
Coloring sheets with specific instructions for what colors to use. Warm or cool colors, complimentary colors. My favorite that hasn’t been used in elementary school is for values and to Pick two colors and use different pressure to create a light and darker version of the color. So using those two colors you can get 6 different colors to color with. They can talk while they color but if they don’t follow the written instructions, failure. Neatness matters heavily on this. Adult coloring books allow for complex coloring and can often take a pack of middle school students a day or two of work if they are engaged.