This is a survey I have used for a few years now with my classes. It serves several purposes, all are helpful on that first or second day of class.

#1. It keeps them occupied so you can get your work in order for them.
#2. It gives you some insight as to who they are.
#3. It may give you a clue as to who may need extra attention.
#4. It may indicate who are your potential "star" performers.

I save this paper and hand it back on the last day of school along with an exit survey that lets them tell me what they learned over the course of a year. That too is illuminating.

Here's the form I use. Feel free to download it. The last question may not be germane to your students if art is not an elective.

If you need a resource to develop your lessons, THIS BOOK is one I wrote with 50 lessons that can be personalized and use nearly any media you have available for grades k-12. It's a starting point as you develop your own lessons. If you need more help with pedagogy, (how to teach art) Then THIS BOOK is one I wrote to explain my process developed over 30+ years. It's free on Kindle if you have an Amazon account. More of my resources can be found HERE. If you click on any image, you'll be linked to the book on Amazon.

Participation is key to an art class, but must it be any more than 10% of a grade or even considered in the grading at all? My answer will be somewhere in the middle. We know students who do not participate will receive poor grades on projects and assessments naturally. My own "universal rubric" (below) does not include "participation." My district actually forbids participation grades making up more than 10% of a marking period grade.

However, I do grade participation in a unique way, I just call it "Studio Habits." The first day of the marking period, each student gets a participation grade of 100%. As we progress through the marking period, I deduct points as issues arise.

I circulate about three times each period to check progress and see if there is an issue I need to address and see if the student was thinking about a problem to solve, or confused, or maybe just chatting about a party they attended. I'll help that student refocus. If it was a participation issue, I may deduct 2 or 3 points for those distracted students. If I have to remind them a couple of times, then maybe 4 to 7 points for those who do little.  I take up to 10 points off for those who flatly refuse to participate when I redirect them.

2024 Update: I have changed my process...

Now every project gets two grades. A studio habits grade and a project grade. Everyone starts with a 100% on the studio habits portion of the project grade. Every time I need to re-direct them to work or get off their phone, clean up, set-up, using tools unsafely, I deduct 2 to 3 points from the score. At the end of the project, I transfer that to their rubric when the project is graded. If I have never had to redirect them to focus, or they were never on their cellphone, then their “Time Management” score will remain at 100%. If I have to address them even one time, they can only earn a 90% for the Time Management component on the grading rubric. If I have to address them 3x during a project this will drop even more. I still note off-task behavior on my seating chart and enter deductions at the end of the period as they clean up. This new method does seem to be having a positive impact and is holding them accountable. 

I also now have an area in my room for students to store and charge their cell phones away from their desks. That too seems to work well with other teachers.

Follow up: I got a good question from T.H. on Facebook: " Where does the studio habits grade fit into the percentages you list at the end?"

Answer: In my grade book program, PowerSchool, I have "Project 1 S.H." (S.H. = Studio Habits) where everyone gets 100% on the first day of the project. (This can be weighted or unweighted) Next in my grade book I have "Project 1 Assessment." This is the grade for the whole project with my rubric, and I use the "Project 1 S.H." grade to help me fill out the Time Management component of my rubric.

If "Studio Habits" is weighted, then the project is getting 2 grades essentially for the on-task or off-task behavior. This is where having an unweighted Studio Habits grade might be a good idea.

Another summer comes and goes and we look back at our final week with themes of "Art Buffet" and "Pirates."

Art Buffet is a class I created for the kid who loves to do everything, so we always do a drawing, sculpture, and painting by the end of the week. 

We did an art quote in front of my building.

“To draw, you must close your eyes and sing” ― Pablo Picasso.

​We had 10 children in the class so they picked a word of the quote from a bucket and did a fanciful sketch of that word. Sketches were taken outside where I had measured about 2 feet of space for each participant to work. We even used paint brushes to blend colors which worked out really well.

Our sculpture project was to make a "Personal Initial Sculpture." We covered floral foam from Nasco with plaster to make their first or last initial to cover with personality traits and symbols. I told them to pick their first initial if it was going to be about themselves and a last initial if it was going to be about their family. We painted with tempera cakes and sealed them with clear spray paint. 

We did a photocopy printing unit as well based on THIS project I detailed on my blog in March of 2017. There is a video tutorial that will be helpful at that link. We did all our copies (6) at the local printers just one block away. It's always a good idea to support local businesses when you can.

"Pirates" class was all about treasure maps, dragons, making rope (weaving) making a stuffed "Kraken." The treasure maps make a great unit that combines cartography, geometry, and ruler skills.

Each student created a treasure map of an imaginary island. It could be scary or cute, and having a treasure was optional, though most included "ye olde X-marks the spot."

We always start with a thumbnail sketch for quick ideas, then go to a 1/2 size sketch where we use rulers to get use to them. Then onto the final drawing which is a large 18 x 24 inch paper.
(Skipping sketches does make projects worse.)

Maps included the following: Detailed border, rose compass, longitude/latitude, 5 land feature symbols, key for symbols, 2 landmarks, 2 water symbols in the water, 1 sea monster and 1 ship. 

Maps were wrinkled and aged by soaking in watered-down paint. We used heavy drawing paper, near 100lb. Pencil, sharpie, watercolors, then aged in a watered down paint solution. Maps need to be in and out as quickly as possible, more than 5 seconds makes more rips. 10+ seconds and it shreds. Type of paper may matter a lot. Always test teacher samples first. The final solution for aging was about 1 cup of any brown paint per gallon of water.

​For older students, we use dip pens and india ink to make our drawings more authentic.

While parts dry or as some finish steps of their maps early, I have students work on a code to put on a scroll with directions and warnings about their islands. It's a great way to keep kids busy and on task.

We also make "rope" by weaving string. This tutorial on Youtube will help. I thought kids would be board by it but once they got the hang of it, they brought their looms every day and made bracelets during their times off.

We used information from "The Emotional Color Wheel" to pick colors, so each color had a specific personal meaning. (Use discount code 3YPBN853 for 30% off all their books)

We made monoprints of the dragons that protected their islands. This was done with sharpie, and run through a press with paper that had been sprayed with rubbing alcohol.

Camp finished by making a Kraken sea monster for the waters around our islands. Really just an octopus craft I learned as a child. I've posted a Youtube tutorial I found, but they are really easy to make. Again, colors were chosen based on "The Emotional Color Wheel" and the best part was that the girls taught all the boys how to braid yarn!

You can see by the last image we had to wear our cut yarn at least once for a silly class photo. It was a sun week with a "Pirate" theme.