Let's examine an actual lesson. Every Monday I do weekly writing with my students where they respond to an art quote with their interpretation of what is meant by the quote. What is the quote trying to say or teach? I do not correct their writing but I have 3 students share their responses, and I add my own idea into the mix. I let them know that there is no "right" answer. I remind them that the important point is to read, think, interpret, and write. 

Later in the year this becomes the basis for a full lesson. They seek out a famous quote and then create an illustration that shows how they interpret it. On the back of their work or separate sheet of paper, they find more information about the author. (Often I require five facts.) On their grading rubric, students indicate what art elements and principles they have chosen to focus on. 

Connections to art concepts: We should always be interjecting vocabulary and understandings from our own content area. We are in a school environment, held accountable to a curriculum and standards. The art room is not a private studio. I assume all certified art teachers do this.

By this point in the year my students have used a wide variety of media and I expect them to show me their use of art elements and principles in their work. The above student noted that they wanted to use emphasis to highlight the word "UNIVERSE."  They made the word slightly larger and put the center of the swirl behind that word in a warm color. They said they also balanced the work and incorporated contrast to make the center look even more bright.

​Connections to the student: Student choice and connections to what they create is important. Do you only want to make the specific thing someone else wants you to create? As the teacher, you may "like" the idea, feel it is "good for them," but is there no room for personal input? None???

​We first have to agree, that to a large degree, fine art should be expressive. I am not talking about an exploration of craft in this example. Let's leave that for another discussion. (Weaving, Origami, etc.)  One can argue the merits of certain examples of contemporary art that push the limits of meaningful expression, but for the most part, for the bulk of what we do, personal expression is key to students "buying in" to the process, internalizing information, and learning beyond a superficial level. This is also where the deeper problem solving happens, and where art education shines in it's benefits. HOW do I incorporate/translate my feelings, ideas, and thoughts into my artwork? Working through this process requires students to solve visual problems at the deepest levels. For more ways to assure individuality, please visit THIS POST.

In this project there were several layers of choice. They were allowed to use any media I had taught them up to this point.  Students also had to seek out their own quote with a day in our computer lab. Sometimes I ask that it be art related, but I have also allowed students to find a quote by a famous person they admire, or on a topic they find interesting. With younger students having a large list of quotes may be helpful, or letting them pick from a hat and trading with their peers if they like.

​Connections to core content: ​Incorporating core content may seem like an alien idea but we already do this. We need to tease out this part and show it to students in a concrete way. This may just take a 30 second explanation or more if you would like to dig deeper into the concepts.  

When we grid, measure, and draw—we use geometry. When we make sculptures—we use engineering. When we mix colors—we reveal information about physics. When we create illustrations for stories—we learn about literature. When we review the styles of art from da Vinci to Banksy—we teach history. When we write about art—we strengthen these skills. When we create works of art, we solve complex visual problems in creative ways. This can be done in every grade from kinder to high school. More about that HERE.

For this project we have tied directly to history, literature, and writing as they make an interpretation of their quote in both writing and illustration. They have also had to use technology to briefly research the author of their quote. Sometimes we spend a day in the computer lab, other time I have allowed them to use their personal electronic devices.  We also explore the idea that illustrating is a potential career choice for artists.

These four parts (Idea, Art Concepts, Personal Connections, and Core Content) come together to make the choice based projects you see some art quote samples below. 

Below are samples where I allowed students to find quotes based on famous figures they admire. The last few show the writing component. 

To see why choice-based lessons are better for students, visit HERE. For more about creating core connected choice based art visit these links:
LINK 1, LINK 2, For more art ed resources, please visit HERE.

Something from NPR on the topic too.
The Spectrum of Choice HERE from The Art of Education.

​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.

In a world full of dichotomy, black and white, right and wrong, democrat and republican, we may be tempted to take sides in teaching students to become free spirited, self-directed artists or force strict control with formula driven lessons that offer uniform results that are praised by parents and administrators. "Heart versus head" if you will.
 
My experience however is that the middle ground holds a sweet spot where students learn more deeply and create authentic, meaningful, personal works of art with a capital "A." Research found on the bottom of this PAGE, will illustrate the value of an indepth art education. 

I was asked recently, "Why do you insist that all arts and crafts must be personal and expressive?" Here's my answer with some examples.

Other than in creative writing classes, most children are meant to listen, learn, and regurgitate information and not to express their "feelings." Formula projects and crafts without personal connections do teach some history if included, and kids learn to use the media in a very specific way, but really it's about following directions without personal connections. At the end, kids know if it's good or bad based on how well it looks like the sample. Without personal connections it has less personal value than beyond "I made that, it was fun." (Which is nice but ends there.) 

With expressive lessons, ones where the student has the ability to incorporate themselves, it has deeper meaning and expression, which I think is the essence of what makes art ART. It takes hardly any effort on my part to incorporate personal connections for my students. Sometimes simple, sometimes profound. Why just make cookie cutter clay ornaments when kids can make an ornament to represent someone or something they love? Won't that be an enduring item over the same item every kid made? Why make just a basket with feathers or beads, when you can embellish it with items reminiscent of the animal they best think represents their own characteristics? Why make just a snowman, when you could have allowed students to dress it up they way they might, or doing something they like to do in the snow as a snowman? You use NO extra supplies, You waste NO extra time, but you have students who make the item you wanted them to make, AND it's personal, expressive, and far more valuable because they had to solve problems to make it. Choices mean decisions. Problem solving is a key skill all kids need to succeed as an artist, doctor, lawyer, or custodian.

Simple example here:
http://www.artedguru.com/home/i-hate-color-wheels-part-2
More deep here:
http://www.artedguru.com/home/abstract-expressionism

I ALSO believe that because we are school teachers serving students of all abilities and needs that are diverse, that we have a duty to include core connections in what we do in the classroom to help our students succeed in ALL their studies... That said, we already do.

When we grid, measure, and draw—we use geometry. When we make sculptures—we use engineering. When we mix colors—we reveal information about physics. When we create illustrations for stories—we learn about literature. When we review the styles of art from da Vinci to Banksy—we teach history. When we teach ceramics—we teach chemistry. When we write about art—we strengthen writing skills. When we create works of art, we solve complex visual problems in creative ways. Art is the meeting place of all subjects.

My shortest answer to "why do you insist that all arts and crafts must be personal and expressive?" Because it's ART Class.

This is my opinion, and every class and situation is different. Sometimes you just want to do a day or Origami, or make snowflakes, we've all been there, but that should not be every day, nor the majority of what we do. There are as many ways to teach art as their are teachers. I just feel, in my opinion, some ways of teaching are better than others, AND I DO NOT think my way is the ONLY good way, not by a long shot. I've been doing it for many years, have won some awards for what I do, but I have seen really amazing things from hundreds, if not thousands of other teachers as well.

Below is a side-by-side comparison to illustrate my point. The image below left (Monet Bridges) has been altered heavily to anonymize it. To see how I actually build a choice-based lesson, visit HERE.

The converse is sometimes also problematic in my opinion; students having complete self-directed lessons in a studio environment. These sometimes lack core content connections. Though problem solving may be through the roof, and valuable, they may dig less deeply into media possibilities, gaining only a superficial understanding of the connections we make in art to history, literature, math, science, etc. I call this the island approach, art for art's sake. It's not "bad," but I believe a balanced approach is better.

Does EVERY lesson need to incorporate choice and core content connections? I'd say 90% or more should, 100% is an unrealistic goal. Scheduling, absences, stress, etc may require something simple to "get through the day." There's value for example, in teaching Origami for a day or so as a basic exposure, and point kids to where they can learn more. But even here, small origami units can be used to make a larger, personally expressive work of art... 

In conclusion, do I think teaching formula projects is "bad?"
NO, but I do think they are not as good as projects that allow for choice and the incorporation of core content. Research backs me up on this. 

I had a wonderful conversation on this topic with a reader of this blog. You can read about it HERE. But we speak about the reasons behind follow-along lessons and their prevalence in elementary programs. 

For a lesson example that shows even more student choice, please see THIS POST on my blog or the "Piggy Bank" samples below. More information about Choice Based classes can be found at Teaching For Artistic Behavior with a nice explanation by Diane Jaquith.  

​Below: Students used plaster and tissue mache to create a bank that reflected something they wanted to save up for. Hover on the image to see their personally chosen theme.

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.

...I do, I really do hate color wheel exercises. I don't like to spend any class time making things kids will not keep or lacks self expression. This project comes as close to an exercise as I will ever come.

Exercises are "supposed to" teach skills to use within a project, and a color wheel is "supposed to" teach them how to mix and blend colors, and maybe tints and shades as well.

Why not "just do it?" Force kids into mixing and blending right on the project. That's what I did here for my Art 1 students.

We started by coming up with 9 icons or "emojis" that show off a part of their lives or personality. They needed to be simple, bold, and shape-based so they could be colored in.

We chose 4 of the best ones and put them on a 12 x 12 in. paper after dividing it into 4 parts with rulers. (Yup we measured, and used our ruler skills) The icons were drawn in and the 4 squares were divided in half again diagonally with rulers, and everything traced with sharpie pens.

I provided some pre-cut black construction paper triangles that were glued into one corner of their choice. We used white colored pencils to draw back on the black area the lines we obscured to complete the drawing portion.

Though you could use many different media with this approach, I chose oil pastel and tortillions to blend colors. 

Next came my list of rules for students to follow that later became the grading rubric.

1. Starting with black, color in each slice a color of the spectrum, in order, ending with a white slice next to black. They could go clock-wise or counter-clock-wise.

2. Primary slices needed to incorporate analogous colors.

3. Secondary colors needed to incorporate complimentary colors.

4. Black and white could be added to any slice to help because they are not colors but tints and shades. 

5. The black and white slices could only use black, white and mixed gray.

6. All slices must show color blending.

When the color was the same both in the icon and it's background, I encouraged students to differentiate colors when they came near an edge of an icon so that it would pop out visually. 

Those who finished early were encouraged to add details by scratching into the oil pastels with designs and textures.

I am pleased with the results, as were students who had something that taught them to blend and mix colors and was tied to who they are.