My school has a diverse student body, but one thing many of them have in common is a love of making art. Some students cannot afford things like pencils, eraser, and paintbrush sets, while other students come to class with lots of their own supplies. The thing is, these materials are expensive and we can use all the help we can get in purchasing new supplies to keep our classroom running smoothly.
My students are highly motivated and very creative.
They love working with all sorts of materials in the art room, such as clay, painting, iPads for animation, sewing, and--of course--drawing! Some projects that have been stand-outs this year are: a ceramic planter in the shape of a hippo that will actually house a succulent, collaborative stop motion animations with puppets acting out a hilarious version of "America’s Got Talent," a series of relief prints of dogs and cats, and I could go on and on.
My Project
Students will make sculptures, paintings, and drawings with these supplies! The choice-based art program affords students many opportunities to problem-solve and create independent projects based on their personal experiences. Students will develop skills in painting, drawing, and sculpting through mini-lessons, demonstrations, and bootcamps, as well as work on collaborative projects such as cardboard sculptures of everyday objects, painted with acrylic paint.
In a choice-based classroom, the students are asked to pursue their own ideas and interests after learning skills and techniques in traditional and non-traditional art media.
To quote from the secondary choice-based art teachers bible, "The Open Art Room", by Melissa Purtee and Ian Sands, "Art-making skills and the Artistic Thinking Process -- our framework for creative decision making -- are taught simultaneously with the goal of bringing all students to a place where they can make choices that are independent and intentional."
The result of this approach is that student art does not always look like a traditional school art project but instead, students will be seen developing skills and techniques necessary to explore and express their personal interests and ideas through self-directed artworks. By contributing to this project, you will help students have access to many types of art materials so that they can develop as artists and critical thinkers.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Suisman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
