unit Summary
Inquiry Question: How does formative assessment help students develop expressive qualities in their artwork?
Data from the ARTS ACHIEVE Assessment showed that students struggled with their drawing skills and their ability to achieve expressiveness in their artmaking.
The art specialist and facilitator developed a unit around creating expressive portraits. This unit allows middle school students a freer and more successful approach to dealing with art at the same time as dealing with age-related self-consciousness.
Students engaged in formative assessment through peer and self-assessments, written reflections, teacher feedback, group discussions, and generating their own criteria. By the end of the lesson, formative assessment became a part of their artmaking process.
Use of Technology
Students used the Explain Everything app on the iPads to self-assess their work. The classroom smartboard was used to research and analyze masterworks, as well as to facilitate classroom brainstorming sessions.