Artifact I: 3rd Grade Female Abstract Painting and Written Reflection

This student appears to have successfully created a chart detailing her emotional connection to the music and the color choices. Her complete sentences articulate the conclusions she made as a result of previous charts.

Artifact 2: 3rd Grade Male Abstract Painting and Written Reflection

This written response is very interesting to me. The student clearly has an easier time articulating his thoughts in Spanish as opposed to English–yet he still tries to phonetically spell out his complete sentences in English. I believe that this sort of ‘risk-free’ writing practice is extremely important if bilingual students are to achieve mastery over their languages.

In essence, If I was grading for spelling or punctuation, this student would not fare so well. That is why I promoted a ‘risk-free’ writing environment where students were not graded for grammar and they were encouraged to use whatever language they were most comfortable with.

Artifact 3: 4th Grade Female Abstract Painting and Written Reflection

It would appear that this student got a little off task towards the end of her reflection–but the writing practice is apparent and her thoughts (although rather disorganized) are cohesive enough for the teacher to read and the student to express were she to read them aloud.

Artifact 4: 4th Grade Male Abstract Painting and Written Reflection

This student’s written response is a little heart breaking as he believes himself to be annoying and dumb–but this sort of dialogue is important to remember. After reading this response, I made sure to encourage this student through effort-based praise and constructive suggestions.I did not publicly discuss his response but I did speak to him privately about doing his personal best and the growth I have seen in his performance.

His painting tells me that (contrary to his belief) he is actually quite talented. He also acknowledges in the last reflection page that this painting came out better than he would have expected.

Artifact 5: 5th Grade Female Abstract Painting and Written Reflection

There are several things to love about this student response. First of all, when she says, “I felt like painting my hand and then slap it on the piece of paper!” I know that she was heartily engaged in the project and had a lot of fun with it. Her final line, ” It makes me feel like stars are floating around me,” was exactly the sort of higher level abstract thinking I want to promote in my art class. These students have not or are just beginning to learn about similes and metaphors–so a statement such as this helps to build those abstract ideas early. I also love that she switched to Spanish half-way through her response–this tells me that she tries very hard to balance the bilingual aspects of her life.

Artifact 6: 5th Grade Male Abstract Painting and Written Reflection

This response is very rich in cultural discussion and consideration. His sentences are cohesive–although a little contradictory. I think he is acknowledging the ability of music to be both calming yet energizing at the same time.