FAQ

Visual Arts and Literacy Lessons Pilot

The Visual Art and Literacy Lesson Book has supply lists for each grade level K-2. Talk with your principals regarding ordering needed supplies from KCDA or NASCO.

Art supplies are crucial to all art-making, and the art supplies selected for these art lessons were selected because they conform to current safety considerations in the elementary art studio, give students the opportunity to 'show what they know', and serve as evidence of arts learning and understandings. Whenever possible, art supply substitutions are listed for any art materials not commonly stocked in elementary schools. Optimum art materials are always listed.

The transparencies are from Art Works Kits purchased by the LWSD about 8 years ago.  These were large boxes, one for each grade 1 – 6.  Each box had a notebook of great transparencies. Art Works Kits may be housed in your school library, be a part of Art Docent kits, or be located somewhere in the school building. Contact your school librarian, school principal, or art docent volunteers to check the availability and completeness of these kits. Let us know if you cannot locate them.

We recommend that these transparencies be housed in an easily accessible storage site, perhaps the library, where they can be available to the whole staff, and checked out through an accountable checkout system established by your building staff.

Some lessons also reference artworks in the city. We would encourage you to take a fieldtrip and see the sculpture, but if you are unable to do so, photographs can be downloaded from this website, and copied onto transparencies. Follow the link to “Community Art”.

Seattle Art Museum has generously given permission for us to use photographs for transparencies to access the two exhibits we reference from the SAM collections. These are available at  our “Seattle Art Museum” section.

As with all other classroom disciplines, assessments tell us what our students know and can do, help us to analyze our lessons and our teaching, and give us solid evidence of student learning as a class, and as individual students. Through the use of assessments we have the opportunity to reteach certain concepts, while feeling confident other concepts have been mastered by the majority of our students. Assessments in the arts also help us to work with any few students individually who are having difficulty with one particular concept or skill.

If you have any further questions about this key component of the project, don't hesitate to write to Susy Watts at susywatts@msn.com. She will be happy to work with you throughout this process. Assessments for grades K-2 are primarily teacher-managed checklists within categories of arts concepts and skills.

 The pilot schools were assigned 5 lessons each of the total 30 lessons.  The pilot teachers are to pilot/teach three lessons and assess one lesson. It is up to the teachers to decide who will undertake the assigned lessons, as these must be assessed at that school, but beyond that, each teacher must submit an assessed lesson. Your Principal has a list of the Assigned Lessons.

When you complete your student checklist, please take 3 to 4 photographs of individual student art from that lesson, with a digital camera if possible, or standard camera if a digital camera is not available in your building. Your principal will help to facilitate this process. Please fill the picture frame with the artwork image. Score the art on the back or next to the photographs. Include two photographs of students who met all the lesson criteria (it is effective if one student artwork appears to be more mature and experienced and one student artwork appears to be less mature and experienced, even though both meet the lesson criteria). If not all students achieved the criteria, please also include one or two photographs of student artwork showing students still striving to achieve the lesson criteria in their art.

Another alternative is to scan the artwork. Please retain any computer files you create of the artwork as this may help us with inserting samples into the handbook. The principals have a timeline for completion of the assessments. The final date for collection of assessments and photographs is 1^st May. However, it would ease the load on the consultants if you submit documentation as it is ready. Email u_mcalinden@hotmail.com or thebyrnebunch@attbi.com if you have some lesson assessments completed.

The Arts Commissioners have taken photographs of the art project samples done by the consultants. Please follow the links to the left for the appropriate grade level. The sample board and sample sketchbook from the training is available for check out through the school district curriculum library if you want to have a planning meeting at your school. The Visual Arts and Literacy Lesson Book and attached documents will be available on the LWSD server upon completion of the pilot.

7.   How does this art adoption affect our current volunteer art docent program at our school?

The LWSD wants to encourage the wonderful volunteer Art Docent groups currently working in the 26 schools.

As the implementation of these art lessons begins, the lessons will serve as a focus and catalyst for teaching the arts concepts most crucial to student learning at each grade level as outlined by State Arts Essential Learnings and LWSD District Arts Frameworks. The lesson expansions may be taught by art docents or co-taught by teachers and volunteers as a way to provide additional practice in arts concepts for students. The lessons, and the art concepts they outline, may also help docents to plan the timing for art docent lessons for the classroom to build on arts concepts taught by the teachers through these lessons.

 Yes, the consultants and project coordinators have generously agreed to be available by e-mail for questions.

Susy Watts susywatts@email.msn.com

Meredith Essex mmessexeddington@aol.com

Una McAlinden u_mcalinden@hotmail.com

Cara Byrne thebyrnebunch@attbi.com  

9.   What are the timelines for the completion of the pilot?

While the definitive timeline for the completion of this pilot project is May 1st, we encourage you to submit your student checklists and photographs to your principal in advance of this date, and immediately following teaching the lesson. Assessments are most valid and reliable when they are completed during and immediately following teaching.

The assessments and art samples will be collected from your school on May 1, 2002. The photographs and assessments with any other comments must be with your principal by then. We would be happy to pick up any that are available ahead of that date. Just let us know. 

10.  Will there be further training available?

 The LWSD is looking at further training options and any additional information on training will be advised.