How We Use Art Journals

If your child is in the 3rd-8th grade they were required to bring in a large sketchbook.  We call them art journals in the classroom.

The kids LOVE having their own art journal-I can't even tell you how well they've embraced this idea.  The excitement is palpable and I hope to keep that excitement up all year.

After labeling them and gluing the art studio rules in them I introduced the idea behind the art journals.

Here is a copy of the letter from their art journal to them:

Right now we are using art journals for the time after our main lesson and project is finished and before class is over.  Some students will spend all class working on a project, and others finish a little sooner.  When they are finished with their project (and have done their BEST WORK EVER) they reach into a sticker prompt box and choose two stickers without looking.  

They then have a choice between those two stickers-they choose one and put one back.  

There are caddies out with certain supplies in them that they grab and take back to their seats and they create a scene around that sticker, whether abstract, a landscape, or just using the colors in the sticker, or trying to copy it exactly, they are thus forced to use creativity.

The main goal here is acquiring a CREATIVE MINDSET.  They are being pushed outside their comfort zone, and as we learn about the elements of art, and how to use a variety of tools and methods, I hope to see their confidence in their own style grow.  

As we go along in the year, there will be free journal days, and days when I take that sticker box away, or totally switch up supplies, and put out a challenge and see what happens.  I need to keep them on their toes!  (Because they do that to me! :)