"When You're Finished..."
Let's face it. No matter how much we try to keep kids on the same page and try to encourage the best from every kid, some are going to finish more quickly than others. Lots of art teachers have them work right up until the end of class, but I find that too complicated and overwhelming for a lot of kids (and me). I try to make sure my students are focused on completing the objective(s) for that day, and then when they are finished (if finished early) they have a set routine to follow.
For my Kindergarten through second graders, I have the "Options" area.
- Free-draw paper/ white scrap paper. They will be especially engrossed with scrap paper if you also have stencils and photocopied/laminated pages from how-to-draw books. I know stencils aren't high-level art by any means... but they are great for keeping kids interested in something at least related to art!
- Coloring pages. Again, I know it's not the highest level thinking here. But, they are a great opportunity for these little ones to practice fine motor skills. I ordered a bunch of shape, design, pattern, and texture themed coloring books and just copied a bunch from those. The graphic shapes and details are very attractive to them.
- Shape and magnet games. If you look in the resources section of any art supply catalogue (I use Sax/ School Specialty) there are tons of art-related games. Two that I like are tangrams (shape puzzle) and architectural magnets. Just check it out. It might be an relatively expensive first-time purchase, but it should be reusable year after year.
- Modeling clay. Cheap modeling clay that doesn't dry out will keep them interested week after week! (Remember we are only talking about K-2, right now...) I used to put some clay tools out with it, but that just became something else to clean up. Now, they just get one little piece from one of the little plastic cups that I put in the box, and they come up with different ways to manipulate. They just need to make sure that all of that piece gets put back in a cup at the end of class.
Happy and Sad Sponges- Quick and Effective Clean-Up
Anyway, Happy and Sad Sponges are something I came up with after repeatedly reminding to students that they need to wring out their sponges before wiping down the table. (They have a tendency to think the-wetter-the-better, and end up dripping all over the floor and creating a lake on the table top... which ends up wasting a ton of time and paper towels in order to dry it up!) This idea alleviates that problem!
I have cut up sponges to smaller sizes so that I can have one for every child to use. When I am expecting class to be messy that day, I will take 3 minutes before the students come in to prepare the sponges. I dump all the sponges into the sink, rinse them out, and wring them out really well. These are "happy sponges" and they go in the plastic bin with the smiley face on it.
Whenever students need a sponge, my students know that they are to take one from the "happy" bin and that they are not allowed to add any water to it. If it gets too dirty or too dry to use anymore, students place it in the "sad" bin. (Eventually, sad sponges will need maintenance to made happy again.)
*I really only use this with Kindergarten through 3rd grade.
**I admit that this is not a completely perfect system in that it does require a lot of maintenance on my part, but I find it very helpful.
Art Stars- Behavior Expectations
My Art Stars (Expectations) chart is something that I came up with after my first year of teaching. Throughout my first year, I kept a list of all the things that were not working in regards to students' behavior. By the end of the year, I realized that there were issues during every part of class, and that it probably had to do with my lack of clear expectations. This chart outlines my expectations for each part of class very clearly, and its format enables me to be consistent every time.
Students work together as a class to earn a star for each phase of class, from Arrival to Line-Up, and can earn up to ten stars each time they see me. (The stars a just little laminated pictures of star clip-art, that I stick on a piece of sticky tack that stays on the poster.) After they leave, I record their score and keep a running total on this chart:
At the end of each quarter, the class with the highest average gets a reward. I tend to change the reward every year. In the past, it has been a free-art day or picking their own seats. This year, they will win an extra art class, and they will get to vote on what they want to do in that class. (Don't ask me how I think I'm going to fit this into my schedule...) You might feel a little corny at first giving stars to the older kids... but I have even found this to be effective with middle schoolers! (Especially when choosing their own seats was the reward.) Now in its fifth year, it never ceases to amaze me how well students respond to this system.
*I made the poster by designing it first in Microsoft Word, and then had it enlarged to poster size. You can get really crafty, though, and just hand-make your own!
** Change the criterion in the table to make it work for your own procedures and expectations.
