Fourth and Fifth graders have been busy making their sketchbooks this week. Their sketchbooks are kept in the art room are used for taking notes about projects, thinking through art ideas, and just for fun drawings. We also learned how to do some new Zentangles to try in our sketchbooks.
Pingback: Fifth Grade Silhouettes – Georgetown Elementary Art Blog
Josette~
As a k-5 art teacher I love reading your blog, it is so inspirational.
I have not had my students keep formal sketchbooks in quite a few years but would like to try it again. Do your students make them, do you have a machine to bind them, or do you purchase a sketchbook for each student? How do you ensure/enforce that quality work goes into them? I used to get so frustrated to see kids blowing through page after page with careless drawings and then asking for more paper.
Thanks,
Kelsey
Hi Kelsey! Thanks for visiting my blog! Sketchbooks…I purchase the sketchbook/journal making kits from School Specialty – you get spiral binders, 6″ x 9″ front/back chipboard cover, and tons of paper – each kit makes 30 sketchbooks. We use them in 4th grade, and the kids keep them for 4th and 5th grade and get to take them home when they leave 5th grade. The kids put their books together themselves and design their cover. And yes, the quality work thing is a challenge! We watch a couple of short videos about how artists use their sketchbooks, look at pictures of Leonardo DaVinci’s sketchbook pages, and brainstorm the “good” ways we can use our sketchbooks. I also show them MY sketchbooks and explain how I use them. I encourage them to use both sides of the page, and I have periodic sketchbook “assignments” throughout the year that tie in to their on going art projects. We also use the sketchbooks for note taking and thumbnail sketches for upcoming projects. The BEST thing I’ve introduced is zentangles; the quality of work in their sketchbooks has improved greatly. I have a bunch of laminated zentangle worksheets and several books for ideas, and a tub of special fine markers that they may use JUST for zens in their sketchbooks.
Still…..there are the usual scribbly drawings and wasted paper, but less than in past years for me since I’ve started emphasizing quality work in their sketchbooks and tying the way sketchbooks are used to the way other artists use their books. And, when kids ask for more pages, we take a quick look through their sketchbook together; I use that time to point out some great work in their book, and chat about some things we might see that should avoid with their new pages – especially the junky stuff. I guess it’s a big learning process, getting the kiddos to use their sketchbooks in a meaningful way. Hope that helps!