Visual Arts Projects.
Teachers take on Action Research projects in their own classrooms, then document their success here.

The teachers engaged in Arts Assessment for Learning take on Action Research projects: they implement formative assessment across long and short term durations, and document the results.

Select a visual arts project below. Each project contains helpful tools and resources to view and/or download. Use the filters at left to narrow your search results by grade level and assessment method.


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Printmaking-Landmarks:  Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Helen Pylarinos
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

My 4th grade students began a unit on printmaking and created collagraph plates of NYC landmarks. They developed a list of the criteria for an effective collagraph plate that focused their printmaking and guided both written and verbal peer feedback. Students became more appropriately verbal, had more positive exchanges, revised their work and the printmaking process was enjoyable for all.

Collage Self Portrait: Self & Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Valerie Louzonis
Grade Level: Secondary (6-12)
Synopsis:

7th grade students started with self-portrait drawings, painted strips of color, arranged the tessarae on their drawings, and engaged in on-going peer assessments throughout the project using a rubric and feedback forms to inform their revisions.

Drawing Perspective: Self & Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Mark Mulholland
Grade Level: Secondary (6-12)
Synopsis:

Students have a difficult time understanding the fundamentals of perspective and how it relates to the scale of objects. Students peer assessed with the use of a rubric. This helped to build a better understanding of perspective as demonstrated in their final drawings and their reflections on the process.

Colonial Portraits: Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Norma Allende
Grade Level: Secondary (6-12)
Synopsis:

In an interdisciplinary unit on Colonial Portraits my 7th grade students studied Colonial paintings and created their own portraits using a series of skills-based worksheets.

Gradation: Self & Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Janet Panello
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

Visual rubrics and clear protocols engaged my 4th grade students in peer assessment, motivated them to revise their work, and helped them create a more realistic, dimensional piece of art.

Figure Drawing: Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Valerie Louzonis
Grade Level: Secondary (6-12)
Synopsis:

My 7th grade art talent class is comprised of gifted and talented as well as special education students. All are initially challenged by proportion in figure drawing. Students enthusiastically engaged in peer assessment using a visual rubric and improved their drawing skills as evidenced by their revised drawings.

Fauvist Portrait Painting: Self & Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Emily Maddy & Jason Rodinelli
Grade Level: Secondary (6-12)
Synopsis:

Middle school students created self-portrait acrylic paintings using a Fauvist warm/cool color scheme. They learned the language of critique and used visual assessment tools to assess, revise and reflect on their work.

Graphic Design: Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Debbie Rich
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

In a unit on graphic design my 5th graders designed their own cereal boxes. These students engaged in ongoing peer assessment using a protocol to revise and reflect on their work.

Painting Texture: Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Debbie Rich
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

My 1st graders created paintings of rabbits with realistic texture. These young students engaged in peer and self-assessment that was guided by criteria, vocabulary, and visual assessment tools (Faces of Feedback). In the process, not only did they learn peer assessment, they improved their painting of texture and created more realistic work.

Oil Pastel Landscapes: Peer & Self Assessment

Instructor(s): Kellyanne Thompson
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

Students collaborated on creating a visual rubric and used it in their peer and self-assessment. This process raised the quality of their feedback, deepened their conversations, and improved the quality of their art work...

Mural Drawings: Self & Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Angela Fremont
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

In this collaborative art project, my 5th grade students worked in teams to create drawings based on prehistoric cave art. We co-created a Good Drawing Rubric and used it in a peer and self-assessment process. The process fostered collaboration and independence, as well as helped them create impressive craypas drawings.

Multi-Media Self-Portraits: Peer & Self Assessment

Instructor(s): Ellen Izzo
Synopsis:

My 4th grade students created portraits across a variety of mediums. My students became more adept at transferring techniques from masterworks to their own self-portraits through a process of personal goal setting that incorporates peer feedback and self-assessment. In addition my students became more collaborative, articulate and independent artists.

Painting Birds: Peer & Self Assessment

Instructor(s): Lauren Donner
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

In the painting unit my 4th graders paint birds and are often challenged by the element of
texture. Together we created a visual rubric and students peer assessed their partner’s
work. As a result my students demonstrated: greater task perseverance, more deeply
analyze one another’s painting, and improve texture through revision.

Papier Mache Sculpture: Peer & Self-Assessment

Instructor(s): Angela Fremont
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

Many of my 4th grade students are English Language Learners (ELLs) who became highly engaged sculpting with papier mache. Together we co-created a rubric based on the prompt: What problems might we have building this sculpture? Engaging ELLs in developing and using the rubric through peer and self-assessment improved both their work and their journal writing.

Printmaking Collagraphs: Self & Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Caroline Heffron
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

In this printmaking unit my 4th graders used peer and self-assessment to determine
whether their plates of People in Action were ready to print. They identified goals and
documented their progress in their art journals. Students went from never having analyzed their own artwork, to ownership of a routine where appropriate and actionable feedback was expected every class period.

Painting A Rainbow: Peer & Self Asessment

Instructor(s): Danielle Grossi
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

Early learners are challenged by painting technique, particularly painting with precision and control. I wanted to see if peer assessment using a visual rubric could help kindergarten students improve these skills. I discovered that with a child friendly protocol and visual rubric my students could give feedback and achieve an “I Got It”!

Prints Coloring: Self & Peer Assesment

Instructor(s): Jason Holt
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

Kindergarten students are jubilant artists and jump at the chance to engage with materials. I wondered if a simple rubric could prompt students to concentrate on their work habits and develop coloring skills - a complex skill for 5 and 6 year olds. At the end of the lesson students improved their coloring accuracy and had new language to speak about their work.

Sculpture: Peer Assessment

Instructor(s): Annemarie Diop
Grade Level: Elementary (K-5)
Synopsis:

My students created papier-mâché sculptures of landforms linked to their social studies geography unit. In addition to creating a 3-dimensional forms, students used peer feedback based on a co-created sculpture rubric. I created a rubric station to address the differentiated pace of project completion and to facilitate timely peer feedback.