Here is how to complete the Art Book.
By Maryanne Messier
What You Need:
- All the pages from the Art Book
- Thick poster paper
- Hole punch
- Ribbon
- Or – a spiral binding machine (find these at office supply stores)
What You Do:
Once you have finished all the pages in the art book, you can have the students help you sort all the pages out.
Hand back all of the pages and have the students put them in order.
Once that is finished, it is your job to collect them and bind them. I used the school’s binder and a spiral attachment on the side to bind the pages into a book. If you don’t have access to one, you can always assemble them with yarn on the side. You just have to punch holes in the sides of all the pages. This process can take a while so help is always a good thing.
After the books have been bound, the students have a portfolio for the teacher to see their progress through the year, and they have a memorable book to keep for themselves for years. They also have a great tool to remember all the basics for art.
Congratulations on a successful book!
Related Lessons and Resources:
The Art Book is a special series of lessons from Maryanne Messier, a teacher from Janesville Wisconsin. “This Art Book theme was created to help art educators by giving them another form of assessment. So many times we as art educators find it difficult to assess a child’s progress when projects are sent home. By using portfolio assessment it is easier to judge a child’s progress because you can see it from beginning to end. The idea of the art book came from a colleague of mine, Mary Jo Paup. She developed the “book” idea while working towards her masters. When she told me about the idea I decided to use it with my kindergartners. I used the Janesville School District’s Art Curriculum as a basis for each project page. It was a challenge but well worth it. The beauty of portfolio assessment is that it starts in kindergarten and can follow them through their elementary career. As the child grows so do the books and the lessons. If you decide to use this form of assessment in your class, I hope your class enjoys these lessons as much as mine did. -Maryanne Messier
