GOOD
IDEAS
STUDENT ARTS ANNUAL™
Student work for this publication
focuses on self-exploration through
writing and the visual arts.
Each student in the school completes a
full-color drawing and a poem or narrative from which they will choose a
favorite line to publish with their picture or to include in a collaborative
poem. Drawings are reduced in size
to fit several on a page, yearbook style.
This all-school book will surely become a family keepsake as
well as a record of student academic and social development.
Here are a few
ideas. They may inspire you to others!
INDIVIDUAL ART AND WRITING
1. Have students write a
poem or narrative describing themselves using adjectives, action
verbs
or similes, choose their favorite line and then draw a self-portrait illustrating their words.
-
"I am ____, ____, and
____." ("I am smart, sassy and independent.")
-
"I love to ____." ("I
love to go snorkeling in Hawaii.")
-
"Sometimes I am ____ and
sometimes I am ___." ("Sometimes I am very serious and sometimes I am as
silly as an elephant in a tutu.")
2. Have students think
of an animal they can compare themselves to, write a poem or narrative explaining the
comparison, choose their favorite line and then draw a picture to illustrate.
-
"I am like a ____
because I ____." ("I am like a butterfly because I like to wear pretty
clothes and I like to dance.")
-
"I am as ____ as a
____." ("I am as fast as a cheetah on the African savannah.")
-
"When I ____ I am like a ____."
("When I swim, I am like a dolphin playing in the waves."
3. Have students write a
poem or narrative including a personal statement, a goal, or a memory of the school year,
choose their favorite line
and illustrate their text.
-
"My favorite____ is ____." ("My
favorite color is sunset gold.")
-
"Someday I am going to ____."
("Someday I am going to learn how to fly an airplane.")
-
"I will always remember ____."
("I will always remember singing a solo in the Winter Concert and forgetting the
words!")
COLLABORATIVE POEMS
Have students write
poems or narratives, choose their favorite line and contribute it to a
collaborative classroom poem. Send me the completed
poem, or send the individual lines and I'll compose a collaborative poem for
you.
Use one of the ideas
listed above or choose a topic that represents something your classroom or
school community is working on, cares about, stands for, or wants to promote
(e.g., cooperation, kindness, recycling, a specific academic skill, making
healthy choices, a holiday, etc.). For example, a classroom that has been
working on sensory details in their writing might choose "summer" as their
topic:
-
"Summer smells like
____." ("Summer smells like pine needles and smoke from a campfire.")
-
"Summer has the taste of
____." ("Summer has the taste of burnt hot dogs and s'mores.")
-
"Summer is as loud as
____ and as quiet as ____." ("Summer is as loud as the 4th of July and as
quiet as a cricket in the night.")
CLASS MURALS
Have students work
together to create a class mural. As above, choose a theme that represents
something your classroom or school community is working on, cares about, stands
for, or wants to promote. Take a digital photo of the large work of art for
inclusion in your Student Arts Annual.
To accompany the
collaborative poem above, for example, you may wish to create a mural that
visually expresses the sensory images in the poem.
SHARE YOUR OWN
STUDENT ARTS ANNUAL IDEAS AND WE'LL PRINT THEM
HERE!
GOOD IDEAS
WISE WORDS FOR THE WORLD™
Student work for this publication focuses on good advice: advice about
personal integrity and self-respect; staying safe and healthy; how to treat
others; how to treat the earth...
Each student in the school hand writes their best advice for making the world a
better place and completes a line drawing to illustrate it. Teachers might bind
originals for their own classroom and select favorites to include in the
all-school or all-district book. The final product is a trade quality softcover
publication that schools might even wish to sell on consignment through local
retail outlets.
Here are a few
ideas. They may inspire you to others!
1. Address
issues of respect, integrity, empathy, kindness, etc. in the classroom.
-
Share picture books that focus on
relationships and how to treat other people: The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill
(bullying),
Jitterbug Jam by Barbara Jean Hicks (empathy), I'm the Big Sister Now by
Michelle Emmert (sibling relationships), and many more
-
Share a read-aloud that focuses on
relationships (e.g., a Richard Peck novel or a Judith Viorst chapter book)
-
Have your class develop classroom rules,
school rules, family rules, and community rules that focus on respectful and
caring treatment of others
-
Use situations that arise in the
classroom and on the playground as "teachable moments"
-
"Adopt" a senior citizen
-
Adopt a classroom in another part of the
world and have students write back and forth to each other.
-
Develop a sister school relationship
with a school in another part of the world
-
Regularly discuss issues around respect,
tolerance, friendship, etc.
2. Address issues of respect for the environment in the classroom.
3. Address issues of personal health and safety
in the classroom.
4. Address issues of ethical behavior,
integrity and self-respect in the classroom.
5. Use sentence
starters to help students write and illustrate their best advice for creating a
better world:
-
"Never ____." ("Never cross
the road when fast cars are coming.")
-
"Always ____." ("Always do
your homework before you watch TV." )
-
"If you see
____, (you should) ____." ("If you see someone who is hungry, give
him something to eat.")
SHARE YOUR FAVORITE
PICTURE BOOKS AND READ-ALOUDS THAT ADDRESS THESE ISSUES AND WE'LL PRINT THEM
HERE!
"We've got some great ideas for an
all-school book. How do we get started?"
Send me an
e-mail!
Type "Student Book" in the subject line. I'll send you a survey to find out
exactly how you envision your student book. Before
you know it, the publication process will be under way.
CONTACT CLASS ACT
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