What to Look for This School Year! Transition to Choice Art in WB's Studio

Welcome Back Wildcats! I hope everyone had a great summer break! I have been researching and working on how we will transition to Choice Art this school year! The concept is from the book, "Engaging Learners Through Artmaking" and is also known as TAB or Teaching Artistic Behaviors.  This approach to teaching art is near and dear to my heart. When reflecting on how my own children learn at home and create; I don't instruct them how to make a snowman, but I do teach them how to make a circle discussing shape and form. 

The school year will begin with lessons that focus on skill sets and art processes, preparing us for Choice Art.  Grades 1-5 will transition into Choice Art later in the year, and the focus will no longer be on projects. Students will create art based on the studios they select and goals they create for themselves. Focus is placed on thinking like an artist. The art studio will be divided into 4 studio centers… We will begin with painting, drawing, collage and sculpture.  More centers will be added as we become comfortable with Choice, such as fiber arts and printmaking. TAB fosters differentiation, student responsibility, problem finding/solving, self-reflection and assessment, goal setting, ownership, and engages the students with what they are excited about!  What resonated with me most, was the mental image of a classroom filled with 8 year old versions of painter Monet, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, photographer Ansel Adams, sculptor Rodin and a young Marie Curie, Steve Jobs, and Maya Angelou!  What single lesson could I deliver that would meet the needs of these varied creative learners?


This year we will display students working in the studio, mastering our skill sets.  Time will develop art pieces that are representative of our studentsí personal aesthetics.  I can't wait to see what our WB children create!

Learn more about TAB here or check out the organization's page here.