Color Theory Formative Assessment Jessica Johnson EPS-541

I. Student Progression ! I am currently in the process of breaking down key components of my curriculum

so that my planning is more intentional next year. Art is tricky and can be a nebulous world of content, concepts, and mediums unless you pin it down. For my learning progression I chose Color Theory to start tackling how I want to do the breakdown for my other key curriculum components. When I started thinking about the key components for my frame I started with the very base concepts students need in order to understand colors. Starting with colors can be difcult because all students have different levels of understanding or perceptions of colors based on what they have already been exposed to as well as how well they can see and interpret colors. As this is a fairly large gap in understanding I chose not to try tackling the pre-understandings students might come in with for this particular frame because of the complexity involved with interpreting student knowledge level, but instead focused on the essential knowledge they must know rst in order to move on specically for color theory concepts. Since I was thinking about planning for several grades the many knowledge levels mentioned in the novice portion of my framework would be taught from 1st to 3rd grade. I feel that instead of adding a pre-understanding portion to my frame I, in the future, will add what pre-skills may be needed to comprise the novice skills. For instance, students will need to know their colors before they can learn how to categorize them, but that skill, in my mind, is in a different category all together outside of color theory concepts so that is why I chose not to tackle that level of understanding. ! The resources available to me vary greatly on their quality and their coverage of

art concepts. Art is one of those subjects that is taught based on the preference of the

teacher and there arent a lot of resources advising the progression you should take. So I started to dive through some of the books Ive collected since my undergrad that are Art assessment books. I wanted to determine how students would move through my framework progression and what determines mastery in that category. I rst looked through my An Introduction to Art Techniques book. This book was helpful for the Independent column of my assessment. From page 180- 201 is full of techniques with different pictures demonstrating what to do. This book will be helpful for students in the independent stage but I wanted to see if there was anything available on the progression of learning in my other books. I thought my Assessment in Art Education book would be the next logical place to look for a learning progression since its all about assessment in art. Because formative assessments are so well-suited for assessing a wide variety of topics, the sample strategies that follow are divided into four categories reecting four different kinds of learning that educators might want to assess: Discipline-Specic Content and Knowledge, Discipline-Specic Process, Core Thinking and Cognitive Processes, and Student Attitudes and Dispositions. (Beattie, 1997, p. 86). When I think about the skills needed to progress from novice to practitioner and from practitioner to independent I think that Discipline-Specic Content and Knowledge as well as Process best ts the content I outlined on my formative assessment. So my question when reading this section of the text was, what determines or what can help determine a students movement from one skill level to the next? A step-by-step analysis of process should be included as an objective for one art assignment... and as

an assessment criterion for that particular art production task. (Beattie, 1997, p. 89). ! What I gathered from that section was having clear objectives outlining learning

outcomes is how to evaluate students movement to mastery of a particular skills or content. Thinking back on the projects Ive taught this past year, presented in the table below, I feel I can glean enough information to determine students understanding of the skill. Looking at my primary op-art project I can determine all of the students understood that red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors. I can determine this because students were given multiple colors to choose from and all of the students chose the correct colors. My objective for this step in the project was: Students will be able to use water color to paint three sections of their drawings using all three primary colors. These students would solidly be in the novice category. What I see as a next step for some students is the quality in which the executed painting their sections. The next set of paintings on the page below, students were required to mix their secondary colors. Again all of the students met the objective: students will be able to mix secondary colors using primary colors. Based on the skills present in these projects students would be in the practitioner category for their color mixing. Again I think the quality in which the painting is done could be a next step for some of these students, but I also think the ratio of their color mixing could also be a good next step. What Ive found when I look at the pieces of work from my students is that some of their skills may be in the practitioner category but others may be in the novice. So in the future I will need to consider progressing the content and skills consistently so students can have the proper foundation to move forward. For my students ... big ideas to motive and

direct their artistic expression provides another reason or focusing art learning on them. (Walker, 2001, p. xiii)

II. Formative Assessment Tool ! My formative assessment tool is going to vary greatly depending on which skill of

my frame I am teaching. My framework is going to be a very successful formative framework to guide me through writing my objectives and assessing my objectives. For art I think have clear and focused objectives are the key to having a clear way to assess a particular skill. I would use my framework as a part of my lesson planning routine. Ive already used my c-map to have a more focused approach to teaching the elements and principles of art so I think having my framework map with me to determine what skills I need to teach rst to get to more complex concepts is a very benecial tool. If I have a clear instructional plan and objective I will have clearer expected outcomes to assess my students. Beattie mentions in the formative assessment section that a great way to involve students in the formative assessment process is to have their record their process by journaling as they work as that you and the student have a clear picture of their cognitive growth process throughout the project. This sort of progress monitoring could help in ways other then just assessing a particular skill. Journaling a thought process would help students develop self-reection skills but also give me the teacher a clear picture of their thought process as they work. This is such valuable information for teachers to better understand their students and help them progress as an artist.

Learning Progression in My Topic Area is about... Elementary Color Theory

Novice: 1-Three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. 2-Warm colors: red, orange, and yellow. 3-Cool colors: green, blue, and violet. 4-Complimentary colors are: red/green, orange/ blue, yellow/violet. 5-Neutral colors are: white, black, tan, brown. Practitioner: 1-Three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. 1-You cannot mix any colors to get the primary colors. 1-Artists will know that primary colors are used to make secondary colors: orange, green, violet. 2-Warm colors: red, orange, and yellow. These colors convey strong emotions such as happiness, anger, or excitement. 3-Cool colors: green, blue, and violet. These colors exude calmer feelings associated with serenity, relaxation, or sadness. 4-Complimentary colors are: red/green, orange/ blue, yellow/violet. Complimentary colors are their brightest, with most contrast, when they are next to each other. 5-Neutral colors are: white, black, tan, brown. They can be mixed with other colors to create variety. 6- Beginning color mixing is present.(Secondary colors) Independent: 1-Three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. Primary colors are used to make secondary colors: orange, green, violet. 1-You cannot mix any colors to get the primary colors. 1&6-Can use one primary color and one secondary color to make a tertiary colors. 2&3-Artist knows how to manipulate the emotion of their artwork through their use of colors. 4-Artist knows how to create contrast in their artwork by using complimentary colors. 5&6-Neutral colors are: white, black, tan, brown. They can be mixed with other colors to create variety. Artist knows how to use natural colors to create color variation and contrast in their artwork. 6-Tertiary colors allow for more color variety. 6-Mixing white with a color makes a tint. 6-Mixing black with a color makes a shade.

Learning Progression in My Topic Area is about... Elementary Color Theory Essential DETAILS -Student remembers
color combinations without the aid of color posters. -Students are able to recall the information from memory and are able to choose the correct color combinations out of a group of colors. (Primary, warm, cool, complimentary, and neutrals)

Essential DETAILS
-Students can recall color combinations from memory. (Primary, secondary, warm, cool, complimentary, and neutrals) -Students demonstrate beginning to independent knowledge of color mixing concepts. (Secondary colors. Cant mix colors to get primary colors) -Students demonstrate their understanding in their work by putting certain colors next to each other to create contrast or harmony. -Students demonstrate that by using certain colors in their work they can convey different moods. -Beginning color mixing is present.(Secondary colors)

Essential DETAILS
-Student can recall color combinations from memory. (Primary, secondary, warm, cool, complimentary, neutrals, and tertiary) -Student intentionally shows use of colors for mood, contrast, variety, and harmony in their artistic content. -Student shows a thorough knowledge of mixing skills. (Secondary, tertiary, tint, and shade) -Key feature is a clear intentional use of color by the student in their work to help convey their meaning and point of view.

What is important to understand about this?

Color theory is a base skill in art that many other concepts are built on. It is also important to know what the role color has in artwork. Students need to learn that different colors can assist in conveying their artistic point of view. The thought process for learning about color mixing is also essential for students to grasp- you can mix things together to make something new. The experience of mixing colors together is also an important visceral experience for students to have. This skill is also a science connection because of the differing elements coming together to make something new.

III. Patterns of Performance ! As there are many patterns of performance assessed in my formative

assessment framework I am going to select one to write about. The skill I am choosing is the identication of color families such as warm and cool color groupings. The skill necessary for understanding the difference between warm and cool colors are to differentiate the type of warmth, or lack there of, that is exuded from the colors. So colors such as red, yellow, and orange exude a warm feel when they are looked at as opposed to green, violet, and blue which have a more quiet subdued or calming feel when they are looked at. Before students understand the feelings of the colors many times the group the colors based on colors that look like they go well together. So Ive had students say that red and violet and cool colors because they were confused as to whether they were being asked about. ! Most of the confusion comes from students not remembering the difference

between complimentary colors, secondary colors, and warm and cool colors. Most of the confusion lies in the clarication of the combinations name. The evidence for this assessment is shown below. In the future I would not only use this as an assessment to determine warm and cool understanding because it is so simple. This project was done by another teacher in my classroom with 6th graders. The project was more focused on the experience of building layers on a pre-made form and color family relationships were a small piece of the project. But based on the quality and type of work below I would conclude that students understood the color combinations of warm and cool because they all have the correct color combinations on their vases. I feel that areas of strength in weak performances were exemplied in using the correct color combination

but where it could have been improved would be the intentionality of piece arrangement. I would also say the same about a strong performance. Areas of improvement can always been found in the intentionality of the placement of elements and the craftsmanship in which they are placed or made.

IV. Differentiated Instruction Based on Formative Assessment ! Art is unique in its ability to be differentiated because it is differentiated in its

nature. If projects are open ended enough they allow students to be as creative as they want as push their ideas but it also allows for structure for those students who need more guidance. It facilitates rigorous learning for students ranging from high to low skills because the content has the ability to meet them where they are at and push them. Many times the best and most useful type of formative feedback is one-on-one conversations with students after looking at their work. Many times in the past I have written sticky note suggestions on students work and it was such a huge motivation for them to see someone take the time to look at their art work and make suggestions! The best type of assessment for me is to look at their project and think about the objective for that day. I ask myself two questions: did they meet the objective and how well did they execute it based on what I taught? Looking at the work also allows me to notice trends of possible misunderstandings that may need to be re-taught. Most of the differentiating come on the planning side for my lessons. I need to think of lessons that will be successful for the whole class but that wont be restrictive and tedious for those high achievers. Another type of feedback that Ive used in the past is the temperature in the classroom. Sometimes I have something planned but the class as a whole may not

seem like they are ready so I have to evaluate whether I need to reteach a concept or if they already know the content and I can go straight to the project. The later hasnt happened too often this year. These types of formative assessment have been the most useful to me in the past and are ones I plan on using in the future to continue to shape my curriculum for my students.

Bibliography Moore, S., & Kunst, A. (1995). An introduction to art techniques. New York, New York: DK Publishing, Inc. Beattie, D. (1997). Assessment in art education. Worchester, Massachusetts: Davis Publications, Inc. Walker, S. (2001). Teaching meaning in artmaking. Worchester, Massachusetts: Davis Publications, Inc. Coyne, M.D., Kameenui, E., Carnine, D. (2011). Effective Teaching Strategies That Accommodate Diverse Learners (4th edition). Boston: Pearson.