The students will be provided with teacher feedback after the completion of each assigned journal page. Feedback will also be given to those students who feel motivated to expand on their classroom requirements. Feedback would include comments about the amount of effort and thought demonstrated, fulfillment of basic requirements of each activity, creativity in the presentation (art design) and quality of the written component. Feedback rubrics or sticky notes can be used.
At the end of a designated period, the students will have created a visual journal that they can continue to add to. Each journal would provide an opportunity for a portfolio type of assessment of the student's work. This project supports a portfolio assessment because it focuses on self-directed learning, reflects change and growth over a period of time, and provides a way for students to value themselves as learners. The evaluation of the visual journal will focus on performance-based learning experiences as well as the acquisition of skills and attitudes. Students will meet with the teacher to review the journals. This meeting will provide further opportunities for collaborative reflection and metacognitive introspection. Students will respond to the end of the project with their own evaluations, which include answers to the following questions:
|
·
|
Did you enjoy the project?
|
|
·
|
What do you think you learned from doing this project?
|
|
·
|
Do you intend to continue to use visual journaling?
|
|
·
|
Do you think it helped with your writing skills? How?
|
|
·
|
Did visual journaling increase your awareness of the world and your thoughts about the world?
|
|
·
|
Has this changed your feelings about writing?
|
Additional Visual Journal Prompts:
|
·
|
Observational Note-Taking
|
Students can select from a setting of their choice: park, school cafeteria, home, and classroom. Student will write a list of observations in words and phrases that describe the sight, sounds, smells, taste of that particular place for ten minutes. They could even make a chart categorizing the different senses and their observations under each category. There can be an inventory list designed for this and other lessons. The list could be a format that splits the page into the different senses. This structure helps the students focus on only what they see rather than on what they feel about what they see. Constructing such a list also helps students to base their information on what they actually see in a composition, object, place, event, or person. Developing more awareness of the details of ordinary objects, of seeing more clearly and paying closer attention to sensory details will encourage the students to write with more elaboration.
There are many important objects in your home or school. Select an object that you think has made a very big difference in your life. Sketch this object and then explain in writing why this object is so important. Be sure to name the object and describe it carefully
(This same exercise can be done about a special place or a special person.)
Students will first brainstorm a list of adjectives or descriptive phrases that describe them. From this list, the students can cut out letters from various magazines to form a collage of the words. The students can then write an "I Am" poem.
Students will be given art reproduction postcards and asked to formulate a creative title. Students will have to evaluate setting characters, and mood of the image and overall impression it creates in a viewer. Questions to think about are: What different colors are used? What are the lines and shapes in the picture? Are you calm, anxious, afraid, happy or excited when viewing the piece? Once a title is created, the students can write an explanation of their title choice.
____
|
·
|
What if Objects Could Talk
|
Giving inanimate objects human traits is fun and a wonderful way for students to practice writing dialogue. Objects come to life when students consider what they would say. A dialogue can be between an object and the student or between two objects. Topics for dialogue could include: the form and function of the object, the message the object conveys, the location of the object. Students can give their objects names, and each can have a personality. The object is sketched into a journal along with the dialogue.
Student will select a photo or portrait of a person from a group of possible subjects provided by the teacher. Many examples can be found in art books. Students may even chose to draw a portrait. A talk bubble would be drawn from the mouth of the person and the students will fill in the talk bubble with the thoughts of that person. Possible topics could include historical events, social problems, humor, career, interests.
Provide students with postcard reproductions of paintings for this visual journal entry. The works of art should reflect different places. Students would paste the postcards in their journal and write a response that would describe the place and then explain how they fit inside the paining. Possible written prompts could include: Who are the people with you? Where are you? Are you enjoying yourself? What are some of the sights and sounds around you? What is the weather, season? What are you feeling?
This activity explores the idea of that people often appear different on the outside from their inner emotional being. The theme of "can't judge a book by its cover" is explored here. Students are to sketch a self-portrait by looking in the mirror. They write a description of themselves based purely on their outward appearance; for example, light skinned, black hair, gold stud earring, Next the students write an anecdote that reveals their inner feelings and concerns pertaining to an issue or experience. For example they can explain a situation and their reaction to it, relate a childhood experience or adventure, and describe their future goals and aspirations.
|
·
|
Poem/ Song Lyrics/Quote
|
Have student select a favorite song, poem or inspirational quote. Paste it in the journal and create an image that represents the feeling evoked by the piece. Students make personal responses to their chosen piece in their journal.
Draw a footprint. Have the students meditate on their footprint and consider some of the footprints that they have left behind, the things that people will remember them for. Write a letter explaining why they will be remembered. Also students could write about goals on the soles of the feet, or they could write about the footprints they want to leave behind.
Students generally like to create something they can call their own. In this exercise, the students can sketch an outfit that they have designed. They would then have to describe in detail the outfit, either in a separate text or in notes along the sketch of the fashion design.
Students will brainstorm a list of words that can be used to summarize their life at that particular moment: the praises, the struggles, the little things in life that make it worthwhile. Then students will select three-words from the list. (This activity is derived from the three-word segment on Good Morning America during which people send in video clips of their three words that they have chosen.)
This is similar to the three-word prompt. Show examples from the book: Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs and I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six Word Memoirs by Teens Famous and Obscure. Have students create a single sentence summarizing their own lives. They then can illustrate their pages accordingly.
