Over time I have accumulated sentence stems for talking to students about their art.

• Tell me about… (the drawing)
  • vs. What do you need help with…
  • have students explain the story of the work
• Tell me more…
  • A follow up for “tell me about”
  • or Give me some more details….
  • have students tell you about their vision for an artwork
• Tell me about the idea….
  • vs. tell me about the project
• What would happen if…..
• I noticed that…
• One thing I’m thinking about…
  • Honors students work and ideas
• Tell me about the steps you took to get here…
  • have students walk you through
  • Follow up with… tell me about what you were thinking when you started the project
• WHO… are these people
• WHEN… did this take place
• WHERE… is this taking place?
• How does that make you feel…

 

AVOID

• Why….
  • Requiring students to defend their work
• This looks like… some artist
  • Does not get anywhere
  • Does not honor the things they are thinking about
• Yes or no questions