One reason I really enjoy our Creative Art Journaling Fridays is because they give my students a chance to do exactly that-- to be creative with art. And that is good for their brains. I have seen the results: their projects are more creative; their writing is more creative; and they are, in general, more creative. And that is a good thing.
To encourage this to happen I do three things.
1. I give them the assignment. (If you would like a list of the creative art journaling assignments, or regular journal writing assignments, email me at littleflock7 at gmail.com and just ask.)
2. I give them a few ideas. (For example, for this one, "Draw squiggly lines," I told them that they could use different colors, and that they could draw hearts or animals or whatever, as long as they were all connected together in a line. The limitations help their brains think differently.)
3. After I grade their journals each week, I read or hold up the best ones (so that the other students can't see whose journal it is) so that the other students can see or hear their fellow students' work. This encourages the ones who did extra good work, and it motivates the other students giving them ideas.
Is it okay to draw a hanging green gorilla man hanging on the lines? Of course, it is.
