6th grade Passports

My 6th graders are an odd "in between". As of 2 years ago, they are no longer considered elementary; they are now part of the middle school (which is pretty simple in my school, since we are all in one building). Even though they are now "middle school" for most else, they still have art class and music class with the elementary art teacher (me) and the elementary music teacher. They are scheduled just as they were for elementary art - two 40 minute classes in a 6 day cycle.
But now I have to put a number grade on their report card, which is a real challenge. We tend to do rather large projects in 6th grade, and so I don't have much completed when grading time comes around, since over a 10 week marking period I may have seen them 15 times. So my solution was to use the passports for grading.

They had a set of requirements (yup, written on a BLACKBOARD) for getting the best grade for their passports. They will have a similar list for every project they do. They know their grades are based on following directions, completing their work as required, using best craftsmanship, using materials appropriately, cleaning up their messes, positive attitude, participating in class, and using best effort. I suppose this should all be on a rubric, but since they are only a small part of my student load, I feel I have to leave it a little open-ended because of the time it takes to grade. Maybe the person who becomes the next art teacher will have a better idea, a better way.
We assemble the passport with "half holes" punched on the spine of the pages. The pages and cover are stacked together open, and a rubber band is threaded from the center of the book, up through the holes, and a cut-off meat skewer gets slid through the ends of the rubber bands on the outside, as you can see on the passport below. You could sub string or yarn for the rubber band, and a pencil or a twig or a drink stir stick for the skewer. It's such an easy construction and works so well!


I like to always give the kids ways to earn extra points - so I have given them the opportunity to add a picture - they may bring in a photo, or draw their own. Last year a couple of kids did humorous drawing of themselves that were a wonderfully creative solution.

When each project is done, the passport is filled out first by the student, then written in by me, and finally assigned a letter grade and a "stamp". I convert the letters to numbers to average at the end of the marking period.

I must admit, I was terribly spoiled by last year's 6th grade. These kids radiated, they sparkled, and I swear you could see the creative genius bubbling over. They are the kids whose altered books I showed you last year, plus their tooling foil African inspired masks, and especially their plaster bandage sculptures of people in motion. They are an immensely talented group of children, smart, without any snarky attitude or chips on their shoulders. This year's 6th grade however is different. They are also sweet, loveable kids, with lots of enthusiasm, but they lack the creative "zip" of last year's group, and they struggle academically. They think they are doing a fabulous job on their passports; I do not. I think their lettering is slopppy but boy are they trying hard. I am going to have to pull back my expectations a little, and then I think they will shine. They all LOVE art. Anyhow, the passports are just the beginning. The kids could come a long way this year, right?

6th grade art passports

My 6th graders are caught somewhere between elementary and middle school. They are part of the middle school for much of their schedule, but still come to the elementary art and music rooms, and have art on an elementary schedule. I see them twice in a 6 day rotation. BUT they get a number grade on their report card, like middle schoolers, so these "passports" are what I devised for their grading system. I used the idea of a passport because some of what we do in 6th grade art takes us to different places, cultures, civilizations, and eras in history. So a passport seems to suit their art program. I'll explain how we make them and how the grading works.

First, we make a tagboard cover, and 2 punch half-holes on the spine. We punch matching half-holes on the folded pages to put inside. Here's how a page looks opened after being punched.

Then, the pages are stacked on the open cover, and a rubber band is inserted from one hole to the other. A stick is slid through the rubber band ends on the outside of the cover. This time, I used meat skewers cut to length, but I've used drink stir-sticks, branches, etc. The possibilites are endless, and the assembly process is quick and easy.

For their best grade, students had to follow some basic guidelines: their name had to be on the front and their teacher's name or initial on the back. After that, they were to personalize them however they wanted. Here's Emily's front cover, and yes, those basic rules are written on a BLACKBOARD!!!!

Here's the front page that needs to be filled in. Then, the other pages all have a place to write the name of the assignment, and something about your work. Again, here's what Emily wrote. The blank page to the right is where I write my comments, plus I stamp it with a different stamp for each project, and sign, date, and record the grade. I haven't done that yet.

Below is Kyla's example of what she wrote in her passport. In the second photo, you'll notice the drawing of herself that she did on the front page. I told the kids, as was written on the blackboard, that if they included pictures of themselves they would get extra credit. I like Kyla's imaginative interpretation of that opportunity to boost her grade.

These are the qualities I look for when determining grades for all 6th grade art projects and assignments:

The kids absolutely love using the passports (they get to keep them at the end of the year) and think it is really cool to get grades in art!