Finals, any ideas?

I always struggle to come up with a new, challenging final exam. I don't know about you, but I like to change my exams every year, just to keep the job "fresh". I also want the test to be interesting and challenging to my students. The end result should look like a work of art. In my district writing has to be included in our exams, which I believe is a great idea, this allows students the opportunity to explain their message both visually and written. I have to cover everything that has been done since the beginning. Line, shading, design, collage, graffitti, and so much more. I suppose I can let them choose a topic from the projects that have been done in class.
My advanced class has had different topics this first semester, I basically have to come up with three different final exams.
I've already reviewed the projects with the kids, I just have to come up with the final format.
I don't want to dig up an old exam, any ideas?

Art 2 Paintings

Pictured here are the end results of the paintings my Art 2 students had been working on. I am extremely happy with the work, they painted their little hearts out. I had mentioned in a previous post that I regretted the size of the painting, but now that they are done I have to say that the size of the painting adds to the look of the pieces. Having said that I will probably not let Art 2 students do such large pieces again. I need to remember to reserve that size of paper for more advanced students. I'm looking forward to the next semester, I have some new ideas up my sleeve, hopefully they will work out.

Happy New Year.

Scratch Art

First I'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas. I've had a great time surrounded by family and now I'm sitting with my legs up relaxing in front of the computer.

I've had the scratch art pictures stored in my computer for a few weeks and I figured this was a good time to upload them. I ordered the scratch art paper a while back and wasn't sure what to do with them. I saw this project idea from a teacher at TAEA, he was very kind to share and I'm sorry I don't remember his name.
The kids liked the results and it was a perfect project right before the holiday.

The kids glued on the "skin part" of the images and scratched off the rest. I asked them to scratch patterns for their clothes and the background.

Virgen de Guadalupe Exhibit

Due to the fact that we live in the Border Region, much of the beautiful Mexican Culture is prevailant in our community. The Virgen de Guadalupe Competition and Exhibition is held every year this week. I am very fortunate to work for a school district that has its own gallery, actually my high school has its own gallery but this event was held in the district gallery.

There are two seperate competitions, one for the students and another for professional artists. I did not participate this year, although I have in the past and have won 2nd place with one of my pieces.This year three of my students participated in the competition and one of my students took 2nd place. The exhibit had a great turn out and the pieces were amazing. I apologize for not having pics of the gallery and exhibit, but the battery in my camera died as soon as I began to photograph the event. I had posted one of the pieces in an earlier post, but had not shown the other two. I think the kids did a great job, If I do say so myself.

Finished!

Finally, they're done! Well....the majority of them are done, just a few more to go but they should all be done by Fri. You can view the instructions to this project below.

Loteria

For the final exam of my Adv. Class I gave the kids the task to create a modern interpretation of the Mexican Bingo Game, Loteria! The Loteria cards have various colorful images and it is a game that most of my students are familiar with. I played with this game as a child with my grandmother and other family members. I also play the game with my own kids.I brought the deck of Loteria cards to class and asked the kids to pick a card. The deck was face down and so the kids could not see the images on the cards. The kids picked a card and had one class period to create a modern work of art based on the image on their card.
You can do this particular project using many card games and childhood board games. Let me know if you do, I'd like to see the results.

Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peak at the latest Art 1 project. After I taught the kids how to cut the concentric circles (see below) I then had them apply it to their drawings. They had to create symbols for nature, geometric form and a human representation.
They then cut out the stencil using exacto knives. This takes about three days, depending on the intricacy of the piece.

Once the stencil was cut they traced it onto a black construction paper. They then took the stencil outside and spray painted it on a colored construction paper. They spray with black first, then shift the stencil a bit and apply white paint. Some of the results are amazing.

The kids then cut the black construction paper and apply cut magazine to the back. The one pictured is not completed yet.