"I am so proud of my art work!"

I am working with individual students in the room and I overhear comments from the rest of the kids that are very interesting. This morning, one of them says, "I am so proud of my art work!." That makes me very happy. I see them taking more ownership of their work. "This monster can attack two creatures at once!" "There is going to be a river behind this tree." "Look what I have made! This is a cool brown color....How did you make that?" As my friend and colleague Clark Fralick has observed, the students are engaged in lively discussions during their work time. I find that this year, my students are looking forward to their art classes more than ever. I try to let the work originate from within without too much teacher prompting.....I want an organic approach. The 5 min. lesson I am working with today with my 3rd graders is one on how artists spend time re-working an art work. I show them an example that has been around for a while, and I tell them I am "touching up" this work. I talked about combining drawing, painting, collage, ink and other materials to give the work a "dynamic" look. Most have considered the lesson. Others continue making new art. Will check back later....