English teachers -- WHY art assignments???

[Anonymous]

English teachers, why do you assign projects that require illustrations, creating colorful posters, etc.? Isn't English supposed to measure your capacity to read, write, and understand what you have read and write? My child has MAJOR, EXTREME challenges with art. Like used to sit and cry in preschool when coloring was assigned because it was so stressful. He's an excellent reader and writer! He loves literature! But he will likely fail this project because he really cannot create a colorful poster with illustrations. Why do you do this to students? Why can't you assign alternatives, like write a 5 page essay OR create a colorful poster? Why are they graded on their art skills in English?

Basically all my children hate these "art" assignments in their non-art classes. My youngest child spent hours trying to make an illustration for an English class, and the teacher gave them a bad grade because they said it looked like they had drawn it in 5 minutes. This is a 9th grade English class, not an art class! Why can't they actually read a novel, instead of spending time on art projects?

[Anonymous]

Stickman drawing works perfectly fine for ELA homework. Most kids like this and the point is not about making perfect drawings but about presenting your understanding of the concept.

I'd say let your children communicate with their teacher about whether they can write extra paragraphs to earn the points. For a 9th grader, they should be able to communicate with the teacher instead of just complaining to their parents.

[Anonymous]

My kid loves incorporating art into her assignments. It’s nice to have a project that is a little different for the need of the year.

[Anonymous]

I agree there should be an alternative assignment option. The art ones used to make my kid miserable. He would agonize over them and endure so much stress, and for what? Even if fun for the majority of kids, why put the others through it when it is not even pedagogically pertinent?

[Anonymous]

What a sad state of affairs. 9th grade! I hate AI but for this I'd use AI and do something clever that shows I understood the text.

[Anonymous]

Agree. This is the choice board BS assignment that is the last CT for 9th grade. Kids can choose to write or do a video or art project or podcast or whatever. They’re supposed to be graded on their character analysis and thinking about the play, whatever form their final project takes. I hate it, too!

[Anonymous]

My son with dysgraphia and spatial awareness issues cannot draw beyond stick figures. He took a digital art elective in high school during the pandemic, because he didn't really know what to take, and the teacher gave him As because he saw DS was doing his best and that he mildly improved throughout the class compared to first attempts

However, I still, theoretically, support interdisciplinary projects, OP. It's good for creativity and self-expression.

BUT ALSO, I greatly deplore the lack of rigor of the current MCPS English curriculum. Our kids should be learning to write long-form essays and studying much more complex literature starting in 9th grade. English teachers have too many kids to properly guide them through essay writing with the feedback they need, so first we need more English teachers and smaller classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree there should be an alternative assignment option. The art ones used to make my kid miserable. He would agonize over them and endure so much stress, and for what? Even if fun for the majority of kids, why put the others through it when it is not even pedagogically pertinent?

Because regular English assignments make some kids miserable and we force them to work at it and engage in the struggle and do their best and learn and improve even when it’s hard. Those are good experiences for your child to have too. Not everything is easy, and these assignments are valuable precisely because they flip the script on which kids it’s hard for and which kids it’s easy for. Teach your kids there’s value in working hard at something that doesn’t come easily to them and stop complaining that teachers give assignments your kids aren’t naturally good at. Believe it or not, communicating through pictures is also an English class skill - political cartoons, propaganda, marketing, advertising. All different types of relevant English course skills and knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Should be a choice.
Kid should advocate for option.
Drawing helps the drawer visualize concepts so it’s not completely illegitimate to include as an option.
Even though most teachers won’t sweat the imperfections of a struggling artist, some will. There should be a writing option.

[Anonymous]

Basically all my children hate these "art" assignments in their non-art classes. My youngest child spent hours trying to make an illustration for an English class, and the teacher gave them a bad grade because they said it looked like they had drawn it in 5 minutes. This is a 9th grade English class, not an art class! Why can't they actually read a novel, instead of spending time on art projects?

This is so unfair especially since some teachers don't grade for grammar and spelling in non-English classes. In English class, if the assignment is to draw something to demonstrate your understanding of the material, you definitely should be graded on the content, not the quality of the art!

[Anonymous]

It's almost as if classes have academic overlap and feature a wide spectrum of abilities. If you have an issue with art in an English class then maybe we should outlaw writing papers in Social Studies because paper writing should only be in English class. We shouldn't expect any mathematic formulas or computing in a Physics class because that stuff should only be in Math.

[Anonymous]

Is the idea that the student should be able to identify what images would enhance the text? (Ie, illustrations to show visually what part of the text is describing, etc?) If so, I wonder if your child could look appropriate images up on the internet to include with proper attribution, or could ask their teacher if they could include a statement saying what notes they'd provide to a graphic designer to request the appropriate imagery (ie, "overhead image of modern-day Pompeii, including Mount Vesuvius in the background and ruins of the [xyz building]. For reference image, please see [web address]").

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree there should be an alternative assignment option. The art ones used to make my kid miserable. He would agonize over them and endure so much stress, and for what? Even if fun for the majority of kids, why put the others through it when it is not even pedagogically pertinent?

Because regular English assignments make some kids miserable and we force them to work at it and engage in the struggle and do their best and learn and improve even when it’s hard. Those are good experiences for your child to have too. Not everything is easy, and these assignments are valuable precisely because they flip the script on which kids it’s hard for and which kids it’s easy for. Teach your kids there’s value in working hard at something that doesn’t come easily to them and stop complaining that teachers give assignments your kids aren’t naturally good at. Believe it or not, communicating through pictures is also an English class skill - political cartoons, propaganda, marketing, advertising. All different types of relevant English course skills and knowledge.

That’s all fine and good but some people literally cannot become artistic. We can all be taught the basics of grammar and punctuation and structure of writing and improve. But some of us could take 100 art classes and still not be able to draw beyond a stick figure.

[Anonymous]

IMO its fine as long as they are not being graded on the quality and elaboration of the art. Can the teachers separate the art from the English content? If not, then the teachers/admin should not require art ELA or art Math projects.

I have polar opposite kids in terms of art and see how bad this works out for the non-artsy kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree there should be an alternative assignment option. The art ones used to make my kid miserable. He would agonize over them and endure so much stress, and for what? Even if fun for the majority of kids, why put the others through it when it is not even pedagogically pertinent?

Because regular English assignments make some kids miserable and we force them to work at it and engage in the struggle and do their best and learn and improve even when it’s hard. Those are good experiences for your child to have too. Not everything is easy, and these assignments are valuable precisely because they flip the script on which kids it’s hard for and which kids it’s easy for. Teach your kids there’s value in working hard at something that doesn’t come easily to them and stop complaining that teachers give assignments your kids aren’t naturally good at. Believe it or not, communicating through pictures is also an English class skill - political cartoons, propaganda, marketing, advertising. All different types of relevant English course skills and knowledge.

That’s all fine and good but some people literally cannot become artistic. We can all be taught the basics of grammar and punctuation and structure of writing and improve. But some of us could take 100 art classes and still not be able to draw beyond a stick figure.

You 100% can get better with instruction and practice. You won’t be gifted, but you can improve. Lots of kids go to school and spend all day doing tasks in which they will never be gifted and will never find them easy and will never end up with as good of a product as Larlo over there. It’s ok for your kid to also experience that feeling once in a while.

Also, no non-art teacher is going to dock your kid points because an image on a poster was traced rather than drawn free-hand. It may not be possible for your kid to get to “impressive” but they can get to “serviceable”. The problem OP is describing is a kid who is used to easily producing “impressive” work and can’t handle the fact that on this project they may work really hard and only get to “serviceable.”