Mid-Term and Final Exam Time

All we had done for the first half of the year was the mural. Mural design. Mural history. Art in public places. Design selection. Enlarging. All? That was a lot! And I had this lovely clean wall, just waiting for a grid and a design to be drawn.

And, well, I've always believed in experiential learning and comprehensive assessment. Art is hands-on learning. Why couldn't I have a hands-on assessment?

My block class (90 minutes) needed to have a final exam. My "skinny" classes (half a block, 45 minutes each) needed to have mid-term exams.

Drawing a grid on the wall, and then enlarging our 6" x 18" design to a 9' x 27' wall seemed like a great assessment tool. I could easily evaluate how much each student had learned.

Armed with chalk lines, a level, chalk, yardsticks, markers, chairs, and a ladder, we attacked the wall. I demonstrated measuring at both ends, how to use a chalk line, and we set to work. The grid was drawn. The grid was labelled.


































I had photocopied our design, with grid, in two parts, left and right. And handed out the design, and assigned students areas. "You take A to D, 1 to 2. You, see this area?--you have A to D, 3 and 4." Students drew in chalk, they talked to me about their enlargement, and when approved they were given a marker to make their drawing permanent.

At the end of three days, our mural was drawn, students were graded based on participation and work effort as well as ability to enlarge and translate the original drawing to the wall - and we were ready for our next step.