Description

Digital Art Portfolio Templates

Are you looking for ways to integrate technology into your daily art lessons with middle school students? Creating a digital art portfolio is one means of enhancing student learning while teaching workplace readiness skills.

I have used portfolios with my middle school students for all 20 years of my teaching career. In fact, my 8th graders are required to create one for admission into one of the area’s specialized high school programs. So they play an integral role in my art room.

These digital art portfolio templates are designed to work in Google Slides. And they’re saved to their Drive or Google Classroom if you assign the project that way. If you’re currently using distance learning to instruct students, this will make for a meaningful lesson!

Digital Art Portfolio Preview

Here’s what the templates look like in action.

 

Why Design a Digital Art Portfolio?

Portfolios illustrate a student’s deeper understanding of the creation process and allow them to take ownership of their accomplishments. Some teachers use it as a summative assessment tool where students present their best works at the end of the marking period or year.

Conversely, other teachers use it as a formative assessment tool whereby students document the entire art making process of every piece of art they create. Either way, art portfolios are a great way for students to assess, reflect, and grow.

I use them mostly as a summative tool in my art room. After each art project, students write a reflection piece about their art. I feel it’s important that they communicate what they learned about not only the art making process, but about themselves as an artist.

As well, there’s something magical about propping up a piece of art against a different background and context; it forces students to see what they’ve accomplished from a new perspecitve.

Why Use Google Slides for Digital Art Portfolio Lessons?

• FAMILIARITY: Many students already know how to use it making implementing it in your art lessons easy.
• USER-FRIENDLY: Nowadays, students are very familiar with G-Suite. They already store many of their assignments and media here. And if they have a question, there’s so much free documentation online to guide them.
• INSTANT SAVE AS: All changes in Google Slides are instantly saved in Google Drive. Ever have a student accidentally close down an app or other online software and changes weren’t saved? Eliminate the frustration and disappointment of lost presentations!
• TRACK GROWTH: Students can build upon these digital art portfolio templates year over year. They can see their growth no matter which district art teacher they have or even if they move. Imagine them looking back on artwork from two or three years ago and tracking their growth.
• NO HASSLES: No special or separate passwords to remember.
• ACCESSIBILITY: Students can use an iPad, desktop or laptop computer, and even a Chrome book to access these digital art portfolio templates. It’s always available at the tip of their fingers.
• SHAREABILITY: Unlike special apps and other art portfolio making websites, most people have a Google account, making sharing easy.

Teacher Directions

The download contains a four-page PDF with directions on how to access the digital art portfolio templates and prepare students to use them. In addition, I’ve included some thoughts on how to structure your lesson that will help you be more successful in delivering the lesson.

I’ve also added step-by-step picture directions for some basics including inserting, resizing, and masking images. I explain how to duplicate a slide, a simple tip which will save a lot of time should your students need to copy an entire page’s format.

And lastly, I give directions for how to copy and paste images and text boxes from slide to slide. If you choose to use the feedback slides, students will want to know how to do this the easiest way possible.

Grade Levels

• 5th – 8th Grade

You Will Receive