Studio Thinking from the Start: The K–8 Art Educator’s Handbook

I’m shocked by how comprehensive this book is, being such a quick read. Perfect for any elementary art teacher looking to deepen student understanding, build ideation and increase independence. Fits perfectly with TAB curriculum but certain works without.It’s exciting to find something so specific to teaching art at the elementary level. I had the privilege of attending the MassArt TAB conference this summer with author Diane Jaquith contributing from time to time during the week. Absolutely love this perspective!

I wish I had this book 7 years ago when I began teaching art! It is a fabulous and informative read. This is my last year in education, and as silly as this may seem, reading this book (required for a PD class) had me reflecting with regret things I could have done differently in my art room, as this book makes the topics approachable. I recommend this to new, intermediate, and seasoned teachers.

This book came highly recommended and I was excited to read it. It didn't live up to my expectations.1. The printing is slipshod. There's a line missing on every odd-numbered page for the first 49 pages. You can guess what they'd say, but still, that's irritating in a $30 book. The "posters" are just large illustrations at the end of the book, and are in black and white, not color as advertised. (This makes me wonder whether it's been pirated. I ordered it straight from Amazon.)2. The language is textbook English. It's ponderous, abstract, polysyllabic Latinized writing ("the activities will enrich her students' conversations about their work, provide broader context for whole-class gallery walks, and help students see how artmaking is developing their thinking") and every little thing (e.g., that the Post-It was invented by accident) gets an in-text citation. This is a college textbook, not an art teacher's collection of exciting teaching ideas. It reads accordingly.3. The list of habits is great. But you can get that by reading the front cover. There are some worthwhile ideas inside of how to use it (e.g., set up a station for each of the habits; formulate rubrics around them; post "I Can..." statements for each one). I don't think there's much here that an experienced teacher hasn't seen already. (Exit tickets! Detailed feedback instead of generic praise!)It's not a bad book. But it's not amazing.

We first bought the Kindle version of this book. DO NOT ITS A PREVIEW NOT A BOOK. We were ripped off. We had to go back and order the paper copy anyways. My daughter called and called Amazon to get our money back and I have yet to see it and they never called her back like they said they would. Total rip off, very upsetting to a person already trying to figure out college life, virtually, and then to have work late because she didn’t have the book, unacceptable Amazon

I’m a elementary and middle school art teacher who has always tried to have a lot of choice, but struggled with how to provide skills and help students to grow within a choice framework. This is everything I’ve been wanting but wasn’t sure how to do. Concrete examples, simple and direct, one of the best books I’ve ever read about education.

Excellent resource. The posters are in color and are a good size. The reviewer who said the printing was not done well must have gotten a pirated copy. My copy is new and printed perfectly.

I love this book with lots of ideas to add a a little or a lot of choice, with real examples! Great for elementary art teachers who want to move towards a choice based, student lead art studio!

Skimmed in an hour. Will definitely use a lot of the strategies and ideas I found in the book.

Arrived on time, as expected