Cover lesson · Art · Year 11 · Advanced
DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Name: Class: Date:
Print: this sheet, one per pupil. The body of work pupils are curating is listed in Part A, so no computers are needed — the whole lesson is selection, ordering and writing. Part D is a planning table, not a practical.
Run: 5 min — read the twelve pieces · 10 min — Part A, keep five and reject seven, one reason each · 18 min — Part B, write a rationale of 40 to 60 words for each kept piece · 8 min — Part C, the portfolio statement · 6 min — Part D, the export and naming plan · 3 min — swap and check the word counts. Word counts are the discipline here. Make pupils count; a 90-word rationale has not been edited.
Collect: this sheet. The rationales are the part the class teacher will mark.
An online portfolio with twelve pieces in it says "here is everything I made". One with five says "here is what I decided". You have a Year 11 body of work on the theme Journeys. Choose five pieces, put them in an order, and write the rationale that goes under each one — then plan how the files will actually be exported, named and credited.
A rationale says why this piece is in the portfolio. A description says what it is made of. "An A1 acrylic painting of the Severn Bridge at dusk" is a caption, not a rationale — it tells the viewer nothing they cannot see. A rationale names the job the piece does: what it proves, what it develops, what it answers, or where it points next.
A good one usually contains: the medium and scale in a handful of words, the reason it earned its slot, and one honest sentence about its limits or its link to another piece.
| No. | The piece | In or out? | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charcoal study of the concourse at Cardiff Central, A2, about two hours. Some smudging where the fixative ran. | ||
| 2 | Six biro thumbnail compositions on one A5 page, drawn in twenty minutes. | ||
| 3 | Acrylic painting of the Severn Bridge at dusk, A1, about nine hours. Technically the second strongest thing you have made. | ||
| 4 | Three-colour lino print of a bus window, A4, edition of five. The registration is slightly off on four of the five prints. | ||
| 5 | Digital photomontage combining a scanned bus timetable with a family photograph, four hours. | ||
| 6 | Watercolour of the shoreline at Barry Island, A3. Unfinished — the sky is blocked in but the foreground is not. | ||
| 7 | Four sketchbook pages of observational pencil drawings: hands holding tickets. | ||
| 8 | Clay maquette of a suitcase, 15 cm, photographed on a windowsill in flat grey light. | ||
| 9 | Cyanotype of pressed ferns collected on the Taff Trail, A4, three prints. Beautiful, and nothing to do with journeys by rail or road. | ||
| 10 | Digital painting of a train interior, six hours. Covers similar ground to piece 5 and is less resolved. | ||
| 11 | Photographic series: nine shots of the same station platform at different times of day, all taken by you. | ||
| 12 | Mixed-media final piece: acrylic and collage on board, 60 × 80 cm, about twenty hours. |
Two of your rejections were pieces you are proud of. Which two, and what would have had to change for them to earn a slot?
40 to 60 words each. Write the count in the box; an uncounted rationale does not score.
| Slot | Piece | Rationale | Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 |
Why is your slot 1 piece first, and what would a viewer who only looks at slot 1 take away?
60 words or fewer. It has to say what the work is about, where the source material came from, and why the pieces are in this order.
Word count (write it in): ______________
| File naming pattern I will use, with one real example | |
|---|---|
| Format and why (remember what a lossy format does to a re-saved master) | |
| Pixel size on the long edge, and why not the full camera resolution | |
| Where the master files live, separately from the exported ones | |
| Alt text for slot 1, written out in full | |
| Any source material that is not yours: what it is, and the permission or licence that covers it |