Sketchbooks for Every Student: Personal Art Journals Capture Creative Growth
Help me give my students a personal sketchbook to draw, reflect, and track their creative growth all year long.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Mendelson, M.S.Ed., M.S.'s classroom raised $337
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Project
My students are imaginative and hands-on learners who thrive when given opportunities to explore, create, and reflect through visual expression. They come from diverse backgrounds and bring unique perspectives to their work. In our art classroom, we emphasize the process as much as the product—encouraging students to think like artists by documenting their ideas, sketches, and creative decisions. To support this reflective and expressive practice, we need a consistent, high-quality space for students to develop and store their visual thinking.
This project will provide six packs of blank spiral notebooks, giving each of my students an A5-sized, unlined sketchbook with a soft cover and 100 blank pages to use throughout the year.
These sketchbooks will serve as visual journals where students can draw from observation, sketch project plans, experiment with design elements, write artist reflections, and track their creative growth. The smaller size is portable, durable, and easy for students to manage. Because the pages are unlined, students will have the freedom to work without constraints, allowing them to move fluidly between writing and drawing.
Having individual sketchbooks supports our formative assessment practices, portfolio development, and CRSE-aligned instruction, as students use them to explore identity, respond to contemporary artists, and make personal connections to the curriculum. These sketchbooks also ensure equity in access—every student will have their own creative space, regardless of their financial situation. With your help, we can make visual journaling a central part of our classroom culture and give every student the tools they need to think and grow like an artist.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Mendelson, M.S.Ed., M.S. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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