Digital Arts Collage- Reflected Chaos

It is October and my young art students are busy thinking about All Hallows Eve. It is also the time when my high school students are busy thinking about SAT's and I am thinking about getting them to create a visual look into a character's thoughts, mental confusion, even an alter ego approach to this project.
We begin with a discussion of the words, "Reflected Chaos" and together make a mind map of descriptive words and phrases, and song lyrics that help us make connections with our title. After some time spent on this, I have the students make sketchbooks for this project and give them the assignment of creating drawings, sketches and thumbnails of the words that we discussed in class or other phrases that they are thinking about.
During the next class, I go into detail about this project and pass out the rubric of what I am looking for throughout their art making process. The students will create a digital collage using as the central part their face and around their face images that they have drawn and scanned into their face file. They will use Photoshop CS3 to enhance and manipulate their drawings in order to fully illustrate the words "Reflected Chaos". After more discussion, I give them more information about the materials they can use. I say "no" to clip art and magazine photos and "yes" to scanning in their thumbnail sketches, drawings into Photoshop and using all the various tools to make the necessary changes they think will work. The drawings will frame the central face photo and they can make changes by adding layers onto their photo to add a collage effect but the face must not change its borders or any interior values or human qualities.
We then discuss the rubric which adds another element to this project. There will be an icebreaker to start the project which is part 1 and must be finished when the collage is finished in order to be displayed together. I also point out that there will be several group assessments in which students discuss their art in progress with the class, give feedback and accept feedback. O.K., I think that we are on a roll and ready for the icebreaker.
At the beginning of the next class, I ask the students to listen (not drawing at the same time though) as I read from two pages of a Terry Brooks novel. The part I read to the class is when the four horse and riders from the Apocalypse
are surrounding the Druid's Keep and ready to spread their elements. I wonder as I read which horse and rider the students will respond to and/or how they will illustrate this scene. After I read, I give everyone three pieces of 12X18 drawing paper and ask them to illustrate the scene from this piece of writing. As they begin to work after some discussion, I write on the board the rest of the pieces I am looking for in this icebreaker. After they finish their scene, I ask them for a drawing of a close-up of the same scene but focusing on one part more specifically. The final stage of this icebreaker is to draw one the scene only this time exaggerating the focus of the scene maybe even cropping the scene or focusing only on a detail. This icebreaker will take time to do and as they work I remind them that I am looking for their process of working and that by taking their time and organizing their thoughts and ideas, both part 1 and part 2 will be done in a thoughtful and artful way.
Throughout this project, we have times where we discuss our work as a whole group, table groups and one on one. I am the facilitator working at empowering students to talk about their art ask for help or opinions and be able to take advice or creative feedback. At the end, we present our artwork and talk about our process. Sometimes, I find students to judge the need for icebreakers especially ones that are as time consuming as the actual project and I have to get on my soapbox about my feelings on how we communicate our ideas through art. And how those ideas are expanded upon when I make long projects that require thought, the use of technology and drawing skills, and are sensitive to literature and emotions.
These are the Standards and the skills I am looking for during this project.
APHS 11:Students demonstrate PERFORM/COMMUNICATE skills in visual arts by using innovative visual metaphors in creating work of art.
APHS 15: Students Critique and revise art by making affirming statements with specific evidence, suggesting changes, discerning and responding to those suggestions that are effective, and justifying aesthetic decisions.
APHS 17: Students show understanding of how the arts impact life by demonstrating an understanding of how the arts contribute to physical and mental health.
APHS 20: Students develop effective, personal work habits by demonstrating commitment and a sense of purpose, developing rigorous criteria and setting goals for themselves and using a variety of learning strategies.
After looking at their artwork and as we discussed the processes, I found it very interesting that even though the students used their own faces on the digital collages, their illustrations of the Terry Brooks novel actually were more telling of what was going on in their minds. The illustrations spoke more of how the students communicated their ideas than the actual portrait of what I called "reflected chaos" and I wondered aloud if they noticed this. Hmmm, more discussion to follow.