Lesson At A Glance

Here’s a brief overview of the complete lesson. It’s also on your prep page in the Ready, Set, Go! section (below the lesson).

Colored buttons jump to each section in the full lesson plan below.

5 Minutes – Artists choice in markers or oil pastels.

10 Min – Artists draw pictures. Make copies.

15 Min – Color the day version & cut.

15 Min – Color the night version & cut.

25 Min – Glue day & night art strips. Fold papers.

15 Min –  Glue folded pictures to base

5 Min – Clean Up

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SCROLL & TEACH

LESSONPLAN

Each Step has its own color. Read over once and then you can SCROLL & TEACH using any device you like. It’s designed to work great with your phone.

All materials are suggestions and may be modified as you see fit. We have tried many items, and these seem to allow the most versatility for the cost.

Greet students as they come in and help them choose a chair.

Kneel down so that you are on their level. Bending over emphasizes the differences in your height, while kneeling makes them feel more important. Have tape and marker ready so you can stick some tape on the table by each student and write their name on it as they sit down.

Encourage students to work with one piece of paper for a while. If someone uses the phrase, “free draw”, explain that artists’ choice is something only artists can do, while free-draw is something anyone can do. You want to use the phrase to elevate the students’ expectations of their work.

Everyone should take their time with the work and make a finished piece of art. Limiting the paper can also help kids focus on the work. If someone finishes in super-fast time, ask them what more they can do to the existing paper. Ask again several times – unless they appear overly frustrated; then you can allow them to move on to a new work.

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Artists draw their house and yard using only lines. 

Print out the Zig Zag Art Page and explain to your students that their art will be cut apart today. But don’t worry! We will glue them back together and there will be a cool new way of viewing it that can magically change. 

Once everyone gets the handout, they can begin drawing. Using a black ball point pen or fine marker, they can draw their house and yard however they like.

As students work, explain daytime colors and nighttime colors. Use the questions to get them thinking and formulating ideas.

When they’re finished, put names somewhere on the drawing and use a photocopier to create one copy of each student’s drawing page.

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Coloring the daytime drawings. 

Hand out oil pastels and blending stumps to your kids. Starting with the original drawing, have them color in their house and yard like a daytime scene.

When they finish, you or an assistant can use the guidelines on the printout and a paper cutter to cut into strips.

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Move onto the coloring the night time drawings.

Then, move on to the copied drawing and do the same thing – but this time colored like night! Encourage blending and mixing colors.

At night, things are still colorful, but dark colors, like dark blue for the sky instead of light blue.

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Artists glue down drawing strips to pre-folded Zig Zag Bases.

Beginning with the daytime strips, use glue sticks to secure them onto the Zig Zag Base. Make sure artwork edges connect at folds of mountain tops of each fold (leave any white gaps in valleys for the best overall look). Use the sun and moon icons at the top to get the daytime and nighttime strips in the correct places.

Glue the night time strips in the same way as the Daytime, as indicated on the Base sheet.

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Finish the project by mounting the zig zag folded artwork onto a piece of cardboard.

Use horizontal strips of white glue on your cardboard base. Set the zigzag folded artwork down into the glue – the vertical folds will intersect the horizontal glue strips. Be careful until it dries overnight or at least a few hours. When it’s dry, walk from one side to the other and see the artwork change from day to night, and back again.

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Students set up their work area.

• Wash hands
• Super-wash brushes if used
• Put art supplies away
• Wipe tables & toss trash
• Remove any smocks (last)
• Check for items on floors and tables

Try to get photos of your student’s artwork. Find a good spot for quick lighting without highlights or shadows from your hands and device. Ideally in-between two strong lights on each side.

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Print all of your PDFs from the lesson plan and cut any references apart as needed. Cut card board bases ahead of time.

Week 12: Cartoon Faces

Your class will enjoy learning how cartoon faces are put together with parts, like combining words and phrases to make sentences and stories. A metal food can is used and covered to make a pencil cup. Face parts cut from craft foam are cut and glued to make the cup look like a cartoon face. Expressions in cartoon faces are also explored.

Week 13: Shape Reflections

Students begin with a line exercise, making different kinds of lines. Then blue paint colors are mixed as practice for other times. The paints are used to make a mirror image by folding and pressing for a mono-print. This introduces the idea of symmetry and balance. Using mirrors, we see how shapes can make all kinds of symmetrical images, and then we cut doubles out to make a symmetrical collage.

Use this button to view our parent’s blog. Share the link: http://parentart.org, with your student’s parents so your they can read about the lesson each week.