Lessons for visual art education – where it's about the process, not the product
Category: 1st grade
Description of the Unit – Students observed and discussed Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting, Starry Night, and, using what they noticed in the painting regarding color, texture and movement, attempted to recreate it in oil pastel.
Description of the Unit – A simple yet delightful exploration of symmetry and color, students will create their very own bugs as seen under a “magnifying glass”.
Description of the Unit – Students will explore Josef Albers’ series Homage to the Square, using his artwork and our discussion as a guide to creating their own series of squares, concentrating on contrast and depth.
Description of the Unit – (Not a unit per se, as we only spend a couple of class periods on this.) Students celebrate the arrival of spring by creating Sakura, or Japanese cherry blossoms, in the most amusing way…
Description of the Unit –
Students will explore the history of found object sculpture and create numerous sculptures of their own in a play-based approach with a variety of objects.
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Description of the Unit –
This unit merges a study of pointillism with the practice of symmetry, culminating in insect designs that use pointillism to create symmetrical sides to each insect.
Description of the Unit –
Students will reinforce their understanding of patterns in art by creating collage patterns both individually and then in trios for a triptych of patterns.
Activity statement –
Pattern is one of the elements of the visual arts. It is represented as repetition, be it of a color, line, shape, symbol or combination of some or all of these. The repetition can serve to communicate a sense of balance, rhythm, harmony, movement and contrast in the artwork.
Description of the Unit – Frida Kahlo-inspired self-portraits
Students will explore Frida Kahlo’s iconic self-portraits and, using their observations of her work, create their own, including at least one “spirit” animal in the portrait with them.
Relationship to life –
Frida Kahlo was a prolific painter whose most painted subject was herself. She often painted herself with various animals by her side, such as monkeys, parrots, hummingbirds and deer. Some of these were her real life pets, others were animals she identified with. If students had to choose animals that they personally identify with, what animals would they be, and why?
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In the K-8 Art Studio with Anita Sagastegui 