Spring Branch Independent School District
Elementary Art Curriculum Guide
Get crafting with hundreds of pages of art lessons! The plans are organized into topics, which include clay, drawing, composition and design, mixed media, painting, printmaking, and paper.
National Gallery of Canada
My Treehouse
If you could build your own treehouse, what would it look like? Using a piece of contemporary art as inspiration, learners draw their own treehouses and add geometric and organic shapes. The lesson touches on Visual Thinking Strategies...
Getting to Know
Shape and Form in Art
Introduce youngsters to the important role shape and form play in art with this extensive collection of activities and projects. From teaching first graders how to create mandalas to engaging third and fourth graders in the design of...
Curated OER
Greek Pottery Designs
Get creative while exploring the art and history of the ancient Greeks. Learners create construction paper representations of Greek pottery, focusing on the differences between geometric and organic shapes. This project could enhance an...
Curated OER
Shapes, Patterns, and Plants
Students imagine they are animals in the Palace Facade painting. In this Palace Facade lesson plan, students observe and discuss the geometric and organic shapes in the painting shown to them.
Denver Art Museum
Lesson: That's Not Natural
Any time kids engage in a design project, they are building problem-solving skills, collaborative learning skills, and creative thinking skills. Upper graders take a nature walk to observe and sketch organic shapes and lines that they...
Curated OER
Lesson: Dongducheon: A Walk to Remember, A Walk to Envision: Interpreting History, Memory, and Identity
Cultural discourse can start through a variety of venues. Learners begin to think about how our minds, memories, and identities shape our attitudes toward culture and history. They analyze seven pieces from the Dongducheon art exhibit...
Curated OER
The Shape of Me and Other Stuff, by Dr. Seuss: A Class Mural
A cut and paste mural activity is a fun activity to complete after reading a Dr. Seuss book. In this shape recognition and art lesson, students read the book The Shape of Me and Other Stuff and discuss the main idea. A class mural can be...
K12 Reader
Tissues, Organs and Systems
Young scientists are introduced to the connections among cells, tissues, organs, and systems in a life science reading comprehension worksheet that asks them to respond to a series of questions based on the passage.
Curated OER
Tour + Workshop = DESIGN: Shape
Ask elementary students to explore shapes in everyday objects. They will discuss the elements of design and describe the shapes they see in visual images. Students will then design and "build" a new 3D shape. Finally they will show and...
Curated OER
Match Shapes in Compositions
Third graders draw shapes that are congruent with each other and identify other congruent shapes. In this congruency lesson plan, 3rd graders also apply specific colors from the color wheel in their shapes.
Curated OER
Elements of Art
Third graders discover elements in visual art. In this visual art lesson plan, 3rd graders explore the use of line, shape, and color in visual art. After reviewing works of art, students create unique art pieces. Technology resources...
Curated OER
Get in Shape with Geometry
Using geoboards, computer programs, and hands-on manipulative materials, elementary schoolers engage in a study of two and three-dimensional geometric shapes. This instructional activity is chock full of good teaching ideas on the...
Curated OER
Shaping the View: Symmetry and Balance
Students explore the symmetry and balance in the composition of a variety of art works and note how the viewer's eye is guided to the important components of the image. How these elements affect the tone of the painting and communicate...
Walters Art Museum
The Symbolism of Allegorical Art
Introduce learners to allegorical art with four bronze sculptures by Francesco Bertos. After modeling how to recognize bias and allegory in Bertos' Africa, class groups examine the other three sculptures in the series before creating...
Curated OER
Rhythm and Art: Gesture Drawing
Learners make connection between music and art. In this integrated arts lesson, students complete gesture drawing activities as they listen to Cuban, flamenco, classical, jazz, and contemporary music.
Curated OER
Shapes to Forms
Here is a math lesson that is really a visual arts lesson in disguise! In it, pupils utilize their knowledge of geometric shapes and forms to create a detailed version of a cylinder. The instructions on how to go about the task are very...
Sargent Art
Kandinsky - Inspired by Music
Who is Wassily Kandinsky? Introduce your young artists to the wonders of abstract nonobjective art through music. They'll listen to music as they cut, paste, and paint emotional works of art. The activity suggests the use of soothing...
Curated OER
Shapes and Patterns in Art and Oceans
First graders draw, cut out, and design their own fish shapes by cutting out shapes and putting them together. In this shapes and patterns worksheet, 1st graders also construct a stamp and print patterns with stamps to repeat a...
Curated OER
Rhythm and Art: Gesture Drawing
Students explore connections between non-verbal language and art. In this visual and auditory art lesson, students investigate the science of sound and principles of drawing. They then use various genres of music to directly apply that...
Incredible Art Department
Notan Collages - "Expanding the Square"
Notan is a Japanese word that expresses the interaction between light and dark. Learners explore Notan while creating dimensional art pieces that examine positive and negative spaces. They'll discuss the art of Notan, create their...
Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
Curated OER
Identifying Text Structure
Work on identifying text structure with this thorough worksheet. After studying a diagram depicting six different text structures (compare/contrast, spatial, chronological, problem and solution, cause and effect, and order of...