Student Teaching Lessons Grades K-5
The following lessons and projects have been taught to grades K-5 and were used at Easterly Parkway Elementary School and Mount Nittany Elementary School in State College, PA during the course of my student teaching in the Fall of 2011 at Penn State University. This unit was based on Cubism and featured the artists Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso. Emphasis was put on the basic principles and elements of design for these early learners and was aimed to teach them the fundamentals of art. This unit was also adapted for SPLED students and students with special needs. The students created portrait busts in the style of Cubism and also created name tags using shapes. To see completed student work from this unit click here or go to the "Student Work" page and scroll through the images under "Elementary Student Work." To see this unit plan with lessons in their entirety and the PowerPoint used for this unit please scroll down and click on the provided links.
Above is an artwork by Paul Klee that the students looked at entitled "Sencio." They used this image as inspiration for their Cubism portrait busts. Please click the image above to learn more about this artist.
Above is another image of Paul Klee's work entitled "Bust of a Child." Please click on the above image for more information on this artist.
Above is Pablo Picasso's "Weeping Woman" that the students looked at to learn about Cubism. Please click the image above to learn more about this artist.
Above is "Portrait of Dora Maar" by Pablo Picasso. Please click the above image to learn more about this artist.
Click the link below for the PowerPoint Presentation used for this unit featuring Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee:
/uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/art_ed_495c_cubism_powerpoint.pptx
Click the link below for this unit in its entirety with complete lessons :
/uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/art_ed_495c_lessonplanningworksheetrevisespring2010-1.doc
"Book Monster" Book Marks
This lesson was a one day lesson used at Mount Nittany Elementary School during Halloween and at Easterly Parkway Elementary during their art fair held in conjunction with their annual book fair. A booth was set up so that the students could create their own bookmark/page holders using construction paper, glue, and sharpie markers. A template was used to create the base of the bookmark and traced onto paper then cut out. With two simple folds of the paper the bookmark was created and then the students added teeth and eyes to create the face. Please see the pictures below or click here to see more on the "Student Work" page.
Lessons from Penn State's Saturday School Grades 4-6
The following lessons have been used for grades 4-6 at Penn State's Saturday School and the unit was based on the theme "Little Big World." The concept of the unit revolved around size and scale and students had the opportunity to play with that concept through their art making. Size has a huge impact on how everyday objects are perceived. Size also influences our perceptions and how we relate and interact with everyday objects. In this unit students explored and studied their own environment to gain knowledge of of this concept. Artists that were studied in this unit include: Jeff Koons, Chuck Close, Charles LeDray, Willard Wigan, Isaac Cordal, Steven J. Backman, and others. Peer critiques were used to supplement the material they studied and to guide students in the art making process. Below are some of the lessons that were used within this unit, along with links to PowerPoints and lessons in their entirety. Please see the "Student Work" page to see some of these projects in their completion.
"Miniature Box" Lesson
For this lesson students were instructed to create a box with a centralized theme using collage materials and then create a miniature sculpture using model magic to place inside their box. The students were to choose a theme that related personally to them and carry that theme throughout their works. Before starting the students studied national collage artists such as Rayna Gillman and Jonathan Burstein. The students then studied artists who work in miniatures using various mediums and pictures can be seen below of these artist's works. To view more works from the artists below, please click here or go to the tool bar and click "More" then click "References." Find the artists in the "Artist's Links" section and click for their website. Links to the PowerPoint Presentation used for this lesson and the lesson plan in its entirety can be found by scrolling down.
Above are miniature sculptures created by Steven J. Backman that the students studied for this lesson. Both sculptures were made from toothpicks. For more on this artist please click on the pictures above.
Above are two miniature art works created by artist Charles LeDray.
Seen above are two works of art created by artist Isaac Cordal who also works in miniatures. For more on this artist please click the pictures above.
Click the link below for the PowerPoint Presentation featuring Rayna Gillman and Jonathan Burstein used for the collage part of this lesson.
/uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed489_first_lesson_plan.pptx
Click the link below for the PowerPoint Presentation featuring Iaasc Cordal, Steven J. Backman, and Charles LeDray for the sculpture part of this lesson.
/uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed_489_second_third_presentation.ppt
Click the links below for the complete lesson plan in it's entirety.
Collage Lesson: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/a_ed_489_revised_second_lesson.docx
Miniature Sculpture Lesson: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed_489_third_lesson_plan.doc
/uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed489_first_lesson_plan.pptx
Click the link below for the PowerPoint Presentation featuring Iaasc Cordal, Steven J. Backman, and Charles LeDray for the sculpture part of this lesson.
/uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed_489_second_third_presentation.ppt
Click the links below for the complete lesson plan in it's entirety.
Collage Lesson: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/a_ed_489_revised_second_lesson.docx
Miniature Sculpture Lesson: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed_489_third_lesson_plan.doc
"One Inch Tall" Drawings
This lesson is for grades K-5 and incorporated Shel Silverstein's "One Inch Tall" poem seen below. This lesson was taught at Penn State's Saturday School and PowerPoints were used, as well as a clip from the movie "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." The students were instructed to imagine themselves as one inch tall and then draw what their environment and surroundings would look like and how they would interact with those things. The lesson in it's entirety can be accessed through the links below and finished drawings can be seen on the student work page, under elementary work.
Link to PowerPoint Presentation used for this lesson:
/uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed_489_lessonplan_drawings_3rd_week.ppt
Link to the lesson plan in its entirety: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed_489_third_lesson_plan.doc
/uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed_489_lessonplan_drawings_3rd_week.ppt
Link to the lesson plan in its entirety: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed_489_third_lesson_plan.doc
"Big Canvas" Lesson
For this lesson the students switched gears and were challenged to think BIG! This was a three part lesson that included photography, drawing, and painting. The students were broken up into groups of three or four and were assigned as a team to go on a "treasure hunt." Each group was given a digital camera to photograph the local Penn State campus and had a hunt sheet to look for specific items, large and small. The students photographed various things like sculptures, windows, and the lion paws outside of the Palmer Museum of Art on the Penn State Campus. After the students were done each group chose up to three pictures that they liked the best and voted on one that they would recreate in their giant paintings. Transparencies of the photographs were then created to use on an overhead projector. Large, 3x5 feet, canvases were used for each group to trace on their chosen photographs that were placed on the overhead. After the students traced their images, they then began their under paintings. Once the under paintings were done the students put the finishing touches and detail work into their works of art. Artists that were looked at for this lesson include Chuck Close and Jeff Koons and images of their artworks that were used for this lesson can be seen in the PowerPoint Presentation link at the bottom of this page. All of the student's creations within this unit were then exhibited in the Zoller Gallery at Penn State's Saturday School art show, including this project. To see the student work from this unit and the Penn State Saturday School art exhibit please click here or go to the "Student Work" page under Elementary work on this website.
Above is a picture of the kids at work. Their photographs from left to right show: one of the lion paws outside of The Palmer, a sculpture found inside the corridor of The Palmer, and a window that can be seen from the gift shop of the museum.
Above is a photo of a group working together to trace their image onto the canvas from one of the projectors.
Above this photo shows a close up of two of the pillars outside of the museum.
Links to a part of the PowerPoints used in this lesson can be found here: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed489_first_lesson_plan.pptx
Under Painting Instructions for this lesson: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/under_painting_instructions.docx
Lesson Plan excerpts Part One: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed489_6th__lesson_plan.doc
Lesson Plan excerpts Part Two: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/a_ed_489_lesson_plan_8.doc
Under Painting Instructions for this lesson: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/under_painting_instructions.docx
Lesson Plan excerpts Part One: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/aed489_6th__lesson_plan.doc
Lesson Plan excerpts Part Two: /uploads/1/1/3/4/11347492/a_ed_489_lesson_plan_8.doc