One Teacher's Journey: imagination

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Saturday, 11 March 2023

More Spring Themed Art Lesson Plans and Video Guides for Classroom Teachers

In my previous post I wrote about the benefits of harnessing the arrival of Spring as a starting point for some great art lessons with your students. This post will further expand on those benefits and also align some specific pick-up-and-go comprehensive art lessons that you can use with your students today. Some lessons are step-by-step PDF guides while others are narrated video demonstrations. You can find one that suits you and your students, the best.

More Spring-Themed Art Lesson Plans and Ideas

Abstract Garden Quilts & 3D Spring Flowers

Spring flowers are a symbol of new beginnings and can be the perfect subject for a spring-themed art lesson. Have your students collect different types of flower pictures or take photos of flowers. Both of the following art lessons will build problem solving skills and also result in each student’s work being unique.

Abstract Garden Quilts focuses on the art concept of ABSTRACTION for 2nd grade and up. Use oil pastels and paints. This is a fully narrated video tutorial that demonstrates all steps in real time. Stream the video lesson on your large screen and free yourself up to roam your classroom and support your students. This lesson plan focuses on:

Break up and recompose photographs

Extract basic shapes to compose an image

Under-painting to create the garden mood

Show depth in an artwork through layering shapes and using analogous colours

Contrast warm and cool colours to create focal points

3D Spring Flowers is a 3D painted paper collage art project for grades 1-3. Includes a fully illustrated PDF teaching guide that demonstrates every step. Introduce students to the elements of SHAPE and FORM, & the principle of PROPORTION (sizes and location). 2 colour schemes are demonstrated in the guide. Students also learn about colour value and using stencils to create repetition.

Spring Flowers 3D art project has built in choice for differentiation, while keeping the skills taught consistent across the class, to save your sanity.

Praise for SPRING FLOWERS:

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "did this with my first grade class. Took us about 4 art classes to complete. turned out so absolutely beautiful that they were displayed in our school foyer"

Butterflies and Bees Art works

Butterflies and bees are a common sight as spring arrives, and they make great subjects for a drawing lesson. Have your students study the different parts of these insects, including their wings, body, and antennae. This helps to create artworks with more understanding about the subject matter.

Butterfly mobiles

is a fully narrated video tutorial created for K-1st grade, that demonstrates all steps in real time. Stream the video lesson on your large screen and free yourself up to roam your classroom and support your students.

Benefits of using a video lesson:

The lesson has already been tested

All steps are viewable from start to finish

Techniques are demonstrated

Rewind and rewatch as many times as needed

Narrated explanation adds depth to understanding art theories

Its like having an art specialist in your classroom

Bee Brave Art project for Back to School guides students to create values based artwork at the start of the new school year. Each student draws and paints a large flower design, symbolising learning growth in a happy classroom. Then add an observation drawing of a bee that representing themselves as the busy learner. Finally students incorporate a classroom value word of their choice, e.g. Bee Positive or Bee Kind. You will love the results and they can stay up on display all year as they remind students about the class expectations of a happy learning environment.

PRAISE FOR Bee Brave

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "What a great back to school project. Great messages to go with this project and the students really got into it. I love the process of it and that if fits more than one grade level. Thanks!"

Blossom covered Spring Trees & Landscape Paintings

Spring trees and landscapes can be full of vibrant colours and interesting textures. Have your students study photographs of blossom covered trees and landscapes and then create their own artworks using collage or a variety of colours and brushstrokes.

Bird Song Spring art lesson plan for BIRD SONGS COLLAGE suits Grades 2-4 introduces students to the wonderful media of paper collage. This comprehensive art project for grades 2-3, or older was inspired by the illustrations of popular children's picture books and the artworks of Henri Matisse.

SHAPE - identify and use 2D shapes to compose artwork

SPACE - Create space by layering shapes

COLLAGE - gain experience and skill working with this medium

STENCILS - gain experience and skill for making and working with stencils

This is a great art unit to combine with a Science inquiry focused on seasons (Spring) or animals (birds). For a literacy connection, collage picture books have been suggested as reference among other resource links, and a clear and comprehensive photo journal of each step of the process has been provided, along with student and teacher exemplars of work in progress and completed work.

This lesson plan focuses on:

Colour Value Landscapes is a project that can relate to plant life cycles and seasons, Sharing the Planet or How The World Works. Your students will love creating this unique and impactful art project that has a strong focus on the Element of Colour (Value) and the Colour Blocking painting technique. Learn about why as artists, we need to use multiple values in any hue and build painting skills with different paint brushes and tools.
COLOUR VALUE LANDSCAPES is a comprehensive visual art lesson plan for paint & oil pastel that will guide your students through creating artworks of trees on a hillside in a season of your choice, including spring. This lesson has tons of built in choice for differentiation

Spring Weather Art

Spring weather can be moody and unpredictable. Showers one minute and windy the next. Some great drawing and painting artworks can be created using the weather for inspiration. Combine with a poetry lesson, like writing Haikus about weather, and you’re onto a winner.

Rainy Days is great when you're teaching a unit on weather and needing an impactful Art Lesson that also helps to consolidate Science learning. Your students will love creating this bright art project with tons of built in choice for differentiation, while keeping the skills taught consistent across the class, to save your sanity.

Take the guesswork out of teaching art, avoid the epic fails that result from not having the time to trial the lesson or media yourself before teaching it. I’ve done it all for you and trailed this lesson with my own students, aged 5-6, in 1st and 2nd grade.

Windy Weather is another great art project when you're teaching a unit on weather and needing an impactful Art Lesson that helps to consolidate Science concepts. Your students will love creating this fun art project about a kid with an umbrella, blown off their feet by the force of the wind. With an art focus on the principle of MOVEMENT, this lesson has tons of built in choice for differentiation. I’ve trailed this lesson with my own students, aged 6-8, in 2nd grade through 4th grade.

PRAISE FOR WINDY WEATHER:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This is a great project, my grade two students definitely found it challenging. We had to stop and replay the video several times. I found the guide pages very helpful.”

And finally...

Easter themes

As Easter falls into spring (Northern hemisphere), bunnies form another popular subject matter. These create a gorgeous wall display in your classroom, and students can add eggs and / or flowers to further embellish their display.

Fluffy Easter Bunnies is a comprehensive art lesson plan to guide your Easter art project in grades 1-3, using poster paints and sponge printing techniques. Includes a PDF teaching support document with printable drawing guides and display suggestions. This lesson comes with the instructional video that demonstrates every step, supporting students with creating texture in paint, using the element of SHAPE and the principle of PROPORTION. 3 versions (colour and bunny poses) demonstrated, to guide originality. Created with students aged 5, this lesson plan is aimed at early elementary but also includes an extension for older/ more capable students, and focuses on:

the element of SHAPE concepts and principles of PROPORTION

painting techniques (sponge painting)

and fine motor skills (drawing, cutting, composing)

So as you can see, Spring brings many options for incorporating amazing art projects into your teaching days and your students will love you for introducing them to a range of art processes and creative options.
If you would like to know more about any of these lesson plans, click on any of the images or links to be taken directly to that lesson on TPT.

If you find TPT overwhelming, you might prefer to browse my website instead. All links for where you can find me are below my signature at the end of this post.
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Tuesday, 21 February 2023

World Poetry Day: Teach Poetry in Elementary Schools & Foster a Love of Language and Literacy

Poetry writing is a vital part of elementary school education. Not only does it allow students to express themselves creatively, but it also helps with developing those essential writing skills. In today's world, where literacy is a crucial attribute for achieving success, including poetry writing in your literacy programme can contribute positively on children's learning and personal growth.

Photo by SOCIAL.CUT on Unsplash

When World Poetry Day, coming up on 31st March 2013, puts the spotlight clearly on poetry, many school use this as the basis for holding a Poetry Week and focus solely on this writing genre. But we know that teaching poetry in elementary schools fostering a love of language and literacy so why do we limited to only this week, in a whole year?

Photo by MARKUS WINKLER on Unsplash

Admittedly when I first started teaching poetry writing, I quickly realised that I didn't really know much about this genre either. So I set about an inquiry into how best to teach my students the skills they needed to make a good start. I wanted to scaffold them for success, rather than frustrating students because it was too hard, confusing or unfamiliar.

Photo by RICHARD DYKES on Unsplash

These hours of research lead to a teaching presentation that I worked through with my students during writing periods, building each day on prior knowledge gained in earlier sessions. It worked so well, that I developed it and published it for other teachers to use, too.

If this resource could help you with teaching poetry elements to your students ages 8+ or of an independent reading age, preview it here on:

TPT

With this structured poetry unit, you and your students can enjoy an engaging inquiry into Poetry as an exciting genre. The unit is chunked into small manageable lessons, to help experience success with discovering a love for reading and writing poems.

But don’t take my word for it. Read these comments from teachers already using this resource.

PRAISE FOR ELEMENTS OF POETRY

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "Great resource! Love the IB links too! =0)"

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "Great resource for poetry!"

To engage students and encourage them to take ownership of their work, incorporating student agency into the poetry writing process is key. Allowing students to choose their topics and styles can help them develop their unique voice and creativity. By providing diverse approaches and choices, teachers can help students develop a passion for writing and language that will stay with them for a lifetime.

Writing Bio Poems is a great way to start a new school year. Using this guided lesson plan will help you to support your students in creating individual and personal poems about themselves.

If this resource could help you with guiding your students ages 8+ or of an independent reading age, to write unique & individualised Bio Poems, preview it here on:

TPT

One approach to poetry writing in elementary schools is to have students write rhyming poems. This type of poetry helps students learn about syllables and phonemic awareness, which is an essential aspect of literacy development. Writing rhyming poems can also be a fun and engaging activity for students, sparking their imagination and creativity. One really engaging & informal way that I introduce rhyming couplets to students is with our daily farewell routine. I display the chart in this product in my room and students pick their personal farewells each day. This is a resource I have used for many years now and one that students always ask for.

If this resource could help you with introducing your students ages 5+ to rhyming couplets on a fun & informal way, preview it here on:

TPT

My favourite approach to teaching poetry writing is to have students write free verse poems. This type of poetry allows students to express themselves freely, without the constraints of a specific form or structure. By tapping into their imagination and creativity, students can develop their own unique voice and style as writers. This approach can be especially helpful for students who struggle with writing or have limited experiences with poetry.

Aside from developing writing skills, poetry writing in elementary school can have a positive impact on children's literacy skills. Poetry provides an opportunity for students to

play with & analyse language,
experiment with words,
develop their vocabulary
to think critically

All essential aspect of literacy development.

Moreover, poetry writing can help students develop important 21st-century skills, such as communication and collaboration. When my students share their poems with each other, they have the opportunity to give and receive feedback, learning from one another. This type of collaboration can foster a sense of community in the classroom and help students develop important interpersonal skills.

Poetry is a genre that can come into many learning themes throughout the year. Click the link below to preview these guided poetry lessons.

For themes based around well-being, personal identity & prejudice/ assumptions:

For themes based around understanding our emotions:

For themes based around building friendships:

These 2 lesson guides focus on Metaphors & Similes with themes based around I relationships with colours and to suit a unit about insects:

And finally a great one to use at the end of the year, reflecting on the year of learning that has been: