One Teacher's Journey: observation skills

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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.
And please reach out in the comments or on any of my platforms if you have any questions about my products or about teaching in general.

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Tuesday, 7 March 2023

Spring Themed Art Lessons and Ideas

Spring is a beautiful season that brings new beginnings, vibrant colours, and renewed energy after a long winter pause. As a teacher, I love to incorporate this season into my classroom learning, especially through spring-themed art lessons, and I would highly encourage you to do the same. Not only does it bring fun and creativity to your days, but it can also provide many important benefits to your students.

Image by Yan Liu on Unsplash

The Benefits of Spring Themed Art Lessons

1. Encourages creativity

Spring-themed art lessons offer a wealth of benefits for students. First and foremost, they encourage creativity and using imagination. By exploring different aspects of spring, such as flowers, trees, and animals, students can use their imaginations to come up with unique and innovative art projects. This not only helps to develop their artistic skills, but also encourages critical thinking and problem-solving abilities as they work through various design challenges.

Woven Gardens Project with Ages 8-11 - View this lesson HERE
in my TPT store One Teacher's Journey

Woven Gardens Project with Ages 8-11
View this lesson HERE on TPT

2. Enhances fine motor skills

Art activities require students to use their fine motor skills, which are essential for many other activities such as writing and using tools. Spring-themed art projects that involve cutting, gluing, and painting can help develop these skills in a fun and engaging way.

3. Promotes mindfulness

Creating art can be a relaxing and meditative activity that promotes mindfulness. Mindfulness can help reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus, and enhance overall well-being. Spring-themed art activities that involve nature or natural elements can help students connect with their surroundings and promote a sense of calm.

4. Encourages observation skills

Spring is a season of new growth and change. Art lessons can help students develop their observation skills by encouraging them to pay attention to the details around them. For example, students can study the different types of flowers, the shapes and colours, before creating their own flower paintings.

These close-up observational drawings of poppies are one of the 'Tuning-in' activities in my 2 art projects that honour our veterans.

View art lesson - Poppies for Poppa - HERE

in my TPT store One Teacher's Journey

View art lesson - Poppy Fields - HERE

in my TPT store One Teacher's Journey

5. Build community

Spring-themed art lessons can be a great way to build community and promote teamwork. By working on art projects together, students can learn to collaborate, communicate, and support one another. This can be especially valuable for students who may struggle with social skills or who may be isolated from their peers. Art can also make strong links to what is going on in your community during this time, such as these 2 lessons that help to commemorate our veterans.

POPPIES for POPPA & POPPY FIELDS are both art projects based on the historic significance of WWI and WWII. Each year our students participate in memorial events like Memorial Day, Veterans and ANZAC days, around the world. Here is an artistic way to remember and appreciate our war veterans and current serving personnel. All steps are clearly explained and photographed, giving you the confidence to deliver quality visual art lessons to your students. Includes opportunities for student choice. These heart felt lessons are aimed at upper primary & middle school students. These resource contain some links to video tutorials created specifically, as well as other relevant support resources.

Praise for POPPIES FOR POPPA: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Personally one of my favourite art activities I have completed with my composite 5/6 students. They loved the process and the finished product just as much. Thank you."

Praise for POPPY FIELDS: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Extremely satisfied. Wonderful! Thank you :)"

6. Fosters an appreciation for nature

In addition, spring-themed art lessons can help students to connect with the natural world. By studying the beauty of spring and its many wonders, students can develop a deeper appreciation for nature and a sense of kaitiakitanga / stewardship for the environment. This can be especially important for students who may not have had many opportunities to explore the natural world outside of the classroom.

Find this Art project to unpack metamorphosis

and the concept of change - HERE