50 K-12 Art Lessons

​As I get closer to retirement, I find myself wanting to share and organize my 30 years of classroom experiences. As I was documenting classroom samples, I found a ton of pre-digital samples from lessons I have done in the past and still do today. I realized that many of these fall under the category of "no-fail lessons." By that I mean, they are really hard to mess up. We all have these go-to lessons that we enjoy, student's love, and they all have some level of success.
 
I felt these lessons had three potential audiences:

• Classroom art teachers who work with a broad selection of students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
• Those who have a mix of advanced, regular, and special needs students in the same room.
• Subs who come in for long-term coverage who have little background in art.

 
I know from my experience teaching in a K-12 school that the same lesson can often be taught at all levels. The lesson needs to be differentiated, but the main nugget of what is being taught, can be applied to all students.
 
For example, I have a sculpture lesson that can be applied to all levels of students and connects with service learning. Here is a sample image.

​Each grade level can handle this is a slightly different way and with varying levels of depth. Students in high school who have special needs can explore more simplified versions of previous grade levels so that all students are working on a similar exploration.
 
Lower Elementary (K-2):
Without sketching, have students create items of food from pipe cleaners or other soft wire. These can be glued to a paper plate. Have a discussion about hunger and create a bulletin board about a hunger issue and display artwork.
 
Elementary (3-5):
Have students complete the worksheet (one is provided within the book) to generate ideas. If they are unable to access the internet, have hunger facts in a bucket for them to pick from. Using soft wire, students create a place setting and write a hunger fact on the plate or the placemat. Display in the school lunchroom or library. If possible collect non-perishable items for a local charity or food pantry.
 
Middle School (6-8):
Same as above, if possible, allow students to research facts about hunger in the local area, state, national, or international community. They should list facts so facts are not repeated. Students should also create eating utensils. Work can be displayed on a paper plate and placemat with their fact on the border. Use rulers to draw a border as in the example work.
 
High School:
Students should sketch as above, encourage more detail, utensils, drinks, and other items for the table like salt and pepper, candles, etc. then display artwork. Students could use lettering templates for the facts. Working on a larger school display, and coordinating with a local food bank can add to this project.
 
Advanced Extension:
Students could be paired with their peers to create additional items for a display that would be more challenging. Decorative cake, candelabra, serving dishes, etc. This could be done as a school-wide service project across multiple grade levels.

I have 50 such lessons, but knowing they would appeal to different audiences, I decided to make 2 versions, offering a color or black and white option for each. Color is so expensive to print, and some teachers already have a good working knowledge of art that the less expensive black and white option may be best. But if the lessons are intended for a sub who has little or no art knowledge, then the color edition may be really necessary to understand the point of the lesson.
 
I even went so far as to make tons of video tutorials to support these lessons. You can find them on my YouTube Channel: www.goo.gl/PnEdxM

​The version for art teachers look like this:
​(One in full color, one in black and white)

They contain all the lessons, but also more support information that a certified teacher can appreciate and use as well as 25 sub plans that can be copied when you need to be out, with minimal impact on supplies.
 
The version is for long term subs who may have little or no knowledge of art looks like this: (One in full color, one in black and white)

They contain a ton of media handling information so that you do not come back to a disaster. We know how to clean brushes and use watercolors, and how that might be different than acrylics, but a sub may not. If you have to be gone for a month or more, it's not really desirable for students to just do video notes or worksheets while you are gone. They need to make art.
 
All of these titles are available on Amazon, but if you'd like 30% off, head over to Firehouse Publications and use their Paypal links. Only the Extended Leave book comes in an ebook version on Amazon and iBooks. Because both contain the same 50 lessons, there was no real need to make an additional ebook.