I'll Be a Happy Snowman! A Lesson in Proportion, Shape, Color and Value

Link to Holly Berries on Amazon

Geometric People

Artist:  Keith Haring

Grade: 4th

Medium:  Construction Paper

Reason for Lesson: To teach principles of shape, movement and proportion

Element of Art:  Shape

Principle of Art:  Movement and Proportion 

Prep Time:  15 minutes 

Class Time:  45 minutes

Materials:  Black construction paper, Colored construction paper, Glue, Scissors

Instructions to Lead Lesson:  

• Show Keith Haring’s picture and discuss his life and type of art briefly. Discuss with the students what influenced his work and how he became interested in art.
  

• Bridging the gap between the art world and the street, Keith Haring rose to prominence in the early 1980s with his graffiti drawings made in the subways and on the sidewalks of New York City.
• Combining the appeal of cartoons with the raw energy of Art Brut artists like Jean DuBuffet, Haring developed a distinct pop-graffiti aesthetic centered on fluid, bold outlines against a dense, rhythmic overspread of imagery like that of babies, barking dogs, flying saucers, hearts, and Mickey Mouse.
• His early influences included: Walt Disney cartoons, Dr. Seuss, Charles Schulz, and the Looney Tunes characters in The Bugs Bunny Show

• Show Keith Haring’s Artwork “Dance”.  Have students talk about what they notice and write their thoughts on a board.

• Have the students stand and position their bodies in different poses with bent arms and legs like the figures in Keith Haring’s artwork.
• Point out elbow and knee joints and how arms and legs have two main sections
• Talk about geometric shapes.  Draw the shapes on a white board as students list the shapes. 

• Ask the students which geometric shapes could be used for different parts of the body.  (i.e. head, arms, legs, feet, fingers)
• Draw a human figure on the board using only geometric shapes.  Leave spaces between each of the shapes.

• Have the students start their own figure. Have them cut out different shapes to represent parts of the body and lay the figure down on black construction paper.  Tell them to make sure the figure shows movement.  Have them place their shapes on the black paper before gluing.  This allows them to move the shapes around.  Once they’ve created their figure, have them glue one piece at a time and keeping the others in their place until all shapes are glued down. 

Proportion in Art: Penguins

Walk Like an Egyptian

Egyptian Art

Reason for Lesson:  To provide a lesson that supports the 6th grade curriculum.  Nutcracker. This lesson is about lines, measurement and proportion and uses the same concept used in the Nutcracker lesson.   

Class Time: 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Lesson can be started to with folding and drawing of the lines.  

Prep for Lesson: Create your own sample to show in class.  

Materials:  Large size paper 18 x12 or 8 1/2 x 11, ruler, pencil, eraser, black sharpie, scissors, oil pastels/water color markers or another medium that provides brilliant color option. 

Instructions to Lead Lesson: 

Look at samples of Egyptian art.  Show pictures of head shots of Egyptians. 

Discuss the flatness of the art.  Look at the detail.  Notice how large the eyes are in relation to the nose and mouth.  Point out the heavy makeup used in the artwork.  Look at the detail in the head pieces. 

Start by folding your paper 'hamburger' style in half.  Then fold each end into the center, creating 4 sections with three folds.  Label each section lightly with a pencil (1,2,3,4)  beginning at the top.  Doing this provides for easy instruction and reference to each section. 

Before you begin instruction, notice how the face is broken down into 4 areas.  Area #1 contains the hat/hair. Area #2 contains upper part of the nose, large eyes and half of the ears. Area #3 contains the mouth.  Area #4 is the chin neck and shirt. 

Begin in area #1 and instruct the students to create line for the hat/hair.  Continue on to the forehead and nose in area #2.  Continue on in area #3 with the lips. Note the 'heart' shape of the mouth. Continue on to the chin.  Go back up to the head band and instruct the students to create a headband.  Create the hair and ear to the right side of the paper. Notice the size of the eyes in paintings.  Translate that to the page of each students artwork. 

 Once the art is drawn, have the students use color to finish piece of work. 

Nutcracker

Title of Lesson:  Nutcracker

Grade: 6th Grade ONLY!

Reason for Lesson:  In the spirit of the season, the students each created a Nutcracker. This lesson is about lines, measurement and proportion.  

Class Time: 1 1/2 to 2 hours

Prep for Lesson: Do some research on the history of the Nutcracker. Pre-cut 12 x 18 paper in half, lengthwise. 

Materials:  6 x 18 paper, ruler, pencil, eraser, black sharpie, oil pastels and scissors. Nutcrackers to display in class.

Instructions to Lead Lesson: 

Discuss the history of the Nutcracker.  See link provided for history of the Nutcracker http://www.magicofnutcrackers.com/Nutcrackers/HistoryofNutcrackers.htm

Discuss the shape of the nutcracker.  It's distinct lines, vertical and horizontal. 

Start by folding the 6x18 paper in half.

Fold the first 1/2 to the middle. Do this on each side.

Fold each end to the first fold. Do this on both sides.

Fold paper in half,  lengthwise. 

This creates our 'invisible' lines/proportions to create our Nutcracker.  

Have the students create the 'structure' of the Nutcracker using their pencil and ruler (see below). 

The 1st top portion will be the HAT

(Discuss and look at different types of hats for Nutcrackers)

Second portion/space down will be the FACE

(Look at different features of the face: eyes, nose (block), eyebrows, mustache (draw parenthesis to get started), mouth (block style, square, rectangle, etc) )

First larger section will be the BODY

(determine width of body and width of arms)

Below the body (second larger section and smaller section) will be the LEGS

The bottom will be the STAND with the DATE

After the Students have created the 'structure' of their Nutcracker have them add the details.  Buttons/tassels on the coat, decor to the hat, beard, hair, buckle, year on the stand, decor to the boots, etc. 

Have a display of Nutcrackers in the class room for the students to look at for ideas. 

Instruct the students to use a ruler, pencil and eraser to create the Nutcracker. 

When they are happy with their design they will use a sharpie to trace over the pencil lines. 

Using OIL PASTELS, color in the Nutcracker. 

Using Scissors cut out the Nutcracker.

Have the students mount the Nutcracker and sign their autograph!