First Grade Kits

	African Painted Rhythms: Students learn about warm and cool colors as they create an artwork using lines, texture and pattern. South African music inspires the rhythm and patterns as students use watercolors to create the final product.	Download this lesson plan
	Alaska's Bear Dreams: After sharing a book about Alaska's bears, students explore the topic of hibernation. They create a drawing of a hibernating bear, complete with cut paper shapes representing the bear’s dreams.	Download this lesson plan
	Animal Portraits with Todd Sherman: Students are introduced to the colorful portraits by Fairbanks artist Todd Sherman. Todd enjoys painting animals, friends and family, often adding humor to his art by having animals acting and looking like people. Students paint their own “self-portrait” as an Alaskan animal using watercolor crayons.	Download this lesson plan
	Box of Daylight: Inspired by watching a video of a traditional story, "Box of Daylight," students create art that explores the concept of dark and light colors, in a tissue paper collage background. Their added illustrations show details and characters that they remember from the story.	Download this lesson plan
	Color Map: Children experience color mixing on paper. They create colored animals, inspired by the Eric Carle book, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse. Students place their animals on a class “Color Map” mural, showing their understanding of color relationships. A “monoprint” can be made of each child’s animal which later can become a class color book.	Download this lesson plan
	Color of Our Own: This lesson is based on the illustrations in the book “A Color of His Own”, by Leo Lionni. Students each produce a cut out chameleon in Lionni’s style and two pages of painted paper. They camouflage their chameleons in the painted paper. Both can be made into a class book or a bulletin board.	Download this lesson plan
	Color Wizards: Students create many varieties of the secondary colors by mixing and stirring the primary colors in Dixie cups. Students paint papers with the secondary colors. These papers can then be used at a later time by the class to create “Eric Carle style” collages. A large “sit-upon” color wheel is included to show the relationships of the colors.	Download this lesson plan
	Color Zoo: Inspired by Lois Ehlert's book, Color Zoo, students make animals out of geometric shapes with can be used as puppets or added to a class zoo mural.	Download this lesson plan
	Discovering Ovoids: Students create an abstract arrangement of ovoid shapes, by making crayon rubbins from templates. The designs are painted with red paint to reinforce this important shape and the primary and secondary colors of N.W. Coast art.	Download this lesson plan
	Do You See What I See?: In this art lesson, students look at an abstract (“mystery”) painting done by another child and look for ideas, patterns and pictures in it. They draw their idea so we can see what they “see” in the painting, then make another abstract painting to “pass it on” to students in another class, creating a sense of community.	Download this lesson plan
	Eric Carle Mural: After sharing the book Where are You Going? To See my Friend, students discuss real and abstract artwork. They will learn how to use texture rubbings to create torn paper animals and people. Students then assemble a collaborative work of art displaying characters from the book.	Download this lesson plan
	Faith Ringgold Story Quilts: Students learn about Faith Ringgold and consider that art often tells a story. Students explore colored pencils and draw a family memory. In the style of Faith Ringgold, these drawings are surrounded by a border of fabric squares (pre-cut fabric squares included in the kit.)	Download this lesson plan
	Family Portraits: Students draw their family members with markers, emphasizing size comparisons and details to distinguish different members. They draw a background on colored paper, then they cut out their drawings and glue them on the background.	Download this lesson plan
	Fish Print Mosaics: Rubber fish made from real local fish are included in this kit. As students paint and make prints on small pieces of paper, they study the parts of three local species: salmon, rockfish and flounder, looking for similarities and differences.	Download this lesson plan
	Folded Lines: Students learn about two different artists, Alexander Calder and Piet Mondrian. They compare the two types of art they both used--sculpture and painting. They create their own 3D work of art combining these two artist styles.	Download this lesson plan
	A House for Me a Community for Us: Students build a simple block house (blocks included in kit), draw a picture of their construction, and make this house their own by adding people and pets. The drawing is colored with primary colored oil pastels, encouraging color mixing. Students glue their houses into a class neighborhood and embellish this mural with additional trees, swing sets, etc.	Download this lesson plan
	Leaf Prints in Clay: Students discover the texture created by pressing leaves and stamps into clay. The story Leaf Man is read to inspire students’ designs. A “print” is made of each arrangement to “save” their idea. If the teacher has a kiln available, small fired tiles or medallions can be made and saved. (optional.)	Download this lesson plan
	Mondrian Trees: Students learn about Piet Mondrian who painted trees all his life using different styles. They then draw and paint a tree in the style of Piet Mondrian.	Download this lesson plan
	Mouse Colors: Students learn the primary colors and discover what happens when paints are mixed by experimenting on large paper. While their paintings dry, students read Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh. Then a class graph is created to see which colors they found. Each student traces a “foot” on their dried painted paper, cuts it out and glues it to the color graph in the matching color column.	Download this lesson plan
	On Mother's Lap: Students view impressionist artwork while discussing the subject of family closeness. Students then share the book On Mother’s Lap, by Ann Hebert Scott. Students create an interactive artwork involving a chair and puppets. Students can tell their own story about their family using their artwork.	Download this lesson plan
	Paper Portraits: Students create a paper self portrait, practicing the paper sculpting techniques of folding, cutting and curling. They consider the concepts of “dark and light” shades of color and “big” and “small” sizes. Debra Frasierʼs book helps them reflect on their birth and students are asked to share where they were born, an important piece of their identity.	Download this lesson plan
	Patterns All a-Round: Students learn to print small lines and circles, using common objects. Students create a unique pattern, starting from the center of their paper and radiating out. Students observe photos of this kind of patterning evident in the world around them, and give their art a creative name.	Download this lesson plan
	Print, Print, Print!: Printing common objects with reusable modeling clay stamps, emphasizing “repetition”.	Download this lesson plan
	Tongan Tapa Patterns: Students learn about “Tapa Cloth,” the indigenous art form of Tonga, by examining several authentic tapa related materials. Students manipulate patterned squares and make rubbings of these in the manner used in tapa making. Students collaborate to make a large class tapa, and a small cloth one on which they add “highlights” of brown and black paint with watercolor crayons.	Download this lesson plan
	Totem Tales with Nathan Jackson: This lesson introduces students to Nathan Jackson, Tlingit master carver. Day 1, students create painted, textured papers in the three traditional colors used in Tlingit painted carvings. Visuals and books in the kit introduce students to totem poles and “formline design.” Day 2: students create collage animals with their textured papers and create a totem pole with their table group.	Download this lesson plan
	Up in the Air: Students are guided through a fantasy hot air balloon adventure and create original drawings that are exceptionally detailed and interesting. Adding a small amount of one color draws the viewers attention to certain areas of the picture. Students are highly motivated to write or dictate a story about their picture.	Download this lesson plan
	Very Hungry Still Life: Motivated by Eric Carle’s story The Very Hungry Caterpillar, students “draw from observation” a variety of fruits and vegetables. They learn techniques for coloring with oil pastels. They discuss where their artwork would fit into the story, beginning, middle or end.	Download this lesson plan
	Water Rhythms: Students begin the lesson by enjoying the story and CD “River Song” by Steve Van Zandt. Moving water makes rhythms! Inspired by water sounds and music, students paint with tempera cakes, then, using these paintings, create a cut paper collage that uses repetition to show rhythm.	Download this lesson plan
	Whale Carousel: Creating 3-dimensional “sculptures” of whales or dolphins, using paper and watercolor crayons. Sculptures can be used as puppets or hung, mobile-style.	Download this lesson plan
	Wind Art: Students learn about Japanese artist and sculptor, Susumu Shingu, and his sculptures that move in the wind. After viewing a brief dvd, students build their own sculpture that moves in the wind. Students exercise art knowledge of shape and color. They explore the science concepts of wind and itʼs affects as they test and adjust their sculptures.	Download this lesson plan
	Word Quilt: Students learn about Faith Ringgold’s love of quilting. They create a paper word quilt depicting a theme, such as “Things we Like at School,” or “Our Class Beach Trip,” etc. Students learn painting techniques, make a detailed painting and write a word to describe it. The display of finished artwork creates a “quilt” of geometric shapes and a word bank.	Download this lesson plan