Art Lesson for Project Work

Here is an introduction to lessons at CGK Afterschool.

CGK’s two-month-long project works will be based on the main “Driving Question”.
Here are the Driving Questions for this “Art” lesson.

“How can we showcase and learn more about a famous artist?”

The lesson theme was "Art Exhibition."

We followed this theme and question with fun lessons each week that drew the student’s interest.
Here are the comments of Ms. Kitty, the teacher who was in charge of the lessons.
 

Week 1
The students were introduced to the Plan a CGK Art Exhibit project by discussing what they knew about Art and what they associated with the word. They didn`t know what an exhibition was but after learning that “exhibit” means “to show”, they could understand that the goal for the end of the project is to show their own work. We looked at some examples of different artwork by different artists and the students were able to give their opinions on whether they liked the work and whether they would like to see the artwork in a gallery. After looking at artists` we then looked at examples of different techniques to making art, and the students learnt new techniques, such as sculpture, digital and collage. The students then completed a questionnaire about what art they like, which techniques they would like to try and whether they would wat a theme to the exhibition.
 
Week 2
The students all got the chance to use the iPads to draw pictures on the Musiclab website, which converted their pictures into music. They all enjoyed the activity and were able to express what they liked and how the music made them feel. Using the Musiclab program was to prepare the students to think about the connection between music, color, and shapes. We did two activities during the lesson; the first was listening to music and thinking about what colors the students associated with the music. They then chose color pencils which they would use, and then drew on paper with their eyes closed while listening. They created 3 pieces of art in this way, one was to classic, one was to rock and the third was jazz. The second activity was painting while listening to the music, where they were able to see what colors the were using and what shapes they were making. They created three pieces using paint and some students challenged themselves to try and paint with their eyes closed. After we finished the activities, we had a group discussion looking at the pencil artwork, where the students were happy making observations of similarities/differences between the pictures (for the same songs) and expressed which piece they liked. Overall, the students seemed to enjoy the lesson and this method of working and created some beautiful and unique artwork.
 
 

Week 3
The workshop for today`s lesson was focusing on the students` making an image using materials that had texture, which the student will try to make a print from next week. The students first drew out an image and then thought about materials which they wanted to use to stick down. The students were selecting a variety of things to use and able to build the images well, but some students were struggling to select materials that had different textures. Once the students finished making their images, they were offering their help to friends that needed it, which was really lovely to see.
 
Week 4
Several students tried making garments and enjoyed using the black plastic bin bags to make dresses and skirts and used smaller materials for decorations. A few students tried painting and printing their pictures and enjoyed trying the printing process and said they would like to try in again. For the project time the students tried making collage pieces, with some students working individually and some working in groups. The students came up with their ideas and drew out simple sketches, then started building up the images with ripped paper. It was a great exercise to see the students using recycled paper and thinking about placement of color. All the pieces made were colorful and creative with some students making a story with their image. The students presented their work and were asking questions about their friends work.
 

Week 5
Students were able to try using a slow-shutter speed camera app and glow sticks to create images. The students were able to understand that their movements with the glowing stick were what created the image and they had a lot of fun. After, the students were trying a mono-printing workshop, which is drawing and making marks in wet paint with different implements (toothpicks, Q-tips etc.) and then taking a print of it with a clean piece of paper. The students used one color for their first two prints and were able to test how the marks appear in the paint, which were very successful. Some students had difficulties with the paper ripping but tried again and were able to make it work. After everyone made two prints, they were then able to mix and apply their own choice of colors to their paper and use the different sticks to see how the marks were different. Everybody appeared to enjoy this technique and made some great colorful pieces.
 

Week 6
The students decided which technique they wanted to do for their final piece, and we had the tables set up with different materials. Students that were using paint had the support of Ms. Heather during project time and asked for her help/assistance when needing new paper. There were some students who were painting to music and some students drawing in the paint and taking prints of the images. The paintings which they made had a lot of expression with their color choices and line work.  The students making fashion garments were very well focused and asked for advice when they had difficulties. The group making pictures with textured materials were able to draw out their ideas and gathered the materials they needed without any issues. Students who were making collages had asked for images of Pokémon to be printed and worked on sticking the torn pieces of paper down. If they managed to finish the character, they added decoration for the background. Only one student chose to use the iPad and draw with the light of the glow stick. She was able to use the iPad on her our and thought about the compositions of the pictures she was making very well.  Overall, all the students were happy and comfortable thinking of what they wanted to do and figured out a way to make it.
 
Week 7
As a class during circle time, we started to think about what the students wanted to say during their presentation. Ms. Kitty has written a framework out for those who wanted to use it with sentences that focused on what they named their artwork, what they made, what materials they used, what it is made of what they like, what was easy and what was difficult. The teachers supported the children with spelling when they asked, while some students chose to free-talk through their presentation. During project time the children saw examples on online exhibitions to get an understanding of how artwork was displayed in a gallery, seeing some spaces were grouped by themes while some were randomly allocated. The children voted on whether they wanted their work freely placed, or whether they wanted it grouped by themes, and they voted to have their work grouped by theme. After, they decided what they wanted to work on to help towards the exhibition, and the jobs were: make posters for the exhibition, front covers for the catalogue, photographing work for the catalogue and deciding where work would be for the exhibition. All the groups worked really well and managed to get everything completed.
 
Week 8 – Final Presentation
The students did a fantastic job presenting their artwork in the final presentation. They all confidently spoke about their work and gave good explanations as to what they enjoyed and found challenging. Many students were happy asking their friends questions about their pieces when given the opportunity.
 
The students would have benefitted if they had more time to practice their scripts and could have challenged themselves by asking more of a variety of questions.
Overall, this project has been a huge success and the students seemed to enjoy learning different art processes. They`ve all produced beautiful unique pieces that were shown in the exhibition, as well as the work they have made during the workshops.