First Grade Art
Course Description
In each unit in first grade, students have the opportunity to create, present, respond to, and connect with a variety of artworks. They plan and create artworks, develop skills using art materials, and learn to use artistic vocabulary to describe and respond to art. Students will work with clay, drawing, painting, printmaking, and color theory.
Grade Level(s): First Grade
Related Priority Standards (State &/or National): Missouri Fine Arts Standards
Essential Questions
- What makes art valuable?
- How do we describe what we see in sculpture?
- How do artists choose the subjects for their artworks?
- How do artists decide what to include and what to emphasize in their art?
- What can we do to make our portraits look more accurate?
- What can we vary and what can we keep the same in our prints?
- What problems does printing solve for an artist?
- How can we use color to change how our artworks look?
- What effect do warm colors have?
- What effect do cool colors have?
- What effect does contrast create?
- When do people make artworks outside of school?
- How can artwork add to celebration?
- How does artwork grab attention and create interest?
Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas
- Art is valued for its function, the skill required to create it, its connection to people and cultures, its impact on its surroundings, the reactions people have to it, and how much people want to pay for it.
- Artists and curators choose artworks for display based on who they think will interact with it and what kinds of interactions they want to provide.
- Artists experiment with materials to discover what they can do with them.
- Artists represent daily life experiences in artworks.
- Artists make choices about what to include and what to emphasize in their work.
- Artists observe their environment and notice details and patterns they can add to their artworks.
- Artists compare sizes and distances to recreate natural proportions.
- Monoprinting allows artists to reproduce and vary simple forms.
- Printing is used to create artworks and decorate textiles across cultures throughout history.
- Colors are organized into warm and cool families based on their associations with nature.
- Artists learn how to use and care for tools safely.
- People make artworks to enhance family and community celebrations.
- People make artworks to create interest and attention for events.
- Changing the balance of colors in an artwork will change the way people react to it.
Course-Level Scope & Sequence (Units &/or Skills)
Unit 1 - Clay
- Students will explore and play with clay using pinch, pull and roll to create a form.
- Students will identify the characteristics of three dimensional artwork.
- Students will discuss the value of art and why some artwork is valued over others.
Unit 2 - Portrait
- Students will make observations of their own face and those of others to create a work of art.
- Students will look to museums for portraits to compare images with the same subject.
- Students will describe how artworks illustrate daily life experiences.
Unit 3 - Monoprinting
- Students will explore the use of monoprinting materials to create a 2-D printed work of art.
- Students will vary the surfaces (plexi-glass, pizza pans and leaves) and the media (paint or printing ink) to create and reproduce unique monoprints.
Unit 4 - Warm and Cool Colors
- Students will explore primary and secondary color groupings and how they organize into warm and cool color families.
- Using the concept of color contrast, students will create a work of art highlighting warm and cool colors.
- Students will use art vocabulary to explain their color preferences.
Unit 5 - Paper Tecnniques: Fold, Cut, Tear
- Students will fold, cut and tear to manipulate paper.
- Students will use folds and edges to create symmetry.
- Students will describe reasons to use paper techniques outside of school.
Course Resources & Materials: Art of Education, Flex Curriculum & Pro Learning
Date Last Revised/Approved: 2022