I spend a lot of time on planning for my art lessons, usually wanting to fit in with a class topic or school theme. I research artists whose work students can view and use for inspiration.
I often look for ideas for student artwork on the topic, thinking about what mediums need to be covered, for example clay, fibre arts, painting, etc. Then I look for the Elements of art that can be covered, skills, techniques and processes to be engaged with, and adaptations for the year level.
Each lesson will have a learning intention and success criteria, and this is made explicit to the students, so they know what they need to show, do or achieve.
As I am teaching in Victoria, Australia, we use the Victorian Curriculum which has four strands (Explore and Express, Visual Art Practices, Present and Perform, and Respond and Interpret) all of which involve making and responding to art. Most primary school art Curriculums will have similar structure, standards and descriptors.
The 5E learning sequence (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend/Elaborate/ Explain) is really helpful to plan a flow of activities in the description of the learning activities and also to make sure I have provided opportunities for assessment in the various strands.
I want to share my lessons and unit plans so that other art teachers may just find it saves some time not having to write/type up the details of every lesson. I’m always on the lookout for ready made lessons I can cut and paste into my documents, but more often than not, I am writing my own.
I will add lesson and unit plans and templates as I go along!
Primary School Art 