Teaching an Art Lesson

1. Start with an inspiration. This can be a work by a famous artist or a subject (likes gorillas or flowers). Include some background on the person or topic. If it’s an artist, then using the synopsis of them from the Internet works really well. It includes their picture, a short bio, quotes, their style, and samples of their works. For topics, it’s fun to research art/artists that use that subject (e.g. flowers).
   
2. Select/highlight a work of art and engage students in a discussion guided by questions. Include open-ended questions where there can be multiple answers supported by individual ideas or thoughts. This is my favorite part, especially when it evokes lots of enthusiasm and participation. Getting students to express their opinions is surprisingly easy to do. Try not to pick on the same person repeatedly so that everyone gets a chance to contribute. I almost always learn something from the students, and I am impressed not only by their ideas and observations but also their worldliness. And what a bonus when they actually use art vocabulary!
3. Continue the discussion by comparing and contrasting the works of the same artist or two different artists, e.g. Manet and Monet.
   
4. Focus on an element or principle of art for your lesson. It should have something to do with the artwork you chose above. Making a placemat by laminating the printout of both the Elements & Principles of Art is a good way to protect the tables/desks and it reminds students of the art vocabulary they are learning or have studied in earlier lessons.
              
5. Include a warm-up exercise (time permitting) to get the creative juices flowing.

   
6. Select/develop an art project that may be completed in the remainder of your class time. Sometimes your teacher will allow students to work on finishing their assignments when they have free time. Some projects may require additional lessons to complete. For example, I like using the first lesson to create an interesting background like a tissue paper collage, followed by a second lesson that creates the foreground perhaps using black construction paper cutouts to form silhouettes.