Bienvenue!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to come and visit. My goal with this blog is to help provide people with FSL resources that can be used to achieve the expectations of the Visual Arts curriculum. It's just in the beginning stages, but I'd like it to grow with time. You could help me by just giving me some feedback by posting a comment down below - It doesn't have to be nice, just anything that can help me make this website more useful for you.

Merci! Kristen

P.S. If you have any resources you'd like to post here, please send them to me and I can put them up. The email link is on the right. Merci encore!

Integrated Aboriginal Unit for Grade 6

Here is an integrated Aboriginal unit for grade 6 that combines expectations from both Social Studies and Visual Arts. Various Aboriginal artists are included and different mediums are explored. There is lots to see here including artist presentations, readings, activities and exemplars. To make it easier, I have split the lessons up by artist. Enjoy!

Integrated Aboriginal Art Unit

Norval Morrisseau

Here is a lesson on First Nations artist Norval Morrisseau. In the zipped folder you will find the lesson plan with a rubric, a photostory of his work and a reading comprehension. Students love this activity as they get to draw from an X-ray perspective.

Enjoy!

Norval Morrisseau Lesson

Roy Henry Vickers

Here is a lesson for one of my favourite Aboriginal artists, Roy Henry Vickers. The students use pastels to recreate a landscape in his style. The results are beautiful! The zipped folder includes a brief lesson plan, a photostory of his work and a poster to display with your students art. The second link is to see exemplars from my previous students.

Roy Henry Vickers

Grade 5 & 6 Student Exemplars

Kenojuak Ashevak

Attached you will find a brief lesson with an exemplar for the female Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashavak. There is also a link to the Virtual Museum of Canada where more information (bilingual) can be found on this amazing artist. There is also a short video that demonstrates her printing technique.

Kenojuak Ashevak
Virtual Museum of Canada

Totem Poles

Here is my favourite lesson of all time! In the zipped folder you will find a lesson plan for the totem poles and a colour wheel, assessments, readings on the colour wheel and totems and a shared reading PowerPoint for the totems. The second link is to see examples of students 2D & 3D totems. I am sure you and your students will love this one!

Totem Poles and Colour Wheel

Grade 6 Totems

Bill Reid & Culminating Task

Here is the culminating task for the integrated Aboriginal unit. You will find in the zipped folder Bill Reid Puzzle pieces, a Haida Art Photostory, the lesson plan for the culminating along with all assessments and activities, a mask template and exemplars. The masks are made with plaster but could easily be made using an alternate medium.

Culminating Lesson

Books in my library

Here is a list of some of my favourite FSL art books:

Léon le caméléon by Mélanie Watt

This is a great book for teaching complimentary colours in grade 5. The last page is devoted to colour theory. A great read aloud!

Augustine by Mélanie Watt

Another classic read aloud. Students will see various artworks that they recognize in the book. The last page goes over the artists and works that influenced Augustine's drawings.

200 idées pour peindre et dessiner

This amazing book goes through various techniques (in French!) on how to use different mediums. Colour theory, elements and principles of design, and techniques are explored.

Je deviens artiste

Another great French book that goes through different masterworks and their artists while providing short biographies and ideas to recreate the artist's techniques. The information from the biographies can be used to create shared reading materials for your classroom.

L'Art à travers les âges

This is a great book that can support teaching art history. It has 200 works of art, time lines, a glossary, and Internet links in it.

Image de l'art plus 4, 5 & 6

These are excellent resources available in our board's schools. There are large posters in the kit and the accompanying guide has useful vocabulary, glossaries and activities.

Abstract Expressionism

I love abstract art!!!! Here are some ideas for lessons for two great abstract expressionist artists: Jackson Pollock and Jean-Paul Riopelle (a French-Canadian). In the folder you will find a Powerpoint on Pollock and a brief lesson plan for Riopelle. For my Pollock lesson, I let students experiment recreating his work with a variety of tools: marbles, toothbrushes, yarn and straws. They then have to justify their favourite work. I have them fill out the self-evaluation that can be found on the side bar of this blog. This is experiential learning at its best! The second link is website where you can create your own Jackson Pollock art - the students love this one!

Abstract Expressionism

Create your own Pollock

Vincent Van Gogh

One of my favourite artists, Vincent Van Gogh loved to use texture in his paintings. In the zipped folder, you will find a worksheet I created on texture (it explains the difference between real and simulated texture). There is also a PowerPoint I found on Van Gogh's art, it plays Don McLean's Vincent but translates the words into French throughout the presentation. The second link is to see examples of student work. To create texture in their paintings, I mixed white glue with acrylic paint to obtain a thicker consistency.

Van Gogh Lesson

Grade 5 & 6 Student Exemplars

Piet Mondrian

Here is a lesson on Piet Mondrian. While it is targeted for the grade 2 level, it could easily be modified to suit the upper levels. Mondrian is also a great artist to integrate into Math lessons. On a fun note, try your hand at Pac-Mondrian with the link below. It goes to show you the influence art has on popular culture!

Mondrian Lesson
Pac-Mondrian

Ancient Greek Urns

Here you will find a brief lesson plan as well as a template of an ancient greek urn. Students love this project as it includes mosaics and scratch art. This is a great lesson for integrating the grade 5 Social Studies curriculum (Ancient Civilizations).

Ancient Greek Urns

Ancient Greek Masks

Attached you will find a PowerPoint on Ancient Greek theatre and the use of masks. I have had students create masks in my class in a variety of ways with a variety of mediums. I prefer creating half masks as students can then use the masks to display various emotions in drama. The second link show examples of masks made by my previous students

Ancient Greek Theatre

Grade 5 & 6 Mask Exemplars

Positive and Negative Space

Here is a PowerPoint on the phases of the moon (Grade 6 Science). The last slide explains the activity. Students use white chalk to draw the various phases of the moon. This is a great activity for teaching shading techniques as well as positive and negative space.

Phases of the moon

Lawren Harris

Lawren Harris is my favourite artist from the Group of Seven. Attached you will find a Photostory of his work. This is a great tie in for Canada's Regions (grade 4) or even while discussing climate change (Grade 5). Students could choose their medium to attempt to create a landscape in his style. It is also a great Math activity as students can use tangrams. Enjoy!

Lawren Harris

Lines of all kinds

A quick and fun activity to review the types of lines is to have the students take a square paper and fold it into 16 equal squares. Students then need to draw different types of lines in every square. We brainstorm as a class before they begin. To add another element, students pick a colour scheme for their art: primary, secondary, tertiary, warm, cool or monochromatic colours. This is a great review of colour theory too! This activity works really well with markers (and we all know how much students LOVE using markers :)

PS Click on the image if you want to see it in a larger version