Art Class: Patterns using lines, dots and shapes

Hi! For some years, our school's art sketchbook has a printed cover. My students used to cover the printed cover with coloured papers before starting their design. It was only last year that I found out that I could ask for thicker plain cover for the students to design their own! So, look at the beautiful blank canvas with children's mark making. Our first lesson of the year is learning about making patterns and writing their bubble letter names. Check back again!

 

Art Class: Patterns Around Us [Part II]

The P3 children are transferring their pattern studies into a mixed media artwork. Their observations of patterns are from the school environment can be read here. They did watercolour resist work by drawing patterns with oil pastels first and applying a layer of black watercolour. I find that there is a fine line between choosing to give explicit instructions in art lessons and allowing children to discover for themselves. I will further elaborate on this point in my subsequent post. In these lessons, explicit instructions are necessary to ensure safety in the art room even though some of the instructions might seem trivial. We should never make assumptions in our teaching. Occasionally, I will still get a child who would fill up his water container to the brim and other children would help to remind him of the right amount of water that goes into it. Gaining the confidence to carry the filled containers from the basins to their workstations can easily be overlooked. Other instructions such as using sufficient pressure on the oil pastels and getting the paintbrushes to hold enough colour pigment before painting especially when we are using the watercolour cake are just some habits of mind the children have to adopt and practise regularly.  

Art Class: Patterns Around Us

In the lower primary Mathematics syllabus, the children have learnt about shapes and angles in the Geometry sub-strand. Revisiting these concepts about Patterns meant that lesson has to be applicable. The children looked for Patterns around the canteen. They had to spot for repeated shapes, lines and colours by sketching them. Next, we played a game in class where an image of a close up pattern of object is shown and they had to guess the object. The children also used DIY Tangrams and combine their pieces to make a bigger image.

These circular plastics were the byproducts of their school files :D

Photo credit: Ms Candice