I hear a lot of questions about how to teach Elements of Art. Although it does seems like you can incorporate the Elements of Art into almost any lesson, it is nice to lay a foundation and teach the importance of the Elements of Art. When doing this, I want my students to be able to recall all of the Elements of Art and understand why they are the building blocks to creating all art, so I came up with a few different ways to teach Elements of Art as a lesson or unit.
Elements of Art and Principles of Design Worksheets
I designed Elements of Art worksheets to be used by students at the Kindergarten level to 5th grade. Each worksheet provides prompts for the students to complete in a creative way and apply the Element in creating a work of art. I created two worksheets for each Element of Art. One is more simple for Kindergarten through 2nd grade and a more advanced version for 3th grade through 5th grade. For example, when covering color, younger students complete a simple color wheel and can identify primary and secondary colors after completing the worksheet. On the other hand, the older students complete a 12 color color wheel and can identify colors into different color schemes, such as complementary colors. I also created corresponding presentation slides that can be shown while students are working to help illustrate the concepts. My Elements of Art Elementary Bundle is available here.
Elements of Art and Principles of Design Book
I also created an accordion book with mini lessons that combine an Element of Art and a Principle of Design. I designed the lessons for my students to learn about the 7 Elements of Art and 7 Principles of Design while using a variety of mediums such as paint, collage, colored pencil, markers, pencil, and book making, of course! Because I created a YouTube video art tutorial or demonstration, and included step-by-step instructions with a printable definition of each of the Elements of Art and Principles of Design to be glued into the book, it can be done independently. When I teach the Elements and Principles and we create the book, it covers weeks of lesson plans and the students are very proud to see their finished accordion book. Click here for more information about the accordion book.
Elements of Art and Principles of Design Posters
We can find one or more Element of Art in every artwork my students create or artwork we critique in class. For this reason, I created a set of Elements of Art posters that are colorful and simple to engage my students. I needed an improvement from the mainstream posters I had when I first started teaching. We visit the posters together and discuss the concept, read the definition or I ask if the Element or Principle of Art they are learning about has been applied to their work of art. Lastly, I really like the posters hanging in my art room because it is a constant reminder of these essential building blocks of art. My Elements and Principles posters are available here.
Adding Principles of Design
When I plan my lessons, units and curriculum for the school year I always consider the Elements and Principles of Design. I begin by listing each of the Elements of Art and tailor a lesson that incorporates that particular Element of Art into the lesson objectives. Then I use the Principles of Design as the focus for additional lessons or add these Principles to an existing lesson.
For example, I teach a color theory painting lesson that covers color schemes and tints and shades. To add a Principle of Design to an Element of Art lesson, I added radial balance. Students learn about the 3 types of balance; radial, symmetrical and asymmetrical as well as learn about color schemes and creating tints and shades. These combo lessons allow me to continuously reinforce these ideas and concepts in their art making experience. I hope these ideas help you cover your bases when teaching the essential building blocks of art to your students.
Enjoy, Trista
Related Post: How to Teach Principles of Design
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