1st Grade: Elements of Art: Line /Lesson Organizer

Lessons taken from What Your First Grader Needs to Know and the Core Knowledge Teacher Handbook
The Big Idea: Of the generally recognized elements of art – color, line, shape, form, space, light (value), and texture – children will study
color, line, shape, and texture.

ELEMENTS OF ART Vocabulary

Form: any three dimensional object
Geometric shape: precise and sharply defined shape such as a triangle, square, or circle
Organic shape: shape that is irregular in outline, often found in nature
Primary color: color that cannot be made by mixing other colors together (red, yellow, blue)
Secondary color: the color (orange, green, purple) that results from mixing two primary colors
Shape: a two dimensional enclosed area
Texture: an artwork’s real or implied surface quality, such as rough , smooth

Domain Vocabulary: line, horizontal, diagonal, vertical, zig zag, outline, wavy, curved, spiral, composition,

What Students Need to Learn:

1. Identify and use different lines and observe them in Matisse’s The Swan, O’Keefe’s, Shell No. 1, and Lawrence’s, Parade.

At a Glance: The most important ideas for students in this section are:
1. Artists use different types of line in their art.
2. Color and line can be used to create shape in art to suggest real texture when working with two dimensions.
3. Children should have chances to use color, line, shape, and texture in art projects.

Thinking
# Method Objectives Higher Order Questioning Materials
Framework
Demonstration Students will explore lines with different materials Q. Which line set do you likePaper, Knowledge,
Class and repetition of lines creating visual effects. best and why? pencils, Patterns
Discussion, poster with Modeling
Activity Lesson Ideas: Q. How does the look change different Creativity
1. Take a pencil and make a dot on a sheet of when you press hard or press kinds of
paper lightly with the markers or lines,
2. Put the pencil on the dot and let it wander away crayons? different
from it. Now you have a line. materials,
A line starts with a dot and then goes somewhere. markers, fat
There are all types of lines. Straight, wavy, curved, and skinny,
zigzag, spiral, etc. crayons,
3. Use different materials, markers, fat and skinny, chalk,
crayons, chalk, pencils, etc. to fill their page pencils
with different lines.
Option #1 - students first draw a head and the
different kinds of lines are the hair
Option #2 – Students draw a star on the far
corner of their paper and the different kinds of
lines come out of the star – like a shooting star.
4. Experiment with how hard to press and how it
changes the look.

Demonstration Students will draw an animal using only straight Q. How do the curved lines Paper, Knowledge,
Class lines and another drawing of an animal out of only or straight lines change the pencils, Patterns
Discussion, curved lines. (Link to 1st grade Science Habitat impression of the animal? Modeling
Activity study) Creativity

Lesson Ideas:
1. Draw a real or imaginary animal using only
curved lines.
2. Draw the same animal using only straight lines.
 Students will explore repetition of lines creating Q. What kinds of lines are Hand out
visual effects. repeated in The Swan and paper
The Parade? divided into
Lesson Ideas: six sections
1. Draw a straight line and then repeat nearly
exactly as possible 5 or 6 times. Do the Reproductio
same with curved, spiral, zig zag, wavy, ns of
spiral lines. Matisse’s
2. Ask which line group they like best. Swan and
Show art work that uses repeated lines like Matisse’s Lawrence’s
Swan and Lawrence’s Parade. Parade.
Demonstration Students will be introduced to Matisse’s drawing of Q. What type of lines does Reproductio Knowledge
Activity The Swan and make a simplified animal drawing. Matisse use for the neck of n of Modeling
the swan? Matisse’s Patterns
Lesson Ideas: drawing of Creativity
1. Be shown Chinese brush painting animals that The Swan
also use very few lines. and Chinese
2. Follow Matisse’s example by drawing an brush
animal using only a few basic lines. Use as few painting
lines as possible and others still can see what animals that
animal it is. also use
very few
lines.

Pencils,
markers and
white paper
Demonstration Students will be introduced to O’Keefe’s Shell #1 Q. What is this kind of line Lots of Knowledge
Activity painting. (Link to 1st Grade study of Ocean Habitat) called? shells, Modeling
A. Spiral paper, Patterns
A spiral line is a line that keeps curving inside itself. pencils and Creativity
Q. Have you ever slid down thin marker
Lesson Ideas: a spiral sliding board?
1. Learn about Georgia O’Keefe’s Shell painting Some music
focusing on line and motion and trace the line Q. Did you notice anything selections of
 with their finger. new about O’Keefe’s different
2. Stand in their own space and translate the spiral painting after having tempos from
line into a gesture using whole body. Play some physically exploring the 1st grade
music selections to encourage movement with spiral line. music
the spiral inspiration. curric.
3. Pass out real shells and students will draw their
own versions. They can outline with thin
markers
4. Focus on how to use line to depict the shells.

Questions that each students should be able to

answer at the end of this section:

1. What are the four elements of art we have

studied this year?
A. Line, shape, texture, and color.
2. Name some different kinds of lines.