Line and Pattern with 1st Graders

These early days with the young ones are spent teaching basic skills (how to stay seated on a art stool, not talking when teacher is talking, not hitting your neighbor, getting familiar with the timeout chair, etc, etc) & experimenting with art materials (markers, scissors, glue bottles).

In the project 'Bug on a Rug' students used their 'smelly' Mr. Sketch markers to draw the 4 kinds of line following step-by-step directions to create a rug pattern. This was followed by scissors work to cut fringe on the short sides of the 'rug'.

The next class had the young artists concentrating on tracing around a plastic lid and using the scissors again to cut out a circle. They chose 2 larger pre-cut circles in contrasting colors to create a body & two wings. These pieces were then glued in place to complete the 'bug'. Six legs of pre-cut strips were the last to go on.

In the third and last day, students completed anything not done previously due to absences or slowness. Construction paper crayons were used to add more lines, shapes and pattern. As my artists turned in their work, I sat with each of them and assessed them on their knowledge of line by asking them to name the lines they had used in their work...