Selected art lessons from my teaching experience, including student teaching and Saturday Art Workshop through CCSU. I developed all material and content on this page. Navigate by grade level or by individual lesson. Click on the title of each lesson to see more information.
For more resources I created, see my Youtube Channel.
Wolcott Elementary (West Hartford, CT) Spring 2026
Central Focus: Students learn about texture and contrast by creating an artwork that uses texture rubbings and multiple different colors. Students define, identify, and create texture in their artwork in multiple different ways (texture rubbings, cut paper border). They also discuss making each part of the artwork "stand out" (contrast) and create contrast by avoiding repeated colors in adjacent shapes and choosing an appropriate crayon color for their paper.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr2.1.Ka, VA:Re8.1.Ka
Vocabulary: Texture
Initiation: Students listen to the story They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel. As a class, we discuss what texture is, and what textures they saw in the story. I show some objects they recognize on the board, and we discuss what texture words we can use to describe them.
Closure: Each class, students participate in a gallery walk where they observe their classmates' work. Often, I ask for a volunteer to give a compliment to a friend that relates to our focus of the day.
Assessment: A successful work of art should have at least 3 different texture rubbings that use the proper technique. It should also have different colors in each adjacent shape, texture rubbings in colors that contrast with the color of the paper, and a complete paper border with a "noodly" texture.
Wolcott Elementary (West Hartford, CT) Spring 2026
Central Focus: Students learn about tints and shades and their purposes by creating a cityscape painting that incorporates them. Students paint the sky using only one color and white to create a at least five values from pure color to pure white, then mix a shade of their color to add a cityscape in silhouette.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr3.1.2a, VA:Re.7.1.2a
Vocabulary: Value, tint, shade
Initiation: Students listen to the story Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds and then look at some of the images of the sky from the story. We discuss what elements of art we could use to describe them, and then dive deeper into value, tint, and shade.
Closure: After painting each class, I ask students responding questions that they must answer before they line up, and they must use art words in their answer (value, tint, shade). "What was the easiest/hardest part of painting today? What color do you think would be the hardest color to make tints with? Why?"
Assessment: A student's final artwork should show a clear, smooth transition between pure white and pure color, with at least five total values. There should also be a consistent shade for the silhouette that is not pure color or pure black.
Wolcott Elementary (West Hartford, CT) Spring 2026
Context: I taught this lesson near the end of my student teaching placement to supplement my host teacher's next lesson, which asked students to create implied form with colored pencil in drawings of dragon eyes. There are some images of student work that include the dragon eyes, but my lesson was only on the skill building portion.
Central Focus: Students learn and practice a variety of techniques to create value and implied texture in their colored pencil drawings. Their overall goal is to create implied form, which they use in a later project.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr2.1.4a, VA:Re8.1.4a
Vocabulary: Value, hatching, stippling
Initiation: As a class, students look at an illustration on the board and discuss the ways the artist implied form (made it "look 3D") with colored pencil. Then, they look at an example of each major technique that is cropped from the illustration, and discuss how the technique is used to create different values. For example, a dark stippled value will use many dots, and a lighter value uses fewer.
Closure: Students leave their worksheets at their seats, and quietly walk around the room to observe their peers' work. They stop at a classmates' worksheet and raise their hands to give a compliment to the artist. Students must use "value" or explain how a specific technique was successful in their answer.
Assessment: A successful worksheet demonstrates understanding of 6/8 of the techniques. Students recieve an "exceeds" grade by completing more techniques correctly, or by using one of the techniques to shade a sphere.
Wolcott Elementary (West Hartford, CT) Spring 2026
Context: I taught this lesson beginning in February. My host teacher has a yearly tradition of incorporating a shoe design lesson with "Rock Your Socks" Day on March 21. The shoe templates come from kicksart.com. I will be focusing mainly on my instruction about brand design.
Central Focus: Students learn about brand design, focusing specifically on how brands use line, shape, and color to create a unique identity. Students choose a brand to study that has a distinct look, and create a brand guide by researching the brand's website and merchandise. They take visual notes on the colors, logo, and other elements of art used. They use their brand guide to create a new design based on their research, as if they were a graphic designer hired by the company.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr1.2.5a, VA:Re.7.2.5a, VA:Cn11.1.5a
Vocabulary: Brand guide, graphic designer
Initiation: In a slideshow, I show students a variety of merchandise that evokes brands but does not explicitly name them. Students guess what brand the items represent, and then explain what elements led them to that answer. (Ex. Dunkin branded dog toys are shaped like donuts and have specific lines and colors.) Students should point out elements of art they can see in the design.
Closure: On the first day of this lesson, students gather back in front of the board to watch a video about the graphic design process. We discuss what parts of the video are similar to our process in class.
Assessment: A successful brand guide should have a carefully drawn logo, at least 3 colors, at least 3 design elements, and at least 2 thumbnail designs before the student moves on to their final design.
Saturday Art Workshop (CCSU) Spring 2025
Central Focus: Students learn about collage, texture, and Nick Cave by discussing his work, then creating a 2-dimensional collage based on his Soundsuits series.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr1.1.5a, VA:Re.7.1.5a
Vocabulary: Texture (actual), collage
Initiation: Students watch a video about Nick Cave's Soundsuits. Students divide into small groups that each look at a photo of a specific Soundsuit, and answer responding questions. Ex. "What is unusual about this work of art? What would it feel like if you touched it? Do you think the artist had a specific story in mind?"
Closure: After creating the initial sketch, students brainstorm a list of materials they could use in their final. A few students share their ideas with the class.
Assessment: A successful Soundsuit should have 3+ different uses of texture, and fill the page. Students also must participate in a final critique by describing another classmates' texture.
Saturday Art Workshop (CCSU) Spring 2025
Central Focus: Students learn about pattern, landscape, and the printmaking process by designing a landscape that uses only linework, which they use to create a styrofoam print plate.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr2.1.5a, VA:Re8.1.5a, VA:Cn10.1.5a
Vocabulary: Landscape, printmaking, plate
Initiation: Students observe and discuss a series of artworks with varying degrees of realism that depict landscapes-- Hudson River Valley School, Impressionism, Roy Lichtenstein. We discuss what is similar and different between each artwork, and what a "landscape" is.
Closure: At the end of the first day, students debate whether a specific Roy Lichtenstein piece should be considered a landscape. They defend their opinion with their knowledge of what a landscape usually depicts.
Assessment:
Southington High School (Southington, CT) Spring 2026
Central Focus: Students create an image of a specific object placed on a mirror to create a unique backdrop. The students take their own backdrop photo, which must relate to their object through color, texture, or theme.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr2.1.IIa, VA:Re.7.2.IIa, VA:Cn10.1.IIa
Vocabulary: texture, color, contrast
Initiation: When students are introduced to the project, they choose an object from the class collection or an object from home. Students brainstorm ways to take textured images outside of class (grass, tree bark, rocks, pavement, buttons, beads, string). I emphasize that the background in my exemplar uses a complementary color, making the object stand out, and also highlights the function of the object as a portable camera that can be taken outside the studio.
Closure: Students engage in a class critique, where each student must respond at least once. Students observe their peers' photographs and judge whether it was successful, on a technical level (lighting, framing, technique) and a conceptual level (theme, branding).
Assessment: At the end of the unit, each student should have a successful photograph that uses a mirror to create a unique background. The background photo should be well considered and related to the central object, and the final photo should be technically well presented. Students must also meaningfully engage in the final critique.
Karen Smith Academy (Southington, CT) Spring 2026
Context: Karen Smith Academy is an alternative high school in Southington, CT. The art class is a 4-year requirement, and students often struggle to engage in their work compared to a traditional school setting. The aim of this lesson was to have a strong concept that students could engage with at any level they were ready to.
Central Focus: Students learn about exaggeration and the steps of the creative process by designing and building a sculpture that depicts a familiar animal with distinct exaggeration. They create many different sketches, and narrow down their ideas before they build their final sculpture out of tinfoil and air dry clay.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr1.1.Ia, VA:Cn10.1.Ia
Vocabulary: Exaggeration
Initiation: Students begin by making observational drawings from laminated photos of animals, which they draw over with basic shapes using dry-erase markers. They use those basic shapes to create a pencil sketch on separate paper, and then add details.
Closure: Students present their exaggerated animals to each other and discuss their process, including how they decided on their final sculpture plan, what went well, and what they struggled with.
Assessment: Students receive a paper rubric to reference. They should have at least 6 initial animal drawings, 4 exaggerated animal drawings, a detailed sculpture plan, and a final sculpture that is stable and fully covered with air dry clay.
Southington High School (Southington, CT) Spring 2026
Context: This unit was for a Theater Arts class, where my host teacher had been teaching puppetry. The class functions as one long unit, where students draft and slowly bring a production to life over the course of the semester. This segment of the class was what I taught during the first half of my placement.
Central Focus: Students learn about the processes involved in creating a live performance piece. In this section, students focus on designing and constructing their own puppet theater. Each student creates their own design for the class theater, which is decided by vote. Then, students work collaboratively to ensure the plan is executed well, and that all students contribute to the final product.
Standards Addressed: VA:Cr2.3.Ia, VA:Pr5.1.Ia, VA:Cn10.1.Ia
Vocabulary: sketch, proposal
Initiation: Students are introduced to the idea of creating a class puppet stage. As a class, I show some examples of puppet theaters for inspiration, which students can also reference on their Canvas page. Each student will create their own proposal for the stage using a worksheet to design each piece.
Closure: Students test the stage by using it to practice their performance, then reflect as a class on any changes that should be made, and delegate tasks to achieve those changes.
Assessment: Each student should create their own design proposal that is submitted for voting. Students must meaningfully participate in the construction of the theater.