Chelsea Miller

ECE Art Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan & Big Idea: Looking From Above: Snowman. The big idea for this lesson would be
perspective. This lesson looks at a snowman from the aerial point of view instead of the classic front
view and how those may be different.
Grade Level/Month: 1st Grade, Winter
Class Periods Required: 1 class period
Lesson Overview/Summary: Young artists will investigate what different perspectives of an object look
like. They will look at snowmen from different views. Then the young artists will discuss how the
snowmen look different in each view. The students will then create a snowman from the aerial view.
With the finished product they will be able to see how different something can look when you see it in a
different way.
Key Concepts: Creating a scene with different colors, papers, and heights. Careful observation to see
the differences of various perspectives. Winter time, snow, and snowmen.
Essential Questions: How does engaging in creating art enrich peoples lives? Why do artists follow or
break from established traditions? Why are not everyones views the same? How does art help us to
better understand the world around us?
Art Standards: Artistic Process: Creating: Organize & Develop artistic ideas and work. 1: Explore uses
of materials & tools to create works of art or design
Core Academic Standards:
Visual Arts: Strand 1: Product/Performance: 3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and themes in
artworks created for various purposes Create original artwork that communicates ideas about the
following themes: People (e.g., self, family, friends) Animals (e.g., pets, farm, zoo, wild) Things (e.g.,
toys, tools, food)
Science: Strand 5: Processes and Interactions of the Earths Systems. 2. Earths Systems. Observe and
describe the general weather conditions that happen during each season.
Content Areas Integrated: Visual Arts & Science
Identify & Define Common Vocabulary/Concepts: Color and Snow
Procedure:
1. Begin the lesson by talking about what snow is.(Frozen water droplets that come down instead of
rain when it is winter time because of the cold temperatures. Let the students tell you what they
think it is first though). (5 min. max)
2. Talk about things that you can do in the snow (play, snow ball fights, sledding, skiing, making
volcanoes, snowmen, etc.) (5 min. max)
3. Then begin talking about how sometimes people make snowmen when there is snow on the
ground. Show them a picture of a snowman. (5-10 min)

Chelsea Miller
ECE Art Lesson Plan
4. Then talk with the students about how though this view is probably what they have all seen how
different a picture could look like if it were taken from a different angle. Show examples and
have them discuss how they are different and still similar. (10 min)
5. Show them the example and pass out all of the materials. (Less than 5 min)
6. Give them the directions for how to make the snow men. They will need three shapes: big,
medium, and small. They can color blue around the outside of the circle if they would like to.
Have them roll pieces of tape and put each circle on top of each other. Then add the scarf onto
the middle ball. (The students can decide how they want to make the scarf). Tell the students to
make a face for their snowmen in any way they choose. (5 minutes)
7. Let them create. (25-30 min)
8. Clean up and let them hang up their artwork around the room with tape that I will give them. (10
minutes).
Prior Knowledge: How to roll tape. How to cut circles. Safe scissor handling. How to make a face.
The names of colors. What snow is.
Activities to engage students in imagining, exploring, and experimenting: The students will have an
opportunity to use their imagination on what they think the snowmen will look like from an aerial point of
view. I didnt have a ton of directions in the procedure because I wanted the students to be able to think
of their own way to make a snowman from a different perspective. They will be able to be imaginative
about what they think a snowman looks like from a different perspective. They will get to explore and
experiment when making the snowman to see if they like the way it looks or if they need to change parts
of it around to make it look like it is from an aerial perspective. They will be encouraged to figure out
how to make it look like a snowman from the top view in their own, unique way.
Reflecting/revising and improving their work and understanding: Each student will have an
opportunity to reflect on what they made during their work time and how they chose to make decisions
about each part. I will talk with the students, as a class, about the struggles they may have had making the
piece and what might have been helpful. We can talk about those struggles and how they might be able to
fix the problems. After our group discussion they can head back to their work and use those strategies
that we talked about.
Sharing their learning, understanding, and work in the lesson: I will have the students do a gallery
walk, so that they can see everyones work and share it with one another. Then at the end we will have
one more group discussion where they can all have the opportunity to talk about what they saw during the
walk, what they learned through the process, and how their thinking changed.
Adapting the lesson to differently-abled students: To cater this lesson to students that may have
different needs I would have circles cut out ahead of time in case someone is not able to cut well. I would
also have friends who may not be very challenged by this piece help the students that have a really hard
time with this piece follow directions. This helps to entertain the student that may be able to finish really
quickly and also really helps out the student that wouldnt be able to do it on their own.