For this unit students learned about Contour art, watercolor techniques and wire sculpture. Students had to manipulate new materials while improving hand-eye coordination. 
Vocabulary Learned: Contour art, watercolor techniques, silhouette, interior and exterior line, layering technique, wash, texture, wire sculpture, connection types- wrap & twist, hand-eye coordination. 
Materials Used: Watercolor paper, pencil, black colored pencil, watercolor paint, electrical color coated wire. 

For this unit my Student Teacher Kayla Thoits had the opportunity to teach Value through the inspiration of the artist Keith Haring. Keith Haring was a street artist in the late eighties and early nineties where he created glorified stick figures through pose and movement incorporating vibrant colors. Students learned how to mix paint to gain three values using one of their primary colors and then another three values through complementary colors.
Materials Used: Pencil, scissors, black crayon, glue, tempera/acrylic paint, ruler. 
Vocabulary Learned: Keith Haring, Street Art, Movement, Value, Design Element, Color Wheel, Complementary colors, Primary colors, outlining, 

For this unit students learned about the Design Element Texture through the inspiration of Moroccan Pottery and their rich culture. When creating textures instead of using materials such as bubble wrap or sandpaper students instead created the illusion of texture through design. This multi media project involved learning correct painting techniques and the freedom of color and design. 
Materials Used: Pencil, sharpie, white crayon, construction crayon, watercolor paint. 
Vocabulary Learned: Design Element, Texture, Illusion, Design, Symmetry, Moroccan Tradition, Pottery, watercolor resist, solid coloring, soft round brushes, sizing. 

Students learned about One Point Perspective for this unit that included looking at Optical Illusion work from famous Graphic Designer MC Escher. Students learned how to create their own optical illusion making them appear more 3-dimensional with the help of prismacolor colored pencils, highlighting and shading. Students learned different watercolor techniques to paint in the tops of their shapes as well as the background for their photograph and Illusion. 
Vocabulary Learned: Professional Grade Materials, less wax-more pigment, Optical Illusion, MC Escher, vanishing point, warm versus cool colors, wet on wet watercolor techniques, shading & highlighting, Value, design, One point perspective, OP Art.
Materials Used: Prismacolor colored pencils, pencils, rulers, erasers, watercolor paint, watercolor paper, thin tape, scissors, glue. 

For this unit students learned about the rich Oaxacan Folk art of Oaxaca Mexico. Manuel Jimenez in the 1940s-60s was the father of the wood carving tradition that grew into a massive movement when influential tourists such as the Rockafellers purchased his work and brought them into the States. Known for their exaggerated features and bold colors students created their own small scale sculptural Oaxacan animal that had to stand on its own. Painting a base coat helped make their neon patterns pop while they used a very small paintbrush to achieve the traditional look. 
Vocabulary Learned: Oaxacan animal, small scale sculpture, free standing work, Folk art, elements, patterns, focus work, base coat, exaggerated features. 
Materials Used: Wood pieces, hot glue, acrylic/tempera paint, small paintbrushes, neon paint. 

For this unit students learned about the female American artist Georgia O'keeffe. After viewing works of O'keeffe's students each got their own object to draw to emulate her style of zooming in and cropping that made her the mother of the art movement Modernism. Students had to crop their object off a large piece of paper on at least three sides before getting oil pastels. With the oil pastels they made sure to dissect the coloring of their object and tried to replicate the color with various blending and layering techniques to get the vibrant colors that O'keeffe was so famous for.
Vocabulary Learned: Georgia O'keeffe, Magnification, zoomed in, cropping, color blending, color layering, Design Element Space, direct observation, art movement Modernism, Vibrancy, pigment, large scale. 
Materials Used: 11"x11" TruRay construction paper, various objects for direct observation, pencils, oil pastels.

For this unit I incorporated math and puzzle work when students had to create their own Tessellations. After they had covered a piece of paper with their Tessellation each student received their own paint palette to be able to mix 18 different values of one color. The next step involved creating a still life upon a gray piece of paper where they learned placement, proportions, how to shade and highlight their work. 
Vocabulary Learned: Tessellation, infinite, Design Element Value, value scale, tint & shade, monochrome, still life, light sources, shading, blending, natural versus unnatural light, proportions, placement.
Materials Used: Card stock paper, 2"x2" card stock paper for tessellation, scissors, tape, pencil, sharpie, tempera/acrylic mix paint, gray scale paper, ebony pencil, prismacolor white colored pencils, glue, Still Life setup (plastic fruits & vegetables, cloth). 

Students learned more about their Design Element Value along with a new Element: Space. Space for this unit referred to how they designed a landscape using simple lines to get their Foreground, Middle ground and Background. When they had accomplished this they replicated it onto their self portrait created before using a system of mapping lines and looking into a mirror to get as close to their likeness as possible. This in depth unit taught students how to properly use materials and tools properly, see colors differently, see their reflection and render their portraits to the best of their ability.  
Vocabulary Learned: Self Portraits, Space, Value, mapping lines, facial features, proportions, silhouette lines, outlines, background, middle ground, foreground, watercolor techniques, wash, layering, replication, placement, reflection.
Materials Used: Pencils, sharpie, mirrors, watercolor paint, watercolor brushes, prismacolor colored pencils. 

For this unit students learned about the historical tradition of Kente culture originating from Ghana during the 12th century. Students learned traditional shape/symbol meanings as well as color meanings within the cloth. Students began with choosing colors based upon meaning for themselves, wove those colors into a pattern and created a cloth design only using shapes and symbols learned. Students learned how to tie double knots, stitch with two different patterns on a vertical and horizontal ground they created. This unit involved extensive hand/eye coordination as well as yarn manipulation skills.
Vocabulary Learned: Kente Cloth, culture, traditional wear, shape/color/symbol meanings true to Kente tradition, Patters, stitch patterns, double knot, geometric shapes, bold colors, balance, symmetry, asymmetry, weaving, vertical, horizontal. 
Materials Used: Strips of TruRay construction paper, glue, black markers, rulers, construction crayons, plastic needles, yarn, scissors. 

Students learned about their Design Elements Form, Texture and Value for this multi media unit. Students viewed the work of famed artist Jeff Koons as inspiration for their forms and to better understand the meaning of Form versus Shape. 
Vocabulary Learned: Design Elements, Form, 3 Dimensional vs. 2 Dimensional, Illusion, Texture, shading techniques, solid color, value, sizing, direct observation, sketch, sculpture, Jeff Koons. 
Materials Used: TruRay colored paper, elmers black markers, pencil, crayon, tempura paint, black crayons, scissors, glue.