For this unit students learned about Pop Art along with a few artists of the movements time Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Students received different pictures of food item containers where they had to replicate them, centered and of large scale on a thick piece of paper. Students focused on the shape of the jar and the labeling due to Pop Art's interest in popular culture. After outlining their drawings students used artists tape to create sections for the three complementary pairs of the color wheel. Students learned how to blend and shade with the opposite pairs, in the end the tape was peeled off to reveal the crisp white lines beneath. 
Vocabulary Learned: Pop Art, complementary colors, opposite pairs, blending, vibrant colors, flat colors, warm colors, cool colors, solid color, replication, centering.
Materials Used: Artists tape, oil pastels, black marker, print out food item images.

For this unit students learned about Contour art with a twist; creating an image using one line without looking. This "blind art" created a free flow sketch that didn't rely on sight but on concentration of observing an image of bugs/crustaceans/insects. Students at this age are very particular and have a difficult time letting go of that control...having no control forced a new skill of observation. After their sketch students painted in their creatures using a layering technique. The final step was to recreate their creature using wire. Students learned how to manipulate wire by twisting, pinching and bending to try to match their line drawing. 
Vocabulary Learned: Contour art, movement, volume, subject matter, "blind art", wash, layering technique, loop-twist, thread-wrap, wavy bend, manipulation, wire sculpture. 
Materials Used: Watercolor paper, pencil, creature images, black colored pencil, watercolor paint, scissors, color coated electrical wire. 

Students learned about the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead) for this unit. Using symmetry and design students first created a frame for their skull experimenting with construction crayons and their blending abilities. For their skull students used large brushes for a watercolor ground and tiny brushes for their detailed design. Neon paints were applied last before cutting out their skulls, folding in tabs and creating their 3 dimensional piece. 
​Vocabulary Learned: Frame, border, balance, design, asymmetry, symmetry, Cultural history, Calaveras, fade effect, 3-dimensional tabs, multimedia, facial proportion, line design, imagery. 
Materials Used: Construction crayons, permanent marker, tru-ray paper, watercolor paper, ink pens, watercolor paint, tempera/acrylic paint, large and small paint brushes, neon paint, scissors, clear tape. 

For this unit students learned about the ancient tradition of Indonesian Batiks. Students created artwork that transferred to cloth using gel glue. When the glue dried students then used only their primary colored watered down acrylics to paint upon the cloth revealing the dried glue as a resist to the color. Upon completion students then created patterned frames for their Batiks.
Vocabulary Learned: Batik, cropping, overlapping, Pattern, Primary colors, Secondary colors, resist, color bleeding, frame/border, repetition, outline, solid color, line design, mounting.
Materials Used: Permanent markers, cloth, gel glue, acrylic paint, watercolor paint brushes, TruRay construction paper, rulers, black markers, construction crayons. 

For this unit students learned about the culture of Morocco with a focus on architecture and pattern. Throughout students explored various media and material techniques.
Vocabulary Learned: Architecture, archways, columns, pillars, elements, Design Element: Texture, neon paint, stamp, pattern, repetition, fading.
Materials Used: Card stock, acrylic paint, patterned wallpaper, neon paint, scissors, gel glue, construction crayon, permanent marker. 

For this unit students learned how to create a self portrait using mapping lines to plot their facial features. Upon completion they used a ruler to measure out lines for their Radial Design that went on top of their portrait. Using a new painting technique students painted in their design making sure to keep everything balanced and symmetrical. 
Vocabulary Learned: Self Portrait, Proportions, facial features, mapping, Radial Design, Design Principle: Balance, wash: watercolor technique, symmetrical, Mandala. 
Materials Used: Heavy weight paper, pencil, ruler, hand held mirror, colored sharpies, watercolor paint.

This Unit involved several parts. The first step was drawing bowls of fruit & vegetables from direct observation. Students learned how to get proportions correct by looking more at their objects then at their paper. Once completed students used watercolor to mix paint colors to get as accurately as possible the various colors of their Still Life. The bowl, pedestal or plate that each table had remained free of paint, students instead using the Design Principle Pattern filled in the space. Construction crayons were used for coloring in their patterns. On a separate piece of paper students created Tessellations to fill up the page (one shape fitting inside itself) then proceeded to use Value concepts to paint in each tessellation with their one color and tint and shade: black and white. Students had the use of their own paint palettes and were instructed not to use the same value next to one another.
Vocabulary Learned: Still Life, proportions, sizing, direct observations, Design Elements & Principles, Value, Tint & Shade, blending, Tessellation, Monochromatic color, value scales, Pattern, Multi Media, color matching, highlighting.
Materials Used: 12"x18" Paper, acrylic paint, watercolor paint, paint brushes, pencil, scissors, glue, construction crayons, fake fruits and vegetables, pedestals, plates, bowls, serving trays, colored sharpies, paint palettes. 

For this unit students learned about the popular art movement of Street Art. Focusing on the Design Element Texture, students created a wing template they had to outline and flip to get the mirror image to create their final wings then used 15 learned textures to fill each side in carefully making sure to keep the wings symmetrical. Their final step was to cut out their portraits to paste between their wings. 
Vocabulary Learned: Street Art, Illusion, Texture, Design Element, Symmetry, Filled Space, Mirror Image.
Materials Used: Tru-Ray Large Construction Colored Paper, pencil, regular construction paper for template, scissors, glue, construction crayons. 

​For this several week unit students learned about Architecture from around the world. On graphing paper they planned out their own buildings within an environment...each had to include a ground, buildings, and background of some sort to create Background, Middle Ground and a Foreground. Following layered steps students figured out how to cut out each layer of their work with cardboard, and in the end learned how to color mix several colors from just six provided.
Vocabulary Learned: Architecture, Building Features, Space, Color Mixing, Background, Middle Ground, Foreground, Layering, Relief Sculpture, Detail, Texture, Design. 
Materials Used: Glue, Cardboard, Acrylic Paint, Graphing Paper, Scissors, Construction Crayon.

For this multi-step unit students learned about creating a self portrait using correct mapping techniques for proportionate facial features. The next step students drew over all pencil lines with glue to create a resist for the final step of the project. Viewing various Fauvist self portraits students got to work creating their own Fauvist styled art using eight chalk pastel techniques. The rules: Only where the glue was placed down should the color of the background paper show through. 
Vocabulary Learned: Self Portrait, Facial Features, Mapping, Proportional, Unnatural color, Fauvism, Color as Emotion, Chalk Pastel, Techniques, Stippling, Blending, Rubbing, Cross Hatching, Edge/tip design, glow effect, smudging, glue resist.
Materials Used: Large Tru-Ray colored paper, hand held mirrors, pencil, glue, chalk pastel.