 one per student
Tempera paints of different colors, including black and white
Shallow containers for mixing paints, several for each child
The students will have seen most of these books in earlier grades; here they can be browsed and/or easily read by 4th graders by way of reviewing concepts about color.
Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. New York: Scholastic,
________The Tiny Seed. New York: Scholastic, 1970.
Ehlert, Lois. Color Zoo. New York: Harper Collins, 1989.
Emberly, Edward. Green Says Go. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1968.
Jonas, Ann. Color Dance. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1989.
O'Neill, Mary. Hailstones and Halibut Bones. New York: Doubleday, 1961.
Westray, Kathleen. A Color Sampler. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1993.
Yenawine, Philip. Colors. New York: Delacorte Press, 1991.
Note for the Teacher
Material about warm, cool, primary, and secondary colors has been part of the Core visual arts curriculum beginning with Kindergarten, and the study of color was expanded in First through Third Grades. Similarly, the elements of art have been identified in lessons from First through Third Grades. Hopefully, even fourth graders who have not previously followed the Core Knowledge curriculum, will have been introduced to some of this material through other curricula. If not, you may have to supplement the September lessons, filling in with additional information and examples to illustrate some of the concepts. Since this first lesson is primarily about color, there are many simple books suitable for students to browse through themselves, with texts simple enough that they can read on their own.
Tell the class a little about the kinds of art they will be looking at in the coming months. Say: Once we have reviewed the elements of art in the first few lessons, you will find the art lessons supplement the things you are learning in History and Geography this year. That means that we will look at some American art from the Colonial period, several kinds of art from the Middle Ages in Western Europe, Islamic Europe and the Middle East, as well as medieval Africa and China. Today you need to help me make a list of the elements of art -- those things we look at especially when we look at artworks.
Give the students some hints if they need them so that they come up with the elements:
color, line, shape, texture, space and light. (They have also been briefly introduced to the concept of mass as it applies to three-dimensional works such as sculpture and architecture. You may want to add that to the list.) Brainstorm with them about each element so that you can jot a few descriptive words for each element on the list (e.g. for texture, the words might be rough, smooth, soft, hard, etc.; for line, horizontal, vertical, curved, wavy, zigzag etc.; for shape, circular, square, triangular etc.) If you prefer to have this posted in the classroom for the first few weeks of the year, the list with the elements and their descriptive words could be put on chart paper.
Next, draw the following chart on the board and ask: What colors do these letters stand for? (clockwise: yellow, green, blue, purple, red, and orange; you may want to write them out next to their respective circles) What do you notice about the circles? (3 smaller, 3 larger) What do the 3 larger have in common? (primary colors) Are those 3 also the warm colors? (no) What are the warm colors? (reds, oranges, yellows -- think of the sun, fire) What are the cool colors? (greens, blues, purples -- think of a lake, a mountain, leaves of a tree) What do the colors red, yellow, and blue have in common? (primary colors) What about purple, orange, and green? (secondary colors) What does that mean? (Secondary colors are produced by mixing two primary colors.) Ask: Who can put into words what the chart is telling us about the relationship between primary and secondary colors? (blue + yellow = green; yellow + red = orange; red + blue = purple) Be sure that the students can see what the chart is demonstrating: that, in each case, a secondary color is placed between the two primary