 colors that make up that secondary color.
Ask: How else can we make changes in a color? How could we lighten or darken it? (create different shades of a color -- add a bit of white to lighten the shade, a bit of black to darken the shade) Provide some examples for the class -- first producing a lighter shade of a color by adding white, then producing a darker shade by mixing color with just a bit of black. (Be sure they notice how little black is needed to produce a darker shade.) Tell the students that they are each going to choose three colors of paint plus black and white to use in a painting. Remind them that if two of the colors are primary colors, they will be able to produce a secondary color with them and that they can produce any number of shades by experimenting with adding small amounts of black or white to a color.
Pass out paper, shallow containers, and the paints to each student. Have them each draw lightly with pencil two large, simple objects side by side on the paper. It could be two large pieces of fruit, two outlines of faces in profile, two animals, two houses -- anything whose outlines are clear and simple. Circulate among the class, making sure that the objects are simple and large. Then tell them to draw three horizontal lines from edge to edge on their papers, so that each line passes through the two objects they have drawn and intersects with their outlines. Circulate around the room again to make sure the students have completed that much before going on.
Once the first steps have been completed, have the students observe that they have created many different sections in their drawings. They are to finish the art works by painting every section a different color or shade. If there is time when they have finished their paintings, you may want to brainstorm with them about the kinds of designs they have created with their careful use of various colors and shades.
Note: Have the children note their shadows and the shadows of buildings, people, etc. going to and from school for the next week so they can bring their observations to the next art lesson.
***Color wheel adapted from Gene Baer, Paste, Pencils, Scissors &
Crayons. West Nyack, NY.: Parker Publishing Company, 1979.
Fourth Grade - Visual Arts - Lesson 2 - Light and Shadow
Investigate changes in shadows created by a shifting light source.
Observe differences between shadows out of doors and those inside the classroom.
Experiment with drawing shadows out of doors.
Text of "My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson, printed below
Stake, branch, or stick (at least 2 ft) with sharp tip
Rock about 4" in diameter
Drawing paper, 1 for each child
Suggested Books Strongly Recommended to Supplement the Lesson
Goor, Ron & Nancy. Shadows: Here, There, and Everywhere. New York: Crowell, 1981.
Gore, Sheila. My Shadow. New York: Doubleday, 1989.
Both of these books have excellent photographs that will help the students to understand more about the observations they will have made about their shadows.
Note to Teacher
According to the Core Knowledge curriculum, the students study simple optics in Third Grade science. You may want to look at the Third Grade Scope and Sequence for January to see what material you can build upon in this art lesson.
In order for this lesson to be most effective, you will need to take the students outside on a day with sunshine, so you may need to save it for a time when those conditions are easily met.
Start the lesson by taking the class outdoors on a sunny day with the materials listed above. (It might be helpful if each student brought along a notebook as a hard surface for drawing out of doors.) Put the stake into the ground in a way that the sun casts a very clear shadow. Observe with the students exactly where the shadow falls, and have someone mark that place with the rock. (You may want to have the student write the exact time in chalk on the rock.)
Find a comfortable place for everyone to sit down, then read or recite the Stevenson poem to the class. Many of the students will have studied the poem in First Grade. Those who r