Build Positive Classroom Culture From the Start of a New School Year

4/3/2023

Build Positive Classroom Culture From the Start of a New School Year.
When we as teachers take the time to build a positive classroom culture from the very first week of school we, along with our students, have a much better outlook for a successful school year. A strong and supportive learning environment helps to foster student engagement, academic achievement, and overall well-being. The start of a new school year provides a unique opportunity to establish the foundation of a successful classroom culture.

In today's diverse and inclusive classrooms, it is important to adopt approaches that respect and celebrate these differences among students. By:

offering a variety of choices where possible, and
allowing students to exercise agency over their learning,

teachers can create an environment that is inclusive, empowering, and engaging.

All About Me Portraits art project video lesson plan grades 1-3

$9.95 $5.95

All About Me Portraits is a comprehensive art lesson plan to guide your next art project in grades 1-3, using oil pastels and water paints. Includes a PDF teaching support document and the instructional video that demonstrates every step, supporting students with drawing their self-portraits, using the element of SHAPE and the principle of PROPORTION.

2 portrait versions are demonstrated. Students also learn about the elements of COLOR (colour) and LINE while they create their shirts and backgrounds. Created with students aged 5, this lesson plan is aimed at grade 1 and grade 2 students.

Use with early elementary learners in a series of consecutive lessons. Encourage students to follow choice options and create their unique portraits, while being guided by the demonstrations in the video.

This lesson plan focuses on:

Use the element of SHAPE to structure the face and its features
Use the principle of proportion to locate facial features
Explore warm and cool color (colour) families
Explore oil pastels & water paint media (liquid or pan)

Printable and presentation drawing guides have been included in this PDF.

Teaching this lesson can be a meaningful art project for students returning to school at the start of the year, exploring inquiries into Who We Are - IB PYP. Students can express their unique identities through personal choices and modifications, while working through the project. Also makes a great extension for shared picture books.

Extend further writing Friendship Poetry or Bio Poems (LINK HERE)

This is a fully narrated video tutorial that demonstrates all drawing steps in real time.

Benefits of using a video lesson:

The lesson has already been tested
All steps are viewable from start to finish
Techniques are demonstrated
Rewind and rewatch as many times as needed
Narrated explanation adds depth to understanding art theories
Its like having an art specialist in your classroom or home
Encourages independence in learners and self management
Allows for students to work at their individual pace
Hosted on YouTube (unlisted) and accessed from the link in the PDF support document
Not cluttering up your hard drive
Added benefit of PL in Visual Art teaching for the purchasing classroom teacher
Includes a PDF lesson companion with support information
Lockdown Remote Teaching: Limited permission is granted for the purchasing teacher only, to live stream through screen sharing with their class, strictly limited for remote teaching during a government mandated lockdown

Stream the video lesson on your large screen and free yourself up to roam your classroom and support your students. Let your students follow along, pausing in places for them to complete the steps at their own pace, or rewind and rewatch when needed. This method can also offer time for opportunities to explore student responses or modifications, bringing personal creative ideas to the tutorial. Addresses the Viewing & Responding to artwork concepts.

Suits: most early primary/ elementary grades and homeschooling families.

Children will: learn to create self-portraits, use line patterns and shapes, work with oil and water resist techniques and make color (colour) selections

Learning intentions include: Draw with tutorials, Apply personal choices or modifications, Drawing, colouring and painting with accuracy (fine-motor development), Use colour with purpose (warm & cool contrast), Make artistic choices within context limits, Respond to art created by artists and by my friends, Reflect on my own artwork, skills and progress.

Media demonstrated: water colored (coloured) paint and oil pastels

Materials used: A3* art paper, drawing pencil, water colored (coloured) paints in liquid or pan form & paint brushes, scissors & glue

*A4 = 8.5 by 11 inches (215.9 by 279.4 mm) A3 = double A4

The video preview is a very short clip from the actual resource to give you an idea of my teaching style. I am both a general ed classroom teacher and currently practicing as a Visual Art and Digital Media specialist educator, teaching students from ages 4-12, at a primary school.

Also included in the support documents are:

Learning Intentions for the IB PYP and NZC at level 1 / Phase 1 but these will closely match LO's from other art curriculums.
Student Voice reflection/ assessment guides

Want more?

Find comprehensive visual art PDF lesson plans in the following sub-categories:

Visual Art K-2

Visual Art 3-5

Visual Art 6-8

And view my growing collection of video art tutorials

HERE

I would love for you to leave a rating and review to let me know what you think of this video lesson, either here or on Youtube.

TERMS OF USE

Review these TOUs prior to purchasing.

In downloading this item, you agree that you are purchasing a single user license to use this resource in your classroom or home, but this does not give you copyright.

All teaching materials sold by Help Me Learn and One Teacher's Journey are for personal and use only and may not be adapted, re-sold, distributed, or translated into any other language for re-sale. You may not remove the credit in any of my teaching materials.

Created by Timea Willemse, © One Teacher's Journey, © Help Me Learn

ABOUT VIDEO STREAMING

“Video” is a new product type on Help Me Learn where I aim to share best strategies, tips, and instructional practices through an unlisted video that can only be viewed from my YouTube channel, accessed only through the link in the PDF Download. Video resources cannot be downloaded to your computer or device. Instead, you can view them on-line, so you don’t have to download a large video file. You will have access to the file as long as you retain the link you receive in the downloadable resource PDF.

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Art Lesson LITERATURE - Goldilocks Self-Portraits - Fairy Tales (paper collage)

$8.95 $5.95

Techniques are teacher guided and includes extensive student choice opportunities.

Suitable for primary / elementary school.

This visual art lesson plan will help you to create fun self-portrait artwork with your students, in collage. Examples made with students aged 5+. All steps are clearly explained and photographed, giving you the confidence to deliver quality visual art lessons to your students. Includes opportunities for student choice.

Introduces students to shapes, stencils and layering techniques.

Students will create Portraits or Self-portraits using the art making technique of Collage
Strengthens ‘Self-to-Text’ conceptual understandings for Reading by creating a ‘Goldilocks’ portrait in their own image, e.g. ‘Ebonylocks’, Crimsonlocks or ‘Amberlocks, Curlylocks’, etc.
Some creative elements are teacher guided and others are left to the student to determine
Skill building includes: fine motor development, drawing with stencils, cutting, gluing, paper folding & curling
See art lesson resource ‘The Three Bears’ for extension on this Fairy Tale lesson
Includes Student voice reflection guide and Visual Art learning intensions for assessment (IB PYP and New Zealand Standards)

TEACHERS SUPPORTING TEACHERS

❤️ Connect with Help MeLearn by following this store on Instagram and Facebook.

Be the first to learn about new products added to the store

Please preview before you buy. If you have any questions, contact me BEFORE you purchase.

⭐️ If you value more of this resource type, please consider leaving a rating and recommending to other teachers. Every care is taken with publishing this resource and at times, errors can still sneak through. Rather than leaving a negative rating, first contact me directly and be specific in your feedback so that I can make those improvement, giving you and others the best quality resource.

TERMS OF USE

Review the TOUs prior to purchasing.

In downloading this item, you agree that you are purchasing a single user license to use this resource in your classroom, but this does not give you copyright.

All teaching materials sold by Help Me Learn and One Teacher's Journey are for personal classroom use only and may not be adapted, re-sold, distributed, or translated into any other language for re-sale. You may not remove the credit in any of my teaching materials.

Created by Timea Willemse, © One Teacher's Journey, © Help Me Learn

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One terrific way to honour each student is by ensuring that they are reflected on the classroom wall. What better way than guiding them through a successful self portrait lesson in the first few weeks.
However many of us are nervous about teaching art as we ourselves may not have had positive experiences with this subject during our own school years.

Art Lesson PORTRAITS - This is Me (paint and markers)

$9.95 $5.95

THIS IS ME back to school portraits is a comprehensive visual art lesson plan inspired by US contemporary artist, Eden Gasior. A great way to create portrait art at the start or end of the year for getting to know each other. Exploring the uniqueness of self with motivational quotes and favourite personal subject matter. Combine with a unit on New beginnings at the start of a new year. Alternatively, as a wrap-up of personal development at the end of the school year. A popular and bold option for Calendar Art fundraising as well. All steps are clearly explained and photographed, giving you the confidence to deliver quality visual art lessons to your students. Includes opportunities for student choice and work produced by each students will be unique and personal.

Students will build skills in :

self portrait photography,
drawing,
painting with liquid water colour (dye),
patterning and colour schemes.

The Lesson plan includes:

Background information about artist model Eden Gosier.
Detailed instructions to create the artwork
Photographs of every step
Teacher example
Student examples from upper primary/elementary
Guidance for teacher assessment and student reflection options
Curriculum links to Level 3 New Zealand Visual Art Curriculum
Curriculum Links to Phase 3 Responding & Creating for IB PYP
Student Voice guidance for reflections
Note-taking template for research & response
PDF teaching guide consists of 50 slides (pages).

Materials you will need include:

Wet grade art paper
Liquid water colours (artist dye)
Student photographs
Access to inspiration materials like patterns, quotes, colour schemes, etc

View a short video excerpt below.

FEEDBACK

"Thank you, all the hard work is done. Can't wait to use this in my class"

"Excellent, easy to follow instructions with beautiful examples to inspire."

"This was comprehensive and easy to use. Thank you!"

"Great activity for calendar art. My students are very excited and have already taken a pile of photos to choose from. Could also do a bit of a focus on photography - camera angles etc Thanks for the inspiration"

Use in conjunction with this poetry lesson:

WRITING POETRY: WRITE THIS IS ME POEMS IN 3 EASY STEPS

FOR MORE VISUAL ART RESOURCES CLICK HERE

TEACHERS SUPPORTING TEACHERS

❤️ Connect with Help MeLearn by following this store on Instagram and Facebook.

Be the first to learn about new products added to the store

Please preview before you buy. If you have any questions, please contact me BEFORE you purchase.

⭐️If you value more of this resource type, please consider leaving a rating. Every care is taken with publishing this resource and at times, errors can still sneak through. Rather than leaving a negative rating, first contact me directly and be specific in your feedback so that I can make those improvement, giving you and others the best quality resource.

TERMS OF USE

Review the TOUs prior to purchasing.

In downloading this item, you agree that you are purchasing a single user license to use this resource in your classroom, but this does not give you copyright.

Shop

Art Lesson PORTRAITS - Portraits in 2 Styles - Pop and Expressionism (draw, paint, oil pastels)

$9.95 $5.95

Techniques are teacher guided and includes extensive student choice opportunities.

Suitable for upper primary / elementary and middle school.

Portrait art is a perennial favourite lesson in classrooms around the world. Here is a lesson plan with a twist. Two art styles are referenced that help to distract students from fussing over resemblance and instead have fun with unusual techniques. Option 1 explores POP art styles including Lichtenstein and benday dot patterns, option 2 explores Expressionism with Modigliani. A range of media are covered - marker pens, water colour paint and oil pastels - regular supplies in most classrooms. Many opportunities are build into the lesson where students can add originality to their work and distinguish from others.

Learn more about this resource by watching the 1 min Product Video. Click VIDEOS at the top of the page.

Customer Feedback:

Very complete. Can't wait to use it!

I love this product and can't wait to use it next school year!

TEACHERS SUPPORTING TEACHERS

❤️ Connect with Help MeLearn by following this store on Instagram and Facebook.

Be the first to learn about new products added to the store

Please preview before you buy. If you have any questions, contact me BEFORE you purchase.

TERMS OF USE

Review the TOUs prior to purchasing.

In downloading this item, you agree that you are purchasing a single user license to use this resource in your classroom, but this does not give you copyright.

Shop

❤️ So take the guesswork out of teaching art, avoid the epic fails that result from not having the time to trial the lesson or media yourself before teaching it. Don't be held back by past experiences.
I’ve done it all for you and trailed all these lesson with my own students. While I may ideate many teaching resources, I only make them available to you once they have been classroom tested.
I am both a general ed classroom teacher and currently practising as a Visual Art and Digital Media specialist educator, teaching students from ages 4-12, at a primary school.

❤️ How will these portrait themed art resources help busy teachers, who are nervous about teaching art?
No worries - I’ve got you covered.
Some lesson come either as full colour PDF teacher guides, where all steps are clearly explained and photographed, from start to finish, giving you the confidence to deliver a series of quality visual art lessons to your students.
While others are a a fully narrated video demonstration, that in most cases also come with a bonus PDF teacher guide.

❤️ All the materials & skills are also clearly listed for you. It’s like having an art specialist with you in your classroom.
The PDF slides are intentionally designed in landscape orientation, to share with your students as a presentation on your large screen. This extra visual support will prove useful to you and your students, particularly diverse learners, and will also save your from having to repeat the same instructions, over and over again.
Select VIEW > enter full screen for presentation mode. Then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to drive a smooth slideshow experience, like a pro :)
Encourage students along the way, to follow choice options and create their unique artwork, while being guided, in skills and techniques, by the information on the slides.

Thank you for stopping by, If you have any questions or are looking for anything specific, please get in touch. Click the ABOUT link above and choose the CONTACT link to reach out by email.

And you can always connect with me by following along on my teaching journey at:
One Teacher's Journey Blog - (my original teacher blog)
My TPT store - One Teacher's Journey (my original store)
My Pinterest Page
The Gram
My Website - HELP ME LEARN

With love, Te Aroha
Mea

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Thoughts on Teaching

Stuck for ideas? Grab a cup of tea, put your feet up and settle in to read my teaching blog focused on all matters in teaching and Visual Art.
While this blog is a new feature on the website, I have blogged for many years as 'One Teacher's Journey'
where you are sure to find inspirational ideas and certainly hundreds of links to useful sites, ideas and teaching methods. At the very least, you would have spent some well earned down-time.
The focus of this blog is more about answering your questions related to general teaching, and Visual Art in both the general classroom as well as in a specialist one.
Thank you for spending a little time with me and my thoughts. I hope you visit often!