Art Lesson

by Nigel Sharper

Art class is often considered to be an easy class for many middle school students. It is not always an easy class for the students or the teacher, either. One of the challenges a teacher faces is creating an art lesson that covers a specified timetable. The challenge an art teacher faces when creating an art lesson is determining a time frame in which the assignment needs to be completed. Middle school students tend to be unpredictable and each class is unique.

Sometimes students complete assignments right on time and other times they fall behind on art projects and have to work on the assignment during study hall or after school. Then again, there are times that assignments for the art lesson are finished too early and this can pose a significant problem for the teacher. Too much free time in a classroom may lead to disorder and negative behavior among the students.

In order to assure that students have plenty to do if projects are completed before anticipated it is good practice to have an extra art lesson or two handy to fill in the empty time slots. These activities should be relevant to the overall thematic unit as well as the learning criteria mandated by the state. It may seem as if each unit should contain additional lesson plans, but a creative teacher can use two or three activities that can be changed to suit each unit.

Wendy Jones, a leading educator and creative force behind teaching, has developed a number of interesting activities that art teachers can use to fill in extra time left over from assignment. One art lesson involves simple drawings with a twist. Each student is given a piece of paper on which he draws for one minute. After the minute is up, he passes the drawing to the person on the left who picks up where the last student stops.

What is appealing about Wendy Jone’s art lesson is time is not really a factor. This activity could be completed in five or ten minutes or it could continue for an entire period. Another promising aspect of this art lesson is that it can be altered to fit into different themes. For example, a teacher can focus on shading in the assignment and instruct the students to choose a light source and shade according to the source of light for each picture.

This one time-filler can be used throughout the year to keep students busy when assignments are finished too early. This activity may become so popular with the classes that the teacher may choose to make it an entire art lesson in itself.

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