ARTE 342: Lesson Plan - Creature Inventions

# 1 Day / # 1

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Name: Laura Hulseberg

DAILY PLAN
Lesson Title: Creature Inventions

Grade Level: K

Skills:
Students will understand how to safely use scissors to cut out shapes and apply glue to combine shapes.
Anchor Standard 2 Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
VA:Cr2.2.K - Identify safe and nontoxic art materials, tools, and equipment.
Students will demonstrate how to use creativity in assembling an invented animal by making multiple
drawings using shapes and building an invented animal with cut-out shapes.
Anchor Standard 2 - Organize and develop artistic ideas and work
VA:Cr2.1.K - Through experimentation, build skills in various media and approaches to
artmaking.
Students will identify geometric shapes, and relate them to the shapes body parts.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.2
Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size.
Students will recognize that they use their imagination to invent new things.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.5.C - Identify real-life connections between words and their use
(e.g., note places at school that are colorful).
Students will draw a combination of geometric shapes in order to construct an animal invention.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.B.5
Model shapes in the world by building shapes from components and drawing shapes.
Enduring Questions:
What other imaginative shapes can you add to your invented animal?
How do artists and designers learn from trial and error?
Overall Lesson Objective:
Given Eric Carle inspired papers from a previous lesson, an interactive discussion on the geometric
shapes that can form body parts, students will design, cut out and glue together a combination of
shapes that imaginatively depicts an animal invention that is personally meaningful.
BIG IDEA Individual Identity and Development, Math (Geometric Shapes)
Blooms Revised Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
Technical Skill Students will draw their own geometric shapes, use scissors to cut out shapes and
glue the shapes together.
Formal Qualities Students imaginatively combine shapes together to create an imaginative animal
invention.
Conceptual Complexity Students will demonstrate their understanding that artists use imagination
to invent new ideas. Students will combine many shapes that represent body parts and features to
make invented animals.

Essential questions for the day:

ARTE 342: Lesson Plan - Creature Inventions

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How can you use your imagination in building an animal invention?

In what ways can you build a new, invented animal that no one has ever seen before?
Do you want to invent an animal that lives on land? An animal that lives in water?
Do you want to invent an animal that flies?

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE - Imagination, Invention, Sketch, Shapes (square, circle, triangle, rectangle, oval)

Assessment Criteria:

OBJECTIVE 1
Technical Skill
Drawing and cutting of
shapes

OBJECTIVE 2
Formal Quality
Use of shapes (to create
an animal invention)

OBJECTIVE 3
Conceptual Complexity

Creative expression

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.2
Correctly name shapes
regardless of their
orientations or overall size.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.B.5
Model shapes in the world by
drawing shapes.

HIGH
PERFORMANCE
Student consistently
draws shapes, makes
sketches, and cuts
shapes independently
with only the
demonstration as
direction.
Students use a variety
of shapes in a highly
effective manner to
convey an animal
invention. Animal
includes head, body,
and appendages, plus 2
or more other body
parts or features.
Student can
enthusiastically and
confidently describe
how he/she created an
invented animal and its
personality. Uses the
word imagination to
describe how (s)he
came up with idea.
Student consistently
accurately identifies
shapes within book and
the shapes used in final
project.
Draws geometric
shapes to combine for
invented animal with
high skill level.

MEDIUM
PERFORMANCE
Student sometimes
draws shapes, makes
sketches, and cuts
shapes mostly
independently with only
a moderate amount of
direction.
Students use a variety of
shapes in a moderately
effective manner to
convey an animal
invention. Animal
includes head, body, and
appendages. May also
include 1 other body
part.
With prompts, student
can describe how he/she
created an invented
animal and talk about its
personality. With
prompts can use the
word imagination or
describe how (s)he came
up with idea.
Students sometimes
accurately identifies
shapes within book and
the shapes used in final
project.
Draws geometric shapes
to combine for invented
animal with moderate
skill level.

Teaching Resources Needed to Support the Lesson:

Image of Animals VRB #4
Oodles of Animals by Lois Ehlert
The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
Powerpoint with different images of imaginative animals.

Art Materials Necessary for the Lesson:

Large white paper

LOW
PERFORMANCE
Students draws
shapes, makes a sketch
and cuts shapes with a
large amount of
direction.

Student uses a minimal

amount of shapes in a
basic manner to
convey an animal
invention. Animal only
includes head, body,
and appendages.

Student cannot
describe how he-she
created an invented
animal and does not
engage in making a
personality for it.
May or may not be
able to use the word
imagination.
Student does not
identify shapes from
book or in final
project.
Draws geometric
shapes to combine for
invented animal with
poor skill level.

ARTE 342: Lesson Plan - Creature Inventions

Eric Carle Papers (previously made)
Scissors, regular & textured
Pencils
Pastels

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Glue
Glue Cup
Glue Brushes
Table Coverings

Teacher Activities
Introduction (Minute :00 - :10):
Class, today we are going to start by talking
about imagination! Image of the house with
balloons carrying it up to the sky. Imagination can
take you anywhere!

Student Activities

Students gather on the carpet to look at

images on the smartboard and in the
book.

Students ANALYZE the shapes that

create the different animals and
brainstorm ways to make animals out of
shapes.

Vocabulary: IMAGINATION being able to think of

something totally new or not thought of before.
Vocabulary: INVENTION creation of something in
your mind.
Vocabulary: SHAPES the visual appearance of
something.
With Powerpoint presentation, the class
identifies:
- Simple shapes within a BW line drawing of an
insect.
- Simple shapes within a photograph of a real
animal.
- The shapes in Oodles of Animals by Lois Ehlert.
- Simple shapes within a recognizable imaginary
character from movie.
Class views an animal invention and we discuss
using imagination to create such a creature.
Development:
(Minute :11 - :15)
Students draw two sketches for their creature
invention. The class brainstorms together the
shapes that could be used for body, head,
appendages, as well as features such as ears, feet,
tails, horns, wings
Vocabulary: SKETCH a drawing that you use for
practice before your final artwork
(Minute :16 - :20)
Students select their favorite sketch to draw on
their Eric Carle paper. Teacher guides students
through drawing the body and head first from their
initial sketch. Teacher makes extra emphasis to
impress upon students to draw large, and fill the
paper with the geometric shape.

Student SKETCH 2 ideas from which they will

SELECT their favorite sketch to make larger.

Students EVALUATE their invented animal,

and draw the body shapes on previously made
Eric Carle paper, and cut shapes out.

Student MUST raise hand and get approval

before receiving scissors to cut.

ARTE 342: Lesson Plan - Creature Inventions

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Student MUST raise hand and get approval

before receiving scissors to cut.

(Minute :20 30)

Students cut out all the body parts themselves:
body, head, appendages.
(Minute :31 - :40)
Students glue their animal parts together on a
larger sheet of paper. When done with the three
initial parts, then they can add additional body parts
or features with leftover paper or colorful
construction paper.
As students finish gluing, the teacher instructs
students that they can use pastels to draw a face . If
time, they can draw extra designs on their animal.

Students follow directions in proper glue use

and they make decisions in how to place their
animal parts together.

Students EVALUATE the colors of pastels and

select their favorite color to draw a face and
other details.

Conclusion:
(Minute :41 - :45)
Clean Up
-scissors in the bin
-animal inventions on the paper on floor
-each person picks up their station
-each person picks up 10 pieces on the ground
(Minute :46 - :50)
Teacher asks a few students to show their work.
Teacher asks what did they learn today?
What shapes did you use? What kind of different
animal parts did you put together?

Students EVALUATE and COMPARE each

others work by discussing the shapes used and
the personality of their animal.

Critical Comments and Reflections:

This lesson felt very organized and the students made it through all the steps and completed their creature with
plenty of time to clean up. I had the students glue their creatures onto large, white paper. This did facilitate
easier placement of parts along with less messiness for the glue. However, I wanted a different background
instead of white, so this meant that the creatures had to be cut out. Next time, I would construct the
background/border first, and the assemble the creature onto the background. OR I would have the creature
parts large enough so that all the parts could be glued together (not glued onto the white background).
It was ideal to have the students get their drawings approved before cutting. It also worked well for the students
NOT to have scissors or glue until that step of the instruction. I still needed to spend LESS time on the discussion
at the beginning of class so that they could get all their project done AND clean up AND discuss the days work. I
am still working on finding that ideal balance of how much kindergarteners can do during the 50 minutes of class.