Our Curriculum › Art › 1st Grade
Art 1
A year of first-grade art: looking closely, imaginative play with everyday objects, art tools and safety, eight art words, how to talk about and compare art, how museums work, and a year-end art show.
180 lessons
One a day for a school year
9 units
Each opens to its lessons
8 art words
Line to balance, plus a year-end show
Standards
National Core Arts Standards (visual arts)
What's taught, unit by unit
Looking closely and pretend playDays 1–30
Lessons alternate between studying everyday things closely (an apple, a leaf, a hand, a shoe, clouds, a Monet painting) and imaginative play with boxes, sticks, spoons, buttons, yarn and other objects. Ends with a review.
- 1 · Welcome to Art: Playing and Making Together
- 2 · Looking Closely at an Apple
- 3 · Pretend Play with a Cardboard Box
- 4 · Looking Closely at a Leaf
- 5 · What Could This Stick Become?
- 6 · Looking Closely at a Flower
- 7 · Pretend Play with Blankets and Pillows
- 8 · Looking Closely at Your Own Hand
- 9 · What Could This Spoon Become?
- 10 · Looking Closely at a Shoe
- 11 · Pretend Play with Paper Bags
- 12 · Looking Closely at a Cup or Mug
- 13 · What Could These Buttons Become?
- 14 · Looking Closely at a Tree Outside
- 15 · Pretend Play with a Scarf
- 16 · Looking Closely at a Toy Animal
- 17 · What Could This Yarn Become?
- 18 · Looking Closely at Clouds
- 19 · Pretend Play with Bottle Caps
- 20 · Looking Closely at a Real Painting
- 21 · What Could This Egg Carton Become?
- 22 · Looking Closely at a Pet or Animal Picture
- 23 · Pretend Play with Clothespins
- 24 · Looking Closely at a Rock
- 25 · What Could These Rubber Bands Become?
- 26 · Looking Closely at a Family Member's Face
- 27 · Pretend Play with a Cardboard Tube
- 28 · Looking Closely at a Seashell or Pinecone
- 29 · What Could This Piece of Fabric Become?
- 30 · Unit Review: Looking, Playing, and Making
Tools, safety and more art wordsDays 31–60
Scissors, glue, brushes, papers and drawing tools, with safe use and cleaning up. New words: form, space, emphasis and balance. Also sorting everyday objects into groups, with a diagram and a sculpture, then review.
- 31 · Meet Your Art Tools
- 32 · Scissors: A Cutting Tool
- 33 · Glue: A Sticking Tool
- 34 · Paintbrushes: Big and Small
- 35 · Exploring Different Papers
- 36 · Crayons, Markers, and Pencils
- 37 · Safe Scissor Hands
- 38 · Just a Dot of Glue
- 39 · Carrying and Caring for Brushes
- 40 · Cleaning Up Like an Artist
- 41 · Our Safe Art Space
- 43 · New Word: Form
- 44 · Finding Form All Around Us
- 45 · New Word: Space
- 46 · The Space Between Things
- 47 · New Word: Emphasis
- 48 · Making One Thing Stand Out
- 49 · New Word: Balance
- 50 · A Balanced Picture
- 51 · Sorting: Things We Eat With
- 52 · Sorting: Things We Wear
- 53 · Sorting: Things We Play With
- 54 · Drawing a Diagram of Everyday Objects
- 55 · A Bigger Sort: Mixing Groups
- 56 · Sculpting a Sorted Object
- 57 · Form and Space in One Drawing
- 58 · Emphasis and Balance in One Picture
- 59 · Tools, Safety, and Sorting Review
- 60 · My Art Toolkit: Unit Celebration
Plus 1 review day, not listed.
Talking about your own artDays 61–70
Using the art words while making: describing line, shape, color, texture, form, space, emphasis and balance choices in your own drawings, a rainbow fish painting and a collage.
- 61 · Using Art Words As You Work
- 62 · Describing Your Line Choices
- 63 · Describing Your Shape Choices
- 64 · Describing Your Color Choices
- 65 · Describing Your Texture Choices
- 66 · Describing Your Form Choices
- 67 · Describing Your Space Choices
- 68 · Describing Your Emphasis Choices
- 69 · Describing Your Balance Choices
- 70 · Artist Talk: Using All My Art Words
Why we value art, and how to show and protect itDays 71–90
Why people treasure objects (memories, rarity, how and by whom it was made, age), including their own art. Then four questions about showing art (where, when, why keep safe, how protect), a display plan, a family art show and a keepsake box.
- 71 · Some Things We Keep, Some We Let Go
- 72 · Why Memories Make Things Valuable
- 73 · Why Rare Things Are Valuable
- 74 · Why HOW Something Was Made Matters
- 75 · Why WHO Made Something Matters
- 76 · Old and Long Ago: Why Age Can Matter
- 77 · Why Is This Painting Kept in a Museum?
- 78 · Comparing Two Objects: Which Do You Value More?
- 79 · My Own Treasured Art
- 81 · Questions Artists Ask About Their Art
- 82 · Where Should This Go?
- 83 · When Should We Show It?
- 84 · Why Do We Keep It Safe?
- 85 · How Do We Protect Our Art?
- 86 · Making a Display Plan for My Art
- 87 · Practicing the Routine: Where, When, Why, How
- 88 · Getting Ready for a Family Art Show
- 89 · Caring for a Keepsake Box of Art
- 90 · Unit Review: My Art, My Choices, My Care
Plus 1 review day, not listed.
How museums workDays 91–100
What a museum is and the jobs in it: the artist, the guide who tells the art's story, the guard who keeps it safe, and the visitor. Good-visitor rules, big and small museums, and picking a museum job for a day.
- 91 · Welcome to the Art Museum
- 92 · The Artist: Who Makes the Art
- 93 · The Museum Guide: Telling Art's Stories
- 94 · The Museum Guard: Keeping Art Safe
- 95 · The Visitor: That's You!
- 96 · Everyone Has a Job at the Museum
- 97 · Good Visitor Rules
- 98 · A Museum Job for a Day
- 99 · Museums Big and Small
Plus 1 review day, not listed.
Art about daily life, and comparing picturesDays 101–120
Art that shows ordinary moments (breakfast, play, family time, bedtime, school, weather, chores, celebrations), then comparing two pictures of the same subject (a dog, house, tree, sky, boat, face, flowers) and how they differ.
- 101 · Art Shows Everyday Life
- 102 · Art About Breakfast Time
- 103 · Art About Playing
- 104 · Art About Family Time
- 105 · Art About Bedtime
- 106 · Art About School Days
- 107 · Art About Weather and Seasons
- 108 · Art About Helping and Chores
- 109 · Art About Celebrations
- 111 · Comparing Two Pictures of the Same Thing
- 112 · Two Pictures of a Dog
- 113 · Two Pictures of a House
- 114 · Two Pictures of a Tree
- 115 · Two Pictures of the Sky
- 116 · Two Pictures of a Boat
- 117 · Two Pictures of a Face
- 118 · Two Pictures of Flowers
- 119 · Same Subject, Different Colors
Plus 2 review days, not listed.
Art detective: subject matter, form and reasons for likingDays 121–150
Sorting pictures by what they show (animals, people, places, objects), noticing form (flat or sticking out, big or small, smooth or bumpy), and explaining why we like a piece (color, subject or feeling). Includes Monet's The Bridge at Argenteuil.
- 121 · What Does a Picture Show?
- 122 · Sorting Pictures: Animals
- 123 · Sorting Pictures: People
- 124 · Sorting Pictures: Places
- 125 · Sorting Pictures: Things We Use
- 126 · Step One: Look at What It Shows
- 127 · What Is Form? How Art Is Made
- 128 · Big, Small, Smooth, Bumpy: Describing Form
- 129 · Two Steps: Subject and Form Together
- 130 · Interpreting Art Step by Step
- 131 · Comparing Two Pictures: What They Show
- 132 · Comparing Two Pictures: How They're Made
- 133 · Practice: Subject and Form Detective
- 134 · Interpreting a Real Painting
- 136 · Why Do We Like Art?
- 137 · Reason: I Like the Colors
- 138 · Reason: I Like What It Shows
- 139 · Reason: It Makes Me Feel a Certain Way
- 140 · Sorting Our Reasons Into Groups
- 141 · Color Reasons or Subject Reasons?
- 142 · Feeling Reasons: Happy, Calm, Excited
- 143 · Classifying Our Feelings About a Real Painting
- 144 · Putting It All Together: Interpret and Classify
- 145 · Practice: Two Artworks, Two Jobs
- 146 · Worksheet: Sort the Reasons
- 150 · Unit Wrap-Up: Art Detective and Art Classifier
Plus 4 review days, not listed.
Art at home and across timeDays 151–164
Art made outside school: for fun, as gifts, to remember trips, at parties and at relatives' homes. Then art through history: cave paintings, Monet's bridge, family quilts, painted clay pots and story masks.
- 151 · You Make Art Outside School Too!
- 152 · Making Art Just for Fun at Home
- 153 · Making Art as a Gift
- 154 · Making Art to Remember a Trip
- 155 · Making Art at a Birthday Party
- 156 · Making Art at a Relative's House
- 157 · All the Times You Make Art
- 158 · Art Has Always Been Everywhere
- 159 · Long Ago: Cave Paintings
- 160 · A Painting From Long Ago: Monet's Bridge
- 161 · Family Quilts That Remember People
- 162 · Painted Pots From Long Ago
- 163 · Masks That Tell Stories
- 164 · People Everywhere Make Art
The Art Year ShowDays 165–180
Trying materials, choosing and starting a piece, using art words while working, finishing it, picking a display spot, practicing what to say about it, showing it to family and a closing celebration.
- 165 · Get Ready for the Art Year Show!
- 166 · Trying Materials Together
- 167 · Choosing My Art Show Materials
- 168 · Using My Tool Safely
- 169 · Starting My Art Show Picture
- 170 · Using Art Words While I Make My Art
- 171 · Adding More to My Art Show Picture
- 172 · Finishing My Art Show Picture
- 173 · Where Should I Show My Art?
- 174 · Making a Space for My Art
- 175 · Telling What My Art Shows
- 176 · Telling Why I Like My Art
- 177 · Practicing for the Art Show
- 178 · Our Art Year Show Day!
- 179 · Thinking Back on the Art Show
- 180 · A Whole Year of Art — Celebration!
By the end of the year, your child can
- Use line, shape, color, texture, form, space, emphasis and balance to talk about art
- Use scissors, glue, brushes and other art tools safely and clean up after
- Tell what a picture shows (animal, person, place or object) and how it is made
- Give a reason for liking an artwork, and compare two pictures of the same subject
- Explain what the people at a museum do and how to be a good visitor
- Plan how to display and protect their own art