Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 1

Lesson Video

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Performance objectives

• Creative Arts in Grade 1 Life Skills helps young learners explore their imagination, express themselves, and develop important fine motor skills. This week, we'll be focusing on drawing, painting, and simple crafts. These activities are crucial because they allow children to communicate their feelings and ideas visually, which is especially important for learners who might not yet have the vocabulary to express themselves fully. Participating in creative activities also builds confidence, problem-solving skills, and an appreciation for beauty in the world around them, from the vibrant colours of a shweshwe cloth to the intricate patterns of Ndebele art. This week, we build on the foundations laid in previous weeks, focusing on applying these skills to create artwork inspired by our local environment.
• Learning Objectives:
• By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to:
• Identify and use at least three different colours in a drawing or painting, demonstrating an understanding of colour mixing (CAPS: Visual Arts: Element of Art: Colour).
• Create a simple craft object (e.g., a paper plate mask, a finger-painted scene) using readily available materials, demonstrating fine motor skills (CAPS: Visual Arts: Skills: Manipulating tools and materials).

Lesson summary

Creative Arts in Grade 1 Life Skills helps young learners explore their imagination, express themselves, and develop important fine motor skills. This week, we'll be focusing on drawing, painting, and simple crafts. These activities are crucial because they allow children to communicate their feelings and ideas visually, which is especially important for learners who might not yet have the vocabulary to express themselves fully. Participating in creative activities also builds confidence, problem-solving skills, and an appreciation for beauty in the world around them, from the vibrant colours of a shweshwe cloth to the intricate patterns of Ndebele art.

Lesson notes

Drawing: Drawing is the art of creating images on a surface using tools like pencils, crayons, and markers. It's about making lines and shapes to represent what you see, remember, or imagine. We use lines to create the outline of objects and add details. Think about drawing a house. You would start with simple shapes like squares and triangles for the roof and walls, then add details like windows and a door.

Painting: Painting is using colours mixed with a liquid (like water) to create artwork. We use brushes or even our fingers to apply the paint to paper, cardboard, or other surfaces. Painting allows us to add colour and texture to our drawings. Imagine painting a picture of a sunset over Table Mountain. You would use different shades of orange, red, and yellow to create the beautiful colours of the sky.

Simple Crafts: Crafts involve creating things using various materials and tools. Simple crafts for Grade 1 might involve cutting, gluing, folding, and sticking. We can use materials like paper plates, cardboard boxes, leaves, and sticks to make interesting and creative objects. For example, we could make a mask using a paper plate, adding colourful paper shapes for the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Colour Mixing: When we mix colours, we can create new colours. The primary colours are red, yellow, and blue. Mixing red and yellow makes orange. Mixing blue and yellow makes green. Mixing red and blue makes purple. Practicing colour mixing allows us to have a wider range of colours to use in our artwork.

Examples: Drawing: Imagine we are drawing a fruit bowl. We can draw circles for oranges, bananas, and apples. We can use different sizes and shapes for different fruits. We can also add details like stems and leaves.

Painting: Let's paint a picture of a garden. We can use green for the grass, blue for the sky, and different colours for the flowers. We can mix colours to create different shades of green and create unique flower colours.

Simple Craft: We want to make a paper plate sun. We can paint a paper plate yellow. Then, we can cut out triangles from orange or yellow paper and glue them around the edge of the plate to make the sun's rays.

Colour Mixing: You have only red, yellow and blue paint. To paint the leaves of a tree, you mix yellow and blue paint to get the colour green. Experiment with different amounts of yellow and blue to make light green or dark green.

Why it matters: Practicing drawing, painting, and crafting builds fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are the small muscle movements used for things like writing, buttoning clothes, and using cutlery. Colour mixing helps us understand how different colours relate to each other and expands our creative possibilities. Creating art also fosters our imagination, allowing us to express ourselves in unique and personal ways. Guided Practice (With Solutions)

Question 1: Draw a simple picture of a house using only squares, rectangles, and triangles.

Solution: Learners should draw a square for the main part of the house, a rectangle for the door, smaller squares for windows, and a triangle for the roof.

Commentary: This question reinforces the understanding of basic shapes and their application in creating recognizable objects.

Question 2: Paint a picture of the South African flag. What colours will you need?

Solution: Learners need black, green, yellow, red, white, and blue paint. They should carefully paint the flag following the correct design.

Commentary: This question tests colour recognition and the ability to follow instructions while creating something familiar and culturally relevant.

Question 3: Make a simple mask using a paper plate. What materials will you use besides the paper plate?

Solution: Learners can use paper scraps, crayons, markers, glue, string/elastic. They can cut out eye holes and decorate the mask with different shapes and colours. They will need to attach string or elastic to the sides so the mask can be worn.

Commentary: This exercise assesses creative problem-solving, fine motor skills, and the ability to utilize available materials.

Question 4: You only have red and yellow paint. How can you make orange paint? Show what happens when you mix them.

Solution: Learners should physically mix red and yellow paint to demonstrate the creation of orange. Encourage them to use equal parts or experiment with different amounts of each colour.

Commentary: This tests the practical understanding of primary and secondary colours. Independent Practice (Questions Only) Draw a picture of your favourite animal. Try to include at least three different colours. Paint a picture of a tree. Use different shades of green for the leaves. Create a collage using different coloured paper scraps. Glue them onto a piece of paper to make an abstract design. Make a finger painting of your family. Use different colours to represent each member of your family. Create a paper chain using different coloured strips of paper. Draw a picture of your dream house.