UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE Art ED 3601 1

LESSON PLAN
Grade: Grade 9 Lesson Title: Relationship Between Colour and Emotion Lesson Duration: 60 minutes

Overview of lesson.

This lesson will explore the ideas on how colour can depict emotions and feelings within an artwork. Students will
be encouraged to step outside their comfort zones and stay open minded in an introduction activity that
challenges students to stay process focused rather than with a perfectionist, final product focused lens. Students
will explore their feelings and process in this activity and discuss with the group as a whole. Students will be
introduced to the idea that different colours can influence moods and feelings by being shown a poster about
how colours and emotions are linked. They will then get to experiment and create an artwork individually that
represents a given emotion. Students will get the opportunity to discuss and explore between peers about what
they notice in others works in addition to their own. An informal sticky note critique will be included to allow for
the expansion of these ideas leading into a final discussion about what they have learned.

Alberta Program of Study: Goals and Objectives.

GLE: SLE:
Composition Component 1 (a):
Drawing Manipulation of colour emphasis can help express mood in two-
dimensional compositions.

Relationships, Concept A:
Making comparisons about pictorial styles between one’s own
works and the work of other students is part of learning to talk
about art.

Communicate, Concept B:
Mood and feeling as perceived by the individual student can be
expressed in colour drawings.

DBAE

1. Art History/Culture: N/A

2. Creative Production (Studio): The students will participate in their own creative production by making emotion as colour sketchbook
drawings. This is an introduction to how colour can be used to emphasize expression in art. The students will be given 15 minutes to
complete their drawings and are encouraged by the teacher to think of the importance of this activity through guided questions.
3. Art Criticism: Students will get a chance to think critically about the art that other make in this lesson in addition to their own. They
will learn to look at art with a critical lens by starting to ask questions and evaluate the visual properties and qualities in the work.
4. Aesthetics: Students will start to think about what some of the meanings and purposes of art may be. We will look at what the value
of art is as well as the elements that make it unique.

Learning Objectives.
 UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE Art ED 3601 2

Composition Component 1(a)- Students will experiment with color to learn how they depict different moods and feelings.
Relationships, Concept (a)- Students will compare and contrast their works to peers
Relationships, Concept (a)- Students will examine others works to be able to explain compositional choices
Communicate, Concept (b)- Students will explore how mood and feelings can be represented through colour drawings.

Lesson Guiding Questions:

How did this process feel for you? Did you feel overwhelmed, anxious, was this an easy task? Share your thoughts with the
class.
Were there any temptations to look at your paper during the drawing?
Do you have any other experiences that you want to share or any insights that you may have learned from doing this
activity?
Who wants to share what their thoughts on what colour they believe best represents the emotion of sadness?
How are each of the colours represented and connected to each emotion?
How does this activity of using colour to represent an emotion or feeling relate to our own self-identities and the ways in
which we express ourselves?
Did the process of connecting colour to an emotion/feeling help you to think about other ways you can express a mood or
feeling in art? If so, can you explain?
In what ways can an emphasis of colour influence how emotion is seen throughout an art piece?

Annotated Learning Resources List

Resource #1: Colour poster

Resource #2: Google Jamboard https://jamboard.google.com/d/1J4ZTa3TXPT1aXr3iPV6P3C3iXnwhNWQ6zLOzkH00M-8/viewer?f=0
Resource #3:

Material and Equipment:

Sketchbooks
Pencil crayons, markers, wax crayons
Erasers
PowerPoint (created in preparation)
Teacher copy example of activities
Google Jamboard (created in preparation and link copied ready for class)

Lesson Procedures

Introduction (7 min.):

Free Form Drawing:

Student’s will grow out of the perfectionist mindset by drawing blindly what the students observe. Either by drawing an
object or the space around them. This is a warm-up activity, done individually by each student. The purpose here is to
highlight the process of making art and move away from the concerns for what the end product will look like. Students will
be given 5 minutes to draw and then we will join together as a group and have a 5-minute brief discussion on how they felt
doing this kind of activity.
 UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE Art ED 3601 3

Instructions before students start drawing: Each of you will have 5 minutes to work on a free form drawing. You have the
option to either draw an object Infront of you or the space around you. The purpose of this activity is to get you out of the
perfectionist mindset. Please refrain from looking at your paper during this activity. Remind the students that the goal of
this activity is not for their final products to look perfect but for them to use their observation skills and trust in the
process. Encourage the students to be open minded and participate. It is important to use this time wisely and to keep
their cameras on so that we can watch how they work during the process.

Expectations for students: Students are expected to participate in this activity and have an open mind to this new
approach. The way the teacher will emphasize this is by informing the students about the importance of process and
learning to trust in their own abilities without being so concerned about what the art appears like before the activity
begins.

Expectations of student behavior: The students are expected to use this time wisely and focus on their own individual
work. When we move into the discussion portion of this activity, students will be expected to raise their hands before
calling out responses and respecting their peers by not over talking over one another. These expectations will be shared
with the students before the discussion begins as a brief reminder of what it means to be a part of a respectful,
collaborative environment.

Transition to Body: Give the students incremental time warnings throughout their quick sketchbook exercise (there is one-
minute left, 20 seconds remaining, okay please wrap up the last thing you are working on before we start our group
discussion on this activity). Since we are facilitating this activity through zoom, the students will be in their seats in which
there is no need for further directions.

Body (41 min.):

Steps and Procedures: Identify Teaching Strategies/Rational

Example: Direct instructions, pair/share, jigsaw,
whole group discussion etc. When will you use
these and why? You will list in your body, but you
will explain your choice here.

Activity #1: Whole group discussion based off the hook (8 minutes)
This activity will involve a discussion about how being expressive is
much more gestural. As well as how in this case it is important to get
rid of those “perfect” ideas. It does not matter what the final product
is. We are currently just thinking about process. This activity will be
used as an opening into our lesson. [Teaching strategy: Brief Direct
Instruction]
The teacher will begin the activity by asking students to share their
creations with the class. (2 minutes to share on camera)
The teacher will ask the students their thoughts on various guided
questions. Students are expected to raise their hand (zoom) before
Direct Instruction: The direct instruction occurs
during the beginning of a lesson when the
teacher will explain an activity and provide an
example of the work. Direct instruction also
occurs when the teacher goes of the colour as
emotion poster with the students. This is an
appropriate teaching strategy because it gives the
students the required information, they need in
order to be successful during the lesson. The
teacher will also share her expectations with the
students during this instruction time.
Whole Group Discussion: Much of this lesson
facilitates whole group discussions in which all
students are encouraged to listen and participate.
The whole group discussions occur after direct
instruction from the teacher, after the colour as
 UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE
answering questions and not talking over one another during
discussions. [Teaching strategy: Whole Group Discussion]
Guiding Questions:
How did this process feel for you? Did you feel overwhelmed,
anxious, was this an easy task? Share your thoughts with the class.
Were there any temptations to look at your paper during the
drawing?
Do you have any other experiences that you want to share or any
insights that you may have learned from doing this activity?
*When students talk about their process and experience during this
activity it will be useful to ask them to show their work again to the
class so we can get a visual reminder of what they created. *
Transition: The teacher will thank the students for sharing their work
and participating in the group discussion. The teacher will then inform
the students that we will be moving onto the next part of the lesson
which is exploring how colour can be used to represent various
emotions. The teacher will transition into this segment by asking the
students what they know about colour and emotion. (3 min.)
[Teaching strategy: Brief Whole group discussion]
Pre-knowledge questions:
Who wants to share what their thoughts on what colour they believe
best represents the emotion of sadness? What about frustration and
peace? [Teaching strategy: Whole Group Discussion]
Activity #2: Colour as emotion (25 min.)
The teacher will introduce the colour poster to the students, so they
have a visual reminder of what various colours represent. This will
help the students to engage with colours as they are working on their
own art. (5 min.)
Introduce students to a teacher exemplar for this activity. The
students will be able to observe how the teacher used various colours
to represent a certain mood or feeling. In this case the mood or
feeling will be that of frustration and excitement. The teacher will not
tell the students what mood/feeling the drawing represents but
Art ED 3601 4
emotion activity, and during the critique. It is
most appropriate to have conversations as an
entire class because the class size is small and this
way even those who may not have an answer
every time can learn from their peers’ answers to
certain questions guided by the teacher.
Teacher Exemplar: A teacher exemplar is used to
demonstrate the expectation for the students
during the colour as emotion activity. As well this
exemplar can be used as inspiration and help give
the students a greater understanding of what
they need to do for this task.
Hands-On Exploration: The hands-on exploration
is a fundamental piece of this lesson because it is
one of the best ways for the students to truly
grasp their understanding of how colour can be
used to depict emotions/feelings in art. This way
students can explore their own thoughts and
processes by making their own creative artworks.
Formative Assessments Type/Name:
Where Assessment Occurs/Purpose of assessment
Whole group discussion during the quick
sketchbook exercise. This will gage the teachers
understanding of where the students are at and if
the class is ready to move on to the rest of the
lesson.
Exit Slip: This assessment occurs during the
consolidation period of the lesson as a wrap up
activity. The students are asked to answer a
question that relates to the material covered in
the lesson. The teacher will use this information
to guide whether or not they need to come back
to using colour as emotion or if they can move on
to the next lesson for the unit.
 UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE Art ED 3601 5

instead the teacher will ask the students to make guesses based on Differentiation: Indicate in brief sentences areas of
their observations of colour of what the mood/feeling is. [Teaching differentiation.
Strategy: Provide exemplar, Whole Group Discussion] -Allow for extra time (when needed)
-Verbal time warning (one-minute left, 20
*each student will be pre-assigned a specific emotion to represent in seconds left)
their drawings. This will be revealed to the students after the teacher -Options with media choice for activity (pencil
shows the exemplars* crayon, marker, wax crayons)
-Providing students with options for
Transition to artistic production: questions/responses during critique.
The teacher will tell the students that they now have around 10-15
minutes to create their own colour as emotion drawings using pencil
crayons, markers, or wax crayons in their sketchbooks. The teacher
will also tell the students that these drawings do not need to take up
the entire space of their page and they are free to use lines, shapes,
figurative representations, however, the main focus should be on
colour.

Artistic Production: 10-15 minutes

The students will work individually on the creation of their own
colour as emotion pieces during this time. The teacher will casually
check in every so often asking the students

The teacher will check in to see if any students are struggling. Remind
students to focus on colour and that it may be appropriate to use
more than one colour in their drawings. Also, the teacher will remind
the students to think about how they felt in the moments when they
were feeling these types of emotions. What was going on in the
students mind during this time?

Transition: Give the students time warnings (1-minute left, 20

seconds) Once the 15 minutes has completed the teacher will tell the
students to wrap up the last thing, they were working on and focus
their attention onto the screen again. The teacher will tell the
students that we are going to take a moment to do a quick movement
break before we move onto doing a critique based on this activity. The
teacher will ask the students to stand up, stretch their arms, their legs
and after about a minute, the teacher will ask the students to find
their way back to their seats.

Sticky Note Critique (Google Jamboard): 10 minutes

This critique is an introduction on the importance of critique in art.

The teacher will tell the students that critique is the process of
observing an artwork and making notes of the qualities within it, what
was successful with the art, what could be changed, what is significant
about the art?

Before the students begin the critique, each student will be asked to
share their drawings with the class (hold them up to the camera for
about one minute) The students will be asked to pay attention to their
 UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE Art ED 3601 6

peers work and what they notice about how the colours influenced
the given emotions, what is striking about some of their peers work,
and to think about how the colours influenced their own decision
making process during the activity.
*Quick clean up time* The teacher will tell students to clean up their
workspaces so that they only have their computers present.

The teacher will then explain to the students that we will be doing an
informal critique on Google Jamboard. The link will be shared to the
students in the chat during this time. The teacher will tell the students
to open the link at the same time once it is sent and she will explain
further directions once everyone is on the platform. The teacher will
direct the students on how to use the sticky note function to apply
their critiques. The teacher will tell the students that they can choose
to write a sticky note on a particular work that they found interesting
and why, on what colours stood out to them the most and why, they
can write a sticky note on their own process and how they felt the
colours either helped them to create their work or if this was a
struggle. Remind the students to not write that they like a specific
work but to get into detail about what they liked about it.

The teacher will tell the students to add one or two critiques to the
board and after a few minutes as the teacher gages how many of the
students are responding she will make the decision when to start the
discussion on the critique. (approximately after a few minutes).

Transition to discussion/consolidation period:

The teacher will announce to finish working on your last sticky note
and then to rejoin together for a discussion. The teacher will casually
start discussing various points made from the sticky notes which will
be a part of the consolidation period for this lesson.

Consolidating (7 min.)
As the teacher begins pointing out certain points made form the sticky notes the teacher will guide the class
discussion by asking students perhaps why they wrote what they did and further the discussion on colour as emotion
by asking the students these guided questions:

How are each of the colours represented and connected to each emotion?
How does this activity of using colour to represent an emotion or feeling relate to our own self-identities and the
ways in which we express ourselves?
Did the process of connecting colour to an emotion/feeling help you to think about other ways you can express a
mood or feeling in art? If so, can you explain?

The students will then be asked to write a brief comment in the chat (zoom exit slip) answering the question:
In what ways can an emphasis of colour influence how emotion is seen throughout an art piece?

[Teaching Strategies: Whole Group Discussion]

 UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE Art ED 3601 7

Clean up (2 min.)

The students will be asked to clean up their workspaces before we do the critique. The teacher will ask the students to
clean off their workspaces after they have shared their drawings to the class. This will include moving their sketchbooks
out of the way and putting away any drawing materials.

Reflection
How the students responded to the lesson as planned and taught:
Specific strengths of the lesson plan and delivery:
Specific weaknesses in the lesson plan and delivery:
What must be addressed to improve this plan?
How I have grown from this teaching experience:

Other Notes