STEP-BY-STEP PROJECTS: TEACHER’S NOTES
Create a work of art
This project links to Unit 5 (Street Art).
Overview
In this project, students create a collaborative work of
art. They decide what style of art to use, focus on the
individual skills in the team and create a work of art with
a message.
Important:
In order to complete part (a) of the introduction, you
will need to find/print a copy of a famous piece of
artwork, divide it into grid sections and cut out and
jumble up the sections.
For this project, students will need some equipment/
materials. The equipment/materials needed will
vary depending on the style(s) of art they use. For
example:
Video/sound art: recording and/or video recording
devices (and, for video, a screen on which to play
their final work of art)
Traditional art: colouring pens/pencils/paints or
similar; glue; magazine/newspaper images; scissors;
large sheets of card, etc
In all the Beyond projects, students should try to
complete the tasks in English. Encourage them to speak
in English whenever possible during the preparation
steps. Point out the sample phrases for the different
tasks. They can replace the words in italics with their
own ideas.
This project can be spread over several lessons to allow
enough preparation time for the different steps.
Note: Remind students to be positive about one
another’s ideas when they work together in groups.
Introduction
a) Before the class, find a copy of a famous work of
art, preferably a painting with a lot of detail. If you
can, make an enlarged photocopy of the painting.
Then draw a grid on the back of the paper, making
sure there’s at least one space in the grid for each
student. Next cut out all the sections of the grid and
place all the jumbled pieces of the picture in a basket
or box.
b) Tell the students that they’re each going to take a
piece of paper from the box with a picture on it. You
want them to think about how they’d describe their
picture. Students pick a piece of paper randomly
from the box. If there are pieces left over, give
some students two pieces. When they’ve had a
few seconds to study their picture(s), invite a few
students to describe theirs. Depending on the
piece(s) they took, this will be easier for some
students than others.
This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanbeyond.com
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2015. This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
B1+
Hopefully, the students will realise that they all have
parts of the same picture. Do any of them recognise
the picture? Ask a student to stick their picture to the
board. Which student thinks they have a piece that
fits with the one on the board? Build up the complete
picture on the board. Now do students recognise the
work of art? What type of art is it? Do they know the
title or who created it?
c) Give students copies of the activity page and read
through the questions at the top of the page. In pairs,
students answer the questions. Invite some students
to share their answers with the rest of the class.
Students then read the Introduction text to check
or find the answers to the questions. Help with any
comprehension problems.
Explain that the students are going to create
their own collaborative work of art to display in
the classroom.
Step 1: Choose a style
d) Divide the class into groups of 4–5 students. Read
through the first step together and check that
students understand what they have to do. Each
group is going to think of possible styles for their
work of art and then find out what artistic skills the
team members have before selecting their final style
or styles.
Depending on the materials at your disposal, you may
want to limit the types of artwork they can choose
from. You may, for example, want to focus on works
that can be displayed on a wall rather than include
sculptures, video art or performance art. However,
your students may find the project more motivating
the more freedom and options they have. In that
case, encourage them to include as many style
options as possible on their lists.
It’s important to stress that the students don’t need
to have great artistic skills to do the project. If they’re
not very good at drawing, they can cut out pictures
to make a collage or take photos with their phone
camera. This is why the groups may prefer to use a
combination of different styles for their artwork rather
than limiting it to one.
Remind the students to do their planning in English.
Refer them to the example phrases and remind them
that they can use these phrases by replacing the
words in italics with their own ideas.
Glossary
collaborative (adj): involving people or groups
working together
mural (n): a large painting done on a wall
quilt (n): a blanket or fairly thick cover for a bed,
consisting of several layers of material sewn together
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STEP-BY-STEP PROJECTS: TEACHER’S NOTES B1+
Create a work of art

Step 2: Think of a subject Step 5: Be an art critic

e) Read through the instructions and prompts together h) Prepare the students for the next task by going
and make sure students understand what they have through the sample phrases together and adding
to do. You can brainstorm more possible themes and any more suggestions the students may have for
write them on the board. You could include themes reacting to a work of art in a positive or negative way,
that have come up in recent classes or that are as well as agreeing or disagreeing with someone
currently in the news. else’s opinions.
i) The students then go around the ‘art gallery’ in
Step 3: Prepare to create your work of art pairs or small groups. They look at each work and
f) The groups now have to prepare to create their work comment on it. Encourage them to make notes about
of art. Remind them of the painting they worked with their reactions. Then, when they’ve seen all the works
at the start of the project and explain how you made in the gallery, encourage students to discuss what
a grid on the painting before cutting out the pieces. they’ve seen. They can ask questions to the artists
Explain that they’re going to do something similar and answer questions about their own works.
by planning how the complete artwork will look and j) Finally, ask students to choose the work that they’d
then dividing it into sections so that each person in most like to keep on display in the classroom.
the group can prepare one section of the complete
artwork. As mentioned above, students can use
their own particular skills to create their section of
the artwork (eg if they are good at drawing, they can
draw; if they are not good at drawing, they can make a
collage). Bring the sample grid on the project page to
their attention.
If your students are creating a sculpture, a video or a
piece of performance art, they should apply the same
concept so that all groups use the same grid format.
You may wish to pause the project at this point so
that students have time to prepare their tasks out of
class time.

Step 4: Create and display your work

g) Once each student has created their part of the
artwork, the groups have to find a place to display
the complete artwork. If you don’t have the wall/floor
space in your classroom, then hopefully there’s a
corridor or other space where students can construct
their works of art. If you have access to large sheets
of card, then let them use these. Make students
aware that they shouldn’t damage any walls or
paintwork when constructing their artwork.
When all the artwork is in place, the groups prepare
a card to place next to their artwork with the title and
the names of all the students in the group.

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanbeyond.com

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© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2015. This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.