Lesson Plans
Title: Dot
Topic: Elements of Design
Materials: sketchbook, pencil
Time: 1 period
Objective: To introduce students to the elements of design using the dot.
Procedure: Give definition: A dot is a round point or small round spot.
Have students show all the dots in the room, large and small, on themselves, their belongings, the wall, etc.
Then, take them outside and have them point out all the dots they find in nature. Have them collect three
dots (rocks, eraser on pencil, etc.) and trace them in their drawing books. Some can be coloured in and
some left alone.
In addition to this class lesson, a good assignment is to have students look for dots outside of school, on
their walk to town, in their chores, in nature, at home ... and ask them to draw each one they see and
explain why they are considered dots.
Title: Line
Topic: Elements of Design
Materials: drawing book and pencil
Time: 1 period
Objective: Become familiar with lines everywhere, continue with the elements of design, and build art
vocabulary.
Procedure: Define. A path made by a moving dot. Have students give examples of lines in the room and
then take them outside to observe lines in the world. Collect three lines (stick, stem, grass, etc.) outside and
trace them. Shade some but leave others alone to show variety in line. Students should come up to the
board and draw the lines they learned from the textbook and label them.
A few activities:
1. Tell the students to arrange themselves in a particular type of line. For example, tell them to show you
undulating and they are to stretch themselves across the room or space outside in a waving pattern.
2. Draw a line on the board and have your students give it two names, e.g., thin and horizontal. Draw 10 or
so on the board and instruct the students to use two names to describe each line as an in-class assignment or
for homework.
Title: Negative Space
Topic: Elements of Design, space as shape
Materials: paper, pencil, crayon, scissors, tape
Time: 2 periods
Objective: To understand that space, both positive and negative, when drawn on paper, is shape.
Procedure: On a sheet of paper, draw at least three large shapes, making sure that each shape is touching
the edge of the paper in two places. These are your positive spaces. Once the paper is filled, redraw the
shapes, darkening the lines. Pick one negative space and stare at it for a long minute until you see it as a
shape. Do this for all the shapes on your paper. Then, with one colour crayon, shade in the negative space
to intensify the fact that they are shapes. Cut out the negative areas and reconstruct them on the desk or a
piece of coloured paper to fully observe these shaded negative spaces as shapes. Tape on backside and hang
up.
Be careful not to get the students confused about positive and negative space. Concentrate on the negative
space being just as much shapes as the positive. Make sure when you ask them to stare at the negative
spaces that they know what stare means and they know which is the negative. Tape the pieces together that
day or else they will get lost or stepped on or ripped.
Title: Leaf Mobile
Topic: Mobile Making
Materials: leaves, paint, scissors, paper (newspaper or scraps), glue, needle and thread, sticks, string,
hammer, nails
Time: 3 periods
Objective: For the students to work together to make one project.
Procedure:
Day 1 Objective: To understand the function of a mobile (a balanced result of many elements of design)
and to produce two identical leaf rubbings. Have students look up mobile in the dictionary. Afterwards, talk
about what they think it will look like (maybe have them draw up their expectations on the board) and what
it will show them (the clarification of a design). Go outside and collect a variety of leaves, on the large side.
Using any available paint or local dyes mixed in water, paint the leaves using fingers or brushes. Be sure
there is plenty of paint on the leaf. Take a piece of paper larger than the leaf, fold it in half, open it up again
place the leaf inside face up. Fold the paper over the painted leaf and rub on the backside of the paper.
Quickly, so the paint has no time to dry, open the paper, remove the leaf and fold again and rub, making a
duplicate print. Let dry.
Day 2 Objective: Accomplish 3-D paper leaves. Cut out leaves leaving one half inch around figure, roll
scraps of newspaper or scraps of paper into balls and put between identical leaves to form a sandwich. Glue
down edges to form 3-D leaves. Dry.
Day 3 Objective: Finally construct a hanging. Find two good-sized sticks to hang the leaves from and
maybe some smaller ones, depending on how many leaves you have. Design the mobile before hanging,
discuss the relationships between colours, sizes, and shapes. Attach the two main sticks by crossing them
and tying tightly with string. Thread needle and hang leaves from sticks in pre-tensed order. To make an
more in-depth mobile, hang more sticks from the main sticks. Hang. And for extra imagination, give the
mobile a human name.
Students found it exciting to make something together that helps them see what they learned through
chapter 4. In this, they realised they were putting to use some of the elements of design learned in class
such as texture, balance, colour, and shape. It also exposes them to the uses of paint, brushes, and materials
and ideas found in nature.
Be careful not to put the wrong side of the print down when stuffing with scraps. Keep hands clean so the
paint doesn’t smudge. Do not let students put chair on desk or other unsafe practice when hanging.
Title: Who Are You?
Topic: Picture Making
Materials: glue, scissors, magazines, rulers
Time: 5-6 periods
Objective: Build self concept. Emphasize design and locally available products. Encourage English usage
and finding adjectives or words to describe themselves. Students will also practice collage.
Procedure:
1. Ask students, “Who are you?” Encourage them to use creative words, to use their imaginations. Discuss
adjectives.
2. Review or introduce collage.
3. Discuss self identity and how students can choose both words and images they like from magazines.
Emphasize that the colours and images they choose will tell the viewer something about them.
Evaluation: Have the students write one paragraph about themselves explaining how the collage describes
them. Look at the composition of the collage.
Students will want to use scissors to cut everything. Encourage them to carefully tear edges.
Title: Research Project
Topic: Terms in art
Materials: Students will locate their own materials.
Time: 1 term
Objective: Students will become knowledgeable about one art form and be able to share their understanding
with the class.
Procedure:
1. Students will work in groups of four or five people. Each group will be assigned one of the following
topics: basketry, textiles, graphics, picture making, pottery, performing arts.
2. Each group should meet an artist, e.g., the textiles group could meet with a kente weaver, the graphics
group could meet with a sign maker, and the performing arts group could meet a dancer or drummer. Have
the artist show the group how to make the art and explain the terms from chapter 5. The group should
practice the art and make examples to show the class.
3. Half way through the term, the groups should meet with the teacher to discuss the work being done.
4. Write a paper to explain the art form and ten of the terms from chapter 5. Write in your own words. DO
NOT COPY from the book.
5. Class presentations: During the last week of term, the groups will present their information to the class.
The group must define and explain the terms, demonstrate the art form and show examples, and be able to
answer questions.
Schedule the presentations and collect papers. Can be used as a substitute for a final exam. Don’t try to do
this during the first term. Work can be done outside of class.
Title: Introduction to Terms in Art
Topic: Terms in Art
Materials: paper and pen
Time: 1 period
Objective: To introduce students to the variety and vast amount of terms used to describe techniques in all
the art forms. It familiarises students with terms that could be asked on the WAEC.
Procedure: Students should have read and studied chapter 5. Divide the students into teams and have them
gather closely. Have each team choose a name. One person from each team should be designated with a
piece of paper and pen to record the ideas and act as spokesperson for the whole group. The teacher will act
as the game host by writing the team names on the board and recording the points the team earns beneath
the appropriate name. Students should understand that this is a group effort so no books. The teacher
announces a topic and the group has a full minute to think of and write down as many terms on the topic as
it can. For example, if the teacher chooses the topic of Picture Making, the teams discuss and write down
terms such as collage, foreground, fixative, etc. The team representative can read off the answers as the
teacher puts one point on the board for each correct term. The other teams do not get points for a term that
has already been mentioned. The same team should not go first each round.
Students learn to brainstorm with their peers. Emphasise that this is just a game and should be fun. No
prizes.
Title: Art Appreciation
Topic: GKIA
Materials: paper, works of art
Time: 4 periods
Objective: To set up a work of art and define it in four different areas.
Procedure: Place art in the middle of paper. On the top, label “Purpose”; on the left side label “Style”; on
the right side, label “Iconography”; and on the bottom, label “Historical Position.” Give each student a
piece of paper and define the work as follows:
1. Purpose: for doing? Work, money, politics, religion, self?
2. Style: What style was used? Cubism, realism, etc. Why was it used?
3. Historical position: Is there historical significance?
4. Iconography: Does it relate to an icon? Was it drawn, painted, etc., because of religious reasons?
Title: Composition
Topic: GKIA
Materials: paper, pencils
Time: 1 period
Objective: Students will be able to identify ways of organising information and apply this to 2-dimensional
forms.
Procedure:
1. Check previous knowledge. Assume familiarity with dot, shape, line, proportion.
2. Motivation: Composition is used to organise drawings and to emphasise certain points, e.g., an arrow and
the words “football field” on a sign. The arrow must point in a particular direction. It should have a certain
size, relative to the words. Another example, given the words “God’s Way is Great”, how can they be
arranged? Does the arrangement or size change the meaning of the message?
3. Information: Elements can be organised according to certain principles and progressions. Principles are
variety, rhythm, balance, contrast, repetition, and dominance. Some progressions are light to dark, simple to
complex, many to few, thick to thin.
4. Practice: Have each row of students draw a different principle—regular rhythm, irregular rhythm,
contrast, repetition.
5. Have students draw a composition which employs two progressions or their antitheses.
6. Review drawings together to identify progressions.
Title: Composition
Topic: GKIA
Materials: two different colours of paper
Objective: to practice applying the principles of design in 2D composition.
Procedure: This is not a away to teach the principles of design per se but is a way for the class to practice
using the principles in simple composition and a way for you to see just where they need help. You start by
taking several sheets of one colour of coloured paper and cutting them randomly into odd shapes of
different sizes. Put them in a pile on a spare desk. Divide the class into small groups (2 or 3) and give each
group a blank sheet of any coloured paper.
Choose one of the principles of design, e.g., balance. Each group will work together to make a composition
sheet of paper using whatever cut up shapes they need. No glue is used so the design can be changed until
they are satisfied. When all the groups are finished, the class walks around to each group’s composition and
talks informally about what works and doesn’t work. Encourage them to talk about the work and offer
advice and further explanation if you sense that they just don’t understand how to use a particular principle
(it’s a lot easier to memorise a definition than it is to really understand its use). Find a way to reward those
groups that use originality.
Now they can go back to the small groups and choose another principle to work with, using the same or
different pieces of cut paper. The students will really be teaching each other as they work in each small
group and in the larger class discussions they learn from each other by seeing others’ mistakes and
accomplishments.
A game to play ... have each group make a composition illustrating one of the principles, and then the other
groups have to guess which principle is used.
Title: Colour Combinations
Topic: Colour
Materials: sketchbook or paper, pencil, crayons or paint
Objective: We use certain words to describe certain groups of colours.
Notes:
COOL COLOURS contain blue or green.
WARM COLOURS contain yellow or red.
ANALOGOUS COLOURS contain a common colour and appear next to each other on the colour wheel.
COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS are directly opposite on the colour wheel.
SHADE is a colour mixed with black.
TINT is a colour mixed with white.
Procedure: On a clean page in your sketchbook draw several (at least 10) double boxes at least a total of 1-
1/2 inches wide and one inch tall. Colour each box with different colour combinations and see which
colours look good together. Each person sees colour differently. Do you like warm colours together? Cool
colours? What do complementary colours look like together?
Title: Monoprinting
Topic: Printmaking
Materials: pieces of glass, paint brushes, sticks, paint (you can also use printing ink or try making a mixture
of flour, food colouring, and water)
Time: 2 periods
Objective: Students will understand how to make and be able to produce a monoprint.
Notes: Monoprinting comes from the Latin word “mono” meaning one. In other kinds of printing, the
printing block can be used more than once and the same design can be reproduced multiple times. In
monoprinting no two prints can be made exactly the same. The design can be used only once. More than
one colour can be used, however.
Procedure:
1. Use paint to make a design or image on a piece of glass with a brush. Several colours can be used, and
colours can be mixed and blended directly on the glass.
2. Use a stick to remove some of the paint. This will create white lines on the finished print. Different width
sticks will make different kinds of lines.
3. Put a clean piece of paper on top of the glass. Try to center the paper.
4. Rub top of paper with your hands so the paint will transfer.
5. Lift paper and your print will appear.
When using water-based paints (gouache, tempera, or watercolour), too much water will make the colours
blur. Too little water will cause the paint to dry before you have time to print.
Title: Stencilled Greeting Cards
Topic: Stencils
Materials: paper, blade, printing paste or paint, sponge or foam, piece of posterboard
Time: 4 periods
Objective: Learn the process of stencil printing and the purpose of greeting cards.
Procedure:
1. Discuss what greeting cards are for. Success cards?
2. Discuss what a stencil is. How is it useful in the printing of cards?
3. Demonstrate making a symmetrical stencil:
a. Measure paper 15 cm width x 7.5 cm height.
b. Fold paper in half and crease it.
c. Open it and on both sides draw a 2 cm margin all the way around.
d. Fold again.
e. On the side with the crease identify the three margins.
f. Within the borders draw any open shape. Check that they know what an open shape is.
g. Cut along the shape being careful not to cut the top or the bottom or into any margins.
h. Unfold. You should have a symmetrical shape.
4. Printing:
a. Cut pieces of paper 30 cm wide and 7.5 cm height.
b. On a piece of wood or cardboard, use masking tape to make corners for registering the stencil
and the paper.
c. Dip the sponge into the printing paste.
d. Sponge stenciled image onto the paper.
e. Fold paper. Voila. Greeting card or success card.
It may take two or three attempts to cut a stencil properly. Be careful not to use too much paint, which will
move under the stencil and ruin the print.
Title: Making Boxes/Envelopes
Topic: 3D Composition
Materials: any small box (biscuits, tea, etc.) or envelopes, scissors, large decorated paper, pen, ruler, sticks,
thread, needle
Time: 2 periods
Objective: Finding locally available objects such as packages or envelopes and figuring out how to
reproduce them.
Procedure:
1. Discuss function, where to find packages or envelopes, benefits for being able to make your own (gifts,
decoration, sculpture-type mobiles)
2. Carefully unglue package or envelope.
3. Choose paper large enough for unfolded package or envelope.
4. Trace the package or envelope on the back of the paper. At the places where it folds, fold back the flap
and draw a dotted line.
5. Cut out the 2D design. Line up a ruler with the dotted lines and use the edge to make a crease in the
paper.
6. Referring to the original package or envelope, glue the design in the appropriate places.
7. Use sticks, needle, and thread to make a mobile of boxes or envelopes.
Title: Freeform Line Drawing
Topic: Elements and Principles of Design
Materials: paper, pencils
Time: 2 periods
Objective: Getting students to relax their grip on the pencil. Get students to understand how line relates to
rhythm, how lines create a variety or a repetition of shapes, and how texture added to one shape creates
dominance.
Procedure: Using whole arm, students should be able to place their pencil onto the paper moving the line in
any flowing direction without picking up the pencil from the paper. Overlapping the lines will form shapes.
Emphasise the importance of varying degrees of pressure to get lighter and darker lines. Demonstrate the
desired effects on a large piece of paper.
1. Place pencil on paper. Do not lift pencil from paper.
2. Move pencil around the paper overlapping the lines. Do not stop once you have started (10-15 min.).
3. Select areas to shade in order to add a sense of volume.
4. Students stand up in front of their desks. Each person moves to the left to view their neighbour’s work.
5. After they have viewed everyone’s work, ask one student which drawing he liked best. Why? Are there a
variety of shapes? Repeated shapes?
6. Teacher demonstrates again. Choose one area to become the focal point either by adding texture or
shading differently in order to create a dominant area.
7. Display works and ask students to identify line, shape, rhythm, variety, repetition, or dominance in
particular drawings.
Title: The Five Senses and Contour Drawing
Topic: Drawing
Materials: a variety of textured objects, paper, pencils
Time: 4 periods
Objective: Establishing a relationship between observation and drawing.
Procedure:
1. Find a variety of objects with different textures, e.g., shells, leaves.
2. Students study objects. Teacher asks questions. How does it feel? Smell? Sound? Taste? Look?
3. Have two similar looking people stand up in front of the class and have the rest of the students compare
and contrast the appearance of them. Shape of head, ears, nose, mouth, length of arms, width of shoulders.
4. Do the same for two shells or two leaves.
5. Students do two or three 10-minute contour drawings. Rules:
a. Do not remove pencil from the paper.
b. Do not erase.
c. Go slowly.
d. Keep your eyes on the object. You are recording information.
e. Vary the pressure of your pencil.
f. Do not stop and start. Move the pencil in a continuous line.
6. Display. Verbally reward those who have followed the rules.
Exercise must be repeated before the students figure out what is expected of them. With repeated exercises
and critiques, the students will gain confidence slowly. If they cannot stop erasing, make them use pens or
markers. If the class is large and cannot follow the rules, put them in pairs and while one is drawing their
partner should check off the rules they’ve broken.
Title: More Continuous Line
Topic: Drawing
Materials: objects for still life, pencils, paper
Time: 2 periods
Objective: Practice contour drawing with a variety of arranged objects.
Procedure:
Demonstration
a. Identify the starting point with a red dot on one of the objects. This is where they will begin drawing.
b. Exaggerate following the rules.
c. Explain hand and eye coordination as their eyes inch along the contour at the same speed as the hand is
moving. Imagine the red dot moving along the contour slowly.
Practical
a. Depending on the size of the class, students work in groups.
b. Identify those who understand contour drawing as the group leaders.
c. Set up a still life for each group.
d. Start them on 10-15 minute drawings.
e. Do a final 20-25 minute drawing for a grade.
f. Display. Verbally reward. If they can handle it, offer criticism.
Try to get them to look at the still life as one object first of all. If necessary, use a piece of white tape to
outline the perimeter of the still life. Concentration is a big problem. Eliminate all talking. Although each
student will have a different perspective on the still life and therefore a different drawing, some will copy
their neighbour’s work, especially if you have given praise to the neighbour. Wait until the display to make
any comments.
Title: The Human Body
Topic: Drawing/Proportion
Materials: paper (sketchbooks), 2H and 2B pencils
Time: 4 periods
Handout: photocopies of the skeletons and the muscles
Objective: Find proportion and form in drawing the human body. The human body can be broken into a
grid for measuring accuracy.
Procedure:
1. Making the first line. With 2H pencil draw a line down the paper where you plan to draw. This should be
aligned with the spine and extend throughout the length of the imagined figure. The body is symmetrical
(for the most part) so this line should divide the body neatly down the middle.
2. Draw a rectangle where the first line dissects the rectangle evenly. The rectangle shouldn’t be much
wider than you anticipate the figure to be.
3. Break up space. Divide the rectangle into important parts. In teaching I have the students draw lines at
the chin, shoulders, waist, hips, knees, and ankles rather than go by the seven-head method in General
Knowledge in Art.
4. Have students feel under their skin for bones, joints, and muscles.
5. Break up the parts of the body into geometrical shapes using the 2H pencil, e.g., head = a square.
6. Mark off where the body bends.
7. Sketch the basic muscles as seen in the handout that stretch across the bones. Neck muscles, shoulder
muscles, hips, thighs, and calves.
8. Use the 2B pencil to draw over the shapes to clearly mark the outline of the body.
Homework: practice, practice, practice.
Using both pencils is important because if initial lines are too dark they will dominate the drawing. At first
the drawings look cartoon-like but proportion is the key.
Title: Lettering/Package Design
Topic:
Materials: cardboard boxes, knife or razor blades, scissors, rulers, glue, tempera paint
Time: 2-3 weeks
Objective: Students will put into practice the lettering techniques they have previously learned by designing
a logo for a product as well as construct a 3D container for that product.
Procedure:
1. Students will pick names of products from a hat (toothpaste, oats, soap, hair dye, etc.). Discuss the
general shape of the object. Homework: find out the exact size of that object in height, length, and width.
2. Discuss how to make a box. Do an example. Have the students use the measurements of their product to
design a box best suited for it. It should be measured and drawn directly onto the cardboard.
3. The cardboard shape should then be cut out, scored where necessary, and the sides glued into place so
that it becomes a box.
4. Students should create their own product name and do a coloured drawing of it, including a style of
lettering. This should be drawn on the box and painted in tempera paint.
The finished package design should be suitable for the product and creativity should be evident in the logo
design and box construction. Lettering should be done correctly.
Title: West African Art
Topic: Indigenous African Art
Materials: Maps of West Africa showing the locations of the ethnic groups, photographs, and small cards
with the names of the ethnic groups on them. Tape or glue.
Time: 2 periods
Objective: Identify various ethnic groups and their arts. Understand the concept that art is the mouthpiece
of the cultures producing it.
Procedure:
1. Make a list of the countries of West Africa and their ethnic groups. Discuss with students.
2. Use the map to demonstrate the locations of the groups.
3. Draw a second map on the board and call students to pick and paste the small cards of ethnic groups on
the map. Repeat several times.
4. Show sample photos.
5. Discuss their philosophy, influence, materials used, style, and aesthetic values. Use the Akuaba or the
Chi-wara mask to explain.
Title: Art Forms and Their Functions
Topic: GKIA
Materials: textbook and photographs
Time: 1 period
Objective: To understand the uses of art in society and to value the subject they are studying.
Procedure:
1. Let students mention the areas that art plays a role in.
2. Take each role and let the students come out with examples and their functions.
3. Use the text and discuss with students according to groupings.
4. Assign students to compile a table indicating art forms and artefacts in specific areas.
Field trips are a good way to familiarize students with artefacts such as linguist staffs, stools, and fertility
dolls. Procedure 4 could be done after a field trip. Students may not be able to discuss the roles easily so
guide them into discussions on hair styles as art, weaving, etc.
Title: Children’s Books
Topic: Bookmaking
Materials: cartridge paper, posterboard, needle and thread, pencils, rulers, felt pens
Time: 6-8 periods
Objective: Learn how to make books for children.
Procedure:
1. Why is it important for people to be able to read? Examples of children’s stories. Students share some
stories. Homework: students write down their stories.
2. Practicing for the dummy.
a. Fold pieces of paper into leaves.
b. Measure the entire page space.
c. In sketchbook draw rectangles with the same measurement to practice writing the story.
d. Make 2 cm margins and rule lines across the paper.
e. Neatly print the story.
f. Homework: Practice drawing illustrations to complement the text.
3. Putting the books together. There should be enough pages for the written text, illustrations, a title page,
and a blank page between the title page and the first page of the story. Also fold and cut a piece of
cartridge paper for the cover. Lightly pencil what each page is for, e.g., write “title page,” “blank page,”
“illustration” on the pages of the book.
a. Draw margins on the dummy.
b. Rule lines for the text.
c. Write out the story and title page.
d. Punch an odd number of holes, evenly spaced, in the spine.
d. Thread needle and come in through the middle hole.
e. Leave an inch or two after the knot.
f. Move up through the holes in an “S” motion.
g. Move down coming through the holes on the opposite side moving in a figure 8.
h. Move down and come up again.
i. Tie off.
Title: Collaborative Drawing
Topic: group cooperation, drawing, composition
Materials: 1 sheet of paper per person, drawing materials
Time: 1-2 periods
Objective: Students will learn to collaborate and understand the evolution of creating a piece of artwork.
They may also learn about composition and colour.
Procedure:
1. Give each student and yourself a piece of paper and drawing utensil. Each student should put his name
on the back side.
2. Make a drawing of anything at all. Restrict the drawings to shapes and lines, no words. Work for 3-5
minutes (time them).
3. Pass the paper to the person on your left.
4. Draw on the new paper, adding to the drawing that someone else began. Work 3-5 minutes.
5. Continue with this procedure until the drawing with your name on it comes back to you. Each student
will contribute to all the other drawings.
Title: Collaborative Book
Topic: layout, design, lettering, composition, cooperation
Materials: 1 sheet of paper per person, drawing materials
Time: 4-10 periods
Objective: Students will practice writing, drawing, composition, and layout design. Students will see the
benefit of creative collaboration, see the evolution of a book, and see a completed storybook.
Procedure:
1. Begin by telling a story. The teacher can begin by saying “Once upon a time...”
2. Each student must continue the story by adding a few sentences. Go around the room until every student
has told a part of a story.
3. In exercise books each student should write down his part of the story and make a preliminary sketch of
it.
4. Each student should make two or three small layout sketches to show where the words will appear on the
page and where the image will appear.
5. Students will choose one layout design to produce on a finished scale.
6. Give each student paper and fold into three parts: two parts will be the same size and the third part will
be one-inch wide (right edge of paper). Students will use the two big parts to make their illustrations.
7. When students finish their drawings and writing, collect all pages. Check spelling and grammar.
8. Show students how to assemble the pages using an accordion format. Glue the one-inch strip to the back
of the next page until all the pages are connected.
9. Students who finish early can work in a group to make a title page. Be sure to include the names of all
the authors and artists.
10. Make hard covers for an accordion book.
11. Glue the first and last pages of your book onto the hard covers. You can use a ribbon to tie it closed.
Title: Chalkboard Drawings
Topic: Drawing
Materials: chalk and chalkboard
Time: 1 week per group
Objective: Students will work collaboratively and learn how to work on a large scale.
Procedure:
1. Divide the class into groups.
2. Each group is assigned one week in the term to make a drawing. You can either allow the students
complete freedom to create directly on the board or you can teach them how to use a grid to transfer a small
drawing to a larger scale. You can combine the project with any topic in the syllabus that you are studying
(landscape drawing, figure drawing, perspective, design, abstract art, African art, etc.)
3. Give the group coloured chalk at the beginning of the week.
4. For that week students will draw a mural on the chalkboard. They can do this before or after school or
during a free period.
5. Work should remain on the board for the duration of the week for the class to see and critique.
Title: Murals
Topic: Drawing
Materials: chalk, brushes, emulsion paint (indoors), oil-based paint (outdoors)
Time: 1 term
Objective: Students will learn to create a realistic copy of a work of art (their own or someone else’s) and
scale it up or down in the correct proportions.
Procedure:
1. Discuss creating a grid and how to scale it up or down in size. Teacher should create a grid over a
magazine photo and cut up grid squares, giving each student a square to illustrate for homework. Once
finished, collect and tape squares in the correct order on the blackboard for students to see picture as a
whole. Give definitions related to mural painting (grid, scale, fresco, underpainting, etc.) and a brief history
with various reasons for doing murals (prehistoric cave paintings = record daily life, Michelangelo = forced
to do it, Diego Rivera = political commentary).
2. Students should do three sketches based on a theme you have chosen (adinkra, animals, festivals). They
should choose the best sketch and then do a final drawing in colour. Have a class critique and vote on the
most appropriate one.
3. This drawing should be divided into a grid.
4. Students should clean the surface of a wall and draw a grid with chalk to the desired size.
5. Students can begin filling in grid blocks with the drawing. Assign each student a section of the mural (1,
2, or 3 blocks). When finished, the teacher should check it for accuracy and painting. Can be used as a final
exam.
Title: Abstract Composition
Topic: Composition
Materials: paper or posterboard, enamel paint, petrol, mosquito spray pump and three canisters, various 3-D
objects
Time: 1-2 periods
Objective: Experiment with a variety of objects to create an abstract composition.
Procedure:
1. Discuss what is art? Representational art vs. abstract art?
2. Place objects on paper.
3. Take a mosquito spray pump and two or three screw-on canisters. Use petrol to dilute the paint. Put
different colours into different canisters and add the petrol to each canister so you can just screw one on,
spray, and then change canisters to spray another colour. If the paint is too thick, it won’t spray. Add more
petrol.
4. Take the pump and spray the first colour onto the paper.
5. Rearrange the objects and spray the second colour.
6. Rearrange and spray the third colour.
Title: Sketchbooks
Topic: Bookmaking
Materials: cassava starch, cardboard, fabric scraps, paper
Objective: Books are a good project to do with any level class because it combines manual skills, analytical
thought, and creativity. And each student can take home a finished product which can be used throughout
the term.
Procedure: For beginning students try making a single section sewn book. Then use it for homework and
class assignments on drawing, design, and composition lessons. Have them fill the book with drawings for
the end of the term..
For intermediate and advanced students try making hardbound sketchbooks at the beginning of the term.
Then use it for all classwork and homework assignments. Or just assign that they fill the book by the end of
the term. If art supplies are scarce, use local materials. Each student can bring cassava starch for glue,
cardboard from old boxes, and scrap fabric for book cloth. If paper is a problem, get memos from the Peace
Corps office and the students can draw on the blank side of the paper and collage or paint over the typed
side.
Here are some ideas for filling sketchbooks.
Drawings: design elements (line, shape, and texture), places/landscape, perspective, imaginary place,
animals, self-portrait (now, at age 5, and at age 80), family members, abstract, moving objects, still life
Collage/Mixed Media: magazines, newspapers, fabric, drawings, found objects (leaves, flowers, candy
wrappers, etc.), cutting into paper, sewing onto paper
Make Your Own Materials: colours from food colouring, spices, etc.; sticks to apply ink
Title: Storybooks
Topic: Bookmaking
Materials:
Objective: For advanced students, making books with writing and illustration is a good way to teach about
layout design, lettering, drawing, and colour. You can also collaborate with teachers from other subjects.
For example, English students writing poetry could illustrate them. Home Economics students could make
a book showing different food groups and their importance. Biology students could make a book showing
how the digestive system works. History students could make a book to illustrate an important historical
event.
Beginning students, flutter books that use only one piece of paper is a simple way to make a storybook. For
advanced students, try making a hardbound accordion book. This is a good format because you don’t need
to pre-determine the page layout. With sewn books you have to know the number of pages before you sew
the book together.
Some ideas for storybooks: illustrate a Ghanaian fable or story, write a story about an animal, write a story
about growing up; illustrate your daily activities, make a book of different places or different countries,
choose a historic event to explain and illustrate, show the stages of growth (of a plant, animal, person, etc.),
create a book of symbols, choose an object and explain the different types (kinds of flowers, foods, cars,
animals, houses, etc.), write an imaginary story about someone your age in another place, a progressive
story (go around the room to create a story)
Title: Making a Portfolio
Topic: Construction and Assemblage
Materials: large manila card, ruler, scissors/blade, glue
Time: 2 periods
Objective: Provide students with a large envelope to keep their work together and to keep their work from
getting dirty.
Procedure:
1. With a ruler, divide the manila card into three parts: two equal parts and one part measuring half of one
of the other parts, e.g., 30 cm, 30 cm, 15 cm. Exact measurement is very important.
2. Draw dotted lines where the portfolio will fold.
3. Draw dotted lines where the portfolio should be glued together.
4. Cut out along the outline.
5. Glue together at sides and let dry.
Title: Making a Scrapbook
Topic: Bookmaking
Materials: old magazines/newspaper, glue, paper, needle, thread, scissors/blade, stapler
Time: 2 periods
Objective: Students will make a reference which can be used for any art project to enhance creativity.
1. Discuss the importance of making a scrapbook.
2. Cut large paper into sheets for making pages in a book.
3. Sew the sheets of paper together at the side using stab binding.
4. Cut interesting pictures out of magazines which will show examples of lettering styles, shapes, design, or
colour arrangements.
5. Glue the pictures onto the pages with an explanation of each one.
Title: Papermaking
Topic: Papermaking
Materials: recycled paper torn into small pieces, fufu pounder, bucket, large plastic tub or metal bowl, 2 yds
interfacing (ask a seamstress)/towel/calico, sponges/foam, rectangular wooden frame or 4 pieces of wood,
mosquito screening, hammer, nails, glue
Time: 4-10 periods
Objective: Students will understand how to make paper and be able to produce paper to use for other class
projects.
Making the frame:
1. Nail and glue four strips of wood together to make a simple rectangular frame. Your finished paper will
be the size of this frame.
2. Cover the frame with mosquito screening. Pull the screen tight and staple or nail it to the sides of the
frame. This is just like stretching a canvas. You can try reinforcing this with glue or duct tape.
Preparing the paper pulp:
1. Tear scrap paper into small pieces.
2. Place paper in a bucket, pour boiling water over it, and allow it to soak overnight.
3. Put a handful of paper into the fufu pounder with a little water and pound into a pasty pulp. Bits of paper
should be very small.
4. Pour this pulp into the tub and add water.
5. Continue this process until tub is 1/2 full with water and 1 inch thick with pulp.
Making the sheet of paper:
1. Cut the interfacing into sheets slightly larger than the frame.
2. Stir the paper pulp with your hand so it is evenly dispersed in water.
3. Dip frame deep into tub with the screen remaining horizontal and facing the sky.
4. Lift the frame up. Paper pulp will settle on the screen. Allow excess water to drip off.
5. Turn the frame over onto a piece of interfacing so the pulp transfers to the interfacing. Use a sponge to
press the back of the screen, removing excess water from the paper pulp. Squeeze sponge dry and continue
until most of the water is removed.
6. Remove screen. Paper pulp will stick to the interfacing and be very flat and thin like a wet piece of
paper.
7. Continue this whole process to make several sheets of paper. You can stack pieces of interfacing onto
one another and allow the paper to dry partially. Then place the paper under a stack of books or a cement
block so they will dry flat.
Options:
Lots of things can be added to the paper pulp to change its look and feel. Any organic material (leaves,
grasses, flowers, onion skins, spices, etc.) can be added to the paper pulp, either in the tub or on the frame.
You can also add threads, small fabric scraps, coloured paper, newspaper, food wrappers, etc., to make
decorative paper. If you want to make coloured paper, experiment by adding paint, food colouring, or using
only coloured paper for the pulp.
This project can get messy, wet, and chaotic. Have students work together in pairs or groups. One group
can be pounding paper pulp while another group forms sheets of paper.
Title: Papier Mâché Masks
Topic: Sculpture/Using Moulds
Materials: newspaper or cement bag paper, masking tape, cassava starch, pot and heat source, plastic bowls
for moulds, tempera paint, strips of cloth, hair, feathers, sticks, etc.
Objective: The student will learn a type of sculpture using papier mâché as a means of self expression
through masks.
Procedure:
1. Boil cassava and water in a pot over heat source (coal pot, gas fire, etc.) until thick. When cooled, add
water to thin it out into a paste.
2. Tear newspaper/cement bags into strips.
3. Dip strips into paste and lay over plastic bowl until it is completely covered. Do three or four layers. Let
dry completely and then remove from mould.
4. Now “building” can begin. This is when students begin to wad up paper and tape it to the surface to
create protrusions such as brow, lips, ears, horns, etc. Layers of wet paper should be wrapped around the
protrusions, inserting hair, feathers, etc., at this time. The masks should creatively convey a feeling or
emotion (evil, happy, sad, etc.). Paint when dry.
5. Tie strips of cloth onto the sides of the mask so that the students may tie on his/her head.
Title: Class Mobile
Topic:
Materials: paper, colours, thread, twigs
Time: 5-6 periods
Objective: Students will learn how to fold origami balls and will learn balance, how to follow directions,
and how to work as a class.
Procedure:
1. Discuss adjectives and have the class give a few examples. Then have them write 10 each to describe
themselves.
2. Introduce mobiles and origami.
3. Teach them to fold origami balls. Practice.
4. Have each student fold a ball. They should write their adjective list on the ball.
5. Affix balls to mobile and hang.
Title: Illustration/Appliqué
Topic:
Materials: scraps of cloth, backing (flour sacks), thread, buttons, needles, straight pins, paper
Time: 1 term
Objective: Students will learn to use drawings and appliqué as a form of communication. Students will also
learn about appliqué and its uses in local cultures and improve English comprehension skills.
Procedure:
1. For the first two months of the term, discuss narrative art and storytelling with pictures. Do word
association drawings. Have students pick words from a hat (dance, farming, Christmas, Ramadan, etc.) and
then ask them to illustrate that word. Have the students create a story as a class (you begin the story and
each student adds to it until the last student creates the ending) and illustrate the part he/she created. Have
the students illustrate a local folktale, such as “Anansi,” which you can read to them or invite an elder in to
tell them. Discuss appliqué and how it’s used in local cultures (Fante Asafo flags, Benin’s Abomey
Kingdom). There is a photo of appliqué cloth on page 30 of GKIA.
2. For the last month of the term and as a final exam, read a local folktale.
3. Students are asked to break down the story into its most significant parts while noting details (such as
“Anansi was wearing a hat and carrying a cane.”) as you write them on the board. Then eliminate or add
from those parts so that the story has been broken into parts that correspond to the number of students.
Assign each student a part of the story.
4. Students should do three sketches of their part of the story for homework and choose the one that they
feel best illustrates the story.
5. Discuss stencils and have students cut their stencils from paper and pin to the cloth of their choice. Then
they will cut out the actual shapes from the cloth.
6. Begin sewing cut-out cloth to cloth squares (cut from flour sacks). When finished, the squares can be
sewn together as one full piece.
Title: Mosaic
Topic:
Materials: cement, heavy paper, tesserae (broken tile, shells, stones, broken coloured glass)
Time: 2-3 weeks
Objective: The student will learn a form of art which might later be used as a means of income when
finishing school.
Procedure:
1. Students should do three sketches of designs which are appropriate for the place in which the mosaic will
be located. In my case, it was a step leading into the doorway of the artroom so the designs were related to
art, learning, and change.
2. The class has a critique where they choose the best design(s) and then divide into groups that will work
on developing each design.
3. The students cut a negative stencil of their design from heavy paper and lay it on a flat board. Their
choices in tesserae are made and then laid into the stencil to see if the design will work.
4. The cement is mixed and poured and, if necessary, allowed to dry until soft (not mushy) to the touch. If
your school has students who do practicals in this, it helps a lot. Otherwise, you will need to get an
instructor or volunteer in town who can help the students mix the cement properly.
5. Students lay their stencils onto the wet cement and begin packing their pre-arranged tesserae into it.
Students must work quickly! If the cement begins to grow too hard, sprinkling extra water on the cement
helps (and has to be done anyway to help it set properly). Don’t do this in the rainy season.
Title: Painting Plywood Panels
Topic: Lettering
Materials: plywood pieces (20 cm x 30 cm), white enamel paint, brushes, pencils, paint
Objective: Students will learn practical skills.
1. Have students coat both sides of plywood with white enamel paint.
2. Brainstorm various sayings such as “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Students
should choose a saying.
3. Students should design their plywood panels in their sketchbooks. Draw 10 cm x 15 cm rectangles in
sketchbook, dividing the space into how many lines their saying will take. The simpler the design, the
better.
4. Choose an appropriate image to design along the panel’s perimeter or open areas, e.g., a set of footprints
or flowers. Cut out a stencil to trace the design easily onto the plywood.
5. With a pencil, sketch the lettering onto the plywood (cursive is easy). Trace stencils.
6. Mix colours, if necessary, and paint.