Danielle Vanderkeyl

This is an excellent handout for pushing students beyond the "I know what I'm doing" phase, and forcing them into developing a solid plan before moving on to their final product. This handout works well for any 2D medium.

This includes two worksheets. One focused on gradients, and the other has gradients and stippling. I give this lesson after I demo how to blend colors with oil pastels. This will take them the class period.

This is my favorite bulletin board and place to point my fast finishers. Print the tags on cardstock, cut them out, and tack them up. Students choose a tag and create an observational drawing and color match, stipple to add value, or create value scales. They can then tack it up when they are done. It contains many spring/summer photos and different media options.

Make copies of this practice sheet for your students to learn paint control, color mixing, and blending. Pair this with a teacher sample, and demo of paint control for a great into to acrylic painting!

This generic class critique is a great introduction to critiques for students. We play it like musical chairs. When the music starts, they move around the room. When the music stops, they have two minutes to write positive feedback on a classmate's work. The music starts again, and they find a new seat and write constructive criticism.

I use this for my Art 1 kids before we dive into shading forms. This is a great exercise to introduce them to more beneficial ways to hold a pencil, circle shading instead of lines, and how value makes form. This would be followed up by additional sketchbook practice of forms, and a culminating lesson on value.