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Mill Valley School District Art Department: Drawing Curriculum Map
Mill Valley School District Art Department: Drawing Curriculum Map
Mill Valley School District Art Department: Drawing Curriculum Map
Crafts/Photography
Mixed Media/Collage
Through a robust
studio-based art curriculum,
students in Mill Valley
School District have
opportunities to explore a
variety of art media at every
grade level.
Painting
Drawing
Printmaking
discover, investigate, take risks, work through mistakes, and reflect. Students explore
different sources for inspiration: imagination, intuition, memory, and observation. They learn
from each other and they learn to value their creative process and product.
Drawing Overview
Key Vocabulary
Guiding Questions
Big Ideas
Drawing
Resources
Related Museum Exhibits,
Websites, Books, Images,
Videos, Music
Understandings
By Grade Level
Connections
Artists Studied, Childrens
Literature, Cultural,
Historical, Cross-Cultural
Project Examples
Exemplar Projects
By Grade Level
Drawing Vocabulary
Abstract, background, balance, blind contour drawing, cast shadow, cityscape, color, color blending,
continuous line, contour line, converging lines, dark, dynamic, enlarging, foreground, form,
freehand, genre, gesture drawing, highlight, horizon line, landscape, light, line, mannequin,
mark-making, measured sketch, middleground, mood, one-point perspective, pattern, perspective,
placement, portrait, proportion, realistic, rule of thirds, seascape, shade, shape, sketch, still life,
straight-edge, symbolism, texture, theme, two-point perspective, value, vanishing point, viewfinder,
volume
Drawing is a powerful and easily accessible way to visually communicate, describe ideas and
thoughts, and express feelings.
Drawing is the act of creating a mark on a surface.
Commonly used drawing materials are pencils, erasers, markers, crayons, chalk and oil
pastels, and ink.
Paul Klee
Henri Matisse
Janette Parris
Pablo Picasso
Jerry Pinkney
Rembrandt
Bridget Riley
Ian Sklarsky
Wayne Thiebaud
Vincent Van Gogh
William Harnett
A Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies
Bear in Mind: A Book of Bear Poems
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Dragonology by Ernest Drake
Ish and Dot by Peter Reynolds
Just Like Me by Tomie Arai
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Teapots Transformed by Leslie Ferrin
Treehouses by Peter Nelson
What Do You Do with An Idea by Kobi
Demonstrate beginning skill in the use of materials, such as pencil, to create a drawing
Experiment with colors through the use of a variety of drawing tools and materials
Create a self-portrait or portrait drawing
Use colors to draw everyday objects
Engage in self-directed play with drawing materials
Engage in self-directed creative drawing
Share and talk about personal drawings
Kindergarten Students
Transitional Kindergarten
Simple Animal Drawings
(Penguins)
Kindergarten
Figure Drawings
(Teddy Bears)
First Grade
Imaginary Creature Drawing
(Dragons)
Third Grade
Drawing a Landscape
(Mount Tamalpais)
Second Grade
Floral Still Life Drawings
Fourth Grade
Still Life
Sixth Grade
Viewfinder Drawings
Seventh Grade
Exploring Line
as an Element of Art
Eighth Grade
Human Figure
Proportion Drawings
Develop Craft
Express
Resources
Key Vocabulary
Connections
Assessment
- Student sharing: Students
share and talk about their
personal drawing with their
peers and teacher. Students
talk about their process.
Kindergarten Project
Figure Drawings (Teddy Bears)
Goals/Key Understandings
Motivating Questions
- Observe a model of a teddy
bear and discuss the shapes
they see
- Draw a teddy bear figure using
simple shapes
Key Vocabulary
Studio Habits of Mind
arms, body, circle, Chinese ink,
ears, eyes, figure, geometric,
legs, model, mouth, nose, oval,
rectangle, round, snout, square,
stick as a drawing tool, triangle
Envision
Observe
Stretch and Explore
Resources
Connections
Corduroy by Don Freeman;
A Button for Corduroy by Don
Freeman; Famous Bears and
Friends by Janet Wyman
Coleman
Assessment
- Student and teacher discussion
in process: Tell me about your
drawing. Tell me about your
process.
Motivating Questions
What characteristics do
dragons have in common?
What kinds of lines and shapes
might you make to draw a
dragon? How does an artist
create visual texture in a
drawing?
Key Vocabulary
Connections
Envision
Express
Understand Art World
Resources
Assessment
- In-process student/teacher
reflection: What characteristics
does your imaginary creature
have? How did you come up
with your ideas? Tell me about
your process.
Key Vocabulary
Studio Habits of Mind
Background, blending, chalk
pastels, color, line, oil, pastels,
point of view, shape, still life,
space, texture
Express
Develop Craft
Observe
Resources
Connections
Vincent Van Gogh, Ellie
Simmons, Georgia O'Keeffe,
Faith Ringgold, Gustav Klimt,
The Gift of the Sun: A Tale from
South Africa by Dianne Stewart
and Jude Daly; Van Gogh and
the Sunflowers by Laurence
Anholt;
Vincent Van Gogh: Sunflowers
and Swirly Stars by Joan Holub
www.sunflowernsa.com/all-ab
out/history; Sunflowers by
Debra N. Mancoff
https://www.vangoghmuseum.
nl/en
https://www.okeeffemuseum.
org/
www.ellysimmons.com
http://www.klimt.com
The Magical Tree: A Children's
Book by Gustav Klimt by
Myriam Ouyessad; The Little
Klimt: A Fun and Cultural
Moment for the Whole Family
by Catherine de Duve
Assessment
- In-process student/teacher
reflection: How did you create
your floral still life? How did
you create visual texture? Tell
me about your process.
Motivating Questions
What is a landscape? How do
artists draw landscapes? What
is foreground, middle ground,
background?
Background, foreground,
landscape, middle ground,
Mount Tamalpais, sketch
Resources
Connections
Connections to classroom study
of Mill Valley; Tamalpais
Walking: Poetry, History and
Prints by Gary Snyder & Tom
Killion
Assessment
- Partner discussion: Does your
landscape have a foreground,
middle ground, and
background? How are our
landscape interpretations
similar or different? Tell me
about your process.
Motivating Questions
How does an artist use
shading/value in a drawing?
How do you represent a
three-dimensional object on a
two-dimensional surface?
Key Vocabulary
Envision
Develop Craft
Observe
Understand Art World
Resources
Connections
Delicious: The Art and Life of
Wayne Thiebaud by Susan
Goldman Rubin
http://www.nga.gov/content/d
am/ngaweb/Education/learnin
g-resources/an-eye-for-art/AnE
yeforArt-WayneThiebaud.pdf
https://www.sfmoma.org/
Wayne Thiebaud: A Paintings
Retrospective by Steven Nash
& Adam Gopnik
Assessment
- Self-assessment and
peer-to-peer assessment: How
did you use shading? What
makes your work look
three-dimensional? Tell me
about your process.
Motivating Questions
How does an artist make an
observational drawing? What is
a contour drawing? How does
an artist work with charcoal to
create shading?
Key Vocabulary
Studio Habits of Mind
Develop Craft
Observe
Reflect
Understand Art World
Assessment
Resources
Connections
Jim Dine: My Tools by Jim Dine
www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/
dine-no-title-P02540; Jim Dine:
Five Themes by Graham Beal
Goals/Key Understandings
- Examine and respond to
Johannes Vermeer and William
Harnetts musical instrument
paintings
- Use a viewfinder as a tool to
make an interesting
composition
- Practice drawing a variety of
musical instruments from
observation
- Shade gradually from dark to
light values with a pencil
Motivating Questions
- What can you learn from
Vermeer and Harnetts still life
paintings of musical
instruments?
- How does an artist use a
viewfinder as a compositional
tool?
- What is observational
drawing?
- How does an artist use a
shading in a drawing to make a
two-dimensional object look
three-dimensional?
Develop Craft
Engage and Persist
Observe
Reflect
Stretch and Explore
Understand Art World
Viewfinder, Composition,
Contour Line, Observation,
Value
Resources
Connections
Johannes Vermeer and William
Harnetts musical instrument
paintings
Johannes Vermeer:
http://www.essentialvermeer.c
om/music/instruments.html#.V
-XG9bUuqQS
William Harnett:
http://www.metmuseum.org/a
rt/collection/search/10997
Assessment
- In-process student/teacher
assessment
- Peer-to-peer assessment
- Grading rubric
Motivating Questions
Connections
Philip Guston, Henri Matisse,
Keith Haring, comic book
illustration, cave painting, artist
sketchbooks, cartooning,
connection to line use in math
Resources
Keith Haring by Jeffrey Deitch;
Matisse Portrait Drawings: 45
Plates by Henri Matisse; Line: 7
Elements of Art by Jane
Castillo;
Assessment
- In-process assessment with
teacher: What kinds of line
have you used in this work of
art? What tools did you
experiment with in this
http://www.musee-matisse-nic
e.org/
Goals/Key Understandings
- Create measured sketch of a
human body that is
proportionally correct
- Observe and draw from
mannequins in 3 different poses
- Create gesture drawings by
observing student models
- Select a dynamic pose to
create a large-scale figure
drawing that includes dynamic
movement and/or emotion
- Experiment with watercolor to
enhance movement, emotion,
dimension or texture of figure
Motivating Questions
How do you draw a human
body proportionally correct?
Develop Craft
Engage and Persist
Envision
Observe
Reflect
Stretch and Explore
Understand Art World
dynamic pose/movement,
gesture drawing, mannequin,
measured sketch, proportion,
scale drawing, use of model
Connections
Eric Fischl, Leonardo Da Vinci,
science unit on metric
measuring and human body
proportion
Resources
Leonardo da Vinci: Complete
Paintings and Drawings by
Johannes Nathan and Frank
Zollner; Figure it Out! Human
Proportions: Draw the Head
Assessment
- Rubric score based on following
components: placement of figure on
page and space on page used well;
pose of figure is dynamic; human
body proportions are accurate;
treatment of watercolor enhances