your first art lesson for the year

Advice on how to set-up and structure your first art lesson for the year

First Impressions count and you only get to do your first lesson for the year once so you want to get it right. Not only do you want to set expectations and have classroom control, you also want your students to be engaged, feel safe, start to build a relationship with you and launch into their art learning with eagerness and a growth mindset all the while responding to the group dynamic and individual needs. This teaching thing is complex!

So what is my tried and true first lesson of the year look like? Let me walk you through it.

First up it’s well planned. I have a fun engaging theme- it’s never what I did on the holidays, as they’ve probably done that a few times in the generalist classroom- and well snooze. I also find the decorating your art folder or naming your book a bit of a bore- you can do that in a fun way later. I like to start with something age appropriate, cool, exciting, maybe with a current pop culture reference or an event.

As we teach Chinese at my school I often start with something aligned with the Chinese Zodiac for the year. So for year of the Rat we looked at Bansky’s street art. 2022 was Year of the Tiger so we looked at illustrated children’s books and artworks that used tigers as the subject matter. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, a very cool opportunity for exploring mystical creatures with lots of books, movies and comics to look at and broader cultural context. It also makes me think about exploring the art elements of form and the chance to teach offset pattern while creating dragon scales. And here’s the number one important factor, if it’s fun and engaging for you as well as them it’ll be infectious. If you get the whole class engaged early on you can focus on the art learning and individual needs rather than classroom management stress. You want art class to be the joy in their week. You want them to race to the art room at the end of lunch ready to go, you want them to stop you in the yard and tell you how much they love art! Because believe me they will!

Okay so you’ve picked a cool theme to engage them at their level, now comes the structure. This very first lesson is not about art learning, it’s not about goal setting, it’s not about running through the whole terms plan, it is about setting clear expectations and art room routines. I’ll say that again- the most important thing about this lesson is setting clear expectations. A recent expert who visited our school reminded us that 65% of a teacher’s day is behaviour management. If you can get on top of this and control what you can control, you’ll be calmer when the inevitable incidents beyond your control pop up. Like the meltdown from playtime, the fire drill, the power outage, and the friendship feud.  

So everything you plan to do in the first few lessons is at it’s heart about expectations, regardless of what art is being made. If you are very clear about your expectations and routines you will set everyone up for success. When you set students up for success they feel safe and ready to learn.

Getting out the messy paints and expecting them to know how to clean up at the sinks from day one, is not setting them up for a successful first lesson and you’ll end up a stressed out mess, and so will the art room. Of course, if you’ve taught this group for years and they know the drill give it a try but remember they are usually in a new class dynamic, and we want to watch how they’re bumping up against each other a few times before we go throwing paint into the mix. I prefer the gradual release method. Teach them a bit more of the routine or a new clean-up skill or material technique each week rather than overwhelm them all at once.

To get them on side I like to keep activities rotational with the juniors, as their attention spans are shorter, and choice-based with the older kids. This plays especially well for the neurodiverse and those having a hard time adjusting back to the structure of school after being on their Nintendo all holidays. Giving them structured choice or short activities will give them more agency, you’ll get less resistance and they’ll feel happier and a sense of belonging in the art room.

I usually set-up 3 different tables of activities that will work for all ages. With the younger ones I time them and rotate them every 10 to 15 mins depending on the length of the session. Not only does this keep them busy and engaged but it brings them back to my lesson intention which is to get them to follow my instructions, follow routines and expectations. I get them to neaten materials each time, stand up with their art stools pushed in, and then instruct them which table to move to next. With the older grades, so my Grade 3 to 6’s I let them know when they can rotate and try a new activity or continue at an activity if they’re in a flow with their art making. I find giving them choice really makes them feel in control and caters to their individual needs.

So what are the activities? I always have a drawing-based activity- with which I set-up drawing materials and visual references printed out or a central display on the table for inspiration.

Some of the other activity tables I have set-up in the past include:
Modelling- Playdough or plasticine to form an animal of simple 3D shapes- balls and coils
(be clear these won’t be kept but it’s for play only- you can take a photo before they’re mushed if they get upset)
Ink or paint dabbers- for a low mess painting experience
Collagé with scissors, glue sticks and coloured paper
Oil pastels on black paper
Construction with pegs and paddle pop sticks
Scratch art

I place an image or sample on each station to guide their exploration for those who need a prompt. You only need 3 different options so look at what materials you have on hand and what gives variety for your students. I find a mix of 2D and 3D options, play-based, fine motor activities and open-ended material exploration or art challenges work best. Having bowls, tubs, bins and material caddies on each table will help students re-set for the next activity rotation and the next class. I’ll be posting lesson and activity ideas in coming weeks so stay tuned for some tried and tested lessons to set you up for success. I’ll be doing Dragons in lots of fun ways- a 3D plastcine dragon, draw a dragon eye, paint an ink dragon in flight, draw a winged mythical creature from your imagination, you get the idea.

So now you’ve got the activities for your first lesson sorted. You’ve kept it simple with minimal clean-up and with materials you have, it’s time to think about your routine. Remember this is the real intention of your lesson.

I always get my classes to line up outside the art room and go to talk to and greet them outside. The lesson on expectations and art room routines has started before they even come into the space. I get them quiet and keeping hands to themselves before they come in, you may have to reorder the line to make this happen. I then greet them individually as they come in the door, remind some of the expectations to come in calmly and quietly. If they need to practice this, you just wait patiently until your expectation is met- explaining you can move on to the next part of the lesson once they nail this one. If they don’t transition in quietly or calmly, I have no problem cheerfully but clearly asking them to line up again. I often have certain individuals head to the back of the line to give it another try. Positive reward is your friend, thank those meeting your expectations, work on developing the group accountability. Of course, differentiate for those who may never be able to stand completely still quietly or have an aide with them- praise and acknowledge the role models.

Make it really clear what you expect to happen next. For me it’s all hats, jumpers, drink bottles, books and toys placed on a shelf by the door as they enter to the mat space. (This really helps with lost property and future lessons getting interrupted by kids searching for a paint covered jumper they left behind.) They then need to walk calmly and sit down ready to listen. Those who need to can come back to the door and try it again. You don’t need to be a dragon about it, just smile and be clear. Use your natural charm and personality or a bit of humour, but a teacher look may be needed to let them know what you expect. Just be firm but fair, calm and clear. The behaviour that walks past you is the behaviour you accept. So if you don’t accept it, don’t let it walk past you. Remember first impressions count.

When I was a training teacher back in the dinosaur ages, well the 90’s, they told us to not smile until Easter, I don’t necessarily agree with this, as you can be very clear and still smile, but the idea was about setting and practicing your expectations early. Take command of your classroom management from the start and you’ll have a much easier year. Remember not all kids are taught how to behave at home, we all have different expectations in different families, cultures, classrooms and home environments, so you need to be explicit in teaching them your expectations. Don’t assume they’ll know.

I even go so far as to include visual prompts. I love using Google Slides to plan my lessons so I can include visual images, video demos, artist talks, read-a-loud picture books, learning intentions, success criteria and step-by-step reminders to assist students through the lesson. Along with lesson slides I also have slides about expectations- with photos of students doing as expected. I can then refer to them and it helps those visual learners be very clear on what is expected behaviour. There is a slide for lining up, putting belongings on our shelf, sitting listening on the mat, putting up hands to ask questions, sitting at the art tables making, cleaning up, sensible sink use, how to use the calm corner, our art award reflection time, and transitioning to the next class. It really does help be clear on what they should be doing when. It also means I don’t have to talk as much, and I can point to the slide as we transition from one part of the routine to another- as well as gently point it out to those not doing what’s expected. Consistency and clarity. I always remind myself that although I may think I sound like a broken record reminding them of our routine, each class only sees me once a week, and that can be a looong time between visits for the little ones, so even though to me I’ve asked up to 500 kids in a week to follow my expectations, I’ve only asked that specific kid once.

Hey, I love to talk, but art class is once a week and short, they really want to get stuck into the art making so having a quick non-linguistic cue like these slides keeps things rolling along. I aim for my mini lesson to be 5 mins including roll call and handing out of supplies. Yep, keep it short and sweet. I show a demo video 5 to 7 mins max. If I’m making videos I now often speed up my demo in the colouring or painting parts so they don’t get bored- we’re teaching Gen Alpha now- these kids were handed an iPad as infants. Any longer than 5 to 7 mins and you’ll start losing your audience and end up dealing with behaviour and having to stop to reset expectations. I do run a tight ship, but it’s fun and set-up to help them succeed. I have been known to sing my expectations about cleaning up and writing your name on your artwork. It doesn’t have to be dull! You are allowed to be fun, engaging and have a personality.

In the 5 min mini-lesson in the first week I include a drawing game like pictionary or hangman, where I draw and they have to guess. I make it clear that the aim of the game is not to just guess correctly what I’m drawing but to practice putting up their hands and not calling out. When things get exciting it’s so tempting to call out, but this is our chance to practice hands up. You could do this with trivia type questions too. It’s engaging and fun but it really sets those expectations. You need to be encouraging and continue reminding them you expect hands up. Make sure you put your own hand up as you say it so they get the visual reminder too.

I’ll be posting in future posts about how I use my coloured rug for fun art games and classroom management, along with more tips like my clean-up alarm, art awards, the golden paintbrush trophy and tips for transitioning between classes, along with successful lesson ideas. So I encourage you to sign up and follow along. I hope this post has given you some food for thought, some more confidence, and a chance to reflect on how you might structure and plan your first art lesson for the year to suit your own teaching style.

xx Emily