Introduction to the Art Form: 3-D Lines
Hynes UNO 1st Grade | Social Studies & Visual Art
Ms. Doussan’s students joined KIDsmART midway in the semester, and I was excited to get them oriented into the world of visual arts. For our introductory lesson, we shared some of our ideas about what visual arts might be. We thought about the senses that we use to create and perceive visual art (sight! sometimes touch!) and compared those to the senses that you use to create and perceive other art forms like music, theater, or dance.
We then explored some of the basic elements that we would be learning about using visual arts for integration: specifically line, shape, and color. I introduced the concept of 3-D, or visual art that takes up space like a sculpture, instead of being flat on a paper. We then discussed the ways that a flat piece of paper can become 3 dimensional, if it is folded! Using strips of construction paper and glue, I demonstrated the steps for creating different kinds of 3-D lines by folding and gluing them. These lines might be curly, bendy, zig zaggy — they can also create shapes like circles, triangles, and squares, that all pop off the paper.
“Students demonstrated an extraordinary level of concentration and immediately went to work, replicating the different lines I showed them and creating their own.”
This is one of my favorite lessons to help students explore some of the elements of art that are available to visual artists, and to immediately see their own ability to create something new. I often see sculptural shapes I’d never considered making myself - race car tracks, rainbows, roller coasters, flowers, abstract explosions. Great job Ms. Doussan’s class!
