Elementary Art Sub Plans | Romero Britto

Romero Britto Inspired Elementary Art Activity

This lesson is from the Elements of the Artroom blog. Mrs. Stacey provides many examples from this second-grade art lesson. I believe an art sub could teach a lesson based on this. 

Here is another 2nd or 3rd-grade art lesson about Romero Britto.  This one is at The Talking Walls blog.  There are plenty of instructions so you could easily translate this to an art sub lesson.  

I could see this used for second through fifth grades.  

If you would like to see a fully formed, lesson you can just email to your school office when you are out, check out this blog post:  Romero Britto Figure Lesson for K and 1

Middle School Art Sub Plans | Name Designs

Abstract Name Designs as Middle School Art Sub Plans

Here's an idea you might use for an art sub or art relief lesson. If you show the visuals provided in this blog post by  Betsy Morningstar, and add a few directions, your middle schoolers might be able to do this one.  Betsy gives step-by-step instructions, so she has provided a lot for you already.  

I would suggest that you make one art visual for each step and include directions. If the sub teacher cannot draw, these visuals should be descriptive enough. The sub can just show each visual, one at a time, and then post them on the board.

You need to do a little prep work, but not a lot of brain work.  Whew!  Yay!  It's a nice lesson even if you don't save it for an absence.

STEAM Art Sub Lesson with Insects

This lesson was created with an art sub in mind. All of the directions have been included for their ease of use. There are multiple ways to use it. It may be printed out so that the sub may present it up close on paper or shown as a PowerPoint presentation.
It integrates science with art in an “ugly bug ball.” Including art history rounds this out even more!

]

The lesson begins with a discussion about masterpieces featuring insects by the artists Balthasar van der Ast, Nicolaes de Bruyn and then William Heath-Robinson. The lesson then leads the students to creating an imaginary scene of insects at a party. Each slide includes questions and statements for the students to think about including in their drawing.

I have taught this lesson to all levels, K through Fifth. My subs who have used this lesson have left feedback that they and the students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson.

I hope that this will be a well loved lesson for you and your students and that it helps you when you are in need of a sub lesson. 

The materials needed for this lesson are the most simple: paper, pencils and crayons or markers. Here's what another buyer had so say about that: "Great lesson to leave for a sub as everything needed was included and the prep was minimal and used things commonly found in the art room. "

Here's a comment from a buyer:  "The kids produced wonderful drawings and images. The sub used the plans for my intermediate groups grades 3-5 and she loved working with the kids as the plans were so meticulously laid out!"

You may find this lesson here:  TPT Shop: Art Sub Lessons

Art Sub Lesson Idea - Doodles

Art Sub Plan Idea - Doodles

Here is an easy lesson project from Andrea and Jantje at KinderArt.  They have given you examples and instructions, so if you know your sub has a skill for just teaching, they could totally follow this!

Check out the blog post here:  Doodles: Drawing Lessons for Elementary School Children

Here's a blog post about the work of a famous artist, that looks like doodles, but is actually more thought out than that.  Visit this blog post about the artist, Reggie Laurent. 

Reggie is renowned for his use of color.  

Check out the webpage for his original artworks here:  Laurent Originals

You can buy an art sub plan about Reggie and his art at my TPT shop: The Colorful and Fun Paintings of Reggie Laurent 

Through this art activity, students learn about geometric and organic shapes and how Laurent uses them in his abstract paintings. They then create a drawing of their own, based on Laurent’s work.

The lesson contains full directions for teachers and students. There are many photos of paintings by Reggie Laurent and visuals of student samples. There is a link to a YouTube video about the artist, but it is not necessary for teaching the lesson. (All photos of Reggie Laurent's work have been used with the permission of the artist.)

Kindergarten Drawing | Jack in the Box

Art Sub Plan Idea for Kindergarten

One Happy Art Teacher describes how she taught fan folding in this sub lesson and turned it into Jack in the Boxes. Full details are included in her blog post. 

If you are looking for a kindergarten art sub plan that is ready to hand to a sub right now, check out this lesson in my TPT shop. 

This lesson, Robot Roundup, includes visuals of vintage robot toys and contemporary robots. Students follow a directed drawing to get started, but add their own details when they are ready. I have taught this to all ages of elementary students and it is well loved by every level.

This lesson is no prep, fully scripted, and includes plenty of visuals. It can be taught by anyone.

 

Easy Art Lesson for Subs - Reggie Laurent

Here is an easy and fun art lesson that is no-prep. It was written so it would be easy enough to be taught by a sub, but can certainly also be taught by art teachers and classroom teachers. If you have an emergency and need to take a day off, this would be perfect for a sub lesson. It is already written out. All anyone would need to do is read the script and pass out supplies.

The supplies needed for this are simple. Paper and crayons or markers.

The lesson may be projected or printed out. 

Where You Can Find This Lesson

This lesson can be found at my TPT shop: Art Sub Lessons. I have a ton of resources to help with sub lesson planning or just everyday art lessons.

Here are some reviews of the lesson that were left in my TPT shop:  

"Great, thorough product. Could be used for lessons: shape, color, pattern, movement. There are many ways to use this resource to meet your project needs."

"My students loved learning about Reggie Laurent as part of our Black History Month artists. My grade 4s and 5s created colorful doodles inspired by his work. This PowerPoint was an incredible guide for teaching the lesson and exploring his contribution to the art world. I extended the project by allowing students to include a silhouette in the middle of their doodles. Great resource! "

Art Sub Plans - Boat on a River of Pattern

Elementary Art Sub Plan "Boat on a River of Pattern"

This art looks like it could be turned into a sub lesson pretty easily. It was over at 4monkeysstudio.

This lesson could be so appealing to both students and subs. It is a simple idea that most everyone would succeed at. 

I found another lesson that might be a good lead in. Check out this blog post at JuliannaKunstler.com The blog post is called, “Zen Landscape....Creative Pattern.” She has step by step direction for how to do the drawing and has visuals to go with it.

Art Sub Plan - Native American Shields

This sub lesson is perfect to accompany Native American Indian units of study.  It may be used by an art sub, art teacher or classroom teacher.  It is one of those lessons where every student feels successful when they are done.

I have taught this as an art teacher/art sub and have found that students get highly engaged in this lesson.

You may find this lesson at my TeachersPayTeachers shop.

SaveSave

Emergency Sub Plan- Captivating Castles

Students are captivated by castles. Their imaginations soar dreaming about the romance of medieval times. In this lesson, they will learn about castles from medieval Europe, including the exterior architecture and the reasons for their design. It includes illustrations from the early 1400's by the Limbourg brothers and photos of castles that still exist.

After going over the lesson, the students will draw a castle of their own design. They will utilize architectural elements they have learned but are encouraged to invent their own as well.

It was written in great detail for use as an emergency sub lesson but could be used by an art teacher or classroom teacher.

This PowerPoint may be used in two ways. It may be printed out and shown page by page to the students or shown as a projected PowerPoint.

The supplies needed are simple. The student will need paper, pencil, crayons or markers.

This lesson is written so that it may be taught completely by following the prompts in the slides. It written for use by grades two through five, but certainly could be used by older students. 

Find it here for $3.50 on TeachersPayTeachers:  Captivating Castles - Emergency Art Sub Lesson Plan  No one wants to spend hours writing lesson plans in an emergency.  My shop takes care of that.  Lessons are written so they are ready to hand over to the sub.

Creative Faces - Art Sub Plans

Art Sub Plans Elementary - Creative Faces

Theresa Gillespie, at  Splats, Scraps and Glue Blobs, posted a sub lesson to check out.  (Recognize that face?)  Here's a link to the sub lesson: Creative Faces.

Elementary Art Lesson - Imaginary Cuckoo Clocks

This is a lesson that I left for my sub this week. It is based on the cuckoo clocks that come from the Black Forest of Germany.  Students are shown examples of real cuckoo clocks and ones drawn by other students.

I created it in such a way that it could be projected as a PowerPoint or could be printed out for my art sub to use.  It is for sale in my TeachersPayTeachers shop.  It would be perfect to use on one of those days when you need a lesson for an emergency absence.  All you have to do is print this out for your sub.  All of the visuals and directions are written right in the PowerPoint.  The supplies are as simple as it gets:  crayons and paper.

My art sub said that the students enjoyed the lesson.  I had fun looking at the clock inventions that they came up with.

Art Sub Plan - A Tree House for Me

A Treehouse for Me

As I am entering the later part of my art teaching career, I am trying to figure out how I can both continue in art education and fund my retirement.  Plus, in a year or two I will probably start subbing in art classrooms and will need an arsenal of good lessons to teach.  I've started putting together art sub lessons in PowerPoint as if I were going to substitute teach from them.  They've taken hours of work to put together and most of them have been tested in the classroom.

I am going to be selling them cheaply so that when you need an emergency lesson plan you can buy one from here:  Jan's Shop at TeachersPayTeachers  A lesson that has taken me hours and hours to work on, you can download in a minute.  You don't have to spend all those agonizing hours writing your own art sub lesson plans.

The lessons all use the most simple supplies:  crayon or marker, pencil or pen, and paper.  All your sub has to do is to read each slide.

Since my subs most likely don't feel comfortable using my technology, I have created the slides so that you can print out each slide.  The sub will just bring the class close as if they were reading a book to the class, and they will show each slide that has been printed.

This particular lesson was written with third, fourth, and fifth grade students in mind.

Ugly Bug Ball - Elementary Art Sub Plan

 Ugly Bug Ball - Art Sub Plan 

I created this lesson for its ease of use.  It is complete with visuals and simple directions.  The materials needed are very simple.  It is for sale at TeachersPayTeachers.

This lesson was created with an art sub in mind. All of the directions have been included for their ease of use. You may print this out so that the sub may present it up close on paper or show it as PowerPoint presentation.

The materials needed for this lesson are the most simple: paper, pencils, and crayons or markers.

The lesson begins with discussion questions regarding a masterpiece by the artist, Balthasar van der Ast. This painting includes many interesting insects crawling around a beautiful still life. The lesson then leads the students to create an imaginary scene of insects at a party. Each slide includes questions and statements for the students to think about including in their drawing.

I have taught this lesson to all levels, K through Fifth. My subs who have used this lesson have left feedback that they and the students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson.

I hope that this will be a well-loved lesson for you and your students and that it helps you when you are in need of a sub lesson.

Elementary Art Sub Lesson - Ugly Bug Ball

 I created this lesson for its ease of use.  It is complete with visuals and simple directions.  The materials needed are very simple.  It is for sale at TeachersPayTeachers.

This lesson was created with an art sub in mind. All of the directions have been included for their ease of use. You may print this out so that the sub may present it up close on paper or show it as PowerPoint presentation.

The materials needed for this lesson are the most simple: paper, pencils and crayons or markers.

The lesson begins with discussion questions regarding a masterpiece by the artist, Balthasar van der Ast. This painting includes many interesting insects crawling around a beautiful still life. The lesson then leads the students to creating an imaginary scene of insects at a party. Each slide includes questions and statements for the students to think about including in their drawing.

I have taught this lesson to all levels, K through Fifth. My subs who have used this lesson have left feedback that they and the students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson.

I hope that this will be a well loved lesson for you and your students and that it helps you when you are in need of a sub lesson.

The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat

This is an art sub lesson that I created years ago and it has been an old favorite. It goes with the book/poem "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat." I wrote it specifically for primary art subs. It's over at TeachersPayTeachers. I tried to make it as simple as possible. If you have the book and simple supplies, you are ready to take a day of leave. = )

The Night I Followed the Dog Art Sub Lesson Plan

Art Sub Plan for The Night I Followed the Dog

This is a lesson I will leave for some of my younger classes this week.

Here's a fifth grader's...

Here’s a second grader’s...

I will leave a video of the book "The Night I Followed the Dog."  This is a video that I have downloaded from YouTube on the Storyline Online Channel.  I have also burned it to DVD that I can play on a regular DVD player. (See how to do this at my blog, Art Room Videos.)

The lesson will be introduced by showing some funny animal videos of animals talking.  (Kids love these and they are so funny, your kids will fall in love with your sub for showing them. I won’t link to one right now because they get uploaded and deleted on YouTube. But look for some and then then preview them before you leave them for a sub.)

Then the sub will tell the students they will be listening to a storybook called "The Night I Followed the Dog."  Ask what sorts of things they think we would see a dog doing if we followed it around in real life.
 
Show the video.

After viewing the video, ask the students what sorts of things they would like to see a pet doing if the pet was acting like a person.

They will go to their tables and draw those things.  The drawings could be in stapled book form or just one on a page.

Remind them to add backgrounds.  Where will these pets be?  What would we see around them if we were there?  Would there be other pets?  Would they be doing the same things?

If time allows, let them share their favorite drawings with the class.

What's in Your Head?

Idea for Art Lesson Plan - What's in Your Head

Here's an idea I think my fifth graders would enjoy.  The lesson is called, "What's in Your Head," by Tammy Willis.  This lesson is over at the Incredible Art Department.

Loopy Line Fish

Loopy Line Fish as an Art Sub Plan

This is a find from Art Project Girl.  She says it should take a half-hour or so.  Coupled with a book or video about fish, you could add on the needed time.  Or you could give this to your sub in case they need something to fill in the time.

Another easy way to prepare for an art sub is to go to my shop, Art Sub Plans. I have created complete lessons in which all your sub has to do is read the slides and follow the directions.  They are full of visuals and are created to be used with the most simple supplies.  Pencils, paper, and crayons are all your students will need to create imaginative works of art.

These are perfect for those emergency absences when you do not have the time to write detailed plans but want to leave quality plans for your subs.

Kindergarten Art Sub Plan - Wheels

This is a kindergarten lesson by Rina at the blog, K-6 Art.

She gives such good directions, I think a sub could do this one.

Art Sub Plans - Purple People Eater

Elementary Art Sub Plan for Purple People Eater

You would think that since I gather sub plans for this blog, preparing for a sub would be a breeze for me.  Not so.  Though I have so many ideas right at my fingertips, I still spend unspoken numbers of hours writing the plans and making the visuals.  So I will post the written plans I made this week and maybe it will save you a little time.

I originally posted a link to the blog, Clown and Poodle, but I am having trouble linking to that site now. So, I got my original idea from them, and this the lesson I chose to leave for my sub yesterday.

Here is how I prepped.  Since all my classes were going to do the same lesson, I taped the visuals in the front of the room.  Some of these are ideas I copied directly from her original post.

In this lesson, the students glue a googly eye on the paper.  I did this the day before my sub came as to save her the hassle of dealing with the thick craft glue.  When the students received their work paper, it had a googly eye glued on it already.


Here are a couple of the finished pieces done by second graders:

Here are the lesson plans as written for my sub:

Tell the students that today they will be inventing a new silly monster all on their own.  It will look like no one else’s!  

Read these lyrics with a lot of fun in your voice:

This is called the One Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eater.

Well, I saw the thing
A comin' out of the sky
It had a one long horn
And a one big eye
I commenced to shakin'
And I said "oohwee
It looks like a Purple
People Eater to me"

It was a one-eyed, one-horned
Flyin' Purple People Eater
One-eyed, one-horned
Flyin' Purple People Eater
Sure looked strange to me


Well, he came down to earth
And he lit in a tree
I said, "Mister Purple People Eater,
Don't eat me"
I heard him say
In a voice so gruff,
I wouldn't eat you
Cause you're so tough

It was a one-eyed, one-horned
Flyin' Purple People Eater
One-eyed, one-horned
Flyin' Purple People Eater
One-eyed, one-horned
Flyin' purple people Eater
Sure looked strange to me
One horn

I said, "Mister Purple People Eater,
What's your line?"
He said,
Eatin' purple people,
And it sure is fine.
What is the reason
That you came to land
I wanna get a job
In a rock 'n roll band



Well, he went on his way
And then what-a you know
I saw him last night
On a TV show
He was blowin' it out,
Really knockin' 'em dead
Playin' rock 'n roll music
Through the horn on his head

Show the students a paper that has one eye glued to it.  Tell them that they will invent their own one-eyed monster using this paper.

Show them the sample monsters that I have drawn.

Ask them how many eyes their monster should have. <There is one eye glued on the paper, but they can draw more if they want.>

Ask them what else their silly monster should have.  (Wings?  Legs?  Toes?  Teeth?  What else?)

Show them the charts on the SmartBoard and tell them that they may use some of the ideas there, but they don’t have to.  They can invent whatever they want.

Show them the paper that has one eye glued on it.  (They’re in the cardboard box under the SmartBoard.) Tell them that they will use that as their monster’s eye.  They use the Sharpie to draw around it.  They add the rest of the head, the body and what ever else they want.

Show the drawings of the two monsters.  Point out that they have things in their hands.  What will they put in their monster’s hands?

Will their monster be scaly?  Will it be hairy?  Bumpy?  Rough? 

Have the students go to the tables you assign them.  (Send four to red…four to yellow…four to blue….four to green…..etc.)

                                                  

After they are seated, tell them to look at their seat number.  Tell them that person #1 should stand up.  If there is no #1, choose #2 for that team…or #3 of need be.  That person will be the team helper.

Hold all the papers.  Have the helpers line up in front of you and tell you how many sheets they need for their team.

The helper should come back and get Sharpies for their team.

The helper should come get a box of crayons for their team.

Everyone should draw their monsters.  Remind them that they can draw them however they like, however if they need help, they can get ideas from the charts on the SmartBoard.

If lots of children finish before the end of class time, call them all up front with their drawings.  You can collect the drawings and show each one.  The children can clap for each other.  Remind them that it should be clapping only and that we clap for every child.

If there is still time at the end of class you can read the book “Glad Monster Sad Monster.”  I will put that up front with the other supplies.

Helpers should return Sharpies and crayons to the front of the room.

The children should take their art work with them.

Please give me feedback about how the lesson went.  

*********

If you like that lesson, you might also like this one from my shop on TeachersPayTeachers.