Creative Practices

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Creative Practices’s Docs Lesson Plan Artist Focus Pre-K

Lesson – Artist Study

Author– Johnelle Childs

Grade– Pre-K

Focus– Jackson Pollock

This is a great lesson I like to do with the children every year. This is a great way to introduce artist focus.  I start the lesson by reading a familiar book called Olivia by Ian Falcon. The book is great because it looks at Jackson Pollock’s work through a child’s eyes.

After reading the book I ask the children about the artwork in the book and I tell them who Jackson Pollock is an abstract expressionist and give them some back round. What do you think an expressionist is? This will be a difficult concept for them to understand but it is interesting to get there answers and record those so you can display with the activity I also show them a clip of Jackson Pollock at work. This always captures the children attention when they see the clip.

Activity- For the activity the children are recreating actions Jackson Pollock did they are becoming expressions. You demo straight to the children how they can throw, splash, and spatter the paint all over the paper just like Jackson Pollock.  After the activity you want the children to share their experience and come together form a title or their art work. Note this is a group activity done during center time not every child will want to participate so there are other centers open during this time, but I try to engage all the children to try the painting.

Materials- Garbage Bags, White Butcher Block Paper, Assorted tempera paint, Large Brushes, and important smacks for the children.

This lesson is great introduction into artist study and you can find other children’s books that use different artist work. Clean up is hard but it is worth seeing the children become artist. Also I found this year that a lot of our boys got involved in this activity.