The Elements of Art and Design… an ever recurring theme in art through out my own education and now as a teacher. It sounds rather boring on its own and I’ve often seen cookie cutter-esque projects based on an element. The inquiry approach in the IB philosophy is what I really like about the program. Therefore this year I’ve decided to base my curriculum on the four “strands” or units of the IB PYP. They are Elements of Art and Design, Creative Processes, Visual Arts in Society and Reflection and Appreciation. So for each semester all of the grades will focus on that strand as our unit.

The first unit is the Elements of Art and Design. Instead of asking my students to all create projects with shockingly similar results, I am asking them to understand the elements that they are using better. Naturally many elements are involved in all pieces of art, but I have my students consider how they are using or can use one or two in combination. For example my second graders had to find a real object to draw using a continuous line. They had to choose what materials to use, how to finish the piece and the style of line they would use.

In order to help my students recognize what elements of art we are focusing on I created logos for each of them. When starting a project I include these in the discussion and have them consider what other elements we might use. There’s something quite nice about have a simple visual to relate to. The students are able to tell what elements of art we will be working with now without needing to see it in writing. “We’re doing 3D today. We’re using form!”