Art and design: Year 3 Formal elements of art

Exploring two of the formal elements of art: shape and tone; children find shapes in everyday objects; use shapes as guidelines to draw accurately from observation; create form and shape using wire and practice shading neatly and from light to dark

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Art and design > Lower key stage 2 > Formal elements of art

Please note

This unit has now been replaced by the Year 3 unit Drawing: Developing drawing skills. Kapow no longer updates these lessons, and they may not reflect the national curriculum or current guidance. They remain a permanent part of your subscription and will continue to be available for reference and use. We recommend that you explore the new versions of the lessons.

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Lesson 1: Shape 1: Seeing simple shapes (Original scheme)

Children go on a shape hunt around the school, identifying, drawing and labelling the different shapes that make up the objects they find

Lesson 2: Shape 2: Geometry

Taking a simple drinks can, children learn to first study an object to identify the simple geometric shapes it's made up of, before sketching out the details using light guidelines

Lesson 3: Shape 3: Working with wire (Original scheme)

Following one of two templates, children work with wire, bending and twisting it to create the form of a fish, using smaller pieces of wire to add features

Lesson 4: Tone 1: The four rules of shading (Original scheme)

Children learn and apply the four rules of shading; to work evenly and neatly, in one direction, with straight edges and no gaps

Lesson 5: Tone 2: Shading from light to dark (Original scheme)

Continuing with their work on tone, pupils employ their patience to practice shading smoothly from light to dark, filling the outline and background of an animal template with tone, contrasting the background with the inside of the template

Assess your pupils

Assessment resources for use at the start of the unit to assess where pupils are in their learning and at the end of the unit to assess progress. Go to assessment resources