In this unit, student artists draw and color their dream house. They build a structure & draw it using observation skills, adding details, and finishing with colors that help to describe it’s environment.

Student Example
I tried to take my imagination and make it into a place. I tried to not use realistic colors. And I tried to make it look like a fantasy. I added some mythical creatures and I made some the animals colors that they wouldn’t naturally be. And I made some of the things that wouldn’t normally have features like faces, I made them have features. I tried to make the building simplistic yet detailed at the same time. i wanted it to be small, not huge. And I tried to put a lot of details into the small spaces. I was inspired by the bubbly Japanese Kawii style with lots of pastel colors and nothing too heavy.
Scope & Sequence:
Lesson 1: In this lesson, artists begin the process of designing their ‘dream house’. They start out by building the basic shape of their dream house using paper cups.
Lesson 2: In this lesson, student artists make an observation drawing using the cup house that they built during lesson 1.
Lesson 3: In this lesson, student artists imagine what their dream house would look like, then add details to their observation drawing from the previous lesson to turn it into the abode of their choice.
Lesson 4: In this lesson, student artists color their dream homes using watercolor, markers, and oil pastels. They are introduced to and encouraged to use warm and cool colors to describe the environment that their house is in.
Lesson 5: Allow a fifth day entirely for finishing and refining work.
Lesson 6: Optional. a final day for finishing.
(you can preview the first lesson in a project without enrolling by clicking on ‘lesson 1’ above).
The above will take you to a supply list that assumes a class size of 30. Adjust according to your needs.
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Books & Media:
– Optional books: library books on a variety of architectural styles and/or tablets or computers for research (see: early finishers)
Line, Shape/Form, Color
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Art Principles:
Proportion/Scale, Balance
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National Core Visual Art Standards:
VA:Cr1.1.3a, VA:Cr1.1.4a, VA:Cr3.1.3a, VA:Cr3.1.5a, VA:Cr3.1.6a, VA:Re.7.2.3a, VA:Re.7.1.5a, VA:Re.7.2.4a
Mathematics (measuring and shapes), Social Studies (looking at different architectural examples), Geography (architectural examples from different countries)
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Common Core Standards:
L.3.5a, L.3.5b, SL.3.1b, SL.4.1b, SL.5.1b, SL.3.1c, SL.4.1c, SL.5.1c, SL.3.1d, SL.4.1d, SL.5.1d, SL.4.5, SL.5.5, W.4.2, W.5.2, W.4.4, W.5.4, W.3.8, 4.NF.B.3.A, 4.G.1, 3.G.2