Arts Integration
Aboriginal Snake
Grade Level: 1
Connection to Curriculum Unit:
Social Studies Continents - Australia
Lesson Objective and Learner Outcomes:
Students will apply the art elements of shape, line, and color to create an Aboriginal snake drawing
using oil pastels.
Art EALRs:
1.1 Understands and applies arts concepts and
vocabulary
1.2 Develops arts skills and techniques
1.3 Understands and applies arts genres and styles of
various artists, cultures, and times
4.4Understands how the arts influence and reflect
cultures/civilization, place and time
Thinking Skills:observing, decisionmaking
Arts Vocabulary:
 Line – the edge of a shape that gives the feeling of direction and movement
 Shape – a closed space made when a line connects itself
 Pattern – a repeated design
 Texture – how a surface of something feels or looks
 Hue – the lightness, darkness, brightness, or dullness of a color
Materials List:
 9x12 black construction paper
 Oil pastels including one white pastel
Advanced Preparation:
Poster board or chart paper with a variety of patterned
designs, examples: lines, spirals, dots etc.
Preparation Time:
5 minutes
Lesson takes about 45 minutes.
Procedure:
Talk with students about background information: The Aborigines were the first people to inhabit
Australia. They used art to tell stories. Aborigines used their dreams as an inspiration to create
art. The traditional belief was that everyone was an artist. They would paint on rocks, sand, and
even the human body for ceremonial rituals. Charcoal, colored clay, and other organic materials
were applied with sticks, stencils, or one’s hands. The patterns and symbols used in the artwork
were passed down from generation to generation. The dot-like patterns are a traditional
Aborigine art form. Today in Australia, there are still Aborigines who live as they did thousands of
years ago.
1. Show students Aboriginal art images that are pictured at the end of this lesson plan. Ask
students what they notice. Have them turn and talk about their ideas. Use chart paper to
record student observations.
2. Demonstrate and then have students use a white pastel to draw a large block letter S with
ends open. See image 1 below.
3. Show students how to continue the top of the “S” that goes over the body and forms a head.
Then show how to continue to bottom to end the tail. Emphasize that the snake shapeneeds
to get narrower in width at the head and tail. See image 2 below.
4. Erase the lines that should not show to get an overlapping effect. See image 3 below.
5. Students trace over the white outline of the snake with a light color.
6. Draw a light stripe down the center of the body.
7. Divide the snake into approximately five sections. Each section will have a different pattern,
so you don’t want too many sections.
8. Fill in the sections with different colored and different designed patterns. Encourage
students to use light and dark pastel, varying the pressure in order to create the desiredhue.
Also, refer to the chart or samples on how to create a variety of visual textures.
9. Color in the background by turning the pastel on the side and covering all the black paper.
Visual of Final Product
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Closure:
Allow students to share their work with each other. Why did they choose certain pattern designs?
What was the most difficult part of the project? What did they enjoy the most?
Extensions:
Use different animal forms or hand shapes. Use different mediums such as colored pencil, markers, or
paint. See example of hand shape extension project below.
Internet images: