TREE SILHOUETTE – Warm and Cool Colours, Contrast

Students will be able to:

• mix secondary colours from primary colours;
• recognize and use warm and cool colours;
• use contrast to create emphasis;
• demonstrate technical accomplishment and creativity; 
• support their ideas with evidence found in the artworks.

Have students:

• explore books about colour, for example, Monsters Love Colors, by Mike Austin; Color Dance, by Ann Jonas; The Day the Crayons Quit; by Drew Daywalt; and Vincent’s Colors, by Vincent Van Gogh and The Metropolitan Museum of Art;
• create a colour book inspired by one they have read;
• share their books with other students;
• teach a student in a lower grade how to mix colours based on their own book.

1. Prior to this lesson you may want to have students make a colour wheel using the Exploring Colour  lesson plan available on this site.
2. Download and display the Colour Wheel poster available on this website.
3. Download images from the Internet, or find pictures in books of examples of trees, for example,
   Maple Tree
   Weeping Willow
   Chestnut
   Oak
4. Gather and make available books about trees, for example, Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems, by Kristine O'Connell George; The Tree, by Karen Gray Ruelle; and Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art, by Thomas Locker.
5. Have students do an inquiry-based study about trees in different seasons that includes poetry.
6. Collect a variety of paint chips in warm and cool colours.
7. Gather required art materials.

1. View the colour wheel and review/introduce the primary colours and how they can be mixed. 
2. Introduce warm and cool colours.
3. Place students into small groups.
4. Give each group of students a pile of paint chips and ask them to arrange them from coolest to warmest colours.
5. Introduce the challenge.

1. Display the completed paintings for a group discussion. Remind students of the challenge.
2. Ask students to:
   - Look closely at the paintings.
   - Choose one that interests you for some reason.
   - Share thoughts about the work.
3. During the discussion include references to:
   - Contrast - how it emphasizes the tree and adds drama to the picture.
   - Movement - how colour and lines get the eye to travel through the whole space.
   - Colour - how the colours change from cool to warm.
   - Feelings the work evokes and why/how.
    

1. Observe students as they work – thoughtful focus, discriminating, seeking more information, elaborating, experimenting.
2. Observe students as they discuss their paintings – speaks with a clear voice, looks at audience while speaking, points to areas in the painting, provides accurate information, answers questions from the audience effectively.
3. Observe students as they listen – looks at presenter, asks effective questions, supports ideas with evidence found in the artwork.
4. Use a checklist to track progress. (Download – TREE_tracking.pdf)
5. Have students use the self-assessment form to evaluate their work. (Download – TREE_self-assessment.pdf, TREE_PRIMARY_self-assessment.pdf))