A drawing exercise for any age:  Shading with a pencil

Outcomes: To learn how to change ‘shade’ with gradations of dark and light from a pencil.

Materials:  pencils, paper, boards to draw on, the great out of doors

Art History: Look at and talk about pencil drawings from some masters that include obvious differences in shading.

Steps

1. Look at some pencil drawings.  Note the light areas and the dark areas. 
2. Demonstrate on a large piece of paper three distinct shades of dark, medium and light.
3. Take a student in the room whose clothing can be put into the above 3 categories of dark, medium and light shades.  Have the children match them up.  If the shirt is a dark blue, perhaps that would be the darkest shade.  White socks might be the lightest shade.
4. Talk about how to get each shade by lightly pressing and moving the pencil quickly to pressing very hard and moving the pencil quickly.
5. Talk about the difference between just making one dark line and making a darkly shaded area.  If possible, show an example of a line drawing that has many variations in line and a shaded drawing.
6. Pass out boards and find a good place to draw out of doors, with lots of close subject matter.  A local garden with flowers and plants is a good example.
7. Give a quick reminder to draw what you see, not what you think you see or what you expect to see.  Trees are not popsicle sticks with a cotton ball on top.  Drawing is observation!
8. Pass out paper and pencils, and have the children put their names on their papers.
9. Have the children pick one subject to begin drawing noting at least three different darks and lights to shade.
10. Begin drawing, walking about and helping as needed, and continue for about 20 minutes.
11. When returned to the classroom have each student talk about their drawing-what they liked, what they saw, what they noticed, what surprised them.

Other lesson plans for Art:

An-Art-Lesson-Plan-for-Kindergarten-Through-Second-Grade-Animal-Pinch-Pots

An-Art-Lesson-Plan-for-First-Through-Third-Grade–To-Illustrate-a-Point

A-Lesson-Plan-for-Kindergarten-Art-Paper-Houses

/A-Lesson-Plan-for-Kindergarten-Art-Clay-Tiles

Art-Project-for-Third-to-Fourth-Grade–Impressionist-Landscapes