Miro Inspired Geometric & Organic Shapes- Third Grade

I've had a wonderful student teacher, Kim Doubler, these last 8 weeks. I'm sad to say that tomorrow is her last day with me. She has done a great job and I know that there are students out there who will soon benefit from having her as their art teacher. She brings enthusiasm, caring, and great knowledge of her content area to the classroom. I have a feeling I'm going to be caught talking to myself in the next few weeks because I've gotten used to having another adult in the classroom to discuss ideas with!

As part of her student teaching, she had to create a unit that consisted of 2-3 lessons. She decided to target this unit to third grade students.

The first project in this unit was a Joan Miro inspired painting that reviewed geometric and organic shapes as well as primary and secondary colors.
Students were introduced to the artist and his works and discussed the difference between geometric and organic (or free-form) shapes. They drew shapes inspired by Miro's paintings. They were then instructed to paint in the shapes using watercolors. Students also reviewed the primary and secondary colors as Miss Doubler instructed the students to paint the shapes using the three primary colors and just one secondary color. They could repeat any of these colors but were limited to just those four colors.
Once the shapes were painted in the students used black paint to outline the shapes and add some extra lines for interest.

The results were great! There was quite a variety of compositions among the students. Some students attempted to use the shapes to create images of things while others simply enjoyed the randomness of placing shapes any way.

Great project from a great teacher - Good luck in all your endeavors Kim!

I will share the other two lessons in Kim's unit in posts to come.