Lessons


Kindergarten Planning Matrix

1st Grade Planning Matrix

2nd Grade Planning Matrix

3rd Grade Planning Matrix

4th Grade Planning Matrix

5th Grade Planning Matrix

29 Responses to “Lessons”

  1. kathy July 24, 2010 at 9:04 pm #

    Just wanted to tell you I am adding you to my “links” list on my blog. I am posting about all of my new links on July 30th.
    Thanks Love your site!

    Reply
  2. Michele September 26, 2010 at 6:22 am #

    Thank you for sharing your talent with ALL of us! I love the lesson plans especially as a new teacher. I’m using the “Action Jackson” lesson next week.

    Reply
  3. Matt Volesky October 12, 2010 at 8:11 pm #

    Hey Jessica! I found your blog through another blog. I’m liking it.. very professional looking. I really like how organized your lessons, short and to the point.
    Hope your year is going good so far.

    Reply
  4. Brenda Doud October 15, 2010 at 4:17 pm #

    So funny, I follow your blog as well as many other art blogs. I start to forget where I get my ideas and you wrote on my blog that the OpArt was similar to your lesson. When I went to your page I realized that it was YOUR blog where I got the idea!!! I love your page, thanks for the help. I’ll be going back to that one and adding your blog.

    Reply
    • Jessica Balsley October 15, 2010 at 9:30 pm #

      Now that, Brenda, is funny! I think it’s great we can share ideas and I know many of my own I have received from others! Happy Teaching!
      -Jessica

      Reply
  5. Nicci December 26, 2010 at 6:34 pm #

    Hi Jessica, I am very interested in your 3rd grade lesson plan on ‘Movement’, however I found the lesson overview and student samples, but not the actual lesson plan itself. Your blog is amazing, by the way, and I can see will become a valuable resource for me. I live in Australia, and have developed quite a nice lesson on South Pacific ‘tapa’ designs, incorporating ICT (the focus is on ‘pattern’). Happy to share this if you are interested. Not sure how to add an attachment though – any idea?

    Reply
    • Jessica Balsley December 28, 2010 at 6:22 am #

      Hi Nicci! I do not currently have a lesson made up in its entirety on the movement lessons. Which movement lesson were you interested in? I can try to give you a brief description if you would like! Your Tapa design lesson sounds great! I am not sure if you can attach something to a post. I know you can link text if you have the information on line. You can share these things through email if you wish!! jessicabalsley@gmail.com. Thanks!

      Reply
    • Casey October 25, 2015 at 9:38 pm #

      Would you mind emailing a copy of the tapa lesson–we are studying the South Pacific right now. Thanks!

      Reply
  6. Yvonne Osborn December 29, 2010 at 10:36 pm #

    Hello Jessica,
    I found your Blog in a round about way via Twitter and I am very impressed by it. You have certainly put a lot of effort into it and I love the lesson plans and the fact that you are so willing to share your expertise.
    I hope that you are enjoying a great break from work at the moment. I am on Summer break down here in Melbourne, Australia and I must say that I am enjoying the days of no real pressure. My mind is still brimming with ideas for the 2011 School year and your site has been most helpful in that regard. All the best for 2011,
    Yvonne Osborn.

    Reply
  7. lauralee chambers January 9, 2011 at 7:54 pm #

    Hi Jessica,
    I am an art teacher in New York as well as the arts K-5 curriculum leader doing so much of what you do! I am inspired every time I read your posts. Your dedication and thoroughness is most impressive. I am a huge fan and I thank you for sharing. I have loved too many things to list. One that sticks in my mind is your use of those little white boards. Can you share how you fit that into a lesson and where I could get those. Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing from you.

    Reply
    • Jessica Balsley January 9, 2011 at 8:53 pm #

      Hi Lauralee!
      How neat to “meet” someone who has a similar job to mine, I bet we could share a lot of ideas in our leadership role. Thank you also for your kind words, I am happy to help and learn along with everyone else.

      The whiteboards were ordered as a class set from one of the bigger art catalogs, maybe Sax or Blick. They are relatively inexpensive, I think under #30 for the class set. However, you could laminate white construction paper and cut it down and use those for an even more inexpensive dry erase board. I just have kids use a tissue to wipe them off, since I didn’t want to buy 30 erasers.

      I use them for practicing the most. Practice drawing something in 3D, or practice drawing something in 1 point perspective or to plan out their project before they start.
      I also use them for formative assessment. Kids could write their answers or draw their answers and I can do a quick check of who is getting what I am teaching. I need to use them more…

      I really hope this helps and I look forward to talking more with you!

      Reply
  8. Caren Taylor March 9, 2011 at 9:08 pm #

    Thanks for the fab idea with the Kandinsky art. I was looking for ways to tie in our Unit of Inquiry in Maths (Shape and Space) and found your lesson. I used phrases like ‘perpendicular’ and “parallel” lines to tie in with the Maths. I also used a variety of shape templates. The results were stunning, wish I could put a picture up here for you to see.
    Thanks once again.
    Caren

    Reply
    • Jamie Rogers jmasterso08@alumni.uwosh.edu US March 14, 2011 at 12:13 pm #

      I love your one page lesson plan format! Is there anyway I can get the page layout?

      Reply
      • Jessica Balsley March 14, 2011 at 7:26 pm #

        Sure! Just send me an email and I’ll send you a copy. It’s done in Pages, which is a mac program. If you don’t have pages, it won’t work. 🙂 jessicabalsley@gmail.com

  9. Tammy April 26, 2011 at 7:24 pm #

    Jessica I was having trouble uploading your VanGogh lesson plan and the Aboriginal lesson plan. The others worked fine. Any ideas? (Just an aside. Thanks for your help and quidance this year. You truely are a great mentor.)

    Reply
    • Jessica Balsley April 26, 2011 at 9:34 pm #

      Tammy – I am sorry for the issue! I am having some trouble uploading these two lessons and have added text links on this page to help you get them off to the right. I will consult my technology help and get this worked out asap! Thanks for letting me know.

      Reply
  10. Maryann Hopper June 21, 2011 at 2:41 pm #

    I have just started learning about blogging and using social media to develop my teaching. Thank you for creating such a helpful website!

    Reply
  11. Elizabeth Boggs July 11, 2011 at 9:35 pm #

    What program do you make your lessons in? I love the visual layout of it and so more motivating than standard lesson plan writing.
    Thanks,
    Boggs

    Reply
    • Jessica Balsley July 13, 2011 at 6:28 am #

      I use pages on my mac- Then, I export them to PDF. Hope it helps!

      Reply
  12. janiejackson August 18, 2011 at 4:12 pm #

    Great Blog!

    Reply
  13. Mrs. G August 23, 2011 at 8:33 pm #

    Hi Jessica! I just wanted to let you know that this is my second year teaching (Art, of course) and I can not put into words how helpful your blog has been to me. I mean, Wow!! From the lessons, to the classroom management, to the stories…. I just truely feel blessed to have “stumbled” onto your page! I know this must be a LOT of hard work – and from the bottom of my heart, I greatly apprecate all the effort you have put into spreading your knowledge into the online art community!

    Reply
    • Jessica Balsley August 24, 2011 at 6:16 pm #

      Mrs. G- Thank you! You are super sweet and it makes my day to hear your are enjoying it. Over time when you write a blog consistently you really get a lot of content built up, I find myself going to my own blog for lessons when I am ready to teach them to remember how I did them. Isn’t that funny? Keep in touch I bet you are doing great!

      Reply
  14. Megan August 31, 2011 at 5:05 pm #

    This blog is ABSOLUTELY amazing!!! This is my 3rd year teaching and I still feel like I’m stumbling in the dark in SO many areas. I LOVE your planning matrix by grade level. Some of the concepts have astrics by them. Is there a particular reason why? Just wondering. THANK YOU so much for sharing your insight! I can not wait to take your AOE classes!!!

    Reply
    • Jessica Balsley August 31, 2011 at 8:21 pm #

      Megan! Thank you!!! The stars represent standards that are assessed on our report card. I look forward to working with you in the future. Let me know if you ever need anything at all!

      Reply
  15. Mrs. G September 7, 2011 at 5:04 pm #

    Hey Jessica! Mrs. G, again, my principal just sprung on me that she wants me to do more multicultural art lessons. Do you have any?? :)Or know of a good resource?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Jessica Balsley September 14, 2011 at 8:02 pm #

      I do a lot of multi cultural lessons, but don’t’ have them ready for download right now. I love to teach lessons on Mexico (God’s Eyes, Day of the Dead, etc). I also enjoy doing Russia and of course Kente Cloths from Africa and masks. It’s really endless. Crizmac is a great resource for multicultural ideas, too!

      Reply
      • Mrs. G September 17, 2011 at 7:50 pm #

        Thanks girl!
        Just curious, do you have a Pinterest?? Your blog is “pinned” a lot! I even “pinned” you 🙂
        I would love to follow you on there if you are and I’m sure many more are with me.

  16. Solaris January 23, 2012 at 10:42 pm #

    I am enjoying your blog and you are inspiring me. Thanks for putting this out there and sharing so much. I teach K-8 in the school cafeteria. My classroom space is beside the cafeteria, with no doors or separation. I put all my things back into cabinets including pencils, erasers, markers, everything… and lock them up bc we rent our building from a church and I want to keep stuff safe from being stolen as it had been when kept out. I am always working to get more organized, though, then I fall short and get things just get shoved into the cabinets and cluttered up. I wonder i you might have some tips for me, in organizing things in the cabinet better. Thanks for any tips!

    Reply

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