Starry Night

This lesson will introduce the artist Vincent Van Gogh and give students the opportunity to respond to his work. We will explore theme, color, and line while examining the painting "Starry Night" and creating our own pictures using a combination of oil pastel plus cut and paste.

A lesson plan for grade 2 Visual Arts Education

By Martha Pearson

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• use line and color expressively to create movement in the sky.
• use materials appropriately.
• follow the lesson in sequence.
• discuss personal choices and feelings about their artwork.
• identify a characteristic of Van Gogh’s style.
• cut two and four shapes at a time to repeat shapes in their landscapes.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2.00 hours

Materials/resources

• black construction paper
• oil pastels
• colors of construction paper
• scrap paper
• glue
• scissors
• books, videos, prints or other art reproductions and information about Vincent Van Gogh

Technology resources

Technology needs may vary depending on what type of supporting materials you have.

Pre-activities

Show the class a reproduction of the painting “Starry Night” and have them respond to what they see. Prompt them with open-ended questions about color, line, and what feelings they may get when they look at the scene. This is a time when I get feedback from the students that helps me understand how they are thinking. It may also affect how I teach the lesson. You may then wish to read an age appropriate book about Vincent Van Gogh.

Activities

The art activity will be done in the following steps. It will begin with a demonstration of the objectives for the day. I have had students work on the sky in one class period and the cut and paste landscape in another.

Demonstrate and discuss:

1. The sky will be made using oil pastel on black paper. Draw a moon and shapes to represent stars. Draw lines to create concentric circles around the celestial shapes to make them look like they glow as Van Gogh did.
2. Use different types of lines and repeat lines to show movement in the sky.
3. Have students select color imaginatively and for their own emotional appeal.

The next part of the lesson will be a cut and paste landscape that is added to the sky.

Demonstrate and discuss:

1. Tear paper that is the same width as the sky to make land with a mountainous horizon. I suggest to my students that they should try to tear a zig-zag, crooked, or curvy line.
2. Cut shapes two and four at a time to create objects for the landscape. They can make suggestions for what should be in the landscape and their shapes.
3. I always dot glue around the edges of the shape so that the object can be moved around before being pressed in it’s final location. It also helps cut down on the amount of glue on top of the picture.
4. Overlap shapes and repeat shapes.

Assessment

As the students finish each section of the lesson you should be able to see, and they should verbalize the learning outcomes.

• Look for and have students name the types of line used in creating their moving starry sky.
• Students should be able to identify pictures that are landscapes from other types of artwork.
• Assess whether students were able to control the materials.
• Were they able to cut multiples by folding the paper?
• See if students can identify Van Gogh paintings from works by other artists working in different styles.

Supplemental information

Reproductions of Van Gogh’s work can often be taken from post cards, books, and calendars. I have bought several large books at a discount through major booksellers. Poster-sized reproductions are available through art catalogs.

Two children’s books I have used in teaching are:
Vincent Van Gogh by Eileen Lucas Publisher: Carolrhoda Books; (April 1997)
ISBN: 1575050382

Van Gogh by Mike Venezia
Publisher: Children’s Press; (March 1989)
ISBN: 051642274X

Related websites

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Comments

I have also taught the Starry Night lesson as a crayon resist which works well too.