Starry Night
Lesson Plan For Artist Report
Erica Mishler
Grades: K-5th grades
Subject Area: Art, Science
Ties or Purpose: After teaching students about Vincent Van Gogh and discussing the
painting "Starry Night," one of his best known works of art, have students create their
own Starry Night. Along with discussing Van Gogh, you can also introduce the crayon
resist technique and talk about stars and swirls in the painting. This project addresses
KSDE standard #1: "Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes."
Materials:
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9x12" white paper
Crayons (yellows, white, silver, etc.)
Navy Blue Watercolor paint
9x12" black paper
White chalk (White crayon or colored pencil)
Glue
Procedure:
Takes approximately 2-3 art periods.
1) A reproduction of Van Gogh's Starry Night is shown to the class and critiqued. Ask
about the lines Van Gogh uses in the sky to show movement. Discuss foreground and
background and what objects are in them.
2) Students are given crayons; neon colors are even better. They were asked to draw on
the white paper, pressing hard, stars and moon like Starry Night and to repeat shapes
around them so that it looks like the stars were radiating. Swirls were added to the
picture. Have students put name in crayon at the top so that you'll be able to see it
when finished.
3) Students will paint over crayoned sky with navy blue watercolor (crayon resist) and
let dry. Next lesson, discuss what a silhouette is. Using the black paper, have students
draw a base line in chalk or white crayon or colored pencil and attach mountains,
houses, and skyline of any type and then cut around the outside edges and not to cut
off baseline.
4) Using glue, glue the side that has the chalk showing, then turn over and place at the
bottom of your crayon resist painting. Voila! A beautiful Starry Night.
Source:
Cindy Slotnick, Elementary Art Teacher at Schools 4, 8, & 9 in Linden, New Jersey.
(USA) <http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/elem67.html>
Technology Integration:
Technologies used:
 World Wide Web
 Kidspiration
 Clickers
Objectives of Technology:
 World Wide Web- Used for research on Vincent Van Gogh and his Paintings
 Kidspiration- Used for Students to map out the elements used to create there
starry night
 Clickers- Used for a short "quiz" about Vincent Van Gogh
Hardware and Software needed:
 Computers with Internet access
 Kidspiration software
 Clickers and CPS software
Skills needed:
Teacher- Needs basic computer skills and be able to navigate the Internet effectively.
The teacher should also be able to use the CPS software and create a quiz using the
software.
Students- Need basic computer skills and be able to navigate the Internet effectively.
The students should also know how to use kidspiration software and how to use the
clickers.
Reflection:
I never thought of adding technology to this art lesson but then when I thought about it I
decided that it would enhance the lesson so much. By using the Internet, the students can
gather information about Vincent Van Gogh. The students can also use the Internet to
look at the works of art by Van Gogh and pictures of Van Gogh to see what he looks like.
The Kidspiration software will let the students diagram the techniques, medium and
elements they used to create their work of art. Using the clickers to give the students a
quiz about Van Gogh will ensure that the students do the research instead of playing
around on the Internet, if they know there will be a quiz they will look at the information
on the Internet. Using the clickers will also help the teacher assess student learning.