Art and Design · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Designing a Storybook Cover

Active learning lets students experience design decisions directly. They test colour choices, compose images, and see how small tweaks change impact. This hands-on practice builds confidence and ownership of their creative process.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: Art and Design - Evaluating and Developing Ideas
• KS1: Art and Design - Drawing

• 20–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Story Mood Colours

Begin with whole class naming moods from a favourite story, like happy or scary. Pairs match colours to moods using pencil crayons on paper strips, then share one example with the class. Record class favourites on a shared chart.

Design a book cover that makes people want to read the story.

Facilitation Tip

During Think-Pair-Share, provide story excerpts and colour swatches so students physically group colours with moods before discussion.

What to look for

Ask students to hold up their current cover design. Prompt: 'Point to one colour you used and tell me why you chose it for this story.' Listen for connections between colour and mood.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Hundred Languages
• 30 min · Small Groups

Small Groups: Thumbnail Sketches

Provide A5 paper and pencils. In groups of four, students sketch three quick cover ideas for the same story, focusing on different image placements. Groups discuss and vote on the strongest element from each sketch.

Evaluate which colours and images best represent the main idea of a story.

Facilitation Tip

For Thumbnail Sketches, limit each group to one sheet of paper and set a 2-minute timer per sketch to encourage quick, selective decision-making.

What to look for

Have students display their cover designs. In pairs, students identify one image on their partner's cover and explain what they think it represents. Then, they suggest one way the title font could be improved and why.

• Understand
• Apply
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Hundred Languages
• 40 min · Individual

Individual: Final Cover Design

Each student selects their best thumbnail and creates a full cover using coloured pencils, collage, or paint. They add the title in a bold font and label choices on the back. Display for a class walk-through.

Justify your choices for the title font and placement on the cover.

Facilitation Tip

When students create their Final Cover Design, supply pre-cut title letters so they test placement without erasing or starting over.

What to look for

Provide students with a small card. Ask them to draw one small symbol that represents their story and write one word describing the mood of their cover. Collect these to gauge understanding of visual symbolism and mood.

• Understand
• Apply
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Gallery Walk
• 25 min · Pairs

Gallery Walk: Peer Feedback

Hang covers around the room. Students walk in pairs, noting one strength and one suggestion per design using sticky notes. Gather to discuss common patterns in successful covers.

Design a book cover that makes people want to read the story.

Facilitation Tip

During the Gallery Walk, give feedback slips with sentence starters like ‘I see... because...’ to focus comments on evidence.

What to look for

Ask students to hold up their current cover design. Prompt: 'Point to one colour you used and tell me why you chose it for this story.' Listen for connections between colour and mood.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this like a mini design studio. Model how to isolate key story elements and connect them to mood and audience. Avoid showing finished examples early; instead, share rough drafts to normalize iteration. Research shows that constrained sketching (like thumbnails) improves composition skills more than free drawing. Keep the focus on communication, not decoration.

Students design a cover that clearly represents the story’s mood, characters, and key ideas. They justify colour, image, and title placement in discussion and feedback. The gallery walk shows how peers interpret and improve designs.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Think-Pair-Share: Story Mood Colours, watch for students who assume bright colours always work best.

  After pairs match colour swatches to story excerpts, bring the class together to sort the swatches into two columns: ‘bright’ and ‘subdued.’ Ask each group to explain their choice, then discuss how mood fits the story rather than brightness alone.

• During Small Groups: Thumbnail Sketches, watch for students who try to include every detail from the story.

  Set a rule: each thumbnail must have only one main image and one supporting element. Circulate and ask, ‘What does this small image tell the reader without telling the whole story?’ to guide selective choices.

• During Individual: Final Cover Design, watch for students who place the title randomly.

  Before they glue titles, have students trace the title’s letters on scrap paper and move them across their draft covers. Ask them to explain which placement makes the title easiest to read and why.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Hundred Languages
• Gallery Walk