Illustrating Story Settings

Active learning helps Year 1 pupils connect art and storytelling by making abstract ideas like mood and setting feel concrete. When children experiment with colours and shapes to represent emotions, they build visual literacy that supports both art and English goals. Hands-on activities let them test ideas and revise their work in real time.

• Year 1
• Art and Design
• 4 activities
• 25 min–50 min

Learning Objectives

1. Create a background illustration that evokes a specific mood (spooky or joyful) based on story prompts.
2. Explain how specific details within a drawn setting (e.g., weather, time of day) can suggest story events or character feelings.
3. Compare and contrast the mood of a story setting illustrated during daytime versus nighttime.
4. Identify key visual elements that contribute to the overall atmosphere of a story setting.

Stations Rotation

⏱ 45 min·Small Groups

Stations Rotation: Mood Settings

Prepare four stations with story prompts: spooky forest, joyful picnic, rainy night, sunny beach. Pupils rotate in small groups every 10 minutes, drawing one setting per station using crayons or paints. Groups add two mood details like shadows or raindrops, then label their choices.

Prepare & details

Construct a background that makes a story feel spooky or joyful.

Facilitation Tip: During Station Rotation: Mood Settings, place examples of spooky and joyful scenes at each station so pupils have clear reference points before they begin their own work.

Setup: Tables/desks arranged in 4-6 distinct stations around room

Materials: Station instruction cards, Different materials per station, Rotation timer

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Experiential Learning

⏱ 30 min·Pairs

Pairs: Day to Night Flip

In pairs, pupils select a story scene and draw it in daylight with warm colours. They flip paper to redraw as night, adding cool tones, moon, and stars. Partners discuss and predict mood changes before sharing with the class.

Prepare & details

Explain how details in a setting can provide clues about the story's events.

Facilitation Tip: For Day to Night Flip, provide pairs with limited materials like two sheets of paper and coloured pencils so they focus on changes in light and colour rather than intricate details.

Setup: Varies; may include outdoor space, lab, or community setting

Materials: Experience setup materials, Reflection journal with prompts, Observation worksheet, Connection-to-content framework

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Experiential Learning

⏱ 50 min·Whole Class

Whole Class: Setting Mural

Project a class story. Pupils contribute painted sections to a large mural: some do sky, others ground or weather. As a group, vote on details that best set the mood and adjust collaboratively.

Prepare & details

Predict how changing the setting from day to night would alter the story's mood.

Facilitation Tip: When creating the Setting Mural, assign small groups specific sections of the mural so every pupil contributes meaningfully to the final piece.

Setup: Varies; may include outdoor space, lab, or community setting

Materials: Experience setup materials, Reflection journal with prompts, Observation worksheet, Connection-to-content framework

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Experiential Learning

⏱ 25 min·Individual

Individual: Sketchbook Clues

Pupils choose a familiar story and sketch its setting in their books, noting three clues like time or weather. They paint over sketches, then explain orally how details hint at events.

Prepare & details

Construct a background that makes a story feel spooky or joyful.

Facilitation Tip: In Sketchbook Clues, model how to label drawings with simple words like 'stormy' or 'sunny' to reinforce the link between visuals and language.

Setup: Varies; may include outdoor space, lab, or community setting

Materials: Experience setup materials, Reflection journal with prompts, Observation worksheet, Connection-to-content framework

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should model how to make deliberate choices with colour and shape, showing pupils that art is a tool for communication, not perfection. Avoid over-correcting pupils' work; instead, guide them to reflect on whether their drawing matches the story mood. Research suggests that young learners benefit from seeing peers' work, so rotate groups to share ideas and build collective understanding.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like pupils intentionally choosing colours and details to match story moods, explaining their choices with simple language, and building confidence in using art to tell stories. By the end of the unit, they should be able to point to specific elements in their drawings that show time, weather, and emotion.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Station Rotation: Mood Settings, watch for pupils adding random details like flowers or rainbows to every scene regardless of mood.

What to Teach Instead

During Station Rotation: Mood Settings, ask pupils to compare their drawings to the example cards at each station and explain which mood their setting represents. If their details don’t match, guide them to revise by adding or removing elements.

Common Misconception

During Day to Night Flip, watch for pupils creating identical drawings with only a colour change, believing realism is required.

What to Teach Instead

During Day to Night Flip, model how to use simple shapes and bold lines to show changes in time, like crescent moons or long shadows. Provide examples of expressive drawings and ask pupils to describe how they feel.

Common Misconception

During Setting Mural, watch for pupils ignoring the collaborative plan and adding unrelated details like spaceships to a medieval castle.

What to Teach Instead

During Setting Mural, hold a mini-review after the first layer of drawings is complete. Ask groups to present one detail that shows the intended mood and explain why it works before continuing.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

After Station Rotation: Mood Settings, show pupils two background drawings from the stations, one depicting a spooky scene and one a joyful one. Ask them to point to the spooky drawing and explain one detail that makes it feel that way.

Discussion Prompt

During Day to Night Flip, present a story scenario like 'A character is lost in the woods.' Ask pairs to share one detail they added to make the woods feel scary and one to make it feel peaceful. Record their ideas on the board for a class word bank.

Peer Assessment

After Sketchbook Clues, have pupils swap drawings with a partner. Ask each pupil to tell their partner one thing they like about the setting and one detail that helps them understand the story. Collect these reflections to assess understanding of mood and context.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask early finishers to add a foreground element (e.g., a character or object) that interacts with the setting, explaining how it changes the mood.
• Scaffolding: Provide pre-printed outlines of settings like a forest or castle for pupils to colour or add to, reducing fine motor demands.
• Deeper exploration: Introduce a new story prompt and have pupils create a diptych showing the same setting in two different moods, using contrasting colours and textures.

Key Vocabulary

Setting	The place or time where a story happens. In art, this is shown through the background details.
Mood	The feeling or atmosphere that an artwork creates for the viewer. For example, a setting can feel spooky, happy, or calm.
Atmosphere	The overall feeling or mood of a place or scene, often created by elements like light, color, and weather.
Detail	A small part or element that adds specific information to a picture, like a single cloud, a shadow, or a window.