Art and Design · Year 5

Active learning ideas

Drawing Expressive Self-Portraits

Active learning turns abstract emotional concepts into tangible, visible work. When students pose, experiment, and discuss in real time, they connect physical expression to emotional choices, making the abstract skill of conveying mood through art concrete and memorable. This approach also builds confidence as students see their emotions validated through collaborative exploration.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS2: Art and Design - Portraiture
• KS2: Art and Design - Drawing and Expression

• 20–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Experiential Learning
• 30 min · Pairs

Mirror Pairs: Exaggerated Emotions

Pairs face mirrors; one pulls an exaggerated emotional face while the other sketches key features, lines, and proportions in pencil. Switch roles after 5 minutes, then add color washes. Discuss what worked.

Construct a self-portrait that communicates a specific emotion without using words.

Facilitation Tip

During Mirror Pairs, circulate and prompt students to name the emotion they are exaggerating, using vocabulary like 'contracted' or 'slackened' to describe muscles.

What to look for

Provide students with a worksheet showing three simple face outlines. Ask them to draw one exaggerated feature on each face to represent a different emotion (e.g., wide eyes for surprise, furrowed brow for anger). This checks their understanding of exaggeration for expression.

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

Activity 02

• Experiential Learning
• 45 min · Small Groups

Material Stations: Mood Exploration

Set up stations with pastel, charcoal, marker, and pencil. Small groups draw the same emotion at each, noting mood changes. Rotate every 7 minutes and vote on most effective.

Critique how different line weights can emphasize certain facial expressions.

Facilitation Tip

In Material Stations, ask students to hold up their favorite tool and explain how the texture or effect helps them communicate mood before moving to the next station.

What to look for

After students complete a draft of their self-portrait, have them swap with a partner. Ask reviewers to point to one specific line or color choice and explain what emotion it conveys, using vocabulary like 'jagged line' or 'dark hue'.

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

Activity 03

• Experiential Learning
• 20 min · Individual

Line Warm-Up: Emotion Lines

Individually, students draw 1-minute lines for six emotions (joy, anger, sadness, etc.) using varying pressure. Share in pairs to identify patterns, then apply to portrait outlines.

Compare how different drawing materials (e.g., pastel, charcoal) affect the mood of a portrait.

Facilitation Tip

For Line Warm-Up, demonstrate how to vary line weight by pressing lightly for delicate emotions and heavily for intense ones, then have students practice on scrap paper first.

What to look for

Students write down the emotion they aimed to convey in their self-portrait. Then, they list two specific artistic choices they made (e.g., 'used thick, dark lines for the eyebrows,' 'chose a muted blue for the background') and explain how each choice helped communicate that emotion.

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

Activity 04

• Gallery Walk
• 25 min · Whole Class

Gallery Walk: Peer Critique

Display portraits around the room. Students walk, note one strength and one suggestion per piece using sticky notes. Whole class discusses top examples.

Construct a self-portrait that communicates a specific emotion without using words.

Facilitation Tip

During Gallery Walk, provide sentence stems like 'I see ______, which makes me feel ______' to guide constructive peer feedback.

What to look for

Provide students with a worksheet showing three simple face outlines. Ask them to draw one exaggerated feature on each face to represent a different emotion (e.g., wide eyes for surprise, furrowed brow for anger). This checks their understanding of exaggeration for expression.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should model the process of turning emotion into visual choices, making their thinking visible as they exaggerate features or select colors. Avoid correcting too quickly; instead, ask guiding questions like 'How could you make this anger feel more intense?' to push students' thinking. Research shows that when students physically practice emotional expressions in front of a mirror, their ability to exaggerate features intentionally improves significantly.

Students will confidently manipulate facial features, colors, and lines to communicate specific emotions. They will articulate the reasoning behind their choices and use peer feedback to refine their work. Successful learning is visible when students explain how their artistic decisions enhance the emotion they intended to convey.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Mirror Pairs, watch for students who focus only on making their faces look like the emotion rather than exaggerating the features for impact.

  Prompt students to compare their posed face to a partner’s and discuss which features best communicate the emotion, then exaggerate those features further in their drawings.

• During Material Stations, watch for students who assume all materials create the same mood effect.

  Ask students to physically compare the effects of pastels and charcoal side by side, noting how pastels blend softly while charcoal creates stark contrasts, then have them choose based on the emotion they want to convey.

• During Gallery Walk, watch for students who focus only on facial expressions when assessing peer work.

  Guide students to examine the entire composition, including background colors and line quality, and ask them to point out how these elements contribute to the mood.

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Methods used in this brief

• Experiential Learning
• Gallery Walk