Creative Explorations: Foundations of Visual Art · 1st Year

Active learning ideas

Drawing Self-Portraits: My Face

Active learning helps students understand facial proportions because it requires them to observe themselves closely and discuss their findings with peers. When students move and interact, they internalize proportions better than through passive instruction alone. This topic thrives on kinesthetic and social engagement, making it ideal for hands-on activities.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Drawing
• NCCA: Primary - Looking and Responding

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

Activity 01

• Peer Teaching
• 30 min · Pairs

Peer Teaching: The Mirror Challenge

In pairs, one student acts as the 'mirror' and describes a specific feature of their partner (e.g., 'Your eyes are like almonds'). The partner then tries to draw that feature based on the description before checking a real mirror.

Analyze the basic geometric shapes that compose your facial features.

Facilitation Tip

During Peer Teaching: The Mirror Challenge, remind students to swap roles every two minutes, ensuring everyone gets equal practice describing and observing.

What to look for

As students draw, circulate and ask: 'What shape did you use to draw your eye?' or 'Show me the line you used to create your smile.' Record observations on a checklist of identified shapes and line techniques.

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

Activity 02

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Whole Class

Gallery Walk: Identity Wall

Students create self-portraits that include symbols of things they love. They display them around the room, and the class moves from piece to piece, trying to guess whose portrait it is based on the artistic clues and features.

Construct a self-portrait using lines to emphasize unique personal characteristics.

Facilitation Tip

For the Gallery Walk: Identity Wall, place a small mirror at each station so students can compare their drawings to their faces while viewing others' work.

What to look for

Display a few anonymous self-portraits. Ask students: 'What shapes do you see in this face?' and 'What lines did the artist use to show the person's expression?'. Encourage them to point out specific areas.

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

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Changing Faces

Students make different expressions in a mirror (happy, surprised, sleepy). They discuss with a partner how their features change (e.g., 'My eyebrows go up when I'm surprised') and then choose one 'mood' to draw.

Justify the color choices made to reflect your personality or mood in your self-portrait.

Facilitation Tip

In Think-Pair-Share: Changing Faces, provide a quiet timer to keep pairs focused and ensure both students contribute equally to the discussion.

What to look for

Students write one sentence identifying a geometric shape they used for a facial feature and one sentence explaining a line they used to show something unique about themselves.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Focus on process over product. Research shows that first-year students benefit most when they are guided to notice proportions, not match them perfectly. Use simple language like 'oval,' 'circle,' and 'line' rather than artistic jargon. Avoid correcting too early; let students discover proportions through guided observation. Show examples of faces drawn by other children to normalize varied styles and reduce pressure for realism.

Successful learning looks like students confidently identifying and drawing the shapes and lines that make up their faces. They should describe their features using geometric terms and confidently present their work to peers. Articulating their process is just as important as the final drawing.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Peer Teaching: The Mirror Challenge, watch for students who place their eyes too high on the head. Provide each pair with a small mirror and have them measure the space between their chin and eyes using the length of their index finger.

  During Peer Teaching: The Mirror Challenge, correct students who draw mouths too close to the nose by asking them to touch their nose and then their mouth while looking in the mirror. This helps them feel the proportional distance.

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Methods used in this brief

• Peer Teaching
• Gallery Walk
• Think-Pair-Share