Lesson Plan Title : Mosaics

Age Range: Grade 3 through grade 5

Overview and Purpose: Students can create a picture using many small parts. This lesson can be tied into many subjects and themes across the curriculum.

Objective: The student will be able to sketch a simple drawing and fill in all the space with small items to create a mosaic.

Background: Mosaics are pictures or patterns that are the composition of many smaller colored pieces of solid material. You can think of them like as an outdoor walkway that is created by putting together a bunch of paver stones together.

Resources:

6x6 inch squares of tagboard

Pencils

Glue

Small items such as beans, pebbles, or beads

Activities:

Students should sketch a simple picture on their paper. All of these pictures should be composed of smaller parts like block our standard geometric shapes. I tell students that this is like using Legos to create a character or object. This should actually take the most time during this project.

Explain that the idea is to create a contrast between the picture and the background. The background does not need to be just one color, but it should be obvious what the picture is when the picture is finished. If students are having difficulty, just have them choose a standard geometric that is more an abstract piece than a complete composition.

When they have it completed, they can apply glue to small sections at a time and lay the beans or pebbles. You can also have them complete this with colored construction paper. We would recommend using a square or rectangle shape to get started with.

Please note that this project can get sticky and leave the classroom desks a mess. Please give yourself enough time for a good cleanup. We would suggest using gentle dish soap to help you remove the glue.

Wrap Up:

This can be a multi-day lesson. Day one the students can help prepare the items to be used by painting or sorting them and then drawing their pictures. Day two can be spent creating the mosaic. Students can also work together to create a large mural instead of individual pieces.