Grades/Level: Lower Elementary (K–2), Upper Elementary (3–5)
Subjects: Visual Arts, Dance
Time Required: 3–5–Part Lesson
Four 30-minute class periods
Author: J. Paul Getty Museum Education Staff

Permissions:
The lesson plan and downloadable materials on this page are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Lesson Overview

Students will learn about an artist's sketchbook that includes drawings of ballet dancers. They will practice two ballet steps and discuss how an artist uses line to depict dancers in rehearsal. Students will make a sketchbook and produce a series of quick sketches of dancers.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:
• demonstrate that visual artists use sketchbooks to record what they observe and experiment with line and other elements of art.
• rehearse two ballet steps—a tendu and a plié.
• describe how an artist uses a variety of lines to depict gesture and motion in a drawing.
• make their own sketchbook.
• create original sketches from life.
• describe how artists and dancers warm up and rehearse to practice their art forms.

Materials

• Reproductions of Ballet Dancers Rehearsing (pages 25 and 23) from An Album of Pencil Sketches by Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas
• Background Information and Questions for Teaching about Degas' drawings
• Internet access
• Video: "Warming Up to Dance" produced by the J. Paul Getty Museum with the Anaheim Ballet in the "Multimedia" list on the Getty website
• Video: "Degas and the Art of Dance" produced by the J. Paul Getty Museum with the Anaheim Ballet in the "Multimedia" list on the Getty website
• Information and activities in the "Understanding Formal Analysis" section on the Getty website (optional)
• Tracing paper or copy paper that has been treated with cooking oil (see Art Activity: "Tracing Paper on a Budget" (PDF, 230KB, 1 p.)
• Pencils
• Acetate
• Overhead projector
• Paper
• Recycled cereal boxes
• Scissors
• Hole punches and brads
• Art Activity: "A Simple Sketchbook" (PDF, 219KB, 1 p.)
• Art Activity: "Create a Quick Gesture Sketch" (PDF, 254KB, 1 p.)

Lesson Steps

Download the complete lesson by clicking on the "Download this lesson" icon above.

Glossary Terms:
Words in bold on these pages and in the lesson are defined in the glossary for this curriculum (see "Performing Arts in Art Contents" links above).

Standards Addressed

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

Grades K–5

SPEAKING AND LISTENING
K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and text with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
K.4 Describe familiar people places, things, and events, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.
1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.
2.4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audible in coherent sentences.
3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
4.6 Differentiate between contexts that call for formal English (e.g., presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g., small-group discussion); use formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 4 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
5.3 Summarize the points a speaker or media source makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence, and identify and analyze any logical fallacies.
5.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 5 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)