Every LASD elementary school student participates in art lessons that combine appreciation and hands-on activities designed to build on each other from year to year. Discussion and application of elements of are woven throughout the curriculum, such that by the end of 6th- grade, students can gain an appreciation for fine art, learn a basic art vocabulary, and create their own individual works of art. Students have even more art opportunities than ever before — drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, sculpture, multimedia, digital media, and more.

Art lessons on a variety of topics are available for every TK-6th grader this school year. Classroom teachers select and order art docent lessons for their class. 

Art Lessons by Grade

Transitional Kindergarten students learn about color mixing while painting, explore texture as they work with clay, and create abstract art as they trace and cut geometric shapes. Find out more about TK art lessons.

Kindergarteners learn about indigenous groups and create with clay. They experiment with line and shape to create their own animals, observe and discuss the features of owls depicted in art, and create their own owl mask. They are introduced to printmaking and watercolor techniques, such as wax resist and salt. Find out more about Kindergarten art lessons.

1st-Graders create clay sculptures using pull-out and add-on techniques. They compare and contrast different cultures as they paint and sculpt paper flowers by cutting and folding. They practice printmaking techniques, create cut-paper collages with painted paper, and paint fantasy animals with watercolor. Find out more about 1st-grade art lessons.

2nd-Graders paint colorful garden scenes, create decorative tiles using a variety of techniques, and further develop their clay skills as they sculpt a realistic penguin. They are introduced to the work of a famous photographer and the beauty of human colors. Through works of art, students observe how children from the past spent their free time, and they play games from other time periods, like hoop & stick, marbles, jackstraws, and more. Students create cut-paper compositions using the techniques of Matisse, then learn about perspective, complementary colors, and light and shadow as they draw and use water to add an impressionistic effect. Find out more about 2nd-grade art lessons.

3rd-Graders learn about building techniques used by the Ohlone and create with clay. They discuss the principle of design and balance and engineer a kinetic sculpture. Drawing from the work of Paul Klee, students paint an abstract head and explore color and mood. They create observational drawings and bring them to life using colored pencils and a variety of techniques. Other 3rd-grade projects are inspired by the work of famous artists Hockney, Rivera, Picasso, and Munch, as well as the Japanese principle of NOTAN. 3rd-graders also learn about printmaking and watercolor techniques. Find out more about 3rd-grade art lessons.

4th-Graders are introduced to the Asian style of brush painting, then explore and experiment with the glints, gleams, and glows of California artist Wayne Thiebaud. They design and draw a building facade that becomes part of a class cityscape collage, and learn new techniques for working with clay. 4th-graders learn how to use proportion and basic anatomy to draw people, and expand their drawing contour drawing skills and watercolor techniques to paint a shell in the style of Georgia O'Keeffe. Find out more about 4th-grade art lessons.

5th-Graders discuss how 20th-century American artists use a variety of skills to communicate a personal, social, or political point of view and create a similar work of their own. They explore the use of masks from different cultures and create their own original clay mask. Students create a fauve landscape using the rich color and texture of oil pastels. They learn the facial structures and proportions of the human head and create a series of drawings with a Picasso-like look and feel, then move on to drawing in One Point Perspective to create an illusion of three-dimensional space. Motifs and radial designs found in Native American art are used to inspire students as they create collagraph prints. 5th graders then discover how artists use art to advocate for environmental issues, create their own piece of art, and explore wet-on-wet techniques using liquid watercolor. Find out more about 5th-grade art lessons.

6th-Graders manipulate clay into a human head, with attention to proportion and detail, then learn about composition as they draw a still-life using real fruits and vegetables as their model. Students create an Ancient Egyptian-style mask using cut paper, layering, and overlapping techniques. They use a golden spiral or Fibonacci sequence template to start their own unique composition using a variety of pastel techniques. 6th-graders learn relief printmaking techniques and use various carving tools to cut a tidal creature design into a printing block. They draw in Two Point Perspective and create their own still-life painting with depth and dimension, building on an earlier "Drawing Still Life" lesson. Find out more about 6th-grade art lessons.

Spring Art Shows
Every spring, the Los Altos Art Docents host art shows displaying student artwork. This school year, the art shows will take place at Gardner Bullis, Oak, Santa Rita, and Springer. The following school year, the shows will be at Loyola, Covington, and Almond.

Junior High students can continue their interests in art through LAEF-funded electives such as Photography, Introduction to Interior Design & Architecture, Art, and more.

Donate to LAEF to help fund art in our schools. Your support makes it possible.