Overview
First and second graders can steer scissors along a line they drew themselves, sort things by how they look and feel, and love a trick they can explain. Notan gives them one: cut a shape from the side of a dark square, swing the piece out over that side like a door on a hinge, and it lands as the mirror image of its hole. In kindergarten children traced geometric templates along the edges. Here they draw their own shapes, geometric and organic, on all four sides, first in Studio Notan, where every guess can be undone, and then in black construction paper glued onto a crayon-resist ground they paint themselves.
Along the way children predict which pieces will land looking just like their holes and which will land turned around, and they cut one small shape from a piece that has already flipped. They also look at paper cut for celebrations: Chinese window paper-cuts, part of a tradition UNESCO inscribed as intangible cultural heritage in 2009, and Mexican papel picado. The unit ends with a gallery walk in which every child names a favorite part of their own notan, gives a reason, and compares it with a classmate’s.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the unit, learners can do each of these. The middle column is what you will see or hear that shows it; the last column links to the standards it meets, quoted in full at the end of the page.
| # | By the end, learners can | What you will see | Standards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sort shapes and objects into geometric and organic groups, and give a reason for each group in their own words. | Given eight shapes and objects, such as a button, a block, paper circles and triangles, a leaf, a shell and a torn scrap, the learner places at least six in the right group and gives a reason for each group, such as “straight sides and corners” or “bumpy, like something that grew.” | §117.105(b)(1)(A) §117.105(b)(1)(B) §117.108(b)(1)(A) |
| 2 | Predict whether a flipped piece will look the same as its hole or turned around, and point to the side of the square that works as the mirror between them. | Before flipping a circle, a triangle sent up and a hand-drawn leaf in the studio, the learner says “same” or “turned around” for each and is right at least twice; after each flip the learner runs a finger along the side the piece folded over. | §117.105(b)(1)(B) §117.108(b)(1)(B) |
| 3 | Build a studio notan with a piece beyond each of the four sides of the sheet, including one small shape cut from a piece already flipped and sent over a different side. | The exported design shows pieces beyond all four sides and one bigger piece with a small hole in it; asked “Where did this small piece come from?”, the learner points from the small piece to the hole in the bigger piece. | §117.105(b)(2)(B) §117.108(b)(2)(B) |
| 4 | Draw one shape freehand against each of the four sides of a paper square, cut them with scissors, and glue every piece flipped against its own side. | The collage has four cuts drawn without a template, one on each side, including at least one geometric and one organic shape; every piece is glued outside its own side as the mirror of its hole, touching the edge, with no piece missing and no corner cut away. | §117.105(b)(2)(C) §117.108(b)(2)(C) |
| 5 | Choose at least three kinds of line to show a feeling, draw them in crayon, and brush thinned tempera over them to make a crayon-resist ground. | The painted ground shows at least three kinds of line, such as wavy, zigzag and dotted, standing out clearly through an even tempera wash, and the learner names the feeling the lines were chosen for, such as calm, busy or happy. | §117.105(b)(2)(A) §117.108(b)(2)(A) |
| 6 | Tell where Chinese paper-cuts and Mexican papel picado come from and one time people use each, and point to matching halves in a design from each. | Looking at a Chinese window paper-cut and a papel picado banner, the learner names China and Mexico, gives one use for each, such as decorating windows for the Spring Festival or hanging banners for Día de los Muertos, and traces the line between two matching halves. | §117.105(b)(3)(B) §117.105(b)(3)(C) §117.108(b)(3)(B) |
| 7 | Explain which part of their own notan they like best with a reason that uses a unit word, and name one way a classmate’s notan is like theirs and one way it differs. | At the gallery walk the learner points to a part and says a sentence such as “I like my leaf piece best because it is organic and it turned around,” then tells a partner one thing that is the same and one that is different, such as “We both used circles, but yours went up.” | §117.105(b)(4)(A) §117.108(b)(4)(A) §117.108(b)(4)(B) |
Before you teach
What learners should already know
- Cut along a drawn line with scissors, turning the paper on curves, and use a glue stick.
- Name a circle, a square, a triangle and a rectangle, and count their sides.
- Cut one shape from an edge of a paper square and flip it over that edge, as in the kindergarten unit.
- Use a mouse, trackpad or touch screen to drag and tap.
Vocabulary
- notan
- A design made of dark and light shapes that fit together. The word comes from Japanese.
- side
- One of the four straight edges of the square. Every cut starts and ends on the same side.
- hole
- The space left in the square where a shape was cut out. It shows the paper underneath.
- piece
- The shape that was cut out. It flips over the side it came from and lands outside the square.
- flip
- To turn a piece over, like a door swinging on its hinge, so its back faces up.
- mirror image
- A shape that matches another shape but faces the other way, like your left hand and your right hand.
- symmetry
- When one half matches the other half, as if a mirror stood on the line between them.
- geometric shape
- A shape with straight sides or perfect curves, such as a square, a circle or a triangle.
- organic shape
- A free, bumpy or curvy shape, like a leaf, a cloud or a puddle.
- crayon resist
- A painting trick: the wax in crayon keeps watery paint off, so the crayon lines show through.
Materials
- Computers or tablets with Studio Notan open at /studio, one for every two children, each with the sheet set to a 5-inch square before class
- Squares of black construction paper, 6 inches, two per child: one for practice and one for the final
- Sheets of white drawing paper, 12 by 18 inches, for the crayon-resist ground
- Crayons in bright and dark colors
- Washable, nontoxic tempera with the AP seal in yellow or light blue, thinned with water in cups
- Wide brushes, water cups, paper towels, smocks and newspaper to cover the tables
- Blunt-tip student scissors, plus loop or spring-open adaptive scissors for children who need them
- Glue sticks, and a white colored pencil or chalk for drawing on black paper
- A sorting bag for each table: a button, a block, paper circles, squares and triangles, a leaf, a shell and a torn scrap of paper, with two paper plates labeled geometric and organic
- Small unbreakable acrylic mirrors, one per table, for the symmetry hunt
- Pictures to show, printed or projected: a red Chinese window paper-cut and a papel picado banner
- A drying rack or a clear stretch of floor for painted sheets
Read first in the guide
Hub activities to draw on
Unit plan
Session 1: Hole, Piece and Mirror
- Symmetry hunt, 10 minutes. Hold up a leaf and stand a small mirror along its middle vein so the half you see comes back whole. Say: “When one half matches the other, we call it symmetry.” Send table groups to find two more symmetrical things, one from nature and one made by people, such as a butterfly picture and a door, and to trace each line of symmetry with a finger.
- Sort, 10 minutes. Give each table a sorting bag and the two labeled plates. Say: “Geometric shapes have straight sides or perfect curves. Organic shapes are free and bumpy, like things that grow.” Let tables sort, then ask one child per table to give a reason for a hard one, such as the shell or the torn scrap.
- Demonstrate the flip, 10 minutes. Show how to carry scissors closed with the points down. On a black square laid on white paper, draw a half-circle in chalk against one side, starting and ending on that side. Cut it out, keep the piece’s straight edge on the side, and swing it open like a door. Say: “The hole and the piece are the same shape. The side of the square is the mirror.” Repeat with a leaf leaning to one side so children see it land turned around.
- Practice, 15 minutes. Each child draws and cuts one shape from one side of a practice square and flips it onto white paper, without glue. Walk the room and ask each child to put a finger on the hole, then on the piece, then on the side between them. Children glue the practice square and its piece into their sketchbooks to keep.
Session 2: Four Sides in the Studio
- Before class, open the studio on each device. A new design starts on a sheet 4 inches wide and 5.5 inches tall, so in the Paper section of the Controls tab set both the width and the height to 5 inches to make it square. The size stays even if children later use Reset to start a new design. Seat children in pairs: one draws, the other chooses the arrow, and they swap after every cut.
- Model on the big screen, 8 minutes. Choose the Ellipse and drag one across the left side of the sheet with most of it on the sheet, pressing Shift once the drag has begun to make it a circle (held before the press, Shift picks up a different tool). The ‘Flip direction’ chooser opens with four arrows. Ask: “Will the piece look the same as the hole, or turned around?” Take thumbs up for same and thumbs sideways for turned around, then press ← and watch it fold out. Repeat with a Triangle just inside the top side, sent up with ↑ so it lands point down, and a leaf drawn with Draw.
- Pairs make their own, 20 minutes. Each child makes at least one cut on each of the four sides, drawing across or near that side and pressing the arrow for it. Before every arrow the partner predicts “same” or “turned around.” Teach one rescue: press Undo right after a flip and the chooser opens again with the same shape waiting, so another side can be tried.
- The small cut, 7 minutes. Model it once: draw a small circle inside one of the holes. A line above the arrows says the shape covers background; press an arrow for a different side anyway. The small shape is cut out of the piece that came from that hole, which now has a small hole of its own, and a small piece lands beyond the side you chose. Ask each child to point from their small piece back to where it came from. The center button, ‘Put back’, would return the paper to the hole instead.
- Save the work, 5 minutes. Use the ‘File’ button in the title bar and choose Artwork, PNG, or press the ‘Share’ button, also in the title bar, to make a link, so each design can be shown at the gallery walk. Squint at a few designs together and ask: does every side have a piece?
Session 3: Paper Cutting Around the World, and a Crayon-Resist Ground
- Look together, 10 minutes. Show a red Chinese window paper-cut. Say: “In China, people have cut pictures from paper for more than 1,400 years. Many are cut from folded paper, so one cut makes two matching halves. Families paste them on windows for the Spring Festival. In 2009, UNESCO, part of the United Nations, added Chinese paper cutting to its list of the world’s important living traditions.” Then show a papel picado banner: “In Mexico, artists cut bright tissue paper, many sheets at once with small chisels, and hang the banners in rows for Día de los Muertos, weddings and holidays.”
- Talk, 5 minutes. Ask children to find the matching halves in each picture and one geometric and one organic shape. Then ask: “Why do people put art on windows and over streets?” Partners answer, then share: to celebrate, to remember family, to make a place beautiful.
- Crayon resist, 20 minutes. Children write their names in pencil on the back of a 12 by 18 inch sheet first. Model three kinds of line with a crayon, pressing hard: wavy, zigzag and dotted. Ask: “Which lines feel calm? Which feel busy?” Each child chooses lines for a feeling and fills the sheet with at least three kinds. Then they brush thinned yellow or light blue tempera over the whole sheet and watch the wax push the paint away.
- Clean up, 10 minutes. Lay the sheets flat to dry, rinse brushes, wipe tables and wash hands. While hands dry, ask two or three children to name the feeling their lines show.
Session 4: Four Sides in Paper, and a Gallery Walk
- Plan, 5 minutes. Hand out the black squares and white pencils or chalk. Each child draws one shape against each side, starting and ending on that side, with at least one geometric and one organic shape. Check before anyone cuts: no line goes around a corner.
- Cut and flip, 15 minutes. Children cut one shape at a time, lay the square in the middle of their dry crayon-resist ground, and swing each piece out over its own side like a door, touching the edge. Say: “Every piece stays next to its own hole.”
- Glue, 10 minutes. Glue the square down first, then each piece, pressing its straight edge against the side beside its hole. Check the four sides with each child: is any piece missing, or turned the wrong way?
- Gallery walk, 12 minutes. Lay the work on the tables. Each child stands by their own notan and finishes the sentence “My favorite part is … because …” with a word from the unit. Then partners look at each other’s work and name one thing that is the same and one that is different.
- Close, 3 minutes. Ask: “Which shape was hardest to flip, and why?” Keep the notans together as a class collection for the hallway, with the studio prints beside them.
Differentiation
Support
- For emergent bilingual students, post picture cards for hole, piece, side, flip and mirror with the word in the child’s home language added by the child or a family member, act out the flip with a hand swinging on a hinge, and give sentence frames such as “My piece went over the ___ side.”
- For students with disabilities, offer loop or spring-open adaptive scissors, 9-inch squares, thick pre-drawn cut lines and card templates to trace; an adult may make a cut while the child chooses the shape and the side.
- In the studio, a child who cannot use a mouse can be the partner who chooses the side: in the ‘Flip direction’ chooser an arrow key chooses at once, and Tab moves between the arrows and Enter confirms, keys that many switch interfaces can be set to send. Drawing a shape still needs a mouse, trackpad or touch, so the partner or an adult draws it. Set Interface size on the Controls tab to Large or Larger for bigger buttons.
- Give extra time, reduce the task to two sides for a child who tires, and let the favorite-part sentence be spoken, pointed to or chosen from picture cards.
Extension
- Fold a square of thin paper in half and cut a design from the fold, as many Chinese paper-cuts are made, then compare it with the notan: both make matching halves, one by folding and one by flipping.
- In paper, cut a smaller shape from the outer edge of one piece and flip it out over that edge, so the design grows outward twice.
- In the studio, give the design three colors with the Front, Back and Ground cards on the Color tab, then press Replay, the ▶ button beside the zoom control, to watch every flip again in order.
- Second graders can write a two-sentence caption for the display that names one geometric and one organic shape in their notan.
Common misconceptions
- The piece can be glued anywhere, or turned back the way it was before it was cut.
- Show the hinge again: keep the piece’s straight edge on the side and swing it open like a door. Lay it back in its hole to show it still fits, then swing it out again.
- Cutting across a corner is just another cut.
- Show that a cut around a corner leaves a piece with no single side to swing over. Every cut starts and ends on the same side, and all four corners stay.
- The hole is nothing, because it is empty.
- Trace the hole with a finger, then the piece: they are the same shape. The hole is a light shape and the piece is its dark twin.
- Organic shapes are messy mistakes.
- Hold up a real leaf and point to the flowers in a papel picado banner. Organic shapes are free on purpose, like things that grow, and artists choose them just as they choose squares.
Assessment
Checks along the way
- Prediction check in Session 2: before each flip, thumbs up for “same” and thumbs sideways for “turned around”; note who is right at least twice.
- Point-to check while children cut: name a hole and ask the child to point to its piece and to the side between them.
- Sorting exit card in Session 1: six small shapes printed on a card; the child circles the organic ones.
- Gallery walk in Session 4: listen for a favorite-part sentence that uses a unit word, and a same-and-different comparison.
Rubric
| Criterion | Beginning | Developing | Meeting | Exceeding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four sides and the flip | Cuts on one or two sides; some pieces are not next to their holes. | Cuts on three sides, or on four with a piece turned the wrong way or set away from its side. | One cut on each of the four sides, and every piece flipped against its own side as the mirror of its hole. | Meets the goal and adds a smaller cut from a piece, flipped as a mirror too. |
| Geometric and organic shapes | Uses one kind of shape and cannot yet sort shapes into the two groups. | Sorts most shapes correctly or uses both kinds, but cannot yet give a reason for each group. | Uses at least one geometric and one organic shape and gives a reason for each group. | Chooses shapes of both kinds on purpose and predicts which will land turned around. |
| Cutting, painting and gluing | Cuts wander far from the line, and the ground is only partly painted. | Most cuts follow the line; some pieces lift or overlap the square. | Cuts follow the lines, pieces lie flat, and crayon lines show through an even wash. | Smooth cuts, neat gluing, and lines chosen for a feeling the child can name. |
| Talking about art | Points to their work but does not yet give a reason. | Names a favorite part with a reason that does not use a unit word. | Gives a reason with a unit word, compares with a classmate’s notan, and names where paper-cuts and papel picado come from. | Also connects the matching halves in their notan to those in a Chinese paper-cut or papel picado. |
Safety
Children use blunt-tip student scissors, with loop or spring-open adaptive scissors where needed; no craft knives or other blades are used at this level. Teach the scissor rules in the first session: sit while cutting, carry scissors closed with the points down, and keep the free hand away from the blades. Use washable, nontoxic tempera and crayons with the AP seal, smocks and covered tables, and have children wash their hands after painting. Keep screen time to about 30 minutes, in the one studio session, with an adult moving between pairs.
Standards cited
TEKS §117.105 (Art, Grade 1) and §117.108 (Art, Grade 2). Quoted word for word from the official text.
Art, Grade 1
Foundations: observation and perception
Foundations: observation and perception. The student develops and expands visual literacy skills using critical thinking, imagination, and the senses to observe and explore the world by learning, understanding, and applying the elements of art and principles of design. The student uses what the student sees, knows, and has experienced as sources for examining, understanding, and creating artworks. The student is expected to:
- §117.105(b)(1)(A)
- identify similarities, differences, and variations among subjects in the environment using the senses; and Source
- §117.105(b)(1)(B)
- identify the elements of art, including line, shape, color, texture, and form, and the principles of design, including emphasis, repetition/pattern, and balance, in nature and human-made environments. Source
Creative expression
Creative expression. The student communicates ideas through original artworks using a variety of media with appropriate skills. The student expresses thoughts and ideas creatively while challenging the imagination, fostering reflective thinking, and developing disciplined effort and progressive problem-solving skills. The student is expected to:
- §117.105(b)(2)(A)
- invent images that combine a variety of lines, shapes, colors, textures, and forms; Source
- §117.105(b)(2)(B)
- place components in orderly arrangements to create designs; and Source
- §117.105(b)(2)(C)
- increase manipulative skills necessary for using a variety of materials to produce drawings, paintings, prints, constructions, and sculptures, including modeled forms. Source
Historical and cultural relevance
Historical and cultural relevance. The student demonstrates an understanding of art history and culture by analyzing artistic styles, historical periods, and a variety of cultures. The student develops global awareness and respect for the traditions and contributions of diverse cultures. The student is expected to:
Critical evaluation and response
Critical evaluation and response. The student responds to and analyzes artworks of self and others, contributing to the development of lifelong skills of making informed judgments and reasoned evaluations. The student is expected to:
- §117.105(b)(4)(A)
- explain ideas about personal artworks; Source
Art, Grade 2
Foundations: observation and perception
Foundations: observation and perception. The student develops and expands visual literacy skills using critical thinking, imagination, and the senses to observe and explore the world by learning about, understanding, and applying the elements of art, principles of design, and expressive qualities. The student uses what the student sees, knows, and has experienced as sources for examining, understanding, and creating artworks. The student is expected to:
- §117.108(b)(1)(A)
- compare and contrast variations in objects and subjects from the environment using the senses; and Source
- §117.108(b)(1)(B)
- identify the elements of art, including line, shape, color, texture, form, and space, and the principles of design, including emphasis, repetition/pattern, movement/rhythm, and balance. Source
Creative expression
Creative expression. The student communicates ideas through original artworks using a variety of media with appropriate skills. The student expresses thoughts and ideas creatively while challenging the imagination, fostering reflective thinking, and developing disciplined effort and progressive problem-solving skills. The student is expected to:
- §117.108(b)(2)(A)
- express ideas and feelings in personal artworks using a variety of lines, shapes, colors, textures, forms, and space; Source
- §117.108(b)(2)(B)
- create compositions using the elements of art and principles of design; and Source
- §117.108(b)(2)(C)
- identify and practice skills necessary for producing drawings, paintings, prints, constructions, and sculpture, including modeled forms, using a variety of materials. Source
Historical and cultural relevance
Historical and cultural relevance. The student demonstrates an understanding of art history and culture by analyzing artistic styles, historical periods, and a variety of cultures. The student develops global awareness and respect for the traditions and contributions of diverse cultures. The student is expected to:
- §117.108(b)(3)(B)
- examine historical and contemporary artworks created by men and women, making connections to various cultures; Source
Critical evaluation and response
Critical evaluation and response. The student responds to and analyzes artworks of self and others, contributing to the development of lifelong skills of making informed judgments and reasoned evaluations. The student is expected to: