Overview
Kindergartners already tell dark from light and big from small. Now they can name the shapes they cut, circle, square and triangle, and hold two ideas at once: the shape is the piece that flips out, and the space is the hole it leaves behind. These are positive shape and negative space in kindergarten words, and notan makes them visible. Every cut from the edge of a dark square gives one of each, the same size and mirrored across the edge. Children trace geometric templates over the edges of a square, cut on the line with blunt scissors, swing each piece out like a door, and glue it down beside its space.
The unit grows from the preschool unit, Dark and Light Are Friends, where children tore one big bite and opened it like a door. Here the cuts are geometric, there are three or more, and the child arranges them. The history is Japanese family crests, kamon: simple designs of leaves, flowers and geometric shapes in dark and light, often inside a circle, that families have put on kimono, lanterns and banners for hundreds of years. Henri Matisse’s The Snail (1953), big pieces of painted paper arranged in a spiral, shows cut shapes becoming a picture. The word notan itself came into American art teaching through Arthur Wesley Dow’s Composition (1899). Each child has one studio turn of about ten minutes with an adult, and the unit ends with children describing a classmate’s crest.
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 | Find circles, squares and triangles around the classroom on a shape hunt, name each one, and count its corners by touch. | The child points to and names at least one circle, one square and one triangle in the room, and runs a finger around each template while counting its corners aloud: none, four, three. | §117.102(b)(1)(A) §117.102(b)(1)(B) |
| 2 | Point to the shape and the space in a notan, calling the flipped piece the shape and the hole it left behind the space. | Asked “Where is the shape? Where is its space?”, the child points to a flipped piece and then to its hole for at least two of their cuts, and says that the two match, one flipped. | §117.102(b)(1)(B) |
| 3 | Trace a circle, square or triangle template over one edge of a dark square, and cut on the line with blunt scissors from edge to edge. | The square has at least three traced cuts from three different edges, each within about a finger’s width of its line and opening onto one edge only; the child holds the scissors thumb up and turns the paper, not the scissors, on curves. | §117.102(b)(2)(C) |
| 4 | Flip each piece over its own edge and arrange three or more mirrored pairs, with each piece touching the edge beside its space. | The glued crest has a piece beside every hole on three edges or more, each turned over as a mirror and touching its own edge, using at least two kinds of shape, and the child chose the shapes, the edges and the places without copying an example. | §117.102(b)(2)(A) §117.102(b)(2)(B) |
| 5 | Make a circle, a square and a triangle in Studio Notan with the Ellipse, Rectangle and Triangle tools, and choose an edge for each to flip over. | In a turn of about ten minutes with an adult beside them, the child makes three cuts with three tools, taps an arrow for each, uses Undo once to send a piece another way, and says which edge each went over: top, bottom or side. | §117.102(b)(2)(A) §117.102(b)(2)(C) |
| 6 | Name the subject of a Japanese family crest and of Matisse’s The Snail, and name one place in everyday life where a family puts its crest. | Shown three crests and The Snail, the child names a subject in each, such as leaves, a flower, triangles or a snail, and names one place crests are used: a kimono, a lantern or a banner. | §117.102(b)(3)(A) §117.102(b)(3)(C) |
| 7 | Describe their own crest in a sentence that uses the words shape and space and tells what the crest stands for in their family. | The child says a sentence such as “My triangle shape is our roof. It flipped up, and its space is under it,” naming at least one shape, its space and one family meaning. | §117.102(b)(3)(B) §117.102(b)(4)(A) |
| 8 | Describe a classmate’s crest by pointing to one shape and its space and saying one thing they notice, then listen to the maker’s answer. | At the gallery walk, the child stands beside a partner’s crest, points to a shape and its space, and says a sentence that starts “I see” or “I notice,” then waits while the maker answers. | §117.102(b)(4)(B) |
Before you teach
What learners should already know
- Opens and closes child scissors with one hand and snips a strip of paper.
- Tells dark from light and big from small.
- Uses a glue stick and presses paper flat.
- Takes turns talking and listening in a small group.
Vocabulary
- circle
- A round shape with no corners.
- square
- A shape with four straight sides, all the same length, and four corners.
- triangle
- A shape with three straight sides and three corners.
- shape
- In this unit, the piece we cut and flip out. Artists call it the positive shape.
- space
- In this unit, the hole the piece leaves behind. Artists call it the negative space.
- edge
- The line where the paper stops. A square has four edges.
- flip
- To turn a piece over its edge, like opening a door, so it lands as a mirror image.
- mirror twin
- Two shapes that match but face opposite ways, like your two hands.
- crest
- A simple picture that stands for a family. In Japan a family crest is called a kamon.
- template
- A shape made of cardboard or stiff paper that we trace around.
Materials
- Black or dark blue construction paper cut into 6-inch squares, two per child; it is dark on both sides, so a flipped piece stays dark
- White construction paper, 12 by 18 inches, one per child, for the light ground, and a few 18 by 24 inch sheets for children using 9-inch squares
- Washable, nontoxic tempera with the ACMI AP seal: plenty of white, plus yellow, blue and red for mixing light colors
- Wide brushes or sponges, paper plates, water cups, smocks, and newspaper for the tables
- Tracing templates prepared in advance: jar lids and cups for circles, and cardstock squares and triangles 2 to 3 inches across
- Pencils, glue sticks and damp paper towels
- Blunt-tip child scissors, with loop, spring-open or table-top scissors for children who need them
- Pictures of Japanese family crests (kamon): the three leaves in a circle of the Tokugawa family, the three triangles, called scales, of the Hōjō family, the chrysanthemum of the imperial family, and a crest on a formal black kimono
- A picture of Henri Matisse’s The Snail (1953, Tate, London)
- Shape cards for sorting: circles, squares and triangles in several sizes
- Tablets or computers with Studio Notan open at /studio, each sheet made square by an adult
- A chart of sentence stems with small drawings: “I see a … shape.” “Its space is …” “I notice …”
Read first in the guide
Hub activities to draw on
Unit plan
Session 1: Shapes all around, and crests from Japan
- Shape hunt, about 8 minutes. Hold up a circle, a square and a triangle template and count the corners together, running a finger around each edge: none, four, three. Send pairs around the room to find one of each, touch it and name it, such as a clock face or a square floor tile.
- Show pictures of Japanese family crests, kamon. Say: “In Japan, many families have a crest. It is a simple picture that stands for the family, made of dark and light.” Show the three leaves in a circle of the Tokugawa family, whose shoguns ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867, the three triangles, called scales, of the Hōjō family, and the chrysanthemum of the imperial family. Ask, “What do you see?”
- Show a crest on a formal black kimono, where it is white on dark cloth. Say that families put crests on clothes, lanterns and banners, and ask where the children have seen a picture that stands for a family, a team or a school. Art is part of everyday life.
- Hold up a black square on a white sheet. Cut a half circle from one edge with blunt scissors, put the piece back in its hole, then swing it out over the edge like a door and lay it down. Point: “This is the shape, the piece that flipped. This is the space, the hole it left. They are twins.” Children point with you and say both words.
- Show the picture on Geometric and Organic Twins, where a square, a circle and a triangle have each flipped out beside their holes. Ask children to find each shape and then its space.
Session 2: Mix a light color, paint a light ground
- Cover the tables and put on smocks. On each plate put a big spoonful of white and, beside it, a small dab of yellow, blue or red. Ask, “How can we make a light color?” Children stir a little color into the white, a bit at a time, and watch it change.
- Each child paints a 12 by 18 inch sheet of white construction paper with their light color, edge to edge, using a wide brush or a sponge. Say: “This is the light ground. Your dark square will sit on it.”
- While the paint is wet, children compare with a neighbor: “Which one is lighter? How did you make yours?”
- Scissors warm-up with the time left: on a scrap, each child snips a fringe, then cuts along a traced curvy line, turning the paper, not the scissors. Write names on the back of the paintings and set them flat to dry.
Session 3: Trace, cut, flip, glue
- Give each child a dark square, their dry painting and a tray of templates. Show how to lay a template so it hangs over an edge of the square, part on and part off, and trace the part that is on the paper. Let children slide templates along the edges and choose where to trace before they cut.
- Children cut along each traced line with blunt scissors, from the edge back to the same edge, and keep every piece. Ask for at least three cuts from three different edges, using at least two kinds of shape. Say, “Start at the edge. Finish at the edge.”
- Before gluing, lay the square on the painting and test each piece: put it back in its hole, then swing it out over its edge like a door. Ask, “Where is the shape? Where is its space?”
- Glue the square near the middle of the painting. For each piece, rub glue on the painting just outside its edge, put the piece back in its hole, swing it over onto the glue and press, so it touches the edge beside its space.
- As children finish, ask each one, “What does your crest stand for in your family?” Write the answer on a sticky note on the back.
Session 4: Circle, square, triangle in the studio
- Before class, open Studio Notan on each device and make the sheet square: in the Paper section of the Controls tab, set the width and the height to 5 inches. A new design starts with a black sheet on a white ground. If an older design is there, choose Reset, then Design, and if its colors are not black and white, Reset, then Colors.
- Run the studio as a center: two or three children at a time, each at a device for about ten minutes with an adult beside them, while the others sort shape cards into circles, squares and triangles. One session gives only part of the class a turn, so keep the center open over the next few days until every child has had one.
- Circle: choose Ellipse on the tool rail and drag across the black sheet near an edge; for a true circle, the adult holds Shift, or the modifier button at the edge of the canvas on a touch screen, once the child’s drag has begun (see Ellipse). The Flip direction chooser opens with four arrows. Ask, “Which edge?” The child taps one and the piece swings out: “There is the shape. There is its space.”
- Square: choose Rect on the rail and drag, with Shift held the same way for a true square (see Rectangle). Triangle: choose Triangle and drag outward from where its center should be (see Triangle). Flip each over a different edge.
- Before the child flips the triangle over the top edge, ask, “Which way will it point?” It lands pointing down, a mirror twin. Press Undo straight after the flip and the chooser opens again with the same shape waiting (see Flipping), so the child can send it over a side edge and see that it still points up.
- Before the child leaves, they point to each shape and its space and say where it went: “My circle went up.” To keep one for the class collection, choose File, then the Artwork PNG row (see File); then choose Reset, then Design, for the next child.
Session 5: Our crest gallery
- Lay the crests on the tables as a gallery, each with its maker’s name. First show Henri Matisse’s The Snail (1953, Tate, London). Say: “When Matisse was old and could not stand at an easel for long, he cut shapes from painted paper and arranged them. Here the pieces go around and around.” Ask, “What is the subject? How many sides does this piece have?”
- Put up the sentence-stem chart and pair the children. Each child stands beside their partner’s crest, points to one shape and its space, and says a sentence: “I see a triangle shape. Its space is by the top edge.” The maker listens, then answers.
- Invite makers to tell the class what their crest stands for in their family: “My circle is the sun at our house.” Welcome every answer; families are different, and so are their crests.
- Collect the crests into a class book or a hallway display with a title the children help choose, so they can find their own work and their friends’ work later.
Differentiation
Support
- For emergent bilingual students, show each word with the object, a gesture and the written word, and invite the home-language word too; in Spanish, círculo, cuadrado, triángulo, forma for shape and espacio for space. Post the sentence stems with small drawings, and accept pointing plus one word as a full answer.
- For students with fine-motor disabilities or delays, offer loop, spring-open or table-top scissors, larger 9-inch squares and templates glued on an 18 by 24 inch painted sheet so every piece has room to flip, a thick marker line to cut on, or pieces cut from the edge in advance so the child flips and glues; allow extra time, and two cuts instead of three.
- In the studio, a child who cannot drag a shape names it for an adult to draw, then chooses the edge with an arrow key, or with Tab and Enter, which a switch can send.
- For children who need sensory breaks, offer long-handled brushes or gloves for painting and a quiet seat at the edge of the gallery walk.
Extension
- In the studio, draw a small shape inside a light hole: it is cut from the piece that came from there, and an arrow sends it to any side. Ask where the new shape and its space are.
- Cut the same shape from all four edges, then turn the crest a quarter turn at a time: does it look the same from every side?
- Sort a set of crest pictures into those with circles, those with triangles and those with leaves or flowers, then plan a crest that uses two kinds of shape.
Common misconceptions
- The space is nothing, so it does not count.
- Run a finger around the hole: it has an edge all the way around, just like the piece. Say, “The space has a shape too. It is the shape’s twin.”
- A piece that is only half a circle is not a real shape.
- Hold the template beside the piece: the piece is part of a circle, a half circle, and its space is a half circle too. A half circle is a shape of its own.
- Sliding a piece out is the same as flipping it.
- Use a triangle cut from the top edge. Slid straight up, it points the same way as its space; swung over the edge like a door, it points the other way. Flipping turns the piece over, so it lands as a mirror twin.
- A piece can go anywhere on the painting.
- Lay one piece far from its edge and another swung out like a door. Only the door one shows its twin at a glance. Each shape touches the edge beside its own space.
Assessment
Checks along the way
- On the shape hunt, note which children name all three shapes and count their corners correctly.
- During cutting, check each child’s first cut: does it start and finish on the same edge and follow the line?
- Exit check after session 3: each child points to one shape and its space on their crest and says both words.
- At the studio center, note whether the child used all three tools and predicted which way the triangle would point.
Rubric
| Criterion | Beginning | Developing | Meeting | Exceeding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naming shapes, the shape and the space | Points to shapes when an adult names them. | Names circles, squares and triangles, but mixes up the shape and the space. | Names all three shapes and points to the shape and the space in their own crest. | Also finds the shape and the space in a classmate’s crest or a kamon, and says they are mirror twins. |
| Cutting on a traced line | Cuts with help, or away from the line. | Cuts one or two shapes from an edge, partly on the line. | Cuts three shapes from three edges, close to each line, from edge to edge. | Cuts four or more shapes in two sizes or more, cleanly on the line. |
| Flipping and arranging | Glues pieces anywhere on the painting. | Flips some pieces over their own edges; others are slid out or placed away from the edge. | Flips every piece over its own edge, touching the edge beside its space, on three edges or more. | Plans the arrangement on purpose, such as the same shape on all four edges, and says why. |
| Talking about art | Listens during the gallery walk. | Points to a shape in a classmate’s crest and names it. | Points to a shape and its space in a classmate’s crest and says a full sentence about them. | Asks the maker a question, or compares the crest with a kamon or with Matisse’s The Snail. |
Safety
The only cutting tool is a pair of blunt-tip child scissors, used seated with the other hand holding the paper and an adult moving between tables; nothing sharp is needed for any part of the unit, and adults prepare the templates in advance. Use washable, nontoxic tempera with the ACMI AP seal and glue sticks, cover the tables, wear smocks, and wash hands after painting. Keep screen time short: about ten minutes per child at a studio center, seated, with an adult beside the children and only the studio open on the device. The hub activities listed with this unit are written for learners aged 11 and up: use their pictures and ideas to prepare, and leave their paper-cutting tools out of the kindergarten room.
Standards cited
TEKS §117.102 (Art, Kindergarten). Quoted word for word from the official text.
Art, Kindergarten
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:
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:
- §117.102(b)(2)(A)
- create artworks using a variety of lines, shapes, colors, textures, and forms; Source
- §117.102(b)(2)(B)
- arrange components intuitively to create artworks; and Source
- §117.102(b)(2)(C)
- use a variety of materials to develop manipulative skills while engaging in opportunities for exploration through drawing, painting, printmaking, constructing artworks, and sculpting, 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:
- §117.102(b)(3)(A)
- identify simple subjects expressed in artworks; Source
- §117.102(b)(3)(B)
- share ideas about personal experiences such as family and friends and develop awareness and sensitivity to differing experiences and opinions through artwork; Source
- §117.102(b)(3)(C)
- identify the uses of art in everyday life; and 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: