I planned this lesson for an interview I had in a school recently. They asked me to do a 25 minute lesson with a group of Year 3 children which would encourage them to be collaborative. Of course I chose something arty but, looking over their curriculum, I also went for a lesson which would like into their recent science topic on plants and support their maths learning on symmetry.

Planned Outcomes:

• Children collaborate effectively in pairs and groups of 4-6 towards an end goal.
• Children recognise 1 line of symmetry in various shapes and begin to identify where shapes may have more than one line.
• Children make creative decisions whilst following a simple rule within artwork to ensure that their final piece has at least one line of symmetry.
• Children recognise the term ‘Land Art’ and are able to describe what the term means and an artist who works in this tradition.
• Children have the opportunity to experience awe and wonder of nature and to extend this beyond the classroom.

Where this learning fits within the learning sequence

Art: This term children have been learning about artists who use plants and nature in their art work in order to create natural mono-prints. This lesson complements this learning by considering how other artists have used nature in their work in a different artform. The symmetrical patterns introduced in this lesson would support children in preparation to their learning in Year 5 children when they will learn about Islamic art.

Maths: Children were introduced to symmetry in Y2 where they learnt to recognise shapes with 1 line of symmetry. In the summer term of Y3 children will identify vertical and horizontal lines of symmetry before moving on to multiple lines of symmetry in Y4. This lesson provides a practical opportunity to work beyond their Y2 learning and will support their maths learning for next term and beyond.

Science: Children have been learning about plants in Science this term. Whilst this lesson does not explicitly draw on or extend this learning, it does provide opportunity to extend children’s observational skills and to develop their awe and wonder of the natural world which will support their ongoing learning in science.

Find a link to the activity here:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rAbN9ur4W9N8qIdgFZ1PCRCuFabojdCY3ZyZCXj7QOM/edit?usp=sharing