Composition Case Files: Balance, Focal Point and Flow

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Arts · Art
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Composition Case Files: Balance, Focal Point
and Flow
Arts · Art · Grades 9-12 · 50 minutes
Time needed
50 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 3-page worksheet (one per student). Write the seven principle words on the board.
Technology
None.
Student
independence
High. Students work alone, then compare ideas with a partner.
Copies to make
One 3-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet, Erasers, Ruler (optional)
Goal for today: Students will identify balance, emphasis, movement, pattern and unity in described compositions and
apply the rule of thirds and a leading line in two thumbnail sketches.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (3 pages).
☐ Write on the board: balance, contrast, emphasis (focal point), movement, pattern and rhythm, unity,
proportion.
☐ Also write: Rule of thirds = divide the picture into 9 equal boxes with 2 vertical and 2 horizontal lines. Place
the focal point near where lines cross.
☐ Keep the answer key on your desk. Sketches are graded on the idea, not the drawing skill.
Say this to start
Good morning! Today is about composition, which means how an artist arranges the parts of a picture. You will read a
short guide, play art detective on five imaginary artworks described in words, and then make two small sketches to
test what you learned. Everything you need is on the worksheet and the board. Quiet individual work is expected for
the first 35 minutes.

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Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance. Hand out the worksheet. Read the seven
principle words on the board aloud.
Settle in and read the words on the board.
5–15
Tell students to read the guide passage carefully. They
may underline the definitions.
Read the passage on composition.
15–27
Tell students to complete the matching (questions 1–5) and
the multiple choice (questions 6–8).
Match each described artwork to its main
principle and answer three questions.
27–42
Tell students to complete the two thumbnail sketches
(questions 9 and 10). The rule of thirds grid can be drawn
lightly with a ruler or by eye.
Sketch a lighthouse scene two ways: once
using the rule of thirds and once with a
leading line.
42–47
Tell students to answer questions 11 and 12.
Write a short critique and a comparison.
47–50
Collect all worksheets and stack them for the teacher.
Hand in the worksheet.
If things go wrong
• If a student says the descriptions are confusing, tell them to look for the one feature the description keeps
repeating (a color, a path, a repeating shape).
• If a student is stuck on the sketches, remind them that thumbnails are quick and small. Stick figures and
simple shapes are fine.
• If students argue about the “right” match, tell them to keep the answer that best fits and be ready to explain
why.
• If students finish early, use the early finisher list. Check that both sketches show a different composition.
Early finishers
• Make a third thumbnail of the same lighthouse scene with symmetrical balance and label it.
• Write two sentences about a poster, billboard or book cover you have seen and name one design principle it
uses.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students complete the matching, questions 6–8, and one thumbnail sketch.
• Challenge: Ask students to describe, in two sentences, how they could redesign question 12’s weak
composition using two principles.
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:

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Anything the teacher should know: