D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !1
DEEP SPACE
SHAPE OF MY HEART
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !2
What you’ll need:
12” x 9” white 90 lb watercolor paper oil pastels
Liquid watercolors or Pan or cake watercolors
table salt
Medium size all-purpose brushes Water containers
Objectives:
Literacy connection
Identifying shapes Wet-on-dry watercolor technique
Salt on watercolor technique Introduce positive and negative space
Shape of my Heart
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !3
Liquid watercolors are a joy to
work with. They come in
concentrated form and all you
do is add a small amount of water. I add less water to light
colors such as yellow and green,
but a bit more water to blues,
pinks and reds. It’s best to
experiment to discover the color intensity you like best.
You can read more about liquid
watercolors here.
If you don’t have liquid
watercolors, use can use the
regular pan or tray watercolors.
liquid Watercolors
The Shape of My Heart by Mark Sperring and
illustrated by
Alys Paterson is a great alternative to a typical
“Valentine’s Day” picture book. It’s a gentle story with
colorful illustrations that teach color, shape and
community.
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !4
When you read the book you can
discuss the different shapes you see in
the book. Some children like to draw
fanciful shapes like teacups and
cupcakes, but you can encourage the
basic shapes like, circles, diamonds and
triangles.
Children can use as many colors of oil
pastels as they like to draw the shapes.
To draw a heart, place two dots on the
paper: one near the top and one near the
bottom of the paper. Place oil pastel on
the top dot and draw a big curve up and
towards the right hand corner. Curve line
around and steer towards the bottom dot.
Repeat on other side.
This is an easy strategy for teaching young
children to draw a heart.
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D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !5
Painting with watercolor: For this lesson I suggested you could use either
liquid watercolor paints or pan watercolor
paints. I used both.
This is what we did:
• Use a medium all-purpose paint brush (the
kind that comes in the paint trays are fine)and
paint all the different shapes the same color
as the oil pastel. So if you drew a yellow
circle, paint the circle yellow.
• The children can chose to leave the
background of the heart shape (positive
space) white or paint it in. Some children
added lines or other graphic details inside
their hearts.
• Use liquid watercolor to paint the background
(outside the heart shape). I spoke briefly
about positive and negative space. Paint the
background (negative space) with two or
three colors of liquid watercolor paint. To
control this, I set two small plastic containers
(salsa cups w/lids) filled with selected colors
on each table.
• While the paint is still wet, sprinkle a pinch of
table salt over the wet areas. This creates a
lovely, sparkly effect!
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D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !6
Color me! Can you draw a decorative border around the heart? How many different shapes can you
find? How many shapes in all?
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !7
First Grade Heart
Shapes
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !8
You can change this lesson by using shapes and lines together to form patterns. My second
group of 1st graders did the same basic steps, but instead of “salting” the negative space, the
children left the paint unaltered. They also drew their shapes with a black and white oil pastel
instead of various colors. Different results, but still easy.
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B !9
I LIKE MY ART BECAUSE…
MY NAME IS:
circle the supplies used in this art project
my supplies:
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B 10
CREATING Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work — Collaboratively use
imaginative play with materials—use observations to prepare for artwork
Organize and develop artistic ideas and work — Explore materials to create
artwork—demonstrate safe & proper procedures—identify and classify through
drawing
Refine and complete artistic work—use art vocabulary to describe choices in art-
making
Presenting/producing Analyze, interpret and select artistic work for presentation— explain why some
objects, artifacts and artwork are valued over others
Develop and refine artistic work for presentation — ask and answer questions of
where, when, why and how artwork should be prepared for presentation/
preservation.
Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work — identify the roles and
responsibilities of people who work in museums and art settings
Responding Perceive and analyze artistic work- select art that illustrates daily life experiences to
others—compare images that represent the same object. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work — interpret art by categorizing
subject matter and identifying the characteristics of form
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work— classify artwork based on different reasons
for preferences
Connecting Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art- identify
NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS-FIRST GRADE
X
X
X
X
X
X
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B 11
CREATING Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work — Brainstorm multiple approaches to
art and design—use of various materials to make art
Organize and develop artistic ideas and work — Explore materials to explore personal
interests in art-making—demonstrate safe use/cleaning—repurpose objects into
something new
Refine and complete artistic work—discuss/reflect with peers about choices when creating
artwork
Presenting/producing Analyze, interpret and select artistic work for presentation— categorize artwork based on
a theme or concept for an exhibition
Develop and refine artistic work for presentation — distinguish between different
materials or artistic techniques for preparing artwork for presentation
Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work — analyze how art exhibited
inside and outside school contributes to communities
Responding Perceive and analyze artistic work- describe aesthetic characteristics of the natural world—
categorize images based on expression Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work — interpret art by identifying the mood
suggested and describing relevant subject matter and identifying the characteristics of
form
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work— use learned art vocabulary to express
preferences about artwork
Connecting Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art- create works of
art about events in home, school or community life Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding —create works of art about events in home, school or community life
NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS-second grade
X
X
X
X
X
X
D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E M E M B E R S’ C L U B 12
• Today I will learn about GEOMETRIC SHAPES, so that I CAN identify them in the book,
Shape of my Heart by Mark Sperring. I will use these illustrations to inspire my own art by
drawing a large HEART filled with different shapes using OIL PASTELS.
• Today I will learn about COLOR and WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUES, so that I CAN use
WET-ON-DRY for my shapes and SALT on WATERCOLOR for my background creating a
I CAN STATEMENTS FOR SHAPE OF MY HEART
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
As you read Shape of My Heart with the students, you can have students describe different
shapes based on the illustrations. Ask them to refer specifically to the images when
describing the types of shapes (geometric or organic) or any other information they gain
from looking at the illustrations.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing
about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
Students address this standard when completing the artist statement worksheet of this
packet (page 9). They are writing their opinion about the artwork they made based on how
it was created and how they were inspired.
CCSS.Math.Content.1.G.A.1 Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus
non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to
possess defining attributes.
COMMON CORE STANDARDS FOR SHAPE OF MY HEART