Middle School

The Essential Questions
How well can you direct and listen as a team to recreate a masterpiece?

Objective
Students will work in teams to recreate a work of art created by the teacher.

Materials
construction paper (various colors), markers (various colors), scissors, glue sticks

Procedures
1. Share with students that today they are going to try their best to recreate a “masterpiece.”
2. Divide students into groups of four. Each group will have a leader, a drawer, a cutter, and a gluer. The leader will need to be able to give accurate directions. Students will decide as a group who will take each role.
3. The leader grabs a stack of prepackaged paper that includes a variety of colors. The gluer will receive a glue stick, the cutter will get scissors, and the drawer will get a set of markers.
4. After supplies are distributed, the leader approaches the teacherʼs desk to study the teacherʼs artwork for five minutes, memorizing as much detail as they can.
5. When the leader returns to their group, they arenʼt allowed to use their hands; they can only give verbal directions to the group about what shapes to cut, how large, where to place, and what to draw. Note: Students should only perform the specific tasks they are assigned.
6. Halfway through the period, invite leaders to study the teacherʼs work for an additional three minutes. The leader returns to the group to make adjustments.

Assessment
The leader of each group presents the finished work. The class will determine which composition looks the most like the teacher’s artwork. Afterward, students discuss the challenges the activity presented.

Hannah Mazzuto is an art educator at #198 International Preparatory School at Grover Cleveland in Buffalo, New York.