Unit Plan 21 (Grade 4 Art): Mixed Media Exploration
Grade 4 mixed-media art unit where students combine drawing, paint, and collage with purpose, improving craftsmanship and visual communication through intentional layering and material choices.
Focus: Combine multiple materials thoughtfully to enhance meaning and strengthen visual communication.
Grade Level: 4
Subject Area: Art (Visual Arts • Creating)
Total Unit Duration: 1–3 weeks, 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students explore how artists use mixed media—more than one material in a single artwork—to create richer images and clearer messages. They experiment with combining drawing, painting, and collage to see how each material has different strengths for showing texture, details, or big shapes. Building from playful exploration to a small finished piece, students are guided to make purposeful choices about which materials to use where, improving both their craftsmanship and their ability to communicate an idea or feeling visually.
Essential Questions
- What does it mean to create a mixed media artwork?
- How do different materials (pencil, marker, paint, collage, etc.) change the way an artwork looks and feels?
- How can combining materials on purpose help me show my idea or message more clearly?
- How does practicing with different tools and techniques improve my control and craftsmanship as an artist?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Explain what mixed media means and identify examples in classroom visuals.
- Experiment with a variety of tools, materials, and techniques (drawing, painting, collage) to see how each behaves and what effects it creates.
- Plan a small mixed media artwork where each material is chosen thoughtfully to support a specific part of the idea or image.
- Use mixed media with growing control and craftsmanship, including careful cutting, gluing, layering, and mark-making.
- Reflect on how combining materials helped them communicate meaning and which combinations they might use again.
Standards Alignment — 4th Grade (NCAS-Aligned)
- VA:Cr2.4b — Experiment with tools, materials, and techniques to improve control and craftsmanship.
- Example: Students practice blending and layering techniques in paint.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can tell what mixed media means and point to artworks that use more than one material.
- I can try out different materials and techniques and notice what each one is good at.
- I can choose materials on purpose for different parts of my picture (background, main subject, details).
- I can show good craftsmanship by cutting, gluing, drawing, and painting carefully in my mixed media piece.
- I can describe how combining materials helped my artwork communicate an idea or feeling more clearly.