ART · Week 5 · BUILD · Identity in Art · Arts Award Explore

Star & a Step

One thing I like · One thing to change

⭐🪜📷🔄🎨

Today is a hands-on lesson — we learn by doing.

ARRIVAL TASK · do now, no help needed

Star or step? Sort the comments

Tap a card, then tap where it belongs. Have a go — wrong answers are welcome here.

While you wait: look at your piece from last week — tell your partner the first thing YOUR eye goes to.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

LO: To make one improvement to my artwork and show before and after.

✓ I can find a star: one thing that already works.

✓ I can choose a step: one small change to make.

✓ I can show before and after photos in my log.

Success criteria: By the end you will have given the demo piece a star and a step, made ONE improvement to your own identity piece, and banked the before/after photo pair in your Explore log with an “I improved… by…” comment (AQA UAS ‘Creating artwork’).

Going for Grow: say what you would improve NEXT and why — seeing the next step before you take it is an artist’s habit.

STARTER · talk task

Is finished ever finished?

With your partner: why do artists go back into work that looked done? Galleries are full of paintings with older paintings hiding underneath. What makes an artist say “one more change” — and when should they stop?

Sentence stems:
“Artists go back in because…”
“One more change is worth it when…”
“You should stop when…”

I DO · teacher explains

The star comes first — always

⭐ The star

Find what already WORKS and say it precisely: “the texture in that corner”, “that colour pair”. Improving starts from strength, not shame.

🪜 The step

ONE small change: more contrast, one added symbol, texture built up in one place. Small steps done properly beat grand plans abandoned.

📷 Before / after

Photo BEFORE you touch anything. Then the change. Then after. The pair is the proof — and proof is what the Explore log runs on.

🛑 Know when to stop

One improvement today. If you spot a second, bank it as your NEXT step — that’s the stretch, not a job for now.

Misconception: ~~“Changing your work means it was bad.”~~ Improving is what artists DO — it’s craft, not damage control. A step isn’t an insult to the piece; it’s the piece growing. The star proves it was already working.

WE DO · together on the board

Sort the changes — a small step for today, or a whole new piece?

HANDS-ON · the main event

Take the step ⭐

Ground rule (60 seconds): the star is said OUT LOUD before any step is touched — in this room, what works gets named first.

Station 1 · STAR & STEP TOGETHER

The demo piece goes up. As a class: one star (be precise), one step (be small). Watch the improvement happen live.

Station 2 · YOUR ONE STEP

BEFORE photo first — then make your one improvement: contrast, a symbol, built-up texture. One change, done properly.

Station 3 · BEFORE / AFTER

Bank the photo pair in your log and finish the line: “I improved… by…” — say it, point at the change, or have it scribed.

Going for Grow: bank the next step: “next I would improve ___ because ___” — future-you will thank you.

EVIDENCE · Arts Award Explore log · before/after · AQA UAS ‘Creating artwork’

Capture your evidence

Your before/after pair is the evidence — TA banks both photos. Add the line (spoken and scribed counts):

My name:

My star — what already worked:

I improved… by…:

Skills I used today (tick with your TA): Ability to learn · Resilience · Creativity

Feedback loop: your teacher will deep-mark one part of this in dark green and draw a Yellow Box. Next lesson you respond inside it in a coloured pen of your choice.

EXIT TICKET

Show what you know

1. What gets said FIRST in this room?

2. A good step is…

3. The before/after photo pair…