Value Cakes

Fourth Grade
2 Class Periods

Value Cakes, Fourth Grade Art Lesson

Day 1:
Students began this lesson by doing a follow along drawing of a cylinder.  When students were shown how to draw the diagonal lines to create the illusion of a piece missing, the gasps from this magical transformation could make any art teacher feel like a rock star.

Students next divided up the inside of the cake into 7 layers.  We discussed parallel lines as we completed this step.

Students were asked to imagine themselves as cake decorators and were given full creative power to decorate and design their cakes as they wished.

Cakes were outlined with a sharpie marker.

Day 2:
I share the following you tube clip with students on the many cakes of Wayne Thiebaud as a refresher of what we are working on.  Since we discuss this artist in great detail in first and fifth grade, we do not go into any specifics about his life, just a few facts, such as he is a painter and is famous for his cake and pie paintings.  Most students remember facts on their own from first grade after viewing the clip.  Doesn't that make your heart sing?  I know it causes me to tremble with excitement when I hear them recite things they learned from me in previous grades.

On the second day of class, students were allowed to choose one colored pencil in the color of their choice.  Together as a class we created a value scale (showing a color go from light to dark) inside the cake.

Once students finished the inside layers, we flipped our paper over and made a practice value scale using only our pencil.  Students were instructed to color the rest of their composition using only their pencil.  Students were required to show a light, medium and dark range with their pencil.

Examples of Students Work: