Sea Turtle Art Summer Art Project Summer Art Activity with Writing and Reading

This Sea Turtle Summer Art Project is a complete art and literacy lesson for the classroom or homeschool. It starts with ocean-themed reading comprehension and writing activities, then students create a calm, colorful swimming sea turtle artwork using oil pastels and watercolor paint on construction paper.

It is designed for elementary classrooms and homeschool families. Lesson plans, step-by-step visuals, an example artwork and PowerPoint slides guide you through blending, layering, shading and expressive oil pastel and watercolor design, while the reading and writing pages build literacy skills around the summer ocean theme.

WHAT'S INCLUDED (NON-EDITABLE PDF AND PPT VERSION)

• Lesson Plan (2 pages), already filled out for easy planning
• Learning Standards Covered
• Lesson Hook, a ready-to-use picture puzzle
• About the Theme reading to read aloud or for students to read
• Rubric for assessment
• Artwork Reflection Pages for reflecting on the creative process and goals met
• Artwork Message and Artist Statement
• Example Artwork to show your students
• Educator Step-by-Step Instructions and PowerPoint Step-by-Step Presentation, useful for you or to leave with a sub
• Step-by-Step How to Draw Page for students to reference
• Reading Comprehension with Questions and Answer Key
• Sight Word List and Tricky Word List with definitions
• Writing Prompt activity connected to the theme

This resource uses American English and is not editable.

MATERIALS

• Oil pastels
• White card stock paper (or thick paper)
• Construction paper
• Watercolor paint or tempera paint cakes

STANDARDS

The lesson lists National Art Standards and CCSS, including CCSS RL.K.1, RL.1.1 and RL.2.3, and VA:Re8.1.Ka, VA:Cr2.2.3a, VA:Cr2.2.4a, VA:Cr2.1.4a, VA:Cr2.1.5a and VA:Cr2.2.5a.

HOW TO USE IT

Begin with the picture puzzle hook and the About the Theme reading, then work through the reading comprehension questions and vocabulary lists. Use the PowerPoint or the educator instructions to lead the step-by-step sea turtle drawing and painting, and finish with the writing prompt, artist statement and reflection pages.

The art follows the style of the Ms Artastic YouTube Channel, and the filled-out plan and step-by-step slides make it a good fit if you are short on time or newer to teaching art.

FAQ

Who is this for?

Elementary classroom teachers, art teachers and homeschool families.

What materials do students need?

Oil pastels, white card stock or thick paper, construction paper, and watercolor paint or tempera paint cakes.

Can I leave it with a substitute?

Yes. The educator step-by-step instructions and PowerPoint presentation are made to be easy to leave with a sub.

Is it editable?

No. It comes as a non-editable PDF and PPT version.

Get free, classroom-ready art lessons and printables in my Free Art Lesson Library.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathleen McGiveron (Ms Artastic) is an artist who has been featured on NBC LX News and designs art lessons for kids and educational resources for teachers. She is the founder of Ms Artastic and hosts the Ms Artastic YouTube Channel and Podcast.

TERMS OF USE

Images and lessons are copyright products.

YOU MAY: use this in creative ways and have as much fun with it as you like. For clip art, you may use the images as clip art, website graphics, binder covers or bulletin board decorations. Additional licenses are available for school use.

YOU MAY NOT: use this on OutSchool, put it on your blog, share it with other teachers, administration or districts (admin can buy additional licenses), sell it, give it out for free or photocopy it for others.

Sincerely,

Ms Artastic