Dreamlike Visual Worlds

Year 6 Visual Arts – 90-Minute Lesson Plan

Focus: Shaun Tan-Inspired Mixed Media Artwork
Australian Curriculum (Version 9.0)
Learning Area: Visual Arts
Level: Year 6
Strand: Making and Responding
Content Descriptor (AC9AVA6C01 & AC9AVA6C02)

• AC9AVA6C01: Develop and represent ideas through practice and exploration of materials, techniques and visual conventions.
• AC9AVA6C02: Analyse how visual artworks are created to communicate meaning, including consideration of historical and cultural contexts.

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Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Understand key themes and visual storytelling techniques used by Shaun Tan
• Experiment with mixed media materials and collage to create a dreamlike landscape or scenario inspired by Tan’s artistic style
• Use symbolism, unusual juxtapositions, and surreal elements to express complex ideas in a visual format
• Reflect on their creative choices and explain the meaning behind their work

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Success Criteria

Students will:

• Produce an imaginative and cohesive piece inspired by Shaun Tan's visual style
• Use at least three different materials or techniques in their artwork (e.g. ink, collage, pencil, pastel)
• Include symbolism or narrative elements in their composition
• Participate in reflective discussion using appropriate visual arts terminology

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Preparation + Materials

Classroom Setup:

• Provide desks for group work (5 groups of 5 students)
• Cover tables if possible for messy media

Materials:

• Sketching paper/formal artwork paper (A3)
• Soft pencils and charcoal
• Oil pastels/coloured pencils
• Indian ink and brushes
• Scrap magazine pages / newspapers / old books for collage
• Scissors and glue sticks
• Shaun Tan book excerpts (e.g. The Red Tree, The Arrival, Tales from Outer Suburbia)
• Digital projector or screen for visual analysis
• Optional: recycled materials or found objects (small) for texture

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Lesson Breakdown

Introduction – 15 minutes

1. Visual Warm-Up: Shaun Tan’s World

• Show images from “The Arrival” and “The Red Tree.”
• Ask students: “What story is being told here – and how do we know, even without words?”
• Discuss Tan’s distinctive features: surreal landscapes, muted palettes, faceless humans, bizarre creatures, symbolic imagery.

Teaching Focus:
Introduce Shaun Tan’s use of visual metaphor and explain how his work explores themes like belonging, loneliness, change, and wonder. Place emphasis on the idea behind the art, not only aesthetic quality.

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Part 1 – 30 minutes

2. Mini Visual Storytelling Workshop
Students complete the following warm-up activity in their sketchbooks:

• Pick a feeling: e.g. loneliness, confusion, curiosity, hope
• Draw three thumbnail sketches where:
  1. A creature represents that emotion
  2. An unusual setting reflects that feeling
  3. A symbolic object is central (clock, cage, balloon, door, etc.)

Teacher Modelling: Share an example of how “hope” might become a glowing fish floating over a dark city.

Encourage students to share sketches with table partners and get peer feedback. This loosens creative boundaries and builds vocabulary for symbolic expression.

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Part 2 – 35 minutes

3. Main Task: Mixed Media Artwork – “Something Left Behind”

Prompt:
“Imagine your artwork is one page from a Shaun Tan-style storybook. There are no words — your image must tell a mystery or emotion. Title it: 'Something Left Behind'. What does that mean to you?”

Instructions:

• Begin with sketching their main subject/symbol
• Use collage from magazines/books for background or foreground objects
• Apply ink or pastel to modify tone and create dreamlike texture
• Combine media for contrast (e.g., loosely draw a building, but collage a precise object)

Visual Conventions to Focus On:

• Composition: foreground, middleground, background
• Texture and shape: rough paper/objects for emotion
• Colour scheme: muted or monochrome with one pop colour

Teacher Circulates: Support students with layering, prompting “what if…” questions, and guiding media combinations.

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Part 3 – 10 minutes

4. Gallery Walk + Reflective Dialogue

• Students place their work in a circle on the classroom floor or tables for a silent gallery walk.
• Give students three sticky notes each to write questions or compliments for artworks.
• Whole-class circle to share:
  • “One thing I learned from someone else’s work…”
  • “Something I chose to symbolise [emotion] in mine…”

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Differentiation Strategies

Extension/Creative Depth:

• Encourage advanced artists to include movement through repeated motifs (e.g. growing vines, drifting smoke) or connect their sketchbook thumbnails into triptychs.

Support Needs:

• Provide printed Shaun Tan artwork templates for tracing or direct inspiration
• Create a visual emotions-symbol dictionary as a class wall chart
• Use step-by-step anchor chart for layering materials

ESL Considerations:

• Encourage body language and gestures during reflection
• Allow visual prompts and sentence starters: “My image shows...”, “I chose this because…”

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Assessment & Feedback

Formative Assessment:

• Observe student interaction during sketch planning
• Check for purposeful selection and combination of materials
• Monitor contribution to reflective discussion

Criteria for Student Reflection:

• Did I tell a story or feeling using only visuals?
• What materials helped me convey my idea best?
• How is my piece similar to or different from Shaun Tan’s style?

Teacher Feedback:

• Verbal rolling feedback during work time
• Positive written comment on back of finished piece: refer to technique, storytelling, and experimentation

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Cross-curricular Links

• English: Narrative structure and metaphor
• HASS: Immigration and identity (using The Arrival)
• Wellbeing/SEL: Emotional expression through visual art

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Teacher’s Note

This lesson encourages curiosity, risk-taking, and open-ended visual exploration. It aligns beautifully with integrated learning goals, and honours students’ emotional worlds while sparking professional-level creativity. You’ll be amazed where your Year 6 thinkers can go with a little Tan-inspired magic.