Reflection and Exhibition

Unit: Exploring Art through Picasso

Lesson 20 of 20 Duration: 50 minutes Class size: 20 Year 7 students

WALT (We Are Learning To)

Celebrate our artistic efforts by reflecting on our learning journey and sharing our artworks with others.

Success Criteria

Engage thoughtfully with peers during the gallery walk by discussing artworks using provided prompts.
Reflect on personal artistic growth and learning through discussion and self-assessment.
Demonstrate respect and curiosity about classmates’ artworks.

Western Australian Curriculum Links

Year 7 Visual Arts Content Descriptions:

AC9AVA8C02: Select and manipulate visual conventions, visual arts processes, and/or materials to create artworks that represent ideas, perspectives and/or meaning.
AC9AVA8E01: Investigate ways that visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials are manipulated to represent ideas, perspectives and/or meaning in artworks created across cultures and contexts.
AC9AVA8E06: Reflect on learning and evaluate/resolving choices to represent their ideas as ideas for the artwork progress, using informal discussions, process annotations, reviews or written/oral/multimedia evaluations.

General Capabilities & Cross-Curriculum Priorities:

Interpersonal skills through peer engagement.
Literacy through art-specific vocabulary discussions (dyslexia-friendly text prompts).
Critical and creative thinking in reflection and evaluation.

Lesson Breakdown

1. Introduction & Set Up (5 minutes)

Briefly explain the purpose of today’s lesson: a classroom gallery walk followed by reflection.
Remind students of respectful behaviour in the gallery space.
Introduce discussion prompts displayed on posters (see Differentiation Strategies) to assist students in talking about artworks.
Highlight WALT and Success Criteria.

2. Gallery Walk (25 minutes)

Arrange students’ artworks around the classroom in a gallery arrangement.
Students walk around in small groups of 4-5.
Each student spends approximately 4-5 minutes at each artwork, engaging with the artist or peers using prompts, e.g.:
What do you notice about this artwork?
What feelings or ideas does it evoke?
What techniques or colours did the artist use effectively?
How does this artwork relate to Picasso’s style or themes?
Encourage students to ask questions and provide positive feedback.
Teacher circulates, facilitating deeper conversations.

3. Group Reflection (12 minutes)

Regroup as a class.
Invite volunteers to share insights or favourite moments from the gallery walk.
Discuss reflections on their personal artistic journey through the unit using guiding questions:
What was your favourite part of creating your Picasso-inspired artwork?
What new techniques or ideas did you learn?
How did your style change during the unit?
How can you apply these learnings to future artworks?
Record key reflections for visual display.

4. Individual Self-Reflection (6 minutes)

Students complete a short reflective journal entry or checklist about their learning and artistic development.
Provide scaffolded sentence starters for diverse learners and dyslexia-friendly large-font handouts, e.g.:
“I enjoyed creating…”
“A challenge I overcame was…”
“One new thing I learned was…”
“If I could do this again, I would…”

5. Conclusion & Clean Up (2 minutes)

Thank students for their participation and effort.
Remind them that their artworks represent their unique perspectives and growth.
Discuss next steps or ongoing art opportunities.

Differentiation Strategies

Discussion Prompts for Gallery Walk: Large-font, simplified sentence prompts to support students with literacy or processing difficulties, for example:
“What do you like about this picture?”
“Can you tell us about the colours?”
“What feelings does this artwork make you have?”
Visual Symbols: Use icons (smiley face, paintbrush, question mark) to represent types of feedback or questions.
Peer Support: Pair students strategically, mixing advanced and needing support learners.
Flexible Reflection: Options for written, oral, or multimedia reflections depending on learner preferences.
Quiet Spaces: Designate a quiet reflection corner for students who may feel overwhelmed during the gallery.

Extension Activities (For Advanced Learners)

Create an artist statement that links their Picasso-inspired artwork to specific elements of Picasso’s style and philosophy.
Research another artist influenced by Picasso and prepare a mini-presentation or digital slide to share with the class.
Develop a collaborative digital gallery exhibition, using a presentation software or school LMS, incorporating photos of artworks and student reflections.
Mentor peers during the gallery walk, encouraging deeper analysis of artworks beyond surface features.

Teacher Notes

Emphasise appreciation of diversity in artistic styles and personal expression rather than technical perfection.
Encourage use of specific Visual Arts vocabulary learned throughout the unit (e.g., cubism, abstract, contrast, line, shape).
Maintain a positive, celebratory tone as this is the culminating lesson of the unit.
Consider photographing the gallery walk and reflections for a classroom display or student portfolios.

This carefully aligned lesson plan fosters reflection, peer engagement, respectful communication, and deeper appreciation of art—and perfectly wraps up the "Exploring Art through Picasso" unit with celebration and critical thinking based on the Western Australian Curriculum framework for Year 7 Visual Arts.

Teaching Instructions