Storytelling Art

Year Level

Year 2

Duration

30 minutes

Class Size

6 students

Unit Context

Unit Title: Creative Connections: Art & Tech Lesson Number: 8 of 15 Lesson Title: Storytelling through Art Lesson Description: This lesson explores art as a storytelling medium. Students will discuss how artworks can tell stories and then create their own stories using illustrations.

Australian Curriculum Links: The Arts — Visual Arts (Years 1–2)

Content Descriptions

AC9AVA2C01: Use visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials to create artworks.
AC9AVA2D01: Experiment and play with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials.

Elaborations for this lesson

Using visual brainstorming to build ideas for artworks and develop questions to push ideas further, such as combining ideas or adapting them.
Exploring ways to use visual conventions to tell stories through image and symbol.
Creating artworks that are experimental and imaginative to communicate personal stories.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson students will be able to:

Understand how visual art can be a medium to tell stories.
Experiment with visual arts materials to create simple illustrations that communicate a story.
Organise a sequence of images to express an idea or narrative.
Reflect on their own artwork and share the story behind it with peers.

Resources Required

Drawing paper or art journals (one per student)
Coloured pencils, crayons, markers
Whiteboard and markers
Visual examples of storytelling art (e.g., simple picture books, storyboards, Indigenous art showing storytelling through symbols)
Story prompt cards (optional; simple ideas or themes to inspire stories)

Lesson Outline and Timing

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

Begin with a short group discussion: What is storytelling? How can stories be told without words?
Show visual examples of artwork that tells a story, focusing on simple illustrations or symbols (including examples of First Nations storytelling art).
Explain that today students will create their own story using pictures.

2. Guided Activity: Story Planning (7 minutes)

Invite students to think about a simple story they want to tell (e.g., an event from their day, a favourite animal’s adventure, a local place).
Support them to sketch or talk through the sequence of their story in 3–4 images. This could be prompted using story prompt cards for those needing inspiration.
Use guided questioning:
What happens first?
What happens next?
How does it end?

3. Main Activity: Creating Story Illustrations (12 minutes)

Students independently create their story illustrations across 3–4 panels/pages using drawing materials.
Encourage experimenting with colours, shapes, and lines to express feelings and ideas.
Circulate and provide scaffolded support and encouragement, prompting students to think about how their images tell the story.

4. Sharing and Reflection (5 minutes)

Invite each student to explain their story using their pictures.
Prompt reflection by asking: How does your picture tell the story? What story might someone else see?
Reinforce the idea that artwork can communicate many meanings depending on how people see it.

5. Conclusion and Clean-up (1 minute)

Recap learning: Art can tell stories without words.
Acknowledge the creativity and storytelling efforts of all students.
Prepare materials for the next lesson.

Assessment

Formative: Observation of participation in discussion and story planning.
Product: Creation of a simple illustrated story sequence (3–4 images) that communicates an idea or narrative.
Reflection: Student verbal sharing of the story behind their illustrations demonstrating understanding of storytelling through visual art.

Curriculum Alignment Justification

This lesson is aligned with Australian Curriculum (v9) Visual Arts content descriptions AC9AVA2C01 and AC9AVA2D01 by enabling students to use visual arts processes and materials creatively to communicate stories. The focus on storytelling through sequences of images encourages experimentation with visual conventions and developing ideas, meeting the general capabilities of creativity and critical thinking embedded in the curriculum.

Incorporating discussion and reflection also supports oral language development and personal expression suitable for Year 2 students. Showing First Nations art as storytelling inclusively respects and appreciates cultural diversity by highlighting Indigenous methods of storytelling through visuals, aligning with cross-curriculum priorities.

Teacher Tips

Use simple, relatable story prompts to engage young learners in storytelling.
Encourage positive feedback among peers during sharing time to build confidence.
Be flexible for students who prefer to tell their story verbally or through a combination of drawing and words.

This lesson plan leverages the Australian Curriculum’s focus on experiential learning and visual literacy to cultivate early storytelling skills in art, nurturing creativity and communication in young learners.

Teaching Instructions