Our Place in Pieces

Overview

Students create one piece of a collaborative puzzle artwork showing what makes Orautoha Kura and its local environment special. They explore colour, line, shape, texture, and collage materials, then share the ideas and meanings behind their artwork.

Learning intentions

• We are learning to explore different materials and art-making processes.
• We are learning to communicate an idea about our local place.
• We are learning to explain why we made artistic choices.
• We are learning to listen to and respond to others’ ideas.

Success criteria

• I can use at least two materials or processes in my artwork.
• I can show something important about Orautoha Kura or my local environment.
• I can tell what my artwork shows and why I chose my colours, shapes, or textures.
• I can listen respectfully when someone shares their artwork.

Curriculum links

• Visual Arts: developing and communicating ideas in response to personal experiences and the local environment.
• Visual Arts: exploring a variety of materials and processes to communicate ideas.
• Visual Arts: sharing ideas about how and why artworks are made and the meanings they communicate.
• Key competencies: thinking; managing self; participating and contributing; relating to others; using language, symbols, and texts.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Local place hook. Teacher opens the hook and local-place images and asks, “What makes our kura and the places around it special?” Students quietly observe the images, then share one place, object, person, sound, or feeling they associate with Orautoha Kura.

2. 4–8 min · Demonstration and discussion. Teacher models making a puzzle piece using drawing, rubbing, tearing, overlapping, and gluing, while showing the art-process and success-criteria slides. Explain that each piece should communicate one idea and connect visually with the whole class artwork. Students identify materials and processes they could try and help name the visible art features: colour, line, shape, and texture.

3. 8–11 min · Plan an idea. Teacher distributes the Our Tūrangawaewae planning sheet and models a quick picture or symbol in the planning box. Students choose one idea connected to their local environment—for example, maunga, awa, native plants, animals, whānau, friends, the kura, or a place where they feel they belong—and sketch it simply.

4. 11–23 min · Create a puzzle piece. Teacher gives each student a pre-cut card puzzle piece and invites them to use at least two materials or processes, referring back to the making instructions and visual examples. Students draw, paint, collage, print, or add texture to communicate their chosen idea, leaving the joining edges clear and working safely with shared materials. Circulate and ask: “What are you showing?” “Which material helps communicate your idea?” and “How could your piece connect to others?”

5. 23–28 min · Assemble and share. Teacher gathers the pieces and works with students to arrange them into one collaborative artwork, then displays the sharing prompts. Students turn to a partner and complete: “My piece shows…”, “I chose… because…”, and “This artwork tells us that our place…”. Invite three or four students to share with the class.

6. 28–30 min · Reflect and tidy. Teacher leads a quick reflection using the reflection slide and photographs or displays the completed puzzle. Students name one material or process they explored, one idea their piece communicates, and help return materials and clean tables.

Resources

• the Our Tūrangawaewae visual art slide deck
• the Our Tūrangawaewae planning sheet
• One pre-cut card puzzle piece per student
• Drawing pencils, crayons, coloured pencils, and felt-tip pens
• Paint, brushes, water pots, and palettes
• Coloured paper, tissue paper, fabric scraps, and natural materials
• Glue sticks and child-safe scissors
• Table coverings and drying space
• Camera or display board for the finished collaborative artwork

Assessment

• Observe whether students explore at least two materials or processes and use them purposefully.
• Confer with students during making, recording their ability to explain what their artwork shows and why they made particular choices.
• During partner and class sharing, listen for students communicating an idea about their local environment and responding respectfully to others.
• Use the final reflection to identify students who can name a material or process and describe the meaning of their piece.

Differentiation

• Provide picture choices, real objects, and photographs of familiar local places for students who need help generating an idea.
• Offer sentence starters from the slides and scribe a student’s idea on the worksheet if writing is a barrier.
• Pre-cut collage materials and provide thicker tools or adapted scissors for students with fine-motor needs; allow drawing, printing, or arranging materials instead of cutting.
• Support English-language learners with gestures, photographs, repeated modelling, and key words such as “place”, “line”, “shape”, “texture”, “show”, and “because”.
• Extend confident students by asking them to combine two local ideas, create a repeated pattern, or explain how their piece helps the whole puzzle communicate belonging.