Ask a Primary 4 pupil what makes a drawing look real, and most will shrug and say the artist is just good at it. This Primary 4 Cultural and Creative Arts second term lesson note gives the real answer, skill by skill: how shading turns a flat circle into a round ball, how three primary colours combine into dozens of new ones, and how carving, pattern-making and collage turn ordinary soap, paper and leaves into craft. Thirteen weeks, each with a technique your pupils practise with their own hands, not just admire on a page.

Second Term Scheme of Work

The notes follow the NERDC scheme of work for Primary 4. Here is the full term at a glance:

Weeks 1 to 6

Week	Topic	Content
1	Elements of Art	Meaning of art elements, line, shape, colour, texture, space, form, identifying elements in drawings
2	Shading	Meaning of shading, tools for shading, hatching, cross-hatching, smudging, shading simple drawings
3	Principles of Design	Balance, contrast, rhythm, unity, proportion, identifying and applying principles in artworks
4	Carving	Meaning of carving, materials used (soap, wood, clay), simple carving exercises, importance in Nigerian tradition
5	Mid-term examination	Assessment of topics covered in Weeks 1 to 4
6	Mid-term break	Rest and relaxation period

Weeks 7 to 13

Week	Topic	Content
7	Art Professionals	Painters, sculptors, designers, photographers, their tools and work, importance of art in the community
8	Colour Mixing	Primary and secondary colours, the colour wheel, warm and cool colours, mixing paint
9	Pattern and Decoration	Types of patterns, natural and geometric patterns, creating patterns, decorating classroom materials
10	Collage	Meaning of collage, materials: paper, fabric, leaves, magazines, making simple collages
11	Revision	Review of all topics covered, practice exercises, question and answer sessions
12	Examination	End of term assessment
13	Closing/Vacation	Term ends, report card distribution

Free Sample: Weeks 1 and 2

Read the full lesson notes for the first two weeks below. Every other week uses the same layout.

WEEK 1: Elements of Art

Class: Primary 4   |   Subject: Cultural and Creative Arts   |   Duration: 40 minutes

Topic: Elements of Art   |   Sub-topic: Meaning of Art Elements, Line, Shape, Colour, Texture, Space and Form, Identifying and Using Elements in Art

Instructional material

• A collection of simple drawings and paintings showing different elements
• Coloured pencils, crayons, and drawing paper
• Rough and smooth textured materials (sandpaper, cloth, bark)
• Flash cards labelled: line, shape, colour, texture, space, form
• Chart showing examples of each art element

Learning objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:

• Explain the meaning of art elements
• Identify and describe the six art elements: line, shape, colour, texture, space, and form
• Identify art elements in given drawings or artworks
• Create a simple artwork using different art elements

Entry behaviour / prior knowledge

Pupils have drawn simple pictures in previous classes and can identify basic shapes such as circles, squares, and triangles. They know what colours are and use coloured pencils and crayons regularly in class.

Content

What are Elements of Art?

Elements of art are the basic building blocks or ingredients that artists use to create any artwork. Just as a house is built from bricks, cement, and wood, every drawing, painting, or sculpture is made from art elements. Without these elements, we cannot create art. Every piece of art you see uses at least one or more of these elements.

The Six Elements of Art

1. Line – a mark made by a moving point. Horizontal lines create calm, vertical lines create strength, diagonal lines create movement, curved lines create a gentle feeling, and zigzag lines create excitement.

2. Shape – a flat, enclosed area created when a line meets itself or two lines cross. Geometric shapes have regular, exact sides (circles, squares, triangles); organic shapes are irregular and found in nature (a leaf, a cloud, a stone).

3. Colour – an element that comes from light. The three primary colours are red, yellow, and blue; mixing them gives secondary colours (studied further in Week 8).

4. Texture – the way a surface feels or looks like it would feel. Real (tactile) texture is the actual feel of a surface, such as rough sandpaper or smooth silk. Visual (implied) texture only looks rough or furry on a flat drawing.

5. Space – the area around, between, above, below, or inside objects. Positive space is taken up by the main object; negative space is the empty area around it.

6. Form – similar to shape, but three-dimensional (length, width and height). A circle becomes a sphere; a square becomes a cube. Artists use shading and shadow to make flat shapes look like solid forms.

Identifying Elements in Drawings

When we look at any drawing or painting, we can identify the elements used. For example, a drawing of a tree uses curved and vertical lines, organic shapes (leaves), the colour green, visual texture (bark lines), and both positive (tree) and negative (sky) space.

Creating Art Using Different Elements

When you make a drawing, think about which elements you will use: what lines will you draw? What shapes will appear? What colours will you use? What textures can you show? A good artwork uses several elements together to make it interesting and beautiful.

Lesson presentation

Introduction (Step 1): The teacher holds up a simple drawing and asks pupils to say what they see – shapes, colours, lines. The teacher explains that all these things have names and are called elements of art, then introduces the lesson topic.

Explanation (Step 2): The teacher uses the chart and flash cards to explain each of the six elements one by one, giving real examples from the classroom and from the materials brought in (rough sandpaper for texture, drawn shapes for form). The teacher shows how a circle can look like a sphere with shading.

Pupil participation (Step 3): Pupils feel the textured materials and describe them (rough, smooth, bumpy), identify lines in a given artwork from the chart, sort shape cards into geometric and organic groups, and draw a simple composition that uses at least three different elements.

Evaluation and conclusion (Step 4): The teacher asks oral questions on the six elements, corrects wrong answers, summarizes each element on the board, and gives the assignment.

Lesson evaluation

1. The basic building blocks that artists use to create artwork are called ____

a. elements of art   b. rules of drama   c. steps of music   d. parts of a story

2. A line that goes straight up and down is called a ____ line

a. vertical   b. horizontal   c. diagonal   d. curved

3. A shape that has regular, exact sides such as a circle or square is called a ____ shape

a. geometric   b. organic   c. free-form   d. natural

4. The three main (primary) colours are red, yellow, and ____

a. blue   b. green   c. orange   d. purple

5. The way a surface feels or looks like it would feel is called ____

a. texture   b. space   c. form   d. line

6. The empty area surrounding the main subject in a drawing is called ____ space

a. negative   b. positive   c. real   d. large

7. A shape that is three-dimensional (has length, width, and height) is called a ____

a. form   b. line   c. texture   d. pattern

8. A circle becomes a ____ when it is shown as a three-dimensional form

a. sphere   b. cube   c. cylinder   d. cone

Theory

1. List the six elements of art and write one sentence explaining each one.
2. Explain the difference between a shape and a form. Give one example of each.
3. Look at any drawing in your textbook. Write down three art elements you can identify in it.

Assignment

• Drawing: Draw a simple scene (e.g., a house and a tree) and use at least four of the six art elements. Write the name of each element you used at the side of your drawing.
• Written: Write the two types of texture in art and give two examples of real (tactile) texture you can find at home.
• Oral/Written: Describe a line you drew today using its direction and say what feeling it creates.

WEEK 2: Shading

Class: Primary 4   |   Subject: Cultural and Creative Arts   |   Duration: 40 minutes

Topic: Shading   |   Sub-topic: Meaning of Shading, Tools for Shading, Hatching, Cross-hatching and Smudging, Shading Simple Objects

Instructional material

• Pencils of different grades (HB, 2B, 4B) and crayons
• Drawing paper and blending stumps or tissue for smudging
• A real apple, cup, and leaf (or pictures of these objects)
• Chart showing examples of hatching, cross-hatching, and smudging
• Charcoal sticks for demonstration

Learning objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:

• Explain the meaning of shading
• Identify tools used for shading
• Demonstrate hatching, cross-hatching, and smudging techniques
• Apply shading techniques to simple drawings of an apple, a cup, and a leaf

Entry behaviour / prior knowledge

In Week 1, pupils learnt about the element called form and that artists use shading to make flat shapes look three-dimensional. Pupils can draw simple shapes such as circles, ovals, and rectangles, and they know that objects look lighter where light falls on them and darker where there is shadow.

Content

What is Shading?

Shading is the technique of adding dark and light areas to a drawing to make it look solid, rounded, and three-dimensional. Without shading, a drawing of a ball would look like a flat circle. With shading, the ball looks round and real because one side appears lighter (where light falls on it) and the other side appears darker (the shadow side). Shading makes drawings come to life.

Tools for Shading

• Pencils: the most common shading tool. Softer pencils (B, 2B, 4B, 6B) give darker, richer shading. Harder pencils (H, 2H) give lighter, finer lines. An HB pencil sits in the middle and is good for general use
• Crayons: used for shading in colour. Pressing harder gives darker colour; pressing lightly gives a pale, soft shade
• Charcoal: a black powdery drawing material made from burnt wood. It gives very dark, bold shading and is easy to smudge and blend
• Blending stump or tissue: used to rub and blend the shading so that it appears smooth without obvious lines

Techniques of Shading

1. Hatching – shading using many parallel (side-by-side) lines drawn close together. The closer and thicker the lines, the darker the area appears. When lines are spread apart, the area looks lighter. Hatching is a clean, neat technique used in many drawings and illustrations.

2. Cross-Hatching – done by drawing one set of hatching lines, then drawing another set of lines crossing over them at an angle (usually at 90 degrees), creating a grid of lines. The more layers of crossing lines you add, the darker and richer the shading becomes. Cross-hatching creates very deep shadows and gives an artwork a textured, detailed appearance.

3. Smudging (Blending) – marks made with a pencil, crayon, or charcoal are rubbed gently with a finger, tissue, or blending stump to spread the material and create a smooth, gradual change from dark to light. Smudging gives soft, smooth shading without visible lines and is excellent for shading curved surfaces like a face or a round fruit.

Understanding Light and Shadow in Shading

To shade correctly, the artist must decide where the light is coming from. The side of an object closest to the light source is the lightest. The opposite side is the darkest. Between the two, there is a middle tone (grey). The surface beneath the object casts a shadow called a cast shadow. Showing all three tones (light, middle, dark) makes a drawing look very realistic.

Shading Simple Drawings

• Apple: draw an oval/circle shape. Decide the light is coming from the left. Leave the top-left side very light. Apply medium tone in the middle. Shade the right side and bottom darkly. Add a shadow under the apple
• Cup: draw a cylinder shape. The side nearest the light is pale. The side curving away from the light is shaded darkly, gradating smoothly in the middle
• Leaf: draw the leaf outline with a central midrib. Shade the areas between the veins using hatching, making one side slightly darker to show the leaf curving

Lesson presentation

Introduction (Step 1): The teacher holds up a drawing of a circle and a shaded sphere (ball) side by side and asks pupils which one looks more real and why. Pupils notice the shaded one looks round. The teacher explains that shading is what makes the difference and introduces the lesson.

Explanation (Step 2): The teacher demonstrates each shading technique on the board: hatching, cross-hatching, and smudging. The teacher shows the real apple and cup and points out where the light falls and where the shadow is, then demonstrates shading the apple outline step by step.

Pupil participation (Step 3): Pupils practise hatching lines in a small box, then cross-hatching in another box, then smudge pencil marks with their finger. They then shade a pre-drawn circle to make it look like a sphere and shade the outline of an apple provided by the teacher.

Evaluation and conclusion (Step 4): The teacher examines pupils’ shading exercises, gives individual corrections, summarizes the three techniques on the board, and gives the assignment.

Lesson evaluation

1. Adding dark and light areas to a drawing to make it look solid and three-dimensional is called ____

a. shading   b. painting   c. printing   d. carving

2. A soft pencil labelled 4B will give ____ shading than an HB pencil

a. darker   b. lighter   c. thinner   d. smaller

3. Shading made with many parallel lines drawn close together is called ____

a. hatching   b. smudging   c. blending   d. printing

4. Shading made by drawing lines in two directions crossing over each other is called ____

a. cross-hatching   b. hatching   c. smudging   d. stippling

5. Rubbing pencil or charcoal marks gently with a finger to make smooth shading is called ____

a. smudging   b. hatching   c. cross-hatching   d. stamping

6. The side of an object closest to the light source appears ____

a. lightest   b. darkest   c. greenest   d. roughest

7. A drawing material made from burnt wood that gives very dark bold shading is ____

a. charcoal   b. a rubber   c. a ruler   d. a compass

8. To shade an apple so it looks round, we make one side light and the other side ____

a. dark   b. red   c. green   d. small

Theory

1. Explain the meaning of shading and state why artists use it.
2. Describe the three shading techniques: hatching, cross-hatching, and smudging. How is each one done?
3. A light source is on the left side of a cup. Describe how you would shade the cup: which side is light and which side is dark?

Assignment

• Drawing: Draw an apple, a cup, and a leaf. Shade each one using any of the three shading techniques you learnt. Mark the light source with an arrow in each drawing.
• Written: Write the names of three tools used for shading and explain one advantage of each.
• Oral/Written: Draw a circle at home. Try shading it with a pencil to make it look like a ball. Describe in two sentences what you did.

Weeks 3 to 13 (Locked)

The remaining weeks are in the full lesson note. Each one has objectives, content, the four-step lesson presentation, evaluation questions, theory questions and an assignment.

What You Get

• Thirteen weeks of lesson notes, from the elements of art and shading to carving, colour mixing and collage
• Learning objectives, instructional materials and entry behaviour for every week
• Clear content in simple English that suits Primary 4 pupils
• A four-step lesson presentation: introduction, explanation, pupil participation, evaluation
• Evaluation questions, theory questions and an assignment each week
• An editable Word file, so you can add your school name and change any part

Price and How to Order

The full Primary 4 Cultural and Creative Arts second term lesson note costs ₦1,000. After payment, we send your file on WhatsApp.

Related Lesson Notes

Also teaching Primary 4 this term? These lesson notes follow the same layout:

• Primary 4 Basic Science and Technology second term lesson note
• Primary 4 Basic Digital Literacy second term lesson note
• Primary 4 Mathematics first term lesson note
• Primary 4 Social and Citizenship Studies second term lesson note
• Primary 4 Physical and Health Education second term lesson note
• Primary 4 Pre-Vocational Studies second term lesson note

Frequently Asked Questions

Which class and term is this lesson note for?

It is for Primary 4, second term, and it follows the NERDC curriculum.

What format do I receive?

You receive an editable Word file. You can print it or change it to suit your school.

Can I read a sample before I buy?

Yes. Weeks 1 and 2 are free on this page, so you can check the quality first.

How long does delivery take?

We send the file on WhatsApp soon after your payment is confirmed.

Do I need special art materials for every lesson?

No. Most weeks use things already in the classroom or at home, such as pencils, crayons, paper, soap, and magazines. The note tells you exactly what to bring for each week.