Unit 1 - Year 3 Lessons

Overview

Students will complete Unit 1 Year 3 activities using digital art workflows.

Target skills:

• Visual Communication
• Digital Illustration
• Creative Problem Solving

Tools:

• Pixilart

Outputs:

• Student-created digital artifact(s) saved to class folder.

Week 1 - Book Cover Copy

Lesson 1 - If the Dinosaurs Came Back

Goal: Recreate the cover layout focusing on foreground/background layering (dinosaurs + buildings).

1. Start a new canvas in Pixilart — 100 × 100 px
   

2. Study the reference
   

• Identify big shapes first (dinosaur silhouette, building blocks).
• Keep elements centered and readable at small size.

3. Block in order

• Dinosaurs first (major forms and color blocks).
• Buildings next, some in front and some behind to suggest depth.

4. Export & Save

• Download > PNG
• Save to Google Drive > Students > NAME > bookcover.png

Lesson 2 - New Book Cover

• Repeat Lesson 1 with a different, simple school-library book cover.
• Same canvas: 100 × 100 px.
• Save as bookcover2.png to the same Drive folder.

Week 2 - Famous Art Copy

Lesson 1 - The Starry Night or Similar

Goal: Recreate a famous painting at low resolution, focusing on color fields and iconic shapes.

1. New canvas > choose an appropriate size (e.g., 128 × 128 px).
   

2. Pick a target (examples below) and analyze shapes before details.
   

3. Block > Refine

• Lay down large color areas first (sky, land, cypress).
• Add strokes/texture last to hint at the original style.

4. Export & Save

• Download > PNG > nightsky.png (or appropriate name).
• Save to Google Drive > Students > NAME.

Lesson 2 - Alternate Masterwork

• Choose another famous painting and repeat the process.

• Use the same canvas dialog as above.
  

• Example references provided:
  
  
  
  
  

• Export and save as painting.png.