If you teach Visual Arts in New South Wales, Claude Monet is one of those artists who almost teaches himself once students start really looking. The trick is turning that natural interest into a structured lesson that sits comfortably within the NSW syllabuses and the way the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) frames practice, the conceptual framework and the frames. This walkthrough gives you a single, ready-to-run lesson for a Stage 5 class, with a warm-up, an I-do/we-do/you-do sequence, guided practice and a plenary exit check. It is built around Claude Monet – Impressionism and the Painting of Light so you can pick it up and go.
Learning objectives and syllabus links
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to explain how Monet used broken colour and visible brushwork to capture changing light, and make a short critical response using the subjective and structural frames. In Stage 4–5 (and Stage 6 for seniors) terms, this targets both artmaking and critical and historical study: students investigate the practice of an artist, the world they responded to, and the audience who first met Impressionism with suspicion. For your programming records, note the outcomes on making informed personal responses and using visual arts terminology accurately. It also builds the Critical and Creative Thinking general capability, which NESA threads through the syllabus.
Warm-up (8 minutes)
Project two Monet paintings of the same subject at different times of day, or two of the Haystacks series, with no captions. Ask a single question: "What time is it in each painting, and how do you know?" Students jot three pieces of visual evidence in their visual diary. This low-stakes entry gets every student noticing colour temperature and light before any content is delivered. Take two or three responses, then reveal that Monet painted the same haystack dozens of times chasing the light — the hook that Impressionism is about the moment, not the object.
Explicit teaching: I-do, we-do, you-do
In the I-do, model a think-aloud in front of one work, say Impression, Sunrise. Narrate your eye: "I notice the water is orange and violet, not blue — Monet is painting the light on the water, not the water itself." Name the technique (broken colour, alla prima) as you go. In the we-do, put a fresh Monet on the board and build a class annotation together, with you scribing student observations and nudging them toward frame-specific language. In the you-do, students annotate a third work independently in their diary. The step-by-step structure in Claude Monet – Impressionism and the Painting of Light maps neatly onto this gradual-release sequence.
- I-do: teacher models observation and vocabulary on one work.
- We-do: whole-class annotation with guided questioning.
- You-do: independent annotation and a one-sentence structural-frame statement.
- Extension: compare Monet's optical mixing with a related painter to deepen analysis.
Guided practice: painting the light
Move students to a short practical task. Working from a simple still life or a window view, they lay down colour using small, unblended strokes and deliberately avoid black — mixing greys and shadows from complementary colours instead. This is where a working knowledge of colour helps enormously; a quick primer from Colour Theory – From Itten to Practical Application gives students the language of warm and cool and complementary pairs before they pick up a brush. Circulate with targeted feedback: "Where is your light coming from? Show me one warm stroke and one cool stroke next to each other." If you want to broaden the lesson into expressive brushwork later in the unit, Vincent van Gogh – Colour and Expression makes an excellent companion study.
Plenary and exit check (7 minutes)
Close with a quick exit ticket: students write one sentence answering "How did Monet make light look like it was moving?" and rate their own confidence from 1 to 3. Collect these as a fast formative snapshot to inform your next lesson and your ongoing NESA assessment records. For a New South Wales class, this also sets up beautifully toward Stage 6 and the HSC, where critical study and a well-kept visual arts process diary carry real weight.
Comments
No comments yet — be the first to share your thoughts!
Leave a comment
Comments are reviewed before being published.
Thanks for your comment!
Your comment is being reviewed and will appear here shortly.