Middle School Art Curriculum for Long-Term Subs and Leave Cover
Stepping into a middle school art room for someone's medical or parental leave? This grades 6–8 art curriculum gives you 70+ no-prep resources that mix art analysis with hands-on drawing, painting, mixed media and design projects. Lessons are sequenced, so you can run studio days and looking-and-talking days for weeks without inventing projects as you go.
Open the art curriculum →Art Complete – Middle School is a digital grades 6–8 art curriculum with 70+ resources, from $149.90. A long-term sub can teach the elements of art and principles of design, analyze artworks from different cultures and periods, and run drawing, painting, mixed media and design projects from sketch to finished piece. Everything is no-prep and sequenced. Art supplies are not included; you work with what the room already has.
The curriculum
Art Complete – Middle School, Grades 6–8
Start with the full curriculum. The other resources below are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Art Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for Middle School Art
Complete Art Curriculum Bundle | 14 Hands-On Art Studios | Middle School Art | Grades 5–9
BUNDLE XXL: Complete Art Curriculum for Grades 5–9 – Workbook, Projects & Activities
Art Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for High School Art (Grades 9–12)
Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
The real problem
The trouble with inheriting an art room mid-year
An art room on leave is full of half-finished things. There are drying racks of paintings from a project you did not start, portfolios with no labels, and a supply closet organized by someone else's logic. Students will tell you what they were doing, and their versions will not match. A long-term sub has to decide quickly whether to finish that project, close it out, or start something fresh, and then keep three grade levels busy with work that is more than coloring sheets. Supplies are the next constraint. You may find plenty of pencils and tempera but no clay, or a budget that is frozen until the regular teacher returns. Any project you choose has to fit what is actually on the shelves. Then comes grading. Art grades are easy to challenge when they look subjective, and a sub who gives everyone an A for effort leaves a mess for the returning teacher. You need projects with clear steps and criteria, and analysis lessons where students explain composition, color or symbolism in words, so that there is written evidence of learning alongside the artwork.
Why it fits
What the curriculum gives a sub in the art room
These features answer the practical questions of a long art leave: what to teach, with which materials, and how to grade it.
- Lessons on elements of art and principles of design give every grade a shared vocabulary from day one.
- Projects move from sketch to finished artwork, so studio time has clear checkpoints you can grade.
- Drawing, painting, mixed media and design options let you pick projects that match the supply closet.
- Artwork analysis from diverse cultures and periods fills days when the room cannot get messy.
- Visual storytelling and symbolism lessons give students a reason to explain their choices in writing.
- Mixed-ability tasks support students who draw constantly and students who say they cannot draw.
Getting started
A two-week start in someone else's studio
One possible way to settle into the room. Shift the order if a project is already halfway done when you arrive.
- Inventory the room firstSpend your prep period checking supplies and unfinished work before choosing anything. Then filter the curriculum's practice lessons to the drawing, painting or mixed media projects your shelves can support.
- Open with an analysis lessonShow an artwork through the slides and work through composition and color together. It is a calm, low-supply first day that sets expectations and tells you how comfortable each class is with art vocabulary.
- Close out or restart projectsGive unfinished work a short wrap-up deadline, then launch a new curriculum project with your own clear stages. Students know where things stand, and you are no longer grading someone else's assignment.
- Alternate studio and analysis daysRunning studio periods back to back wears out supplies and patience. Mixing in analysis or visual culture lessons keeps the room calmer and gives you written work to grade.
- Grade at the sketch stageScore sketches and plans before final pieces are finished. Early feedback catches students who are stuck, and it gives you grades in the book well before the leave ends.
Which version
Choosing your version for an art leave
The $149.90 version holds all 70+ resources and is the one most subs need. The $189.90 version adds the Teach-Life-Balance course with planners, guides and templates for managing your own time; it does not add art lessons, so pick it only if workload is your main concern. If the absent teacher also had a high school section, Art Complete – High School pairs with this curriculum and TEACHMORE15 gives 15% off the two together. The store also lists the Complete Art Curriculum Bundle – 14 Hands-On Art Studios for extra studio projects.
Honest limits
What the art curriculum leaves to you
No paint, paper, clay or other supplies come with it, and images beyond those in the materials are yours to bring when you want more examples. It does not decide what happens to the absent teacher's unfinished projects or any upcoming art show. Compare it with your state's visual arts requirements and your district's course outline. Using it with other art teachers in the school is fine once you send Teach Lessons a short message first. If it does not suit your assignment, you have 7 days to exchange it for store credit of equal value.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is it aligned to the National Core Arts Standards?
We do not claim alignment, approval or endorsement by the National Core Arts Standards or any state. The curriculum is written for U.S. middle school art and covers visual literacy, art practice and art in culture. Compare the lessons with your state's visual arts requirements before relying on it for the whole leave, and ask the school if they expect specific standards on your plans.
What if the room is short on supplies?
Choose from the drawing and design lessons, which need the least, and lean on analysis and visual culture lessons for the rest of the week. The curriculum covers several media, so you are not tied to one expensive material. It does not supply anything physical, so check the closet before committing to a painting or mixed media project.
Do I need to be an artist to use it?
No, but it helps to try a project yourself before teaching it. The lessons explain techniques and steps, and the analysis materials provide the vocabulary. A teacher with no studio training can run the looking-and-discussing lessons confidently and grow into the hands-on projects over the first couple of weeks.
How do I grade art fairly as a sub?
Grade the process as well as the result. The sketch-to-final structure gives you stages to score, and analysis lessons produce written explanations of composition, color or symbolism. Together those give grades that rest on visible criteria, which is easier to explain to parents and to the teacher who returns.
Can I use it across grades 6, 7 and 8?
Yes. It covers grades 6–8 and is suitable for mixed-ability classrooms, so the same project can be pitched simpler or more demanding. You can run one project across all three grades with different expectations, which saves on prep and on the number of supplies you need to set out.
How fast can I get started?
Immediately. The download link arrives by email after purchase, and the files are also stored in your account under Orders. You can print handouts or project slides for your first class the same day, even if you only learned about the assignment late in the week.
Run the art room with a plan from week one
The product page lists everything in the 70+ resource curriculum.
Open the art curriculum →