Middle School Art Curriculum When Your School Gives You None
Art Complete – Middle School is for the grades 6–8 art teacher who got a classroom, a supply closet and a schedule, but no written curriculum. It gives you 70+ resources that pair art analysis with studio practice: elements of art and principles of design, drawing, painting, mixed media and design projects, with slides, differentiated worksheets and answer keys.
See the art curriculum →Art Complete – Middle School is a no-prep art curriculum for grades 6–8, priced from $149.90 for 70+ resources. It is built for a teacher with no school-provided art curriculum. It covers visual literacy and art analysis across cultures and periods, the elements of art and principles of design, composition, color and symbolism, and studio work in drawing, painting, mixed media and design, from sketch to finished artwork.
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
What goes wrong when middle school art has no plan
Without a curriculum, middle school art drifts toward a string of projects. A pumpkin drawing in October, a snowflake in December, a self-portrait when you run out of ideas. Each one fills a week, and none of them teaches students how to see. By spring, an eighth grader can follow instructions for a craft but cannot explain why a composition feels balanced or what a color choice communicates. You also face the materials question every week. Projects have to match what is in the closet, and when supplies are thin, it is tempting to drop studio work entirely and show slideshows. That loses the students who come to art because they want to make things. Then there is grading. Art grades get questioned more than most. Without criteria tied to something like line, shape, value, contrast or emphasis, a grade looks like a judgment of talent, and parents notice. A workable year needs both halves: students looking closely at artworks from different cultures and periods and talking about them in real vocabulary, and students moving from sketch to finished piece using the same ideas in their own work.
Why it fits
How the curriculum gives the year a backbone
The product connects looking at art with making it, which is what a project-by-project year usually misses.
- Elements of art and principles of design give every project shared vocabulary and grading criteria.
- Artworks from diverse cultures and periods let students analyze before they make their own work.
- Drawing, painting, mixed media and design projects cover the main studio areas across the year.
- Sketch-to-finished-artwork process teaches planning and revision instead of one-session crafts.
- Symbolism and visual storytelling units help students explain meaning in their own pieces.
- Differentiated worksheets support students who say they cannot draw and those who draw constantly.
Getting started
Your first two weeks with it
One way to get structure in place quickly. The timing is a suggestion; the product does not include a calendar.
- Check the closet against the unitsGo through the studio units and note which drawing, painting and mixed-media projects your current supplies support. Start with those, and list what you would need for the rest.
- Teach the elements firstOpen the year with visual literacy work on the elements of art and principles of design. Students then have the words to describe artworks and their own pieces for the rest of the year.
- Analyze one artwork per projectBefore each studio project, run a short analysis of an artwork from the curriculum that uses the same idea, such as color or composition. Making then grows out of looking.
- Grade with design vocabularyBuild each project rubric around two or three elements or principles. A grade tied to contrast, balance or emphasis is easier to explain to students and families than a talent score.
- Separate grades 6, 7 and 8Give grade 6 the basics of line, shape and color, grade 7 more composition and mixed media, and grade 8 symbolism and visual storytelling with more independent choices.
Which version
Which version makes sense
There are two versions. The $149.90 version gives you all 70+ curriculum resources, which is what a teacher without a curriculum needs most. The $189.90 version adds Teach-Life-Balance, a digital course with a planner, guides and templates to manage workload. Art teachers often carry displays, shows and supply ordering on top of teaching, so it can help, but it contains no art content. The Complete Art Curriculum Bundle with 14 Hands-On Art Studios is a separate studio-focused option shown on this page if you want more project material.
Honest limits
What it does not cover
Art supplies are not included, and the projects depend on what your room has. To show artworks large for class discussion, you need your own projector or devices. Check the units against your state or district visual arts requirements before you publish a course outline. If other art teachers in the building want to use it, send Teach Lessons a short message first. If it does not suit your classroom, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value; there is no cash return.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Does it meet the visual arts standards in my state?
It is written for U.S. middle school classrooms and covers analysis, studio practice and art in culture, but it is not endorsed, adopted or officially matched to any state standards or the National Core Arts Standards. If you need to document alignment, compare the units with your state's visual arts standards yourself and note where you add material.
My supply budget is small. Will the projects still work?
Drawing and design projects need little beyond paper and pencils, so they are a safe starting point. Painting and mixed-media work depends on what you have. Since units can be used individually, you can choose studio projects that match your closet and lean more on analysis activities when supplies run low.
Can I use it with students who think they cannot draw?
Yes. The analysis units do not depend on drawing skill, and the studio work follows a sketch-to-finished-artwork process with room for experimentation. Differentiated worksheets help you set a reachable task for hesitant students without slowing down the ones who already draw well. Early wins in analysis often make the studio work less intimidating.
How do I keep three grade levels from doing the same projects?
Use the content areas as layers. Grade 6 can focus on elements of art and basic drawing, grade 7 on principles of design, composition and mixed media, and grade 8 on symbolism, visual storytelling and art, culture and meaning. The same topic can return at a deeper level instead of repeating.
Is it all studio work or all art history?
Neither. It combines visual literacy and art analysis with hands-on practice in drawing, painting, mixed media and design, plus a strand on art, culture and meaning. That balance is what keeps a year from becoming either a lecture course or a list of crafts, and it gives quieter students more than one way to succeed.
What exactly is included?
The product page lists exactly what is included, so check it before buying. In general you get worksheets, activities, slides and answer keys for print or digital use, with differentiated worksheets for mixed-ability groups. Access is instant after purchase through an email link and your customer account.
Give your art room a year-long plan
Open the product page, read the full list of contents, and see whether it matches your room and your students.
See the art curriculum →