Middle School Art Scope and Sequence for the Whole Year
For art teachers in grades 6–8 who need to map a full year, Art Complete – Middle School supplies 70+ resources across visual literacy, art practice, and art, culture and meaning. It gives you the pieces for a year that alternates looking at art with making it. You arrange the sequence around your own studio, schedule and supply closet.
View the art curriculum →Art Complete – Middle School is a no-prep art curriculum for grades 6–8 with 70+ resources, from $149.90. It covers visual literacy and analysis (elements of art, principles of design, color, composition, symbolism), art practice (drawing, painting, mixed media, design projects) and art, culture and meaning. The units are carefully sequenced but do not come as a dated calendar, so you set the pace across your 36 or so weeks.
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 makes an art year map hard to pin down
An art scope and sequence is shaped by things a reading teacher never thinks about. Paint takes setup and cleanup days. Clay or printmaking may only happen when the kiln or the press is free. A drawing unit that looks like two weeks on paper takes three because half the class needs another session to finish. The bigger planning issue is balance. A year of nothing but projects gives you nice hallway displays and students who cannot explain why a composition works. A year heavy on analysis turns the art room into a lecture. Middle schoolers need both, and the analysis has to feed the making: after studying contrast and emphasis in a set of artworks, they should try those same moves in their own sketchbooks that week. Then there is order. Elements of art and principles of design are the vocabulary for everything else, so they belong early. Color theory before a painting unit saves you from muddy brown palettes. The sketch-to-finished-artwork process needs to be taught once, deliberately, before you can expect students to run it on their own in spring.
Why it fits
How the content supports a year-long sequence
The curriculum is built around the back-and-forth between looking and making that a year map needs.
- Elements of art and principles of design give you a clear starting block for vocabulary in the first weeks.
- Color, composition and symbolism lessons line up directly before the painting and mixed media projects they inform.
- Sketch-to-finished-artwork tasks teach a process students can repeat in later projects with less guidance.
- Artworks from diverse cultures and periods let each quarter pair a studio focus with a new visual tradition.
- Analysis worksheets with answer keys fill the days when paint is drying or materials are not ready.
- Differentiated worksheets help when a class mixes students who draw constantly with students who freeze at a blank page.
Getting started
A possible layout for about 36 weeks
Treat this as one teacher's suggestion. The product does not include a dated calendar, and your studio schedule should drive the final version.
- Weeks 1–5: elements and principlesOpen with line, shape, value, color and texture, then balance, contrast and emphasis. Short analysis tasks and quick sketchbook exercises set the vocabulary you will use in every critique after this.
- Weeks 6–13: drawing, sketch to finishTeach the full process once with a drawing project: thumbnails, a refined sketch, a finished piece. Mix in visual storytelling so students learn that an image can carry a narrative.
- Weeks 14–21: color and paintingColor theory first, then painting. Pair the studio work with artworks from different periods so students see how other artists used the color choices they are practicing.
- Weeks 22–29: mixed media and designMove into mixed media and design projects, where experimentation with materials and techniques matters more than polish. Symbolism and visual culture fit well alongside this block.
- Weeks 30–36: culture, meaning, portfolioClose with art, culture and meaning, and let students choose a technique for a final piece. Use the last days for reflection, written analysis and assembling a portfolio of the year.
Which version
Which version fits a year plan
The standard version ($149.90) holds all 70+ resources and is enough to build the year. For $189.90 you get the same set plus Teach-Life-Balance, a separate course for teachers with a planner, guides and templates. It contains no extra art lessons. It is useful if your own planning time is the bottleneck, and skippable if it is not. If you also teach a high school section, Art Complete – High School follows the same structure, and the code TEACHMORE15 takes 15% off when you buy two or more Complete Curriculum packages.
Honest limits
What you still supply
Art supplies are not included: paper, paint, mixed media materials and any kiln or press time come from your room. There is no ready-made weekly calendar, so the pacing above is a suggestion you adjust to your studio days. Images of artworks are part of the materials, but for extra examples on screen you use your own sources and devices. Check the content against your state or district visual arts requirements. If other art teachers in your building want to use it, send Teach Lessons a short note first. Not a fit? Within 7 days you can exchange it for store credit of equal value.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Does this match the National Core Arts Standards?
The curriculum is written for U.S. middle school art classrooms and covers making, analyzing and connecting art to culture. It is not endorsed, certified or officially aligned to the National Core Arts Standards or any state standards. When you build your year map, place it next to your district's visual arts expectations and mark where you want to add or cut.
How much of the year is hands-on art making?
That depends on how you sequence it. The art practice strand covers drawing, painting, mixed media and design projects, and the analysis strand gives students the vocabulary to talk about their work. Many art teachers put most class time into studio work and use analysis tasks as openers, critique days or plans for when materials are not ready.
Can I teach grades 6, 7 and 8 from the same map?
Yes, with adjustments. Keep the same order of blocks, then raise expectations by grade: sixth graders focus on the elements and guided projects, eighth graders work more independently through sketch to finished artwork and write more in their analysis. The differentiated worksheets help you set those levels.
What if I only have students for a semester or a quarter?
Use units individually. For a quarter, a sensible path is elements and principles, one drawing project taught through the full sketch-to-finish process, and one short analysis of artworks from another culture. For a semester, add color and painting. The units do not depend on being taught as one complete year.
Are the supporting art bundles worth adding?
Only if you want more studio projects. The Complete Art Curriculum Bundle – 14 Hands-On Art Studios, Grades 5–9 ($129.99) and the BUNDLE XXL Complete Art Curriculum Grades 5–9 ($49.90) are separate products that can appear next to this one. Look at what each lists before deciding, since the core curriculum already fills a year.
Can I use it on substitute days?
Yes. The analysis and visual literacy worksheets come with answer keys and need no art materials, which makes them practical to leave for a substitute. Many teachers plan one or two of these into each quarter so the studio sequence picks up cleanly when they return.
Map your art year with the material already in hand
The product page lists everything included in Art Complete – Middle School, so you can check it against your plan.
View the art curriculum →