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Year 1

Expressive mark-making

I can explore a range of different marks to tell a story and express emotions

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 1

Expressive mark-making

I can explore a range of different marks to tell a story and express emotions

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Know that marks can tell a story or trace a journey
  2. Know that we can use our marks to explain a feeling or emotion
  3. Know how to recognise, identify and explore the possibilities of a range of drawing tools and drawing media

Keywords

  • Drawing - using tools and media to create marks on a surface

  • Artist - a person who makes artwork

  • Emotions - the feelings we have inside such as happy, excited, angry, sad or hungry

Common misconception

Emotions can be shown through images but not through mark-making.

Remind children that different styles of marks can show the emotions of the artist, such as rounded lines showing that an artist might be feeling happy and calm. The artist does not need to create an image to express an emotion.


To help you plan your year 1 art and design lesson on: Expressive mark-making, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Children might want to use a range of drawing surfaces, such as large backing paper spread over tables, sketchbook paper or sticky notes to easily move around the room with.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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4 Questions

Q1.
Match the keyword to its description:
Correct Answer:drawing,using tools and media to create marks on a surface
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using tools and media to create marks on a surface

Correct Answer:artist ,a person who makes artwork
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a person who makes artwork

Correct Answer:emotions,the feelings we have inside such as happy, excited, angry or hungry
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the feelings we have inside such as happy, excited, angry or hungry

Q2.
True or false? Emotions can’t be shown through mark-making.
True
Correct answer: False
Q3.
Which of the following tools can be used to draw with?
Correct answer: pencil
chair
Correct answer: pen
Q4.
Materials used to create artwork are called...
shapes
Correct answer: media
lines

4 Questions

Q1.
An artist is __________:
A person who talks about artwork
A person who looks at artwork
Correct answer: A person who makes artwork
Q2.
True or false? Mark-making can show emotions or tell a story.
Correct answer: True
False
Q3.
Which word best describes the action used to make these marks?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: going in circles
going in a straight line
Correct answer: jumping up and down
Q4.
Which marks best fit the description ‘angry’?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz