If you’ve followed me for any amount of time then you know how much I advocate for arts integration. One art project that I’ve been most excited to try is using symmetry to create cheerful artwork, and in this case to celebrate student names. That’s why I was super excited to partner with a 4th-grade math teacher to help her plan this art project for her students.

How to Use Symmetry to Create Cheerful Artwork Celebrating Student Names

This project isn’t particularly new in the art teacher world, but I can’t figure out who originally came up with this. So I don't want to claim to be the creator of it. You can find it all over Teachers Pay Teachers, but we tried this ubiquitous lesson, and here's how it went!

Setting Up the Project with the Teacher

I told the teacher to share works of art that show radial symmetry with her students for analysis before asking them to start this project. By looking at these initial artworks, they would be better able to understand why they were doing all that folding and tracing. It also helped them focus their attention better as they worked.

It also helped them better understand the concept of radial symmetry. I used the Art Class Curator's examples of radial symmetry in art, which you can find by going to their homepage and searching for radial symmetry which will bring up an article about balance.

Also, using the student’s names as the focal point of the symmetry project helped make it more personal, creative, and cheerful.

Directions

First, you’ll need two pieces of typing paper to stack on top of one another. Make sure they are perfectly aligned. Then, take the top left corner and bring it down to align with the bottom edge of the papers. The goal is to make a square piece of paper.

Cut off the excess rectangular piece of paper and discard it. Keep the remaining papers folded in a large triangular shape. Now fold the large triangle to make a smaller triangle. When you open the papers, you should have a square divided into 4 triangles on 2 different papers. Put the better square aside.

Take the not-so-good square and cut one of the triangles out. Keep the 3/4 square as you may need it later. Have the students write their names in bubble or block letters inside the entire length of the triangle. Make the letters of their names are touching the top AND bottom of the triangle.

Trace over the name with a Sharpie. Flip the triangle over and trace with a Sharpie again. Use washi tape to tape the triangle to the back of the other square paper. Be careful to align the triangle so that the letters are reflected along the line of symmetry.

Flip to the front and start tracing with a pencil, and repeat the previous step until all triangles are filled. Trace the pencil lines with a black Sharpie, then use an eraser to erase the pencil marks.

After deciding on colors to use, apply the color scheme one letter at a time to the final product. Lastly, color the background.

Final Thoughts

This is a great project to try if you are a math teacher and are looking for ways to teach the concept of symmetry in a creative way. Students will still be learning about symmetry while creating artwork that can later be displayed.

I’m Amanda, and I align standards and integrate content to help teachers meet the needs of the Whole Child in art class! I have yet to find a standard that I couldn’t teach through art, and I want to share it all with you.

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Follow along on my Instagram page for more tips on teaching the Whole Child in the art room!

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