Fractured circles

Robert Delaunay, 1912-1913,
Premier Disque
Private collection

Another art lesson I enjoy teaching on relief days is called Fractured Circles. Well, that's my name for my version of this activity because it reminds me of a series of quilts my mother made with the same name. It's based very loosely on a number of paintings by Robert Delauney, an artist who helped introduce colour into Cubism.

Fractured circles is another simple activity that can be finished in one session with loads of potential for expansion. The finished products look great on their own but even better displayed as a group.

The premise is quite simple: the children each create an artwork of concentric circles which are then cut into quarters and swapped with other children. The resulting artworks are all connected but also fractured. The class I was teaching the day we created the art in the photos had a broad range of fine motor development and so there was a range of support given in that regard. The concept of the patterns continuing around the whole circle also required a LOT of discussion.

I've created templates that I'm happy to share (just leave a comment and I'll email it to you - I'm still trying to learn how to link to a document... tips are also most welcome).

This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students

Standard 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities

Standard 2.1 Content & teaching strategies of the teaching area 

Standard 3.5 Use effective classroom communication

Standard 4.1 Support student participation