Slide outline for Lesson 4.7. Day 1 has twelve slides; Day 2 has eight. [Sal: photos of the built rooms from Day 2 become review slides for the Design Vocabulary Check; take them before the tape comes off.]
Day 1
Principles of Design
- Lesson 4.7, Day 1
- Yesterday: the ingredients (eight elements). Today: the recipe (six principles).
- Tomorrow: the Focal Point Game
Teacher notes
Image: a room that "feels right," no labels.
Do now
- Picture a room where every piece of furniture is pushed against one wall and the other side is empty
- Two words for how it would feel to stand in it
- What would you move first?
- Two minutes
Teacher notes
Collect the words on the board. That is a room with no balance. Hook the game for tomorrow.
Balance
- Visual weight spread so no side feels heavier
- Symmetrical: matching pairs, mirrored (two lamps, two chairs)
- Asymmetrical: different things, equal weight (a tall plant on one side, a wide low chest on the other)
Teacher notes
Image: two rooms side by side, one mirrored, one balanced with different pieces.
Under the title: denge / equilÃbrio / equilibrio. Same pattern on every principle slide.
Visual weight
- Heavy to the eye: dark, big, rough, bold
- Light to the eye: pale, small, smooth, plain
- A dark blue couch outweighs a pale yellow one of the same size
Teacher notes
Image: a dark leather recliner in one corner and three small light chairs in the other; the room tips.
This is the sentence students write in the sort: what is heavy, what evens it out.
Focal point and emphasis
- The one thing your eye lands on first
- A fireplace, a big window, a painting, a bold couch
- A room with two stars has none
Teacher notes
Image: a living room where the eye goes straight to a fireplace with a painting over it.
Rhythm
- Repeat something so the eye moves
- Three frames evenly spaced; a color that shows up three times; the same shape on a rug, a pillow, a lamp
Teacher notes
Image: a wall with three same-size frames evenly spaced over a couch, and a blue that repeats in a pillow and a vase.
Proportion and scale
- Size compared to the other things (proportion) and to the room (scale)
- A tiny lamp beside a huge couch; a king bed in a room barely bigger than the bed
- Too big is the common mistake
Teacher notes
Image: a king bed filling a small room so the door barely opens.
Unity and contrast
- Unity (harmony): everything looks like it belongs together, a shared color family or style
- Contrast: one different thing on purpose, so the rest stands out (a dark shelf on a light wall)
- Too much unity is boring. Too much contrast is a fight.
Teacher notes
Image: a cream room with one black shelf.
The Principles Sort
- Teams of three, eight layouts on the handout, Part 2
- For each: the principle it shows best; the balance type if it is balance; one sentence on the visual weight
- Ten minutes
Teacher notes
Circulate. Students who need the quiz retake review meet you at the side table for the second five minutes.
Build the checklist
- 1. Is there one clear focal point?
- 2. Does the room balance? Which kind?
- 3. Is anything repeated so the eye moves?
- 4. Is every piece the right size for the room and for each other?
- 5. Does it look like one room, not five?
- 6. Is there one thing that stands out on purpose?
Teacher notes
Students copy the six into Part 4 and add a seventh of their own. This is the judging sheet tomorrow.
Argue it
- Layout 2: the dark sectional and the small light chair. Balanced or not?
- Layout 8: the king bed. Which principle is the problem?
Teacher notes
The sectional is asymmetrical only if the chair side gets more weight. The king bed is scale, not balance.
Exit card
- 3 principles you can define
- 2 kinds of balance with an example each
- 1 principle you want to see again tomorrow
Day 2
The Focal Point Game
- Lesson 4.7, Day 2
- A room, a pile of furniture, a focal point, ten minutes
- The whole class judges with the six questions
Teacher notes
Image: an envelope, a room outline on a grid, and a scattering of furniture cards.
Do now
- Name the two kinds of balance. Which one is matching pairs?
- What is the focal point of this classroom? Why does your eye go there?
- Two minutes
Teacher notes
One-minute debrief. This is the Objective 1 check.
Rules
- The focal point goes where the card says
- Every card is used, or set aside with a written reason
- The door has to open; a person has to walk from the door to the window without climbing
- Ten minutes. Tape at eight. Hands off at ten.
Teacher notes
Define, brainstorm, choose, test. Say the four words.
Build
- Timer: 10:00
- Plan for one minute before you touch a card
- Try three layouts before you tape
- Walk the path with your finger
Teacher notes
Answer no questions about whether a layout is good. Call "tape" at eight, "hands off" at ten.
Gallery
- Carry your room to the gallery. Label it with the focal point and your team number.
- Rotate to the next two rooms, five minutes each
- Score all six questions yes or no
- One specific fix: "Move the ___ to ___ so that ___"
Teacher notes
Rotate on the reset cue.
Debrief
- Read the two critiques your room got
- Which fix would you take? Which would you argue with?
- Which room was balanced and still boring? Which had a focal point and was still a mess?
Teacher notes
Three teams report. Hand vote on the two essential questions.
Exit card
- The principle your room did best
- The principle your room did worst
- The one fix you would make with two more minutes
Tomorrow
- Lesson 4.8: Color in the Home
- We mix paint out of frosting. It is design, not food.
- If you have a food allergy of any kind, tell me today, not tomorrow.
Teacher notes
This is the allergy check. Frosting and gel touch hands; no one eats anything. The tempera alternative exists for anyone who needs it.