Materials and goal
Set out plain paper, pencils and crayons or colored pencils. By the end, students can point to a unit that repeats in their design and describe it to a partner. This lesson works for Thanksgiving or a fall art center.
Model a repeating unit · 4 minutes
Draw a dot, a stripe, and a dot. Ask what comes next. Add a stripe and circle the first dot and stripe together. That pair is the repeating unit. Try another example with two dots and one stripe: dot, dot, stripe, dot, dot, stripe. Ask students to predict the next three marks.
Design two feathers · 10 minutes
Draw a simple turkey body with two wide feather shapes behind it. On the first feather, repeat a dot and a stripe at least three times. On the second feather, invent a different unit using dots, stripes, waves or zigzags. Repeat that unit at least three times. Color the two feathers so a partner can tell them apart.
Describe it to a partner · 4 minutes
Point to one feather and say, “On the left feather, I used dots and stripes. My pattern repeats a dot and a stripe.” Ask your partner to point to one full repeat. Switch roles. For English learners, model and gesture for left, right and repeats before asking them to speak. Offer the frames “I used ___ and ___” and “My pattern repeats ___.”
Check and extend · 2 minutes
Ask each student to circle one repeating unit on each feather. Look for a unit repeated in the same order at least three times. Early finishers can add a third feather with a three-mark unit and ask a partner to predict what comes next. Students who prefer writing can describe a feather in two sentences.