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Art & New Media

Twelfth graders explore how digital and new media — digital illustration, 3D modeling, motion graphics, and interactive art — expand the artist’s toolkit alongside traditional media like paint and clay.

Grade 12Media55 minutes1 class periodArtistic ProcessExplicit teaching4 StandardsNCAS
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Explain new media.
  • ✓Tell traditional from digital.
  • ✓Sort the media.
  • ✓Work across media.
Essential Question

Today’s artists work with pixels and projectors as well as paint and clay. Which media are traditional, and which are new/digital?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

Traditional or New Media?

Project this and sort each into traditional media or new/digital media.

🖥️ Sort each — traditional or new/digital media?Try it
🎨 Traditional Media
💻 New / Digital Media
Tap a medium, then tap a bucket.
The Lesson · Artistic Process (Look · Explore · Create · Share · Reflect)

55 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Look — Pixels and Paint

6 min

Today’s artists work with pixels and projectors as well as paint — which is which?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a digital artwork.
  • Ask what tools made it.
  • Get ready.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Look.
  • Wonder.
  • Get ready.
2

Explore — Art & New Media

13 min

Students explore.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Traditional or New Media?
  • Sort each one.
  • Discuss them.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort.
  • Discuss.
  • Name.
3

Create — Create

15 min

Students create.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Try a digital sketch.
  • Compare to a traditional one.
  • Note the difference.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Digital.
  • Compare.
  • Note it.
4

Share — Share

13 min

Students share.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show your digital work.
  • Explain the tools.
  • Give feedback.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Show it.
  • Explain.
  • Feedback.
5

Reflect — Reflect

6 min

Students respond.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a traditional medium.
  • Name a new medium.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Name one.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the National Core Arts Standards (Visual Arts, HS Advanced).

NCAS
VA:Cr2.1.HSIII

Use new-media tools.

NCAS
VA:Cr2.2.HSIII

Experiment across media.

NCAS
VA:Cn11.1.HSIII

Connect art to technology.

NCAS
VA:Re7.1.HSIII

Perceive media choices.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Media picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “___ is traditional / new media.”
  • Show real tools.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with painting vs. digital.
  • Sort one at a time.
  • Use examples.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Make a digital piece.
  • Explain a new-media tool.
  • Combine media.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 🖥️A tablet/computer
  • 💻Traditional or New Media?
  • 🎨Traditional supplies
  • ✏️Pens
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

new mediadigital and tech-based arttraditional mediapaint, clay, and the likedigital artart made on a computer3D modelingbuilding form in softwaremotion graphicsanimated designinteractive artart the viewer affectsprojectionprojected light artgenerativemade partly by a system
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Is oil painting traditional or new media?
Traditional.
QUESTION 2
Is motion graphics/animation traditional or new media?
New/digital media.
QUESTION 3
What is new media in art?
Digital and technology-based art forms.

Reflect: pixels and paint.

Have students name one traditional and one new-media technique they’d like to combine. A printable new-media sheet is in the Arts library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Art & New MediaFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Art & New MediaQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Art & New MediaPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: 3D modeling, digital art, generative, interactive art, motion graphics, new media, projection, traditional media
  1. art the viewer affects
  2. digital and tech-based art
  3. animated design
  4. building form in software
  5. made partly by a system
  6. projected light art
  7. art made on a computer
  8. paint, clay, and the like

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Is oil painting traditional or new media?
  2. Is motion graphics/animation traditional or new media?
  3. What is new media in art?
Answer key — Part A: 1) interactive art · 2) new media · 3) motion graphics · 4) 3D modeling · 5) generative · 6) projection · 7) digital art · 8) traditional media
Part B: 1) Traditional. 2) New/digital media. 3) Digital and technology-based art forms.