All the state standards in a week
I wanted to get students working right away. I had each class paint yellow then red (on paper attached to the wall) and then the next class yellow and red, till the work was balanced and rhythmic. They were given instructions not to destroy images, rather embellish what was painted before them. Symbols were discouraged and balance (color, line, shape and texture) was enforced, by rotating each group of students every five minutes or so.
Then when the work was balanced, we applied it to the wall, cutting shapes out of the paper to emphasize the positive and negative spaces.
Then we realized that the work needed something else. That is when we made the blue and green paintings and cut it into shapes that went on the red and yellow. This illustrated contrast, form, shape, balance, and more. In a one week period, 120 students hit every California state standard in visual art. Then we started to really make art.
The most important thing to come away from this is if you make anything it is still better than studying standards.