New
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Lesson 1 of 4
  • Year 2

Cutting stories with paper

I can use continuous lines to create a paper sculpture

Lesson 1 of 4
New
New
  • Year 2

Cutting stories with paper

I can use continuous lines to create a paper sculpture

These resources were made for remote use during the pandemic, not classroom teaching.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Choosing favourite words first helps the sculpture speak a personal tale.
  2. Cutting continuous lines can help paper to transform into sculpture, while still holding its story.
  3. A single, unbroken spiral cut turns flat paper into a flowing form.
  4. Slow, careful cutting feels calm and mindful, echoing Korean Hanji craft.
  5. Placing work together can help a paper sculpture to tell a bigger story.

Keywords

  • Words - groups of letters that we use to talk, read, write, and share ideas with others

  • Paper - a thin, flat material we use for drawing, writing or making

  • Continuous line - a line that is drawn without lifting your pencil or pen from the paper

Common misconception

Artists only make artwork with images.

Remind pupils that artists can make artwork with images, but they can also create artwork with words.


To help you plan your year 2 art and design lesson on: Cutting stories with paper, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For this lesson, pupils will require a range of repurposed papers to choose from. This might include newspapers, letters, manuscripts or recycled worksheets.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Pens or pencils, scissors, recycled papers.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
What is special about a continuous line?

It stops and starts many times.
Correct answer: It never stops or breaks.
It is made with lots of colours.
It looks like a circle only.

Q2.
What is a collage?

a painting of a tree
Correct answer: a picture made by sticking things together
a toy you can play with
a kind of story

Q3.
What do we call sometiing that repeats again and again?

pencils
Correct answer: pattern
painting
colouring

Q4.
Match the word to what it means.

Correct Answer:cutting,using scissors to change the shape of paper

using scissors to change the shape of paper

Correct Answer:abstract,art that does not look like real things

art that does not look like real things

Correct Answer:pattern,shapes, lines or colours that repeat

shapes, lines or colours that repeat

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
What is a continuous line?

a line that stops and starts
a line made with dots
Correct answer: a line that goes on without lifting your pencil
a zigzag shape

Q2.
What does Jukhee Kwon do with paper?

She paints on it.
She folds it into animals.
She throws it away.
Correct answer: She cuts it into long lines that look like waterfalls or curtains.

Q3.
What happens when a single, careful spiral is cut into flat paper?

The paper turns into a noisy machine.
Correct answer: The paper becomes a flowing shape.
The paper disappears.
The paper changes colour.

Q4.
Put these steps in the right order to make a paper sculpture with a story.

1 - Choose a story to show.
2 - Draw continuous lines to guide your cuts.
3 - Cut the paper carefully.
4 - Fold and twist the paper to build shapes.