Curated OER
Role Models
First graders identify heroes by researching their family history. In this personal heritage lesson, 1st graders define the term "hero" and the characteristics that represent it. Students research family resources and family trees in...
National Endowment for the Humanities
History in Quilts
Learners investigate the use of cloth-based art forms intended to pass down traditions and history. They research types of quilts, quilt characteristics and then identify how Freedom Quilts were historically used in the US.
Curated OER
Quilting
First graders investigate the color spectrum by painting their own pictures. In this artistic expression lesson, 1st graders discuss their own families and create ways to express their culture and family history on a picture quilt....
Curated OER
Creating Identity Posters
Students discover the identities of their classmates. In this tolerance lesson, students create individual posters showcasing their identity, history, and family background. Students examine the posters to get a better understanding of...
Curated OER
Aboriginal Hand Prints
A part of a study of Australian Aboriginal culture, class members listen to a Dreamtime story about a father who stenciled his handprint on a rock wall. Class members then make their own hand print art representative of themselves...
Curated OER
Family Origins and American Cultural Pluralism
Students explore, analyze and discuss family origins, special legacies, and racial/cultural groups in literature and art that exposes them to positive examples in African-American history and culture. They encounter examples from dance,...
Curated OER
We Can Win Too
Young scholars explore world history by illustrating an image. In this Mexican culture lesson, students identify the history of the holiday Cinco De Mayo and discuss the challenges the Mexican army faced. Young scholars illustrate a...
Smithsonian Institution
Our Story: Duke Ellington and Jazz
Get parents or guardians into the swing of things with a jazzy homework assignment. A detailed six-page guide provides before, during, and after reading suggestions for Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra, Andrea Davis...
Curated OER
Family Picture Quilt
Learners explore family backgrounds and traditions while discussing how memories are preserved. In this patchwork quilt lesson, students create a keepsake by compiling pictures, drawings, and magazine clippings of things that are...
Curated OER
Stories in Quilts
Have your class analyze the narrative art in quilts. They identify elements in this domestic art and the stories they tell. They define a story quilt, view an example, and analyze the work of Harriet Power. This is a great instructional...
Curated OER
Dad's Magnetic Personality
Students create a gift honoring Father's Day. In this Father's Day lesson, students examine the meaning of fatherhood and explore the history of this tradition. Students create a picture collage over a template of their father's initials.
Curated OER
Thanksgiving Holiday
First graders explore American culture by participating in arts and crafts activities. In this Thanksgiving lesson, 1st graders listen to music based upon the Thanksgiving tradition and examine images of the first Thanksgiving. Students...
Curated OER
Hands That Touch The Heart
Students create Valentine's Day hearts in this variation of a classic activity for the early-elementary classroom. The "hands that touch the heart" is a great gift that can be given to family, friends, or fellow students. A materials...
Curated OER
KinderArt Drawing for Kids
Pupils illustrate a creative adventure idea. In this arts and crafts lesson, students design drawings based on where they would like to go for an adventure. Before creating their illustrations, pupils brainstorm the method of...
Curated OER
Class Quilt
First graders engage in a lesson which promote acceptance of diversity within the classroom through the creation of a class quilt. They evaluate the final product to find commonalities with other students.
Curated OER
Self-Portrait Shields
Students listen to the story, The Shield of Athena, and examine the original context of the sculptural fragment of a fallen warrior. They list important events and people in their lives, then create shields that depict their personal...