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Exploring the Expository Scenes in Macbeth
Students examine the function of exposition in play structure. They will be able to develop multiple interpretations and visual and aural production choices for Shakespearean scenes and choose those that are most interesting.
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Get Your Mojo Workin': Part 1 Writing Your Very Own Blues Tune!
Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...
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Lesson: David Goldblatt: Structures and Normativity, looking at Photography
Art can be a vehicle for social change and cultural expression. Upper graders examine the art of photographer David Goldblatt, as it pertains to apartheid, South Africa, and the AIDS epidemic. Discussion questions and image links are...
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A Symbol of Protection
Young art critics consider symbolic protection as it has been used in various cultures around the globe. They view body art from the Marquesas Islands, looking for animals, letter, shapes, and patterns. They compare and contrast body art...
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Lesson: Unmonumental: Fragmentation, Fragility, and Consumer Culture
Looking at art is the first step to analyzing it. And, if you can analyze art, you can analyze anything. Kids examine several pop art pieces that represent consumerism in modern culture. They discuss multiple facets of each piece and...
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John Lennon
Here is a great example of the type of biographical presentation your class could create. They can view this informational biography of John Lennon to learn about a famous person or as inspiration for a research project. Each slide...
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Colors of Winter-Body Parts/Senses
Fun is in the air as learners with special needs engage in sensory-filled activities. They discuss color, snow, cold, winter, and body parts while touching and smelling various objects. They discuss the parts of the body with relation to...
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Degenerate Art
A successful unit on art includes the subjects, goals, and messages of the works that are studied.
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Falling into Shapes
Children with special needs participate in several activities to reinforce shape and color recognition. They sign the word leaf, sing a song about leaves, and bounce leaves around on a parachute. They then help the instructor name...
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The Life and Work of Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh is a fascinating subject for students of art history.
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Hypothetical Heights
Young scholars participate in an interdisciplinary lesson to discuss improvements that would make them want to return to a previously poor neighborhood. In this civics lesson, students work in a budget to make a plan to better their...
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Lesson: Allison Smith: What Are You Fighting For?
Trench art is a nontraditional art form created by soldiers in trenches during wartime. Artist Allison Smith connects her art to the American Revolution and the question: "What are you fighting for?" Kids examine her art, how it connects...
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Building A Solar Still
Students investigate the water cycle by viewing an online video. In this drinking water instructional activity, students create solar stills at their campus in order to purify water that is tainted. Students view a video on their...
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Making Service Count
Young scholars investigate the importance of community service by creating their own project ideas. In this volunteering instructional activity, students research stories of Peace Corps Volunteers and how they were able to have a...
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A Guide to Great Home Music Practice
To be the very best musician one needs to be wiling to practice at home. Here is a handy guide to give your young musicians a leading edge on home music practice. It includes a warm up, cool down, suggestions for setting goals and for...
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Missing the Major Scales 2
Any musician can tell you, you have to know your scales, key signatures, and notes when reading sheet music. Kids are quizzed on major scales and the notes found with in each scale. They fill in the missing notes and identify each scale.
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The 2012 Grammy Awards
Kids answer 11 who, what, when, where, and why questions after reading a New York Times article about the Grammy Awards. Boosting reading comprehension by reading about a topical event keeps pupils informed and interested. A related blog...
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Color Scheme Acrylic Painting Self-Assessment
Being a good artist means being able to critique your own work. Here young painters will take a short quiz on color schemes in acrylic painting and then reflect on their use of color in a recently completed piece. A great activity for...
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Lesson: Urs Fischer: Your Choice: Reality or Illusion?
Young analysts write a comparative essay, but about what? They compose a paper based on several critical discussion about reality and illusion, and how both are blurred in art. They analyze several theatre pieces that exemplify Brechtian...
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Set a Poem to Music
Fun awaits both you and your class as you embark on a musical activity. After discussing different rhythmic meters they choose a poem to set to music. The poem must rhyme and be set to a melody in the key of C Major. Because the activity...
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Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: Artist's Community: The Real
What is real or imagined? The lines of beauty reality, and imagination are blurred in Elizabeth Peyton's portraits of her community. Learners analyze her use of artistic technique in conveying real and imagined communities. They then use...
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Storytelling and Culture
Students examine the cultural tradition of storytelling. In this storytelling activity, students explore stories from 3 different cultures and evaluate the roles that storytelling plays in each of the cultures to pass on values and beliefs.
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Clothe Batik and Color Blending
Fabric dyeing and textile art has been around for hundreds of years. Budding fabric artists explore the Batik dyeing technique and color blending as they create unique and personal designs. The full step-by-step procedure and materials...
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Lesson: Emory Douglas: Art and Activism
Visual literacy can be experienced in many different ways. Learners discuss the times, graphic art, and cultural significance of activism in art as they explore artist and Black Panther, Emory Douglas. This is a discussion-based lesson...