Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rhythm and Art: Elements of Art

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discover the three elements of art. For this visual arts lesson, students examine line, shape, and color of works by Torres-Garcia and Picasso. Students then identify the elements of art in works by other artists.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shaping the View: Composition Basics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the elements of composition in various artworks. They analyze and discuss paintings, explore "The National Gallery of Art" website, identify the shape of compositions in paintings, and draw a diagram.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Art Critic for a Day!

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Middle schoolers practice evaluating art by creating a research project and presentation. They use the Internet and library to discover a piece of art or artist whom they feel has an impact on the world of art. Next, they create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Different Strokes For Different Folktales

For Teachers K - 1st
Young readers use graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and story maps, to analyze a variety of folktales and the elements of a story. They use writing, sequencing activities, and creative art to identify the morals learned from a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Noisy Nora, Studious Students: Story Elements

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Alliterative adjective nicknames generate stories inspired by Rosemary Wells' book Noisy Nora (also a thematic complement to any class with children who make a ruckus to get attention). Class members explore basic story elements --...
Lesson Plan
Kenan Fellows

What Element Would You Be?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Primo Levi wrote a collection of short stories comparing his life from Italy to Auschwitz to elements in the periodic table. Pupils read an excerpt from his book and research the characteristics of various elements. Then, they make a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Art of Description

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students apply descriptive language to identify the five elements of art and the basic lines, geometric shapes, and angles in Marie Hull's, Sharecropper. They explain how the elements of a piece of work contribute to the story it tells....
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Mysteries of the Past-An Artistic Expedition

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students explore expression in artwork. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students travel to ancient Egypt to examine abstract art of the Nile River valley through several hands-on activities.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Coin and the Fable: Alaska quarter reverse

For Teachers 4th
An Alaskan quarter and a book of fables is what you'll need to start this lesson. Learners will use the image of the bear and the salmon found on the reverse side of the Alaskan quarter as inspiration. They will compose a fable about the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shaping the View: Composition Basics

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students are introduced to the concept of composition in visual art. They examine various compositional structures and practice identifying the focus of various pieces of art.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prometheus Bound: Rebel with a Cause

For Teachers 9th - 12th
If you are teaching Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, you can't afford to miss this source. An extensive list of ideas outlines numerous discussion topics, writing prompts, comprehension questions, oral presentations, and projects. Have class...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Story Pyramids

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young writers generate descriptive words. They use pictures of various landscapes (from books, magazines, or the Internet) and complete a story pyramid. The pyramid (included here) asks to describe the main character, the setting, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Principles of Design - Picture Assignment

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students identify, explain and use the basic principles of design. They find a large, clear picture depicting each of the different principles of design and write a complete sentence describing where they see each of the principles of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One...

For Teachers K - 2nd
Explore language arts by reading two similar stories in order to compare and contrast them in class. Young readers read two Aunt Isabel books, by Kate Duke, and discuss the main characters, plot, and setting. They complete a graphic...
Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

We're off to see the Wizard!

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students explore the process of play and movie making from books. They study the basic elements of drama and write and produce a play based on a chosen theme. Students explain the basic elements of a play by looking at "The Wonderful...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Contrasting Story Elements Through Tapestry and Poetry

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Young thinkers view two narrative art tapestries and study the images included that tell a story about the Roman Emperor Constantine. As they examine the details of the tapestries, pupils use a Venn Diagram to record the similarities and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who’s Got Your Back?

For Teachers K - 5th
You can explore art, social studies, and history all at the same time with a great instructional activity about the painting Rodeo-Pickup Man. The class examines several close-up images of the piece and then considers what the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Literary Analysis of Theme

For Teachers 11th
Remember reading "The Lottery" and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson? Learners can experience and analyze the tension, themes, and human experience found in these pieces through reading and class discussion. They use...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Home in the Desert: Lesson for Use with This House is Made of Mud

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders examine how a family modifies their environment to create a home out of mud. They read the book "This House is Made of Mud" by Ken Buchanan, and write a description of their own home that compares the home of mud to their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Because of Winn-Dixie Scrapbook

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Getting the Story

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine and discuss the basic elements of a newspaper article. They listen to articles, discuss the 'inverted pyramid' style of a breaking news article, and list imaginary current events based on mythological characters.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Steps to a Short Story

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Young scholars write and publish a short story using KidPix computer software. They discuss the basic elements of a story, observe a demonstration of how to use KidPix, select a setting and characters, and print out their background...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Screen Play

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing a Newspaper-Style Article

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Help your secondary reader/writers assess texts by studying press releases from Statistics Canada and drafting articles based on them. They then compare the press release, their own articles, and actual news stories they find online. I'd...