Have you ever listened to a song that had a deeper political meaning to it? Every examined a work of art with layers of meaning? Pupils analyze the drawings of Arthur Szyk. They research the deeper meaning of several artistic cartoons...

A instructional activity help scholars identify emotions through facial expressions. After a friendly puppet reads scholars a poem all about feelings, learners act out how they would feel when a specific action happens to them....

The Odyssey is the core text in this unit study of the hero's journey motif. Along the way, kids research Greek and Roman history, mythology, art, and epic poetry. The 104-page packet is perfect for homeschool or classroom situations and...

Young scholars discuss monsters in both film and literature. They examine the characteristics and methods of killing them. Using pastels on black construction paper, they create half-face/half-monster portraits of themselves. The...

Pupils examine similarities and differences between cultures. They'll see that literature, reading, and story telling is something all cultures have in common. They should construct Venn diagrams to help them compare and contrast the...

Students explore two works of art of performance art. In this performance art lesson, students analyze performance art in the examples of Yves Klein and Joseph Beuys. Students complete image based discussion activities. Students research...

The artistic choices Art Spiegelman made in his graphic novel, Maus, are the focus of an exercise that asks class members to compare classic comic book forms with Spiegelman’s panels and frames. Directed to specific pages and guided by a...

Students reflect on a personally meaningful live performance and the circumstances necessary to create art. They study about the current leadership crisis facing the Met, Carnegie Hall, and the Public theater. In groups, students...

Teach children that just because something is old, doesn't mean you have to throw it away with a reading of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. Engaging children with an arts and crafts activity in which they patch the...

High schoolers examine paintings by Thomas Cole and Jasper Francis Cropsey as windows into American frontier life. They consider the pioneer's relationship with nature and the role of Native Americans in the pioneer's lives and settlements.

Learners analyze facial expressions on artifacts. In this artifacts lesson, students examine facial expressions on artifacts. Learners draw a face with an expression of their choice.

Young scholars review and reproduce an article of Elizabethan styled clothing as a part of an analysis of Shakespeare's Macbeth.  In this Elizabethan art lesson, students discuss the fashion of the Elizabethan era and research it...

"What are feelings?" and "Why are feelings important to understand?" are the essential questions of a lesson that boosts self-awareness. Scholars discuss the four basic emotions—happy, sad, scared, and mad—in preparation...

Boggle, Jot Thoughts, Trading Cards, Commercial Breaks, Snowball Fight, Bingo, Draw it! Here’s a bunch of review games that would make a great addition to your curriculum library. The games can be easily adapted to address the Common...

Students create individual masks using poster paper, string or elastic, and basic art supplies in this wonderful Art lesson plan for any level. Emphasis is placed on the discussion of cultural and personal uses of masks and personal...

Dive into animation creation using Dreamworks® animated films. Compare and contrast characters, wonder and ponder why the plot is so important, and think of background and themes as your creativity unrolls onto paper.

Matilda finally gets her happy ending with a new home with Miss Honey. But first, Mr. Wormwood goes on trial for his wrong doings and bad car sales. Class members take on the role of a character in the trial and participate in a role...

Students demonstrate effective collaboration, the ability to review their own work and that of others, and understand that a sculpture can express a moodor feeling. They listen to "Word Up" by Cameo. Students watch a slide show of...

Students listen to the song "Scarecrow" by Melissa Etheridge and draw what they think the song is about. They discover the song is about a man who was attacked. They again express their feelings about the song through drawing. Finally...

Students read the book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. In this character traits lesson, students read the book and identify character traits. Students draw pictures of a character from the book and describe the character traits.

Students scrutinize the story, "The chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for examples of nonconformity in the face of power. The nature of the relationship between students in the story is compared to the associations of the reader.

Students read David's story, paragraph by paragraph, in order. At the end of each paragraph, have students identify the bullying behavior. They draw where David is on the scale so students can see David getting more unhappy with each...

Students examine how artists have expressed emotion thru use of line, color and shapes. They communicate a variety of emotions using line, shape and values to create form.

Students discuss times they predict what will happen next. They compare this to using the information given in a piece of literature to predict what will happen next in the story. Students listen as the teacher reads an excerpt from The...