Curated OER
Ambassadors of Art
Have your class create their own art exhibit. Learners study the exchange of artwork between the Louvre in Paris and two American art museums, and create an introductory exhibit featuring European and American art from the Renaissance...
Memorial Art Gallery
Learning to Look, Looking to Learn - Peeling Onions
Lilly Martin Spencer's "Peeling Onions" is the subject of a series of exercises that model for learners how to use the elements of art to read a painting. A series of worksheets focus viewers' attention on how Spencer uses...
Curated OER
Chinese Shadow Puppets
Students explore Chinese culture by performing a shadow puppet play. They create the puppets, develop a script, and rehearse and perform a play which illustrates an understanding of Chinese stories and traditions.
Curated OER
Confucius Say... China Old
Students locate China on the map. In this Chinese geography, history and culture lesson, students read literature about China. Students participate in paper making, silk making and lantern making activities.
Curated OER
200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons
Upper graders explore pop culture and pop music as a forum for female role models. They explore women who have currently contributed to our pop world and why they could be considered role models. They each interview a woman in their...
Curated OER
Spirit Mask Ashira/Bapunu, Ogowe River, Gabon
Explore the concept of beauty as it has been seen through the eyes of various African tribal groups. Learners create masks of beauty as they see it, taking the African concept of inner beauty into consideration. This lesson is great for...
Curated OER
Dia de los Muertos Sugar Skulls
Students research information about the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), a major celebration in Mexican culture, and compare it to similar holidays in other cultures. They discover various folk arts and festive traditions associated...
Curated OER
Examining What Sharing Really Means
After reading "The Senegalese Miracle" about the degree of sharing the author encounters upon arrival in Africa, class members read Mike Tidwell’s “Sharing in Africa” and compare the two stories. This cultural diversity lesson plan...
Curated OER
Patchwork Quilt
Students compare and constrast fiber arts from a variety of cultures and time periods. They draw a patchwork quilt using irregular geometric shapes and bright colors. Students display their quilts as part of an exhibit. They are told...
Orlando Shakes
Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!): Study Guide
What do Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch, and Frosty the Snowman have in common? They're all characters from beloved holiday movies that viewers revisit in the play Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!). Scholars conduct research...
Curated OER
Stone & Bone Inuit Carvings
Students research information about Canadian Inuit history, geography, and culture. They study many forms of art created by the Inuit, including sculpture with stone, animal bones or teeth, and other items found in their northern Canada...
Curated OER
Cats and Superstition: Fun Trivia Quiz
Answers to this quiz are very well cited, so if your class is studying Halloween, symbols, superstition, world cultures, or cats, it could spark spirited discussion about comparative traditions.
Curated OER
Splat! Boom! Pow! the Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art
Students relate abstract expressionism and cultural influences on 1960's art. They use images appropriated from comic books to create a painting in the abstract expressionist style by changing the scale of the comic and reducing content...
Curated OER
Cave Art Revisited
Students research the sources of prehistoric cave paintings and engage in an activity of creating their own cave art. The lesson focuses on the design, composition style of the art, and importance of cultural contributions cave painting...
Curated OER
Hopi Culture: Parts of the Corn
Students identify the parts of the corn stalk in English and Hopi. They discuss the significance of corn to the Hopi culture, and examine a diagram of the corn stalk. They discuss the purposes of the parts of the corn stalk, then label...
Curated OER
The Treaty Trail: U.S. - Clothing That Talks: Meaning and Material Culture
Learners investigate the cultures of Native Americans and Euro-Americans through their clothing. In this photograph analysis lesson, students observe historic photographs and analyze the style of clothes people wore and how it...
Curated OER
PERCEIVINGT A CULTURE THROUGH ITS LITERATURE
Young scholarsexamine cultural values in literature, identify the cultural assumptions, prejudices, and purposes of authors and translators, use historical perspective to determine if the values and lifestyle depicted apply to...
Curated OER
Latino Folklore and Culture: Stories of Family, Traditions of Pride
Students define the terms fable and folktale. They write a fable to illustrate a Latino proverb. Students are explained that a folktale is a story passed down through the oral tradition of a particular culture. A fable is a type of...
Curated OER
Puerto Rico . . . Its Land, History, Culture, and Literature
Students examine Puerto Rico's location and from its geographic location, reflect on its culture and people. They also read a play by a Puerto Rican author. This is an excellent cross-curricular unit, including history, geography, and...
Curated OER
Geography and Culture in South Carolina
Students explore South Carolina. In this cultural heritage lesson, students investigate the topography of South Carolina using maps. Students are engaged in identifying the different regions of the state and examine the cultural heritage...
Curated OER
Sing Out Loud: The Slave Spirituals Historical and Cultural Implications during Reconstruction
Young scholars identify, summarize and present facts about cultural, educational and political inequalities of Reconstruction, explain hidden codes of slave spirituals and their importance in slaves' communication, and create poetry...
Curated OER
Coil Pots
Children learn by doing. Here, they discuss cultural uses of containers, coil and slab techniques, functional aesthetics, and the principles of art and design. The entire process for making a coil pot is fully described here to make the...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Instruments from Various Cultures
After a review of orchestral instruments and instrument families, learners make their own. They listen to the song "Simple Gifts" and identify the instruments heard in the piece. Then they draw an instrument of their own invention,...
Peace Corps
Celebrating Our Connections Through Water
Water is vital for survival, but how does it help global cultures flourish? Elementary and middle schoolers learn about the different cultures around the world that celebrate water and incorporate it into their festivals or traditions.