Curated OER
Architecture Through the Ages
Students study the art of architecture in four well-known structures around the world. In this world architecture lesson, students read books about architects and study architectural structures in the world. Students draw a dream city on...
Curated OER
Creating a Story Quilt
Students create a quilt to represent an important event in their life. In this visual arts lesson plan, students research Faith Finggold and her quilts. Students use art supplies to create their own quilt and share the symbolic meaning...
Curated OER
New Forms from Old
Students look at historic porcelain objects. In this visual arts instructional activity, students examine how the use of historic objects has changed over time. Students design their own object from paper cups, bowls, plates, and...
Curated OER
Artifacts: Bringing the Past Back to Life -- the Mexican Case
Students examine and discuss the meanings of the various symbols in Tenochtitlan. In groups, they complete a part of the model of the city and discuss the importance of finding artifacts. Individually, they choose an a two-dimensional...
Curated OER
Designing Animal Masks
Students explore cultural traditions. In this lesson, about culture, students understand beliefs and traditions of different civilizations. Students analyze the meaning of animals to represent meaning to a culture. Students create a mask...
Curated OER
Wallpaper Pattern
Students identify, explain and use the basic elements of design. They find examples of the four different types of patterns by using wallpaper as their medium. They identify the four different types of pattern and find correct...
Curated OER
Shape & Form
Learners analyze the difference between shape and form. They identify, explain and use the basic elements of design and determine that forms are three-dimensional and shapes are two-dimensional. They sketch it on their paper and then...
Curated OER
Lesson: Urban China: Contemporary China
The urbanization and consumerism of modern China is the hot topic up for critical analysis. Kids view a series of photographs that specifically describe Chinese modernization, urbanization, consumerism, and waste. They discuss each...
Film Foundation
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: What Is a Movie?
Watching is not the same as seeing. Transform viewers from passive watchers to active students of film with this 34-page packet, filled with lessons and activities that use Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to examine the technology, the...
Curated OER
Pennies of My Life Part II
Youngsters write and construct their own autobiographies based on The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis. They engage in pre-writing steps, narrative writing, and peer editing. This is the second part of a two-part project lesson.
Curated OER
Information Shuffle
Gather some information, print it onto sentence strips, and then have your class physically shuffle the cards to better understand the importance of organizational patterns in writing. Middle school learners examine information for a...
Curated OER
Character Tea Party
A tea party in Wonderland? An East Egg brunch with Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Nick? Breakfast with Miss Havisham, Lady Macbeth, and Abigail Williams? Or dinner with Andre, Hamlet, and Randle Patrick McMurphy? Class members select a favorite...
Curated OER
Abstract painting - Inspired by Textiles
Students compare and contrast various forms of artistic expression associated with specific groups of people, geographic regions, or time periods, specifically art of Andean cultures, and create art works using procedures borrowed from...
Curated OER
Symbols and Trading Cards
A silk rank badge was a symbolic emblem worn by high officials during the Qing Dynasty. Your class will get a chance to examine the details, symbolism, color, and design of such a badge as they make their own symbolic trading cards....
Curated OER
Metal Tooling with Colored Pencils
Take your art class back centuries to the art of metal tooling. This is an art technique also referred to as embossing, or repajado in Mexico and South America. This is a fun project to introduce a new technique and new materials. This...
Georgia Aquarium
The Ocean's Nursery
Linear perspective, estuaries, and water ways converge in a science-inspired art project. The class uses what they've learned about eco-systems, estuaries, and the food chain to create scale models of a local marsh. While the lesson...
Missouri Department of Elementary
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: A Basic Skill
Imagine seventh graders developing a school wide plan to promote respect in their school. That's the vision behind the second lesson in the R-E-S-P-E-C-T series. In preparation for designing a school-wide media campaign, class members...
All Things PLC
Making Time for Collaboration
Making time for collaboration, a key element in creating a professional learning community, is a challenge. Not only is the school's master schedule effected, but the schedules of families, community members, and even bus companies, are...
Curated OER
Children's Health on the Decline
Demonstrate the importance of children's health with this cross-curricular lesson, which includes elements from health and science as well as expository writing. Middle schoolers develop realistic and obtainable one week health and...
Curated OER
Spaceship Earth
Students develop an understanding of our planet as a system by designing a very-long-duration space mission in which the life-support system is patterned after that of earth.
J. Paul Getty Trust
Portraits That Capture Character
One of the great things about technology is that it lets youngsters visit museums that may be many miles away. With this resource, middle and high schoolers can visit the portrait galleries at J. Paul Getty Museum, located in Los...
American Immigration Law Foundation
An Immigrant’s Experience
After interviewing an immigrant about their voyage to the United States and first impressions of the country, young learners create a fictional series of journal entries and design an iMovie depicting their interviewee's story.
Curated OER
Character Bust: Ceramics Lesson
Whether it is a protagonist, antagonist, hero or heroine, characters are a must in any story. Learners analyze a character from a narrative they are reading, then use that character as inspiration. They create a ceramic bust depicting...
Curated OER
"Old 300"
Fourth graders combine art and history to assess the importance of the "Old 300." They explore a group of colonists that Stephen F. Austin brought to Texas as the first settlers and then create a time line of major events leading to the...