Students study the design elements of Art Nouveau, its sources and development. They create art projects in ceramics and glass that exemplify the focus of Art Nouveau as a decorative style.

Students identify the plot and theme of cartoons. In groups, they discuss and compare the written and movie versions of popular fairy tales. Individually, they write their own fairy tale and share them with the class. They write their...

Students study the feudal system of the Middle Ages. In this Middle Ages lesson, students watch "The Feudal System at War". Students listen to an instructor-delivered lecture regarding the roles of monarchs, nobles, knights, and...

Fifth graders complete a project for a Newberry Award winning book. This ambitious instructional activity outlines the expectations for students regarding their project. Included is a list of possible books and a variety of writing, art,...

Learners explore the themes of the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni. In this literacy lesson, students dramatize a character from Swimmy and identify common themes such as cooperation and caring. Learners create a new ending to the story.

No unit on important women in history would be complete without a instructional activity on Sandra Day O'Connor. After reading background information about the first female Supreme Court justice, middle schoolers engage in several...

Second graders compare the neighborhoods they know to those of a different place and time. In this historical perspectives instructional activity, 2nd graders read Eve Bunting's Smoky Night and discuss the outcome of the story. Students...

Learners investigate the lives of pets by videotaping them.  For this animal life lesson, students videotape a cat and other pets using school cameras in a computer lab.  Learners review the footage from the cat and other...

Students demonstrate their knowledge of panthers by writing a play on the subject.  In this animal life lesson, students view a slide-show on school computers of a veterinary exam of a panther.  Students utilize this...

Seventh graders discover how to assemble and finish a lidded box-like form from slabs of clay between soft and leather hard. They gain an appreciation for ceramic art.

Ninth graders interpret a chosen character from the novel Animal Farm and represent that character in original symbolic form and present orally to the class.

Students examine a book of hours to compare it with a modern day planner. In this illuminated manuscripts instructional activity, students analyze a book of hours example from the 16th century. Students create their own modern day...

Students solve design problems. In this art and design instructional activity, students create a picture by analyzing two others, and make a prototype of a building. The small group activities call for creativity and ingenuity as well as...

Students select one photos and creates portraits of the photo in three different styles. After making the portraits, they describe the differences between them. They place their finished product on a triptych for viewing and practice...

Young scholars analyze two of Dorothea Lange's portraits and create their own portraits of classmates. In this portrait analysis lesson, students define portrait and discuss two images of Lange's. Young scholars interview a classmate and...

Students read a poem aloud called the "Mexican Version of the Night Before Christmas. They enact the scenes of the poem. They discuss variations of this poem both in English and Spanish.

Tenth graders examine the physical and cultural impressions made by water in the Middle East, as well as their own lives, through exercises in reading, writing, geography and art. They explore how water as an economic good drives...

Young scholars use the methods of description, reflection, and formal analysis for a study of images. In this image analysis lesson, students work in teams to interpret and analyze an assigned work of art. Young scholars write responses...

Young scholars write descriptively and creatively after looking carefully at a work of art.

Students combine multiple unrelated images into single composition with subtle message or theme They become familiar with pen and ink techniques inspired by illustrator, Edward Gorey. They create a visual language for texture and value.

Young scholars create sand art paintings based on those of the Navajo.

Young scholars examine ancient Greek myths and illustrate origin myths scenes in a contemporary setting. In this Greek myth lesson plan, students analyze Rembrandt’s painting The Abduction of Europa and discuss how the...

Students create "sole people" using tempera paint, drawing paper, and shoe prints in this multi-level art lesson. The lesson can be combined with a brief history of the African-American inventor Jan Ernst Matzeliger, who created the...

Can your class tell the difference between passive and active writing? Use this lesson in your writing conventions unit. The lesson prompts middle schoolers to create essays, demonstrating understanding of an active versus passive voice...