Curated OER
A Picture's Worth 500-700 Words
Students interpret and analyze a work of art and write a narrative for the piece of art. In this narrative art instructional activity, students analyze a work of art and then write a short story 500-700 words long to narrate the art.
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Spiritual Space
High schoolers explore Italian Renaissance artwork. In this visual arts lesson, students examine "Madonna, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Paul'" by Bernardo Daddi. High schoolers investigate the use of space, scale, and proportion in...
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Exploring Marine Ecosystems in the Caribbean and Maine
Students compare the marine habitats of Maine and the Caribbean using temperature, tides, ocean currents, latitude and longitude. In this marine ecosystems lesson, students analyze maps to complete graphic organizers that evaluate the...
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Looking at Portraits - Portraits in Line
Students use Van Gogh’s Portrait of Joseph Roulinas inspiration for their own portraits of friends in the classroom. In this portrait lesson, students analyze the Van Gogh portrait and discuss his techniques. Students discuss facial...
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Ceramics: A Vessel Into History
Students review a previous ceramics lesson and journal about a personal clay vessel they will create. In this ceramics lesson, students recognize various ceramic forms created in different time periods and...
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Sculptural Space
Students analyze the needs for outdoor sculpture and create their own example. In this sculpture instructional activity, students discuss the sculptural and architectural elements of site-specific sculpture. Students work in teams...
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Learn Under the Old Masters
Young scholars take a closer look at portraits. In this art appreciation lesson, students may visit the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria Art Gallery, or the Scottish National Portrait Gallery online or in-person to discover works...
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My Community Then and Now
Third graders examine and discuss the characteristics of their community. They compare their present community with its characteristics at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and they make flat or relief maps that include unique...
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Art and Literacy, grades 3-6, Reading Comprehension Category: Critical Stance
Students compare two very different works of art and two poems, and verbally list similarities and differences they perceive in the works of art and the poems; students then select poem that best correlates with a work of art.
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Native American Dolls
Students examine Native American dolls. They discover the connections between the dolls and the Native American culture and customs. They also use maps to locate the position of different tribes.
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Still-Life Painting: Arranging Nature—Lesson 2
Learners choose meaningful objects for a still-life arrangement and paint it using watercolors. After reflecting on their choice of objects and composition, students begin to write an artist's statement.
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Referencing the Classical Past
Students explore the concept of myths conveyed through art. In this art history lesson, students examine "Three Goddesses" and discuss the state of the world at the time that Nollekens created the sculptures as they analyze the pieces.
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Introduction to the Nature Journal
Students create nature journals. In this introduction to the nature journal lesson, students discover the uses of nature journals and begin their own. Students are challenged to use vivid, concise terms in their descriptive language....
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Breaking the Chains, Rising Out of Circumstances
Young scholars develop an understanding of art and history. In this activity about sculpture and creating a mood, students will gain an understanding of a moment in history by observing art. Young scholars observe busts, and paintings...
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Breaking the Chains: Rising Out of Circumstances
Study history through photographs. In this visual arts and history lesson, students learn to analyze photographs to discover details about life during the Civil War era. Students write journal entries as if they are the African-American...
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Depicting Motherhood in Family Stories
Students examine the roles of mothers and grandmothers by looking at black-and-white photographs of one American family and comparing that family's multi-generational story with their own. In this mothers and grandmothers lesson plan,...
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If These Walls Could Talk
Students compare Neoclassical objects from the Getty collection to American civic architecture of the time. They discuss the moral and political ideas of the Enlightenment and articulate how these art forms influenced democratic thought...
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Animals in Motion
Students draw and sculpt animals in motion. In this artistic drawing lesson, students are introduced to art depicting arrested motion, then observe and sketch animals in motion and use the drawing as they create a balanced sculpture.
J. Paul Getty Trust
Writing the Artist's Statement
Learners read and write an artist's statement. In this artist's statement instructional activity, students read Dorothea Lange's artist statement before writing one of their own about their photography. They examine their own photography...
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Framing the Landscape
Students draw their own drawings after learning about composition of drawings and lines. In this drawing lesson plan, students learn about different lines they can use while drawing. Then they go outside and draw their own.
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West Virginia Def PB Wants You!
Students write, adapt, and compose a song related to the West Virginia State Museum. In this music instructional activity, students create a composition for a work of visual art. Students incorporate major and minor melodies.
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Funky Illuminated Fairy Tales
Students create their own fairy tale. In this book making lesson plan, students write a fairy tale and turn it into a book. They use decorated initials and borders to make it look like an illuminated manuscript.
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African Americans in Aviation: The 1940s- A Decade of Change
Students investigate African Americans in aviation. In this primary resources lesson, students examine primary resources to research the history of African American in aviation. Students answer two research questions and write an essay...
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Imaginative Interpretations
Students explore how works of art can be inspired by stories by creating their own work of art inspired by a narrative text.