Curated OER
American Genre Painting in the Nineteenth Century: Teaching Artistic Interpretation as a Tool for Critically Viewing History
Students view a variety of artwork to determine the history and lifestyle of people from New Haven, Connecticut. In groups, they develop their individual hypothesis about why the paintings were created and share them with their group...
Curated OER
All the World's a Stage
Is the circus a form of theater? Read "A City of Clowns? What Else Is New?" to sway your class that a circus, is indeed, a theatrical performance. Critical thinkers compare/contrast various forms of theater and identify what makes the...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Poems vs. Lyrics
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...
Bowland
My Music
Scholars investigate how the tempo of music affects heartbeats. Groups develop hypotheses about music and its connection to heartbeats before carrying out an experiment. They analyze and present data from their investigations.
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Art
Practice the skill of compare and contrast. First, show learners the different pairs of artwork in the project packet (included). Then, each learner chooses one of the pairs and finds the similarities and differences between the...
Curated OER
Van Gogh's Starry Night
Students create representations of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" using the main artistic elements of color, line, balance, movement, and space. The class is then asked to discuss the creative process.
Curated OER
Colorful Caring Cummerbunds
Young scholars discuss their feelings and expressions of caring. They view and discuss artistic expressions of caring and then plan and create their own wearable representation of the action of caring, drawing themselves and others...
Curated OER
Paul Gauguin: Complimentary Color
First introduce your art class to the master, Paul Gauguin, then to the concept of complimentary colors. This slideshow provides a bit of background on the famous artist then walks kids through a step-by-step process intended as a study...
Curated OER
Artifacts of Wisconsin's Pre-european Cultures
Students research forms of artistic expression in four cultures. They create a representation of art from one of the cultures and create museum information cards. They develop a rubric to evaluate each others work.
Curated OER
Impressionism and Beyond
Students view a video, and they are reminded that Impressionism was an artistic movement that begin in Pairs in the 1800s. They are asked to think about the paintings featured in the video and describe the typical style of these works....
Curated OER
Talk to the Hand
Students explore the significance of various body parts in artistic and social expression. They research a body part and create a museum installation depicting the artistic and social significance of the body part throughout history.
Curated OER
Looking and Learning in the Art Museum - Lesson 1
Explore the artistic elements in artworks with an original and reproduction instructional activity. As learners recognize the difference between an original and a reproduction, they discuss the artist elements used in the reproduction.
Curated OER
The Invisible People: American Art and Literature Represents the Marginalized and Disenfranchised
Students view various pieces of art and sculptures which demonstrates people who are marginalized and invisible. While viewing the art, they are read excerpts of different pieces of literature in which they determine why the author or...
Curated OER
The Art of Violence
Violence and human suffering, as represented in art and film, are the focus of an investigation of the power of visual images and the moral implications of such representations. Class members examine “Guernica,” Pablo Picasso’s massive...
Facing History and Ourselves
Identity and Belonging
High schoolers examine World War I war crimes. For this world history activity, students examine a painting by Ashile Gorky, a refugee from the Armenian genocide. High schoolers interpret the piece of art and discuss its historical...
Curated OER
Genocide
Students research acts of genocide to become aware that acts of genocide have been ongoing throughout history, and continue today. Students create a presentation including a verbal description of the situation, a written summary and a...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Brain Inspiration
"Neuroscientists consider Cajal as important to their discipline as Einstein is to physics." The first of four lessons has scholars view Santiago Ramon y Cajal's drawings of neurons. They reflect and respond to the art through writing...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Strangest Dream
Do words change or add meaning or interest to a work of art? The final lesson in a four-part series on the beautiful brain as a work of art focuses on art analysis. Scholars write a story about exploring art from the inside. Reflections...
Curated OER
Book Smarts
Students identify the ideas and themes that are most significant in a work of literature, then propose ways to visually represent these themes through art.
Curated OER
Quick-Sketch Artist Tips on Mind Mapping the Urban Landscape
Students interpret maps. They also create mental maps of regions in which they are studying. Students then explain the historical or cultural significance of map features orally or in written form. Students take a walking field trip...
Curated OER
The Artist As Storyteller
Students practice the art of storytelling by examining scroll writing techniques of Asia and applying them to a monthly story of their own classroom. This lesson plan is in two parts (Part II continues throughout the school year).
Curated OER
Art and Culture
Students compare and contrast the ways in which human figures are portrayed in rock art made by ancient Native American artists and in the drawings and paintings of historic European and American artists. They use images to identify...
Curated OER
Who is Picasso?
Students create art projects both representational and nonrepresentational. They examine a well known piece of art and discuss the feelings that the art evokes.
Curated OER
Bible: Aztec Gods
Students create a visual representation of an aspect of Aztec religion. In this Aztec religion lesson, students work in groups to read a passage and create a visual way to remember the important information in it. Students write an...