National Arts Centre
Scavenger Hunt
Young theatre artists engage in a scavenger hunt to acquaint themselves with set design. The challenge is to search the site and match a separate maquette with each of the 24 clues.
Curated OER
Sanctuary: Quail Island Banks
Students explore visual arts by examining a diorama in class. In this geography lesson, students examine an island off the coast of New Zealand and identify the physical attributes of the land. Students answer study questions regarding...
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Activity Plan 5-6: Art History 101
Students learn to appreciate art. In this early childhood lesson plan, students read about different artists and imitate their style to develop creative thinking, and language and literacy skills.
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A World Without Color And A World With Color
Sixth graders create black and white pictures followed by a re-creation of the same picture using color with an emphasis on contrast, depth, and mood.
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The Motown Dynasty (1969-1980) Part 2
Students connect achievements of noted artists with their roles in the music industry. They identify many Black music industry leaders and their contributions with the Motown Sound.
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Black History Web Design
Each student or student team creates a web page. Students research and make decisions for content of the page. Each web page should contain at least six images and six links, as well as any necessary commentary. Students indicate on the...
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Parallel Studies in American/Afro-American Literature, Part II -- Black and White Images in Alienation
Students begin the lesson with a review of the elements of poetry. Individually, they read a variety of poems and literature one white and one black author focusing on decay, sterility and alienation. They identify these images within...
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Tell About the South : The Story of Modern Southern Literature
Students, after viewing the video "Tell About the South," discuss and analyze Jean Toomer's mixed heritage and how it affected his artistic voice. They evaluate how the character Toomer was an excellent example of America's melting pot....
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The Black Prince at Crecy
Students analyze how artists have applied color relationships (value, intensity, tints, and shades, cool and warm colors) to create descriptive and expressive effects in artworks. They judge an artwork based on whether its organization...
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Graffitti
Here is a fun way to encourage a cooperative classroom, drawing skills, and creative expression. Each child draws a design or shape on his paper, then he rotates to the next child's paper where he adds to the previous design. When the...
New Museum of Contemporary Art
Lesson: Emory Douglas: What We Want, What We Believe!
One of the many appeals of this resource lies in its diverse application. Appropriate for US history, English, or art classes, scholars will appreciate the exploration of the civil rights movement through art, music, and film. They'll...
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Drawing of Animal Of Student's Choice
Students create a drawing of an animal, real or imagined. They develop their artistic skills and work to develop exhibition quality art. After observing magazine pictures, students choose what they will draw. They create a background for...
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Heart Collage
Explore the visual arts by creating a construction paper art project. In this collage lesson, young artists research the Internet to examine styles of famous artists including Keith Haring. They create cut-outs of hearts using...
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Calico Watercolor Cats
A fun art project, this lesson incorporates math and listening skills as young artists play with a new painting technique. First the teacher models how to draw a cat using shapes, an oval for the body, triangles for the ears and so on,...
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A Differentiated Art Lesson Plan Based on the Work of Andy Warhol
While this activity isn't incredibly extensive, it does provide a base on which one can build a differentiated learning experience. Video, discussion, and visuals are used to assist learners in understanding the elements of art and...
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Vertical and Horizontal Lines
First graders view works from Mondrian such as "Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue" receiving explantion of the primary and secondary colors and the color wheel and vertical and horizontal lines. They glue black strips to the...
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"Graffiti Names"
Graffiti art is fun, provides an opportunity for self expression, and captures the essences of society in a specific time and place. The class gets a crash course in graffiti as they watch the PBS video The History of American Graffiti,...
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Manga and Me
Upper elementary and middle school learners study Manga cartooning and create a Japanese character based on their own features and personalities. This style of cartooning is easily-accessible for most students. With a little practice,...
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Reflections on the Self - Self Portrait
Students produce their own self-portraits and use them to create a book in iPhoto. They explore the visual symbols used by artists to communicate their feelings, interests, and identity.
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Daydreaming with Marc Chagall
Explore the concepts of surrealism and cubism that Marc Chagall portrayed in his art. Your elementary artists will read articles about the artist and practice the methods used in surrealism and cubism.
Andrea Mulder-Slater
Happy Accidents Painting
A person can see a lot of different things when he looks at the amorphous clouds. The same is true when you let your watercolor paints do as they please. Little artists create haphazard art with watercolors, then use ink or marker to...
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Value Study Marker -- Using Chuck Close as a Catalyst
Sixth graders examine the work of artist Chuck Close. They create their own image using markers that show a range of values. They develop a grid to replicate those values.
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Value Study Pencil -- Using Chuck Close as a Catalyst
Seventh graders examine the life of artist Chuck Close. They use markers to create an image to show a range of values. They develop a grid to represent these values.
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It's All In How You Look At It
Students work collaboratively to create artistic renderings of digital photographs using a color value scale and grid techniques in this late-elementary school lesson based upon Ted Rose's book Discovering Drawing. The lesson includes a...