Art Institute of Chicago
Send a Postcard
Using Claude Monet's On the Bank of the Seine as inspiration, young artists create their own postcards. During the lesson, learners discuss the techniques used in Monet's painting, as well as the woman in the painting, and learn how to...
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Mixing Colors with Corn Syrup and Food Coloring
Anyone who has worked with small children know that color identification and color mixing can be fun! This simple idea has a lot of potential. It suggests to mix food coloring with corn syrup to provide an opportunity for color mixing...
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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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Rococo Art & Architecture
A splash of light against the dark background of the Baroque period, the Rococo Art of 18th century Europe shines brilliantly in this appealing and artistic presentation. The slides focus primarily on the paintings of French and English...
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The Prado Museum
Students visit the Prado Museum website. They explore the website, answer questions in Spanish, interview a classmate, and compare/contrast various artists' works and the Prado museum with a U.S. museum.
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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...
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The Color Wheel
Hand out this nifty resource to make your next lesson on the color wheel a snap. It is a picture of the color wheel alongside a description of primary, secondary, and mixing colors. Great for artists of any age.
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Putting On Armor
Seventh graders are read the story "EMS Code Blue" and asked to share what they would do in the different situations. As a class, they discuss the importance of getting help for mental or social problems and are given a list of resources...
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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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Satchmo's Blues
Students work cooperatively to create a jazz composition using the computer program GarageBand and incorporating the musical stylings of musician Louis Armstrong. Internet access is required for this lesson.
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Langston Hughes: Artist and Historian
High schoolers examine the life and works of Langston Hughes. In groups, they research the characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance and how Hughes' poems relate to the era. They use the themes in his writings and relate it to the...
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A Look at Life of the Plains Indians through artists like George Catlin
Students identify and interpret the life of the Indians on the Plains during the 1800's through artworks of George Catlin and others during this time period. Students examine life of the Pawnee Indians and interpret conditions that...
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Hues and Bridges: Claude Monet's Waterloo Bridge
Students investigate the artistic work of Claude Monet. In this art analysis lesson, students observe Monet's painting Waterloo Bridge, while identifying the blue hues used throughout. Students create their own painting of a famous...
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Express Yourself: Make Art From Your Ideas
Students analyze and discuss various sculptures by the artist Andrea Arroyo. They discuss ways artists use symbols to express abstract ideas, design and create a plasticine plaque, and write a journal response.
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Picasso's Art Styles
Students explore the life and artistic contributions of Pablo Picasso. They create a clay animation depicting one of Picasso's art periods.
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Horse of a Different Color: An Introduction to Color in the Visual Arts
Students examine how artists use color to create a sense of depth in a two-dimensional space. They view and analyze prints, complete worksheets, and write a paragraph on how color is used to draw the viewer's eye to a central figure.
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Rhythm and Art: Elements of Art
Students discover the three elements of art. In this visual arts instructional activity, students examine line, shape, and color of works by Torres-Garcia and Picasso. Students then identify the elements of art in works by other artists.
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Identify the Element of Line
Students explore the element of "line." In this beginning art lesson, students listen to the book Harold and the Purple Crayon, then describe the types of lines Harold drew. Students identify straight lines, jagged lines, curvy lines,...
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Learning about Tint and Shade- Van Gogh
Students explore tint, hues, and shades of color. In this art and color lesson, students observe and discuss Van Gogh's artistic style. Students mix paints to create a single hue background and add details to paint a nightscape of...
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The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance inspired a group of writers, musicians, and artists whose influence is still seen today.
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Eric Carle Collage with Color Theory
Second graders analyze color theory and collage techniques through the creation of collages in the style of artist/author Eric Carle. Color experiments and may hands-on section allow this instructional activity to be very informative...
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Astronomical Song Lyrics
In this astronomy and song lyrics worksheet, students are given 10 lyric fragments from different artists. Students select 3 of the fragments and write short essays about each to explain their thoughts from a human and astronomical point...
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Color Me Happy: Color, Mood, and Tone
This lesson plan introduces students to the ways artists use color to set the tone of a painting or to convey a particular mood to the viewer. Students view "The Tragedy" by Pablo Picasso. They fill in an information chart describing the...
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Rock Around the Map
Students research the geographical histories of various musical genres and make maps that note important places in music history. They Write geographical biographies about one of their favorite musical artists.