Curated OER
Miraculous Milagros
Learners investigate the use of Milagro charms in different cultures. They conduct research using a variety of resources. Students create a shape that is meaningful to them and then copy the charm of magic and explain its significance to...
Curated OER
Parisian Picnic
Students investigate the artwork and life of Paul Cezanne with the help of resources to find information about the Impressionist movement. They sketch a picnic drawing as a copy of Cezanne or use the principles to create an original idea.
Curated OER
Jazz Exploration: A Collage Project
Middle schoolers explore and experience jazz through collage. They listen to improvisational jazz, discuss the origins of jazz, then design and create a collage that shows jazz being played. This project will result in amazing works of...
Curated OER
Stewart's Boxes
Learners collect memorabilia and create shadow boxes in the style of David Stewart. They also compose a poem and explain their identity in an oral presentation. This is a rare activity that works quite well for a variety of age levels.
Curated OER
Complementary Superheroes
Students discover the color wheel. In this color lesson, students find the primary colors, secondary colors, and contrasting colors. They look through the designs of super hero logos and create their own using what they know about...
Curated OER
This Is America! Flag Collage
In a visual essay of their thoughts about "What America Means to Me," kids of any age can create a collage about their country. Originally intended to be created physically, learners could share their projects online by using an...
Curated OER
My Alphabetical Autobiography
Design a pictorial autobiography using the letters of the alphabet. For each letter, writers select visual images that represent life events and interests. Younger writers add words or sentences of explanation while older writers narrate...
Curated OER
Learning to Resist: Watercolor
Consider wax resist drawings as a way to bridge art and science. Learners view, discuss, and practice drawing insects or animals using waxy crayons. They pay attention to the creature's features as they create images with watercolor and...
Curated OER
The Journey of the Spirit
Students discuss Scholastic Art Magazine issue on 'Artists Today' . They participate in a class discussion & watch a demonstration on the use of 'found objects' and ordinary materials (i.e. paper towels, leaves) to create surface...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Picturing a Story: Photo Essay about a Community, Event or Issue
Picture this. Class members follow in the footsteps of W. Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, James Nachtwey, and Lewis Hine by creating their own photo essay about a local event or issue.
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby: Symbolic Story Representation
The themes of The Great Gatsby are embodied in the images F. Scott Fitzgerald creates. To encourage reader interaction with the text, individuals create a symbolic representation of themselves, place themselves in the story,...
Tasha McKelvey
Clay Whistles
Create clay whistles with your elementary or middle school students. The project is outlined in great detail here, complete with step-by-step photographs, finished examples, a materials list, student handouts, and a rubric. Students...
Contemporary Arts Center
Mughal Miniature Paintings: Pattern Transformations
What is the artist's role in the post 9/11 world? How do artists use imagery to convey meaning in their work? After examining the work of Mughal artist Imran Qureshi, class members create their own work that uses combative imagery to...
Curated OER
Behind Closed Doors
Young scholars explore different types of doors from an artistic point of view. In this creative thinking activity, students look at different types of architectural doors and doorways and analyze them. They create a project of a door as...
Curated OER
Understanding and Fighting Stereotypes through Words and Images
Use some provocative modern art to get your class considering stereotypes and the impact they have on us all. Your class will discuss the print art Indian Look-Alike by Melanie Yazzie and stereotypes in general before...
Curated OER
Sharing African Culture
Students investigate African American culture by reading aloud an African folk tale and illustrating the tale. They use their illustrations to create a book or a bulletin board that retells the folk tale.
Curated OER
Perceiving Place
Students observe how color creates the mood of a place, and generate sketches and drawings that capture their observations.
Curated OER
As Good as Gold
Students create a Mother's Day Coupon Book, full of coupons that can be exchanged for special services rendered by students!
National Gallery of Canada
The Body Tells Its Story
Incorporate sculpture into your art curriculum. To start, pupils discuss the artistic process and topics of marginalization. With the discussion in mind, individuals select images to inspire sculptures of people that they will present to...
Curated OER
Masks of Many Cultures: Celebrations of Life
Bring art and society together with this highly creative and interesting lesson. Learners research various uses of masks in ceremonies. They then create a ceremony of their own and a mask to go along with it. They film themselves...
Curated OER
Becoming One With Clay: Pinch Pots
Explore the making of a pinch pot using this resource. Learners discuss the properties of clay, including its molecular structure. Then, they make their own clay pot. As they work, they identify the techniques used to make a pinch pot,...
Curated OER
Silhouettes
Young scholars explore the challenges of creating a silhouette. In this silhouette lesson, students learn to produce a silhouette from a projected image. Young scholars compare and contrast the making of a silhouette to a drawing or...
New Class Museum
Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: Portraits: Androgyny in Contemporary Culture
Portraiture, artistic expression, romanticism, and androgyny are discussed in a thought-provoking lesson. Upper graders first discuss and examine the history of portraiture and the elements common to the Romantic style. Then they turn...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Multisensory Grammar Activities
Activate various learning styles while covering modifiers and double negatives. These activity ideas provides several sentences for examining each topic. After completing the activities, learners will know how to clarify meaning with...