Curated OER
It's All About the Brushstrokes
Afte analyzing the painting, Autumn Poplars by Camille Pissarro, learners explore self-expression through painting techniequs. They disucss the piece, consider Impressionist painting, and then create masterpieces that represent a...
Curated OER
I Have A Dream - Pastel Drawings
Discuss the meaning of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, explore figurative language, and read about Harriet Tubman and her courage. After the discussion, learners analyze painter/author Jacob Lawrence's use of...
Curated OER
Lesson: A Garden for Monet
To better understand artistic style and expression, your class compares two different paintings. They analyze each painting for style, technique, similarities, and differences. They then experiment with a variety of art materials and...
Curated OER
Lesson: While on My Vacation
Drawing, writing, and analyzing, that is what's on the menu. Young artists draw a corner of the classroom, analyze the painting, Poppies by Andrew Dasburg, and then write a postcard describing their vacation to an imaginary hotel that...
Curated OER
Lesson: Writings from a Room with No View
Learners examine art by considering how the subject matter and artists design choices affect the viewer's experience. They use the provided close-up images and notes to analyze the painting, Poppies. Afterward, they use the painting as a...
Curated OER
Blue Water: Telling a Story or Baffling?
Some art can be difficult to interpret. Critical thinkers analyze the forms, techniques, purpose, and meaning found in the abstract piece, Blue Water. They engage in small group discussions in order to form a hypothesis as to the nature...
Curated OER
Lesson: One of These Things is Not Like the Other
Kids kick of the lesson by comparing and contrasting the focus painting to other similar paintings of Native American women. They then compare their own personal portraits (photographs) in a similar way. They use the differences in each...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Sensory Exploration
Using their keen eyes and ears, learners build story observation skills which they will use to create sensory detail in their art. They note all of the things they observed on a walk, categorize them by sense, and then use the same skill...
Curated OER
Lesson: Stepping into the Past
How have things changed from the past until now? Young art historians examine a screen painted in Mexico during the 1700s. They discuss the differences between a garden party then and now. They then write a journal entry about the party...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: My Space
Everyone has a special, personal space; here kids will create a collage that reflects that space. They analyze the painting Soup Tureen and Apple, review two poems, and then conceptualize a personal space through art.
Curated OER
Lesson: Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
A great idea for a fun homework assignment! The class fully and critically analyzes Daniel Sprick's painting, Your Plans. They then generate questions to ask the artist as they attend a mock press conference. They pretend to ask the...
Curated OER
Lesson: Functional Fashion
Upper graders scrutinize the clothing worn by the vaqueros in James Walker's painting, Cowboys Roping a Bear. They pay close attention to the period style as well as the clothing functionality in the given context. Kids then design their...
Curated OER
Amate Bark Paintings/Folk Arts of Latin America
Students explore the history of bark paintings in South America and produce their own version of these paintings.
Curated OER
Perseverance: Keep Going
Kids evaluate world history events that show perseverance by creating artistic images. They investigate historic photographs and images which conjure up the feelings of perseverance, then utilize acrylic paints to capture the essence of...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "A Place in the Country" by Toi Derricotte
Build young scholars' confidence in analyzing art and poetry with a lesson that first asks pupils to list details they notice in Edouard Vuillard's painting "Garden at Vaucresson" and then to describe how the painting makes them feel....
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
The Revolutionary Times as Seen Through the Eyes of Women
The role of women before and during the American Revolution changed dramatically. To gain an understanding of these changes, middle schoolers analyze primary source documents, including letters from women that supported the patriot cause...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “Thanksgiving” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Victor Laredo's painting "On the Beach" and Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem "Thanksgiving" allow young scholars to use their noticing skills. Class members identify elements of the painting the artist uses to create the feeling of his work....
University of Pennsylvania
Using Comic Strips to Teach Multiple Perspectives
Scholars view comics from two different perspectives; one paints the Alfred Dreyfus as innocent, while the other portrays the exact opposite. They solve the mystery of what happened by analyzing the source, working in groups, and...
Curated OER
Lesson: A Garden Party of My Own
Kids look at a beautiful work of art to practice grammar, make connections from life to art, and sketching. They identify all the parts of grammar they see in the image, discuss what they see and do on a picnic, and then draw an imaged...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: A Miniature Game
Art inspires art, as children work to understand artistic forms that come from the imagination. They analyze the installation piece, Fox Games and then discuss the design process. They then use clay to create imaginative dioramas,...
Curated OER
American Genre Painting in the Nineteenth Century: Teaching Artistic Interpretation as a Tool for Critically Viewing History
High schoolers 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...
Curated OER
Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad: From Painting to Poem
Pupils analyze Edward Hopper's painting and Hirsch's poem to explore the types of emotion generated by each work. In this literary and art analysis lesson, students discuss how Hopper establishes tone and analyze Hirsch's use of diction...
Curated OER
The American Wilderness? How 19th Century American Artists Viewed the Separation of Civilization and Nature
The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and works...
While They Watched
Teaching the Holocaust
What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination? Between collaborators and bystanders? Guilt and responsibility? Prompt learners to think critically about a very complex and textured topic with an innovative packet of materials.