Curated OER
Lesson: Younger Than Jesus: Understanding, Looking at, Making Abstract Art
Before the class makes abstract art, they see contemporary examples and analyze them. They look at art made by abstract artists under the age of 33 then use similar techniques to create an interesting collection of their own. The...
Smithsonian Institution
The Birth of an Icon: Learning and Performing the Origins of the Drum Set and Early Jazz Drumming in New Orleans, Louisiana
Bass drum, snare drum, tom-toms, cymbals. Perched behind their drum sets, wielding their drum sticks and wire brushes, drummers lay the grove and are the heartbeat of a band's performance. A dynamic lesson introduces young musicians to...
Curated OER
Do You Want to Be My Friend?
Learners participate in a variety of emergent and early-literacy activities based on a "friendship" theme. Learners listen to the book Do You Want to Be My Friend by Eric Carle, then echo read, choral read, and independently read...
Curated OER
Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: Artist's Community: The Real
What is real or imagined? The lines of beauty reality, and imagination are blurred in Elizabeth Peyton's portraits of her community. Learners analyze her use of artistic technique in conveying real and imagined communities. They then use...
Concordia University Chicago
Winter Landscape with Skaters by Hendrick Avercamp
In need of a quick set of ideas to use on a wintery day? Why not analyze Winter Landscape with Skaters with your class? After a thorough discussion, learners compare and contrast two paintings, research what curators do, draw landscapes,...
Curated OER
Finding Meaning in the Badge
Children who are three to five years old study two rank badges from the Qing dynasty to develop an understanding of social rank, language skills, and symbolism. The lesson is discussion-based and requires learners to compare and contrast...
Curated OER
Past, Present and Future Through the Eyes of Long Jakes
Even the littlest learners can become art historians if they have the right training. For the lesson, your preschoolers discuss the piece Long Jakes as they point out all the details they notice. They discuss what mountains and mountain...
Curated OER
Activity Plan Mixed Ages: Fairytale Homes
Students create homes for fairytale characters. In this early childhood lesson plan, students develop literacy, language, and problem-solving concepts as they create block structures related to specific fairy tales.
Curated OER
Texture Hunts and More: Madonna and Child with Saints
Students investigate different painting techniques by studying classic works of art. In this art history lesson, students observe the famous Madonna and Child with Saints painting and describe the texture and images they notice....
Curated OER
History of Tiles: Early Tile Designs - The Middle East
Young scholars create a presentation on Middle Eastern art. In this art history instructional activity, students will research Middle Eastern art, specifically focusing on the Alhambra Palace and Moorish-inspired tile design. They will...
Curated OER
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Lesson: Immigration
Many of your class members will have heard of Executive Order 9066 and the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Some may even recognize the terms “Issei” and “Nisei,” but few will have heard of Enemy Alien Hearing Boards, of the...
Curated OER
Memory & Song, Malagan Figures from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
Students investigate the uses of images, shapes and colors in classic art sculptures. In this art analysis instructional activity, students observe Malagan Figures, a type of sculpture from New Guinea, and describe the different ideas...
Curated OER
Historical Witness - social Messaging
Learners examine and develop artwork that shows women's roles during different eras. In this women's role instructional activity, students look at artwork that shows women at work during the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century....
Curated OER
History of Television
Students investigate the history of Television by using the Internet. In this timeline lesson, students discuss and take notes on the 10 main events in Television history and create a timeline through education software. Students...
Curated OER
Activity Plan Mixed Ages: Body Shapes
Students explore the shape of things as they bend, twist, and turn. In this early childhood lesson plan, students develop social, creative-thinking, and language skills and spatial awareness as they use their bodies to create geometric...
Concordia College Archives
Our School Song
Show your school spirit! Class members use instruments or sing along and employ what they have learned in the two previous lessons to perform their school's songs.
Concordia University Chicago
The Cradle by Berthe Morisot
The art activities found here have learners take a critical look at the role of women in the domestic setting. They analyze Berthe Morisot's The Cradle through a guided discussion. Then they paint men and women in traditional domestic...
Curated OER
Circus Lesson
Students take part in group entertainment activities. In this circus lesson, students discuss their own memories of a circus and conduct several activities such as juggling scarves and creating balloon animals. Students discuss why...
Curated OER
Cool Commercials Critique
Students investigate advertising by critiquing commercials in class. In this media lesson, students view several commercials on their computers while completing a worksheet which helps them critique the ads. Students define several...
Curated OER
Ethnographic Film: Representations of the Other in Media
Students examine how film represents different cultures. They think critically about these representations and how they affect people who are watching them.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes: Poems for a Democracy
Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...
Curated OER
Monet's Magical Garden
Students study classic paintings by masters like Monet. In this art history lesson plan, students listen to the story Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and sing flower songs with the rest of their class. Students examine the painting The...
Curated OER
Pen and Ink Drawing
Learners hone their drawing techniques to create a nature-inspired piece of art. They practice hatching, cross hatching, stippling, and shading. They discuss how each method is better suited for creating specific elements in nature such...
Curated OER
An Apple a Day
Students sort and compare apples before making apple prints. In this apple lesson, students use a painting to inspire art prints made with apple halves. Students compare and sort apples.