The Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva is a piece that represents characteristics, meanings, and ideals common to those who practice Buddhism in Japan. Learners fully analyze this piece, then take a virtual trip to examine the Buddhist...

Discuss tone and imagery with Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress." In an attempt to get his fair lady to consummate their relationship, he write a poem urging her to seize the day! Introduce the author to your high school class,...

Students explore how to use field guides to identify wildlife.  In this nature activity students construct their own plant field guide. 

Seventh graders create an alternative self-portrait. In this art lesson students study the artwork of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Students use her work as inspiration for a self-portrait in a jar form.

Legends are full of imagery and action. Transfer a scene from a legend to a three-dimensional art piece. Class members first view Inuit art and discuss  legends. They then build scenes that include action, setting, and characters.

Students complete poetry analysis activities. In this poetry analysis instructional activity, students consider the use of imagery and sound devices in poetry. Students translate poetry into another art, read a diverse selection of...

Learners analyze photographs and poetry as forms of each other. In this poetry and photography analysis activity, high schoolers use the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz and poetry from William Carlos William to explore how poetry and...

Describe, analyze, compare and contrast poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Critical thinkers analyze the imagery, characterization, tone, symbolism, and historical context of Jacob Lawrence, Helene Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A...

Students use description language to clarify ideas and create vivid images in an essay focusing of strong verbs. They discuss weak verbs and explore that the better image the words create, the better the reader understands the text.

Students explore women's rights by viewing cartoon images. In this women's history lesson, students view several images depicting women in a certain way while discussing the meaning of the imagery among their classmates. Students write a...

When Europeans first came back with tales of China, they provided vivid written accounts and minimal visual imput. This resulted in art rendered mostly from descriptive language. Learners explore this phenomena by listening to...

Students explore Shakespeare's use of poetic conventions, examine the first meeting between Romeo and Juliet and gain experience in close readng and the interpretation of verse structure and imagery.

High schoolers explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing his astonishing command of rhetoric and figurative language. The diverse set of activities below include short group performances, writing exercises and the guided...

Students investigate soliloquies. In this performing arts lesson, students discuss figurative language within soliloquies and then perform a soliloquy to the rest of the class.

Is it a calendar? A religious symbol? A political statement? One thing for certain is that Aztec sun stone designs remain an important symbol in Mexican cultural art. Young artists craft their own Aztec Sun design incorporating ideas...

Students create an artistic response to the book, The Polar Express. For this creative writing lesson, students read the book and visualize an imaginary journey they would like to go on. Students create a train car from construction...

Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading...

Students identify three different levels of movement and sensation of buoyancy, respond spontaneously in movement to the stimuli of imagery and feelings, and formulate his or her own unique sequence of movements based on personal...

Students explore the artwork of the Indo-Hispanic holiday of Day of the Dead. They view images, define key vocabulary terms, and plan and create a two- and three-dimensional sculptural figure.

First graders express the words of Autumn through creative dance movements.

Young scholars examine photographs depicting historical scenes from the US Steel Photograph Collection. They develop criteria to analyze or judge an image's representation. They assess photographs according to the criteria.

Students create a self-portrait that is compiled by using individual student drawings. The drawings emphasize line, shape, color and possibly texture depending upon the student's selection of materials.