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Ed Tech
Fourth graders explore, analyze and study how the arts serve a variety of purposes in the life of the students, community and culture. They enhance how technology influences the learning process and issues involving problem solving. Each...
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Mona Lisa: What's Behind Her Smile
Students observe the Mona Lisa painting to describe, analyze and interpret meanings in the work.
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Mary Cassatt: Impressionist Connection
Students read information about Mary Cassatt and study examples of her Impressionist art. For this art history lesson, students read about the life and art of Mary Cassatt. Students then study her art 'Little Girl in a Blue Armchair.'...
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Concert Suite from Dances With Wolves
Students complete a unit of lessons that prepares them to perform, 'Concert Suite From Dances With Wolves,' at a public performance. They analyze the emotions depicted by music, view excerpts from the movie, and perform the music.
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Image as a Metaphor
Young scholars define "metaphor" and discuss examples of it in writing. They look carefully at a photograph by Dorothea Lange and discuss its relationship to the concept of metaphor. They write effectively about their own experience,...
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Choreography Project
Students produce a short choreography composition. Specific guidelines and choice of music are provided. The grade/evaluation takes place in the form of video documentation and a teacher-created rubric.
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Expressive Self Portrait - Mixed Media
Students create self-portraits using prior artistic knowledge and personal experiences. Emphasis is placed on the works of Albrecht Durer, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Romare Bearden, and Chuck Close for inspiration.
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Through the Looking Glass: Eudora Welty's Photography and The Ponder Heart
Students study the context of The Ponder Heart through Welty's photographs.
They analyze how illustrations and photographs interact with written text and
create their own images to illustrate a well-known Welty short story....
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Lange & Steinbeck: Pictures and Words
Students look carefully at and analyze a Dorothea Lange photograph and compare it with the migrant experience described in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath.
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Journey and Change: The Migrant and Immigrant Experience
Students look carefully at two photographs by Dorothea Lange that relate to the universal theme of a journey. They identify parallels between Lange's photographs and two poems. They write about the theme of journey as it relates to their...
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Abstractions/Gestures
Students examine and display the differences between literal, and non-literal movement and abstraction using a creative project in movement. This project originates as an individual item, culminating in a small group performance.
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Scene Writing
Eighth graders create an original scene or short one-act play within specified guidelines. Assessment is based upon the performance of student-created scenes during class time. Rubrics for assessment and connection to state standards...
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Color in 3-D: A Nature Design Project
Students view a film about Hans Hofman and consider his use of color and layering. They experiment with the concept of 'push and pull' by using warm and cool color schemes in a tracing of leaves and shapes. Students view their work using...
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Ceramics: A Vessel Into History
Young scholars examine ceramic vessels from different time periods. In this ceramic vessel instructional activity, students work in small groups to look at images of ceramic vessels from a number of time periods. They identify the...
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Improvising in the Birthplace of Jazz
Learners recognize significant developments in New Orleans jazz music. They improvise blues licks using notes from a minor pentatonic scale.
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Performance Evaluation
High schoolers evaluate in class performance of music previously prepared by the ensemble. The rubric and assessment criteria are adaptable to any orchestra setting which allows the teacher to choose music to be assessed. Critical...
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Hispanic Celebration
Learners are introduced to Mexico's culture, people, language and celebration of traditions. They develop their own Cultural Report Slide Show and are encouraged to do several activities on this topic.
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Literary Odyssey
Students read and compare excerpts from The Odyssey and The Adventures of Telemachus. They create an original story based on a secondary character from The Odyssey as well as a sketch of one of the pivotal scenes from the story.
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Comparative Genocides
Students examine genocidal events throughout history. Using the internet, they research these events and compare and contrast them with the Holocaust. They analyze the amount of inhumanity towards others throughout history. In groups,...
National First Ladies' Library
Movies for a Nickel! The Nickelodeon
Students identify and participate in this activity to identify and learn about the early history of the film industry, and consider the impact of movies on society ever since. Then they use the websites listed to study various aspects of...
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Drama: Julius Caesar Storyboard
Students create storyboards based on Julius Caesar using the device of framing to convey character information. After examining framing techniques in photographs from the Folger Theater, they discuss how they influence character...
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"I Will Hear That Play": Using Sound to Enhance the Text
Students become familiar with Foley artists and sound effects as they analyze a scene from A Midsumer Night's Dream. They record their own sound for another scene.
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Crafting a Character - The Making of Shylock
Students, in groups, analyze the characterization of Shakespeare's Shylock from "Merchant of Venice". They examine text, view movies and interpretative drawings and conduct historical research.
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Civil War Battlefields
Eighth graders research a specific battle of the U.S. Civil War. Using the Internet and the Encarta Encyclopedia they conduct research, and create and publish a travel brochure that incorporates historical and visual information about...