Curated OER
Descriptive Writing: Using Art to Inspire description
Write with the senses! Try using art to inspire writers to consider all of the senses. Here, the class is divided in half. Each group looks at one of two images, imagines the senses that would be engaged, and records answers to five...
Curated OER
Romantic Period in Music, Art, and Literature
“Romanticism aims at enlarging experience by exploring the real.” This excerpt from Jacques Barzun’s From Dawn to Decadence introduces a PowerPoint that examines the characteristics of and the major figures in music, art, and literature...
Curated OER
Leaf People
Kids create leaf people out of sticks, glue, and leaves. They use their imagination to construct leaf people and then glue them onto construction paper. Tip: Extend this craft by incorporating writing. Have learners write a short story...
Curated OER
Short Poems Are Scary!
What do all those chairs and pencils do in the classroom once everyone leaves? Allow imaginations to run wild with frighteningly short poems!
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Miss Trunchbull
How would you react to the Trunchbull if she was your teacher? This is the focus of an activity that has readers imagining and then acting out their reactions to various Trunchball scenarios in the story.
Facing History and Ourselves
Literature and Imagination Make Democracy Work
The final lesson in the "What Makes Democracy Work?" series examines the connections between imagination, literature, and democracy. Class members listen to a podcast, read an excerpt from Azar Nafisi's, The Republic of Imagination, and...
Curated OER
I Imagine
In this Language Arts worksheet, students choose an animal to draw and write a description about it. Students read their descriptions to their classmates who also draw an illustration.
Curated OER
Art Savers
Need a cheap way to get all those fabulous paintings, collages, and drawings home? Learners use old paper towel tubes to create a handy art transportation device.
Curated OER
Expanded Images
Allow your young artists to use their imagination with this fun art project! Cut out various images from a magazine to be the spark to your artists' creativity. Have them glue an image onto a piece of paper, then draw a backdrop to go...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: A Bird's Tale
Who wouldn't love to get a letter from a blue bird? Elementary art enthusiasts analyze the social and historical context of Ason Yellowhair's Navajo piece, Bird and Cornstalk Rug. They examine the construction and images on the rug...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Before and After a Moment in Time
Think about a moment, frozen in time. Now take a critical look at the painting, Better, Homes, Better Gardens. This painting works to provide learners the opportunity to analyze art, critique artist's choices, and write a story inspired...
Curated OER
What's Outside the Window
What do your learners see when they look outside the window? This project lets their imagination go wild, and lets you see what kind of daydreaming they do best. They each draw, paint, and color an image of what they imagine as they are...
Norfork School District
Habits of Mind
Why do artists create? To solve a problem, of course. Young artists work individually and then in groups to create observational, imaginative, and narrative drawings in response to an assignment that requires them to employ all 16 Habits...
Tayasui.com
Drawing with Carl
Who is Carl? Carl is a little monster that will help your learners draw and create in any way imaginable. Get those kids to activate creative and imaginative thinking skills with a really fun app. There are endless options that can...
Curated OER
3-D Texture Painting (Impasto)
A neat art project is on the horizon. Your class can experience impasto, or textured painting with this expressive art lesson plan. They design and then paint using the impasto technique. This is done by mixing toilet paper into the...
Curated OER
Magazine Mosaics
Almost every teacher has a stack of old magazines lying around. Get creative and turn them into mosaics! That's right, this resource explains how kids draw, design, cut, and paste to create mosaic art from recycled magazines. Connect...
Curated OER
Imagining China Through Words
Middle schoolers create a drawing from a written description to examine images of China in European art. In this art analysis activity, students create a visual image from a written description of an object. Middle schoolers compare...
Curated OER
Art-itecture
Students envision their dream house. In this architecture lesson, students imagine their dream house. Students are encouraged to think about their family, lifestyle, and how they would like others to see them. Students make drawings of...
Curated OER
Lesson: Animal Journeys
Here is a great way to get the brain going. Children look at an image of the sculpture, Jar and then imagine what an animal would look like as it moved inside the sculpture. They then use clay and cookie cutters to create a...
Curated OER
Lesson: Uncovering a Mystery: Making a Hypothesis
The class is presented with an image of a hand-carved leg. They act as art historians and hypothesize as to the purpose, nature, and creators of this amazing wooden leg. They compose journal entries from the point of view of an art...
Incredible Art
Starry Night Interpretation
Young artists are encourage to develop greater imaginative freedom and post their impressions of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night in a series of activities based around the famous painting. Class members watch a film biography of van...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Humans and the Land
Art acts as inspiration for a conversation about human impact on the environment and creative writing. The class examines three pieces, looking for evidence of human impact on the landscape. They then write a first-person narrative, from...
Curated OER
Lesson: I Am the Wall
The Maya created amazing stone carvings and sculptures, but what were they for? Kids analyze the significance and purpose of a Maya stela and then write a creative piece. They imagine they are the stela, and write a story about what life...
University of Kansas
Newspaper in the Classroom
Newspapers aren't only for reading—they're for learning skills, too! A journalism unit provides three lessons each for primary, intermediate, and secondary grades. Lessons include objectives, materials, vocabulary, and procedure, and...