K12 Reader
Major Art Periods
After examining a brief article about the major art periods, readers use the provided graphic organizer to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in the paragraph.
Curated OER
Degenerate Art
A successful unit on art includes the subjects, goals, and messages of the works that are studied.
Art Authority
Art Authority K-12
Image field trips to museums that display over 1000 major works of western art. Imagine no airfare, no long lines, and only one admission fee. Imagine viewing at your convenience, with your own private docent providing information about...
Curated OER
Romantic and 20th Century Period Music
Upper graders explore the similarities, differences, and depth of pop music from the Romantic era and the 20th century. They listen to selections that exemplify the Baroque, Romantic, and 20th century periods, then create presentations...
Curated OER
Modern Art Lesson Plans
Students explore the history and examples of Modern Art. In this Modern Art lesson plan, students read background information about Modern Art and a biography of Andy Warhol. Students complete a criticism and aesthetics, art creation...
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi: Mixing Words and Pictures
Create meaningful illustrations to accompany stories in a web-based art and literacy lesson focused on "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The class takes a virtual art safari with the Museum of Modern Art and then discusses how...
Curated OER
Romanticism: Roots of Modernity
What were the changes in art during the Romantic period? The presentation starts by describing some of the common characteristics of Romanticism, and then several slides present examples from the era. Consider using this in an art or...
Curated OER
Celebrating Modernism at the A Century of Progress World's Fair
Students examine aesthetic movement known as modernism, discover why organizers chose modernism as World Fair's design pattern, interpret photographs of modernist fair buildings and identify artifacts that reflect modernist ideas, and...
Curated OER
Questions in Art History
This worksheet provides a wonderful scaffold for those learning how to analyze art in a critical and thoughtful way. It describes what art historians do, then requires learners to view and analyze one of the listed works. Twelve...
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Modern Visions
Students explore the many art movements considered to exist in the realm of 'modernism.' students explore, in pairs, key elements of different modern art movements and design posters presenting their movements.
Shakespeare in American Life
Performing Modernized Shakespeare
“All the world’s a stage…” What do Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, and Kenneth Branagh have in common? They have all starred in modern adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. After viewing a series clips from modern Shakespeare videos,...
National Humanities Center
Teaching The Great Gatsby: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
The 41 slides in a professional development seminar model how to use close reading techniques to examine the many layers of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In addition to passages from the novel, slides provide biographical...
Curated OER
Modernism: American Literature 1914-1945
What characterizes modern literature? The first few slides of this 31-slide PowerPoint discuss what sparked the change to Modernism and discuss some of the key figures of the time (like Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud). The 20s and 30s are...
Curated OER
Modern Drama
Upper graders can read all about the origins of modern drama. Each slide provides a paragraph of information related to key players, art movements, and time periods that shaped modern drama. It relates well to many aspects of literature...
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I Dig Your Art, Man (or Woman)
Twelfth graders write a thesis regarding a modern artist of their choice for a 15-20 multi-media presentation. In this lesson students create a Power Point, video, or some other visual representation studying an artist or modern artistic...
Curated OER
Finding Polygons in Cubist Art
Fourth graders explore geometric properties and relationships in a two-dimensional work of art. They first search for and identify polygons in a Cubist painting and then use polygons to create their own Cubist portrait of a classmate.
Classics for Kids
Composers Timeline
Take a quick tour through the last 350 years of music composition with an interactive timeline tool. As learners scroll through the years, they see which composers were born and working during the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern...
Art Institute of Chicago
Color Combinations
Explore color through an examination of pointillism and light. Class members view Georges Seraut's famous painting on a computer, zooming in and out to see the details and effects of the technique. They then cover how light and color are...
Curated OER
Modern Minstrelsy: Exploring Racist Stereotypes in Literature and Life
Satires may be designed to expose a bias to ridicule but if misunderstood can they reinforce that bias? Langston Hughes poem, “Minstrel Man” opens a discussion of racist stereotypes, the minstrel tradition, and the musical, “The...
Art Institute of Chicago
Lesson Plan: A Writer’s Odyssey
Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...
Curated OER
True Spin: Music
Upper graders take a critical look at art criticism, music, and politics. They watch one segment of "True Spin," produced by VH1 music television and then discuss myths that relate to art and music. Several modern songs are analyzed...
Orlando Shakes
Pericles: Study Guide
Everyone loves a great riddle, right? Everyone except for the characters in Shakespeare's Pericles, who will be killed unless they answer the king's riddle correctly. With the study guide, scholars use words coined by Shakespeare to play...
Curated OER
What Is Conceptual Art?
High schoolers research recent movements within modern art and discover how they have influenced one another. Using an artist, they examine the life and works of him or her. They define conceptual art and work together in groups to...
Curated OER
Play a Painting
Students examine music and art together and see the distinctive elements of each form. It can also demonstrate how their characteristics are interrelated. They create musical interpretations of two works of art.