Engage little learners in this moderately developed three-lesson unit on the composer Camille Saint-Saens and his piece "The Carnival of Animals." Each lesson includes a listening, discussion, and an art project to engage your class in...

Students practice writing descriptions by researching various artifacts from ancient Egypt and writing captions for them. They read and discuss the Times article, King Tut, Museum Trailblazer, Begins Encore.

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...

Here is a lesson that incorporates music writing, and reading literature. The class reads chapter eight from the C.S. Lewis classic The Magician's Nephew. Then, just like in the story, they use music as inspiration to create (write)...

Students create a book about colors. In this exploring colors lesson, students read the book Hailstones and Halibut Bones. Students select a color and describe how the color looks, feels, tastes, and smells like. Students write down...

The opening of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit provides a model of how to use rich details to create a setting. After reading the description of Bilbo Baggins’ abode, young writers create their own magical home for a fantasy creature. The...

First graders utilize descriptive words to convey ideas in writing. After hearing the story, 'Rainbow Fish,' students create their own fish books. The books contain original writing and illustrations.

Students apply descriptive language to identify the five elements of art and the basic lines, geometric shapes, and angles in Marie Hull's, Sharecropper. They explain how the elements of a piece of work contribute to the story it tells....

Students explore the use of description in literature and color. They read Hailstones and Halibut Bones and discuss the description of each color. Students what each color makes them think of and they create pictures for each color.

Students review previously written essays, draw pictures of shapes, and write descriptive essays.

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.

Explore descriptive writing and visual art. Listen to the story Go Away Big, Green Monster by Ed Emberley and generate a list of adjectives used in the book. Name familiar shapes and create a shapes list. Choose an adjective and shape to...

Students practice descriptive writing by viewing auto-portraits of young children.  In this art analysis lesson, students examine an auto-portrait of their teacher as a young child and ask him/her questions about their youth....

Students determine which animal best represents them write reasons why. This is a nice culminating activity for students who have been working on descriptive writing.

Students analyze a work of art.  In this historical context lesson, students research the time period in which the art they observed was created.  Students consider differing opinions about a work of art. 

Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...

Take a trip down Pearblossom Highway with this lesson about comparing and contrasting. Using David Hockney's Pearblossom Hwy and another image of the same highway (photograph or other image), students compare and contrast the two...

Give your littlest learners the opportunity to learn how to discuss, observe, and visualize. First, they determine if the image they are looking at is a photograph or a painting. Then they work together to brainstorm words that describe...

"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...

Seventh graders explore the various elements found in the advertisement of a dramatic experience. Playbills are created that reflect the plot without revealing the climax of the play. Costumes, set construction, and character description...

A Venn Diagram is used to compare artistic and historical representations of a single event. Young analysts view the provided images, read textbook descriptions, and discuss the validity of each representation in terms of bias and...

Each color holds its own feeling and these feelings are used to describe the four seasons. Youngsters create a color palate based on the four seasons, assigning various colors to each season. They each create four clay tiles, painting...

Sixth graders create a descriptive essay and map describing their island paradise. They try to evoke the reader's senses: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting. They revise their paragraphs using their partner's feedback.

Fourth graders practice descriptive writing by describing a fictitious monster they created.  In this language arts lesson, 4th graders illustrate an image of a monster character they imagine and practice using their vocabulary to...