Curated OER
The Surreal Deal
Students examine the art-historical contexts used by Salvador Dali and identify examples of them. They explore surrealism by playing the game Exquisite Corpse, automatic writing or drawing, and dream illustration. They tour the Dali Museum.
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You Call That Art? - Activity 1
Learners formulate a definition of art in the introductory lesson for a unit on various art forms. The learning emphasis is placed on Oregonian artist Duff Severe and reflective writing. Young scholars compose an essay describing various...
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Holidays Around the World
Students explore how different holiday traditions are celebrated around the world. Scholars write a paper describing how they celebrate their own favorite holiday. Email partners, from different states and countries, share their...
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Creating a Commercial
Students investigate the world of advertising and video production by creating their own commercial. In this advertising lesson, students discuss a fictitious product which they create an advertising campaign for. Students...
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Cole Porter: You're the Top
Students watch selected film clips about Cole Porter and discover his uniqueness. In groups, they research associates of the Porter's and present reports on them. Then, they write position papers on prominent people of the Jazz Age. ...
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Visualizing Jazz Scenes From the Harlem Renaissance
Students identify themes of selected nonfiction, fiction, poetry and art to Harlem Renaissance jazz and describe the impact of jazz on African-American literature of the Harlem Renaissance
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Faces of the Past: Boys in the Civil War
Students investigate the role of boys during the American Civil War. In this Civil War Research lesson, students study the contributions of young Union and Confederate men to the war effort. Students also make...
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Comparing Cultural Holidays
Third graders explore art that reflects their cultural background. In this writing and research lesson students compare and contrast the Halloween with El Dia de los Muertos. Students study the visual art of these holidays. Then students...
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Sew, You Want To Quilt?
Students become familiar with the achievements of the artist Faith Ringgold. They take notice of the patterns in their environment. They connect the mathematical concept of patterns to create a class quilt.
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A Personal Narrative on the Immigration Experience
The students create a personal narrative on their experiences with immigration. In this lesson, students are asked to read and understand examples of narrative writing as well as evaluate lyrics from Ben Folds Five to determine elements...
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Diego Rivera: Art as the Universal Language
Students analyze the work of Diego Rivera. They participate in a class discussion, critique various paintings, write a short story based on a Rivera mural, and create a class mural.
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My Place In Time
Sixth graders interpret Franklin's style, his ease of writing and content, using this to inspire, motivate and guide them to do more writing. They list Franklin's civic accomplishments and political accomplishments. They name 4...
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A Differentiated Way through Think Dots
Young scholars examine reasons that led people to explore, identify "West" as defined following Revolutionary War, explain importance of finding natural resources, develop time line of dates and events leading up to Lewis and Clark...
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Cultural and Historical Meaning: Little Johnny Brown
Learners perform a folk dance and discuss its cultural and historical meanings. They review the dance and perform it, beginning with four individuals who dance with confidence right from the start.
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Celebration and Satire- Beginning Level
Students examine art elements in a late-19th-century self-portrait painting. In this visual arts lesson, students analyze the painting "A Centennial of Independence" and identify the color, shape, and symbols in the art piece. Students...
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American Indians
Students research early Indian adaptations in this lesson. They research the different American Indian tribes. They also research and compare the tribes' rituals, daily lives, and their impact on the Europeans who came later to the...
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The Many Faces of Paul Robeson
Young scholars discuss and construct timelines based on the life of author/performer/Civil Right's activist, Paul Robeson. They view photographs of him at various times in his life and discuss the roles he may have been playing at those...
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Early Industrialization
Eighth graders analyze primary source documents emphasizing young people in factory labor (mill workers during 1840-1860). They study hours of labor, ages of laborers, reasons for working, and working conditions. They write a poem or song.
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Sing Out Loud: The Slave Spirituals Historical and Cultural Implications during Reconstruction
Students identify, summarize and present facts about cultural, educational and political inequalities of Reconstruction, explain hidden codes of slave spirituals and their importance in slaves' communication, and create poetry based on...
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Overcoming Censorship Through Art
Students create an art piece that expresses their opinions while circumventing hypothetical government restrictions in this lesson on art and government censorship. Emphasis is placed upon historical instances of censorship around the...
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Electricity's Attraction
Students explore the different features of a roller coaster using an interactive website. In this physical science lesson, students explain the role of science to make this thrill ride possible. They develop a creative presentation about...
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Creating Characters
Learners identify simple pictographs and ideographs from Chinese writing. They create their own images, and combine characters to communicate ideas to one another, introducing basic foundations of how elements of the Chinese writing...
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Our Family and Age
Start by playing a song about numbers. "Sing, Dance, Laugh, and Eat Quiche" is suggested. Then, start counting things around the room. Introduce yourself, and have kids start to introduce themselves when they catch on to the vocabulary....
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Disco - Voices of a New Generation
Students analyze lyrics of selected Disco songs for content, theme and vocabulary. They write an extended response citing specific lyrics in response to three general themes.