Museum of Modern Art
Modern Art and Ideas
The Museum of Modern Art provides this educators' guide to Dada and Surrealism. Featuring the works of such artists as Jean Arp, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, and Meret Oppenheim among others, the guide is ideal for art history and...
Curated OER
Escape from Reality: Miro and Surrealism
Students examine the artwork of Joan Miro. In this art appreciation lesson, students research the life and work of Miro as a surreal artist. Students create their own surreal art as they follow Miro's techniques.
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.
Curated OER
The Surreal World
High schoolers explore the concept of Surrealism and how it can be expressed in various art forms. They next create a Surrealist collage, and engage in a Surrealist process to invent a title for their work. They critique a class...
Curated OER
Oh My Gosh, It's a Bosch
Students explore the art of Hieronymous Bosch. In this surreal art lesson, students look at paintings by the Dutch painter and then follow the provided steps to create their own surreal piece inspired by his works.
Curated OER
Stephen Crane - Surrealism and the Antihero
Students analyze the work of Stephen Crane as a lesson on surrealism and an antihero. In this surrealism lesson, students complete discuss activities for the topic. Students then analyze Crane's poetry, his use of surrealism, and the...
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!
Curated OER
Cell Art
Combine art and science with this cell structure assignment. Learners depict a cell diagram, including the organelles, imitating a specific artist's style.
Curated OER
Get Surreal
Students analyze and write text for audio guides about particular pieces of art from the Surrealism movement.
Curated OER
Surrealism
A study of the Surrealist Movement can lead students on an exploration of art, philosophy, and culture.
University of Arizona
Found News Poems
Combine informational text and creative writing with one fun activity! Middle and high schoolers write found poems based on newspaper headlines that they find. The resource includes a thorough lesson plan and many links to articles that...
Curated OER
Beginning with Bosch
Students explore surrealism through the artwork of Hieronymus Bosch. In this surrealism lesson plan, students understand the characteristics of the art of Bosch and create an original artwork and poem to go with it.
Curated OER
It's in the Cards
Students discover how art auctions have become competitive after reading an article from The New York Times. Students voice their opinions about specific examples of modern art and create trading cards based on their research of...
Curated OER
Bringing Surrealism into the Digital Realm
Young scholars write a three page article on two famous surrealist artist of their times. Then, they compare and contrast their similarities and document in the article website references used on footnotes. Students also use...
Curated OER
Let's Call It Automatic
Students write whatever comes into their minds quickly and extend that strategy to art. They draw whatever ideas come to mind and students create in a stream of consciousness style. They listen to different types of music while drawing.
Curated OER
Alice In Wonderland
Learners compare and contrast surrealist paintings to Alice in Wonderland. In this literature lesson, students examine surrealism paintings and apply those principles to Alice in Wonderland. They explore how the artists and author use...
Curated OER
Oh Picasso!
Students identify the painter Picasso as a famous Spanish cultural figure, name at least one of Picasso's painting styles and describe aspects of Picasso's Blue Period. They create their own Blue Period inspired work of art.
Curated OER
Surrealist Games
Students engage in a game of Exquisite Corpse. By looking at a painting by Ren?? Magritte and creating their own Surrealist "room," students further explore the Surrealist idea of placing common objects in unusual locations.
Curated OER
Abstraction-Critique of Art
Middle schoolers apply a four step critique process as they observe and make personal decisions about abstract artworks.
Curated OER
CD-ROManticism and Computer Classicism
Students assess the many benefits and drawbacks of reproducing works of art, such as sculpture and paintings, on CD-ROMs and on the Internet, as well as explore art history via these computer technologies.
Curated OER
No Bigger Than a Minute
Students view a video clip about ideas displayed through images. They work together to analyze paintings and complete activities. They discuss how media representation of an issue can affect one's viewpoint.
Curated OER
I Dream in Pictures and Words (Day 1)
Learners are introduced to the art of Rene Magrritte and Marc Chagall. Using the internet, they discover the characteristics of Surrealist artists and write a paper. They share their findings with the class and answer discussion questions.
Curated OER
The Aleut Evacuation: An Overlooked Injustice
Students read and complete activities about the Aleut tribe and Russian impact on the people. In this Aleut and Russian history lesson, students read a passage about the history between the Russians and the Aleut tribe. Students write a...
Curated OER
The Dream Getaway
Students observe images of amazing places, either real, or imagined by Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Ansel Adams. They think about a time when they wanted to escape and where they wanted to go. They draw their getaway and then...