Curated OER
Introduction to Ludwig van Beethoven
"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...
National Gallery of Canada
Urban Desire
Urban spaces are often overlooked and broken down. Offer your pupils the opportunity to reimagine an urban space. Learners examine and discuss works of art related to this theme and consider their own communities. Small groups then...
National Gallery of Canada
Morphosis
Experience anthropomorphism and metamorphosis in action with flipbooks! Instead of giving human characteristics to animals, though, pupils will show a transformation from human to animal or vise versa through their drawings. The...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Brain Inspiration
"Neuroscientists consider Cajal as important to their discipline as Einstein is to physics." The first of four lessons has scholars view Santiago Ramon y Cajal's drawings of neurons. They reflect and respond to the art through writing...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Percussive Pods
Combine the study of art, music, and history with an activity that asks kids to craft rattles out of slabs of clay.
Akron Art Museum
Storytelling Resist
The illustrations of Ezra Jack Keats in The Snowy Day inspire young artists to examine shapes in illustrations and to use these shapes to create their own watercolor resist painting.
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Mask Symmetry
When you engage learners in creating symmetrical objects you are also building their vocabulary and math sense. Kids discuss key words such as, asymmetrical, symmetrical, balance, tint, and shade. They use these elements of design to...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Painted Lockets
Painted, portable, pocket lockets encourage kids to display personal treasures and items they value. The activity, combining art with social and character studies, is perfect for any classroom.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Character Clovers
Build a classroom community with a instructional activity that uses character clovers to examine scholars' roles. Following a whole-class discussion, participants list four roles they play and accompany it with the character traits that...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Caution: Thin Ice!
Sixth graders listen to a story titled "Thin Ice!" then partake in a whole-class discussion asking and answering questions about what was read. Scholars brainstorm risky behaviors in preparation for a game of RISKO—a game similar to...
Classics for Kids
"Mars" from The Planets
Gustav Holst's The Planets provide young musicians an opportunity to examine how composers can create a suite: a collection of smaller pieces grouped to explore a single topic. After listening to "Jupiter," they examine "Mars" in...
Curated OER
Jazz In America
Students gain a fundamental understanding of the role of jazz in the Harlem Renaissance. They explain its historical significance and cultural implications.
National Gallery of Canada
Being a Photojournalist
Tell a story with images. Learners view several photojournalistic photos before agreeing on a message to convey with their own photo stories. In small groups, they take and select photos to include in their final project.
Channel Islands Film
Telling Your Own Story
After watching and discussing a video on the Voyage of Cabrillo, individuals craft their own origin story and design and build an artifact they feel best represents their history.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Goldilocks Revisited
After a read-aloud of the story Goldielocks and the Three Bears, scholars gather into small groups to answer a series of questions. Peers examine the idea of smart decisions and identify three feelings of characters alongside three...
Film Foundation
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: What Is a Movie?
Watching is not the same as seeing. Transform viewers from passive watchers to active students of film with this 34-page packet, filled with lessons and activities that use Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to examine the technology, the...
Lee County High School
Clay Animal Whistles
Investigate North Carolina pottery history by creating clay animal whistles, a traditional leisure activity in the region. They research a particular animal and jot down its attributes to include in their project. Find step-by-step...
Curated OER
Lesson: Unmonumental: Yesterday's News
Upper graders are tasked with developing a social consciousness as they analyze the impact of the news media. They view a presentation depicting various media events in order to understand threshold moments in history. There are three...
Curated OER
Documentarians of an Era: A Study of the Paintings of Thomas Eakins and Gustave Caillebotte
Students produce an object analysis of 'The Champion Single Scull'. They begin with description, proceeding to deduction, and finally providing speculation by interpreting the outward evidence of culture. They use a clipboard and paper...
Curated OER
American Indian Art
Student complete a month-long unit on the symbolic and practical reasons for American Indian artwork. They explore websites, discuss elements of design, create an Indian backpack, Kachina Doll, weaving, sand painting, and totem pole.
Curated OER
Using Oral Traditions to Improve Verbal and Listening Skills
Students examine the role of stories in African and African-American cultures. This lesson plan is written for students with visual impairments. They
Curated OER
Africa: Small Sounds From a Big Country
Students explore the music from Burundi, Zimbabwe, and Pygmy cultures. They listen to and discuss music from the African cultures, analyze the musical elements, write a song, and perform music.
Curated OER
Jazz it Up!
Students research the history and contributions of Jazz in their local environments. They then design and create a wide variety of presentations to share with the class using as many mediums as possible.
Curated OER
The Cotillion or One Good Bull is Half the Herd, a Black Arts Movement novel by John O. Killens
Students study late twentieth-century African American satirical literature as well as its cultural antecedents. they analyze and discuss, within the contexts of race and gender, the social criticism of the middle classes presented by...