Curated OER
Landscape: Birch Tree Land
Birch trees are wonderful subjects to paint. Here are the instructions needed to show your class how to paint a birch tree landscape that includes spatial logic such as fore, middle, and background. All you need to do is provide...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Step Inside the Brain
Before digital microscopes, scientists hired artists to draw the things visible in the microscope. Through training in neuroscience and art, Cajal revolutionized the way we view the beautiful brain. The third lesson in a series of four...
Washington University in St. Louis
Teaching Jazz as American Culture
Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...
Curated OER
Animals in Art
Second graders demonstrate visual awareness by listing seven to nine types of animals shown in the artwork on the tour. They draw three types of textured lines or patterns shown in the tour artwork and model an imaginary animal using clay.
Curated OER
Heroes Portrait
Eighth graders investigate art appreciation and Renaissance portraits through time. They create a portrait.
Curated OER
The Basic Shapes of Everything
Students explore basic shapes in art. In this sketching lesson, students discover that art is created from basic shapes. Students determine the basic shapes in a picture and recreate the image.
Classics for Kids
Hurry Up – Slow Down
Is your music appreciation class feeling a bit adagio this afternoon? Pick up the pace and get them feeling andante with a straightforward music theory activity. After defining several terms for musical dynamics and musical tempos,...
Curated OER
Birch Bark Biting
Fifth graders create birch bark biting art pieces. In this aboriginal art lesson, 5th graders produce art using birch bark. Students present their art pieces and explain their designs.
Curated OER
Art Appreciation
Students explain that everyone has their own opinion about what they think is good art. They study images, then put a heart behind the one they like the best, the least and the one they think their mom or dad would like.
Curated OER
Combining Words with Art
Third graders make an accordion-fold book, review the vocabulary of visual art and are introduced to calligraphy. They plan a story using a sequence of words and sentences.
Curated OER
Northwest Native American Art
Eighth graders first study the art of the U.S. Northwestern Coast Native American peoples. They select an image or make their own and make a drawing and then make a 6-inch linoleum block print.
Curated OER
Parts of Art
Young scholars define and use new vocabulary associated with the elements of art. As a class, they brainstorm different ways in which we communicate with one another. In groups, they view different pieces of art from the Native American...
Curated OER
Learn Under the Old Masters
Students take a closer look at portraits. In this art appreciation instructional activity, students may visit the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria Art Gallery, or the Scottish National Portrait Gallery online or in-person to...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Historical Context: Discovering a Painting
Class members are presented with the image of a painting and asked to record their first impressions and analysis. They then research the time period in which it was painted and discuss how their research impacted their first impression...
Curated OER
The Talking Stick
Students examine the lives of the Aboriginal peoples of Saskatchewan. In this talking stick lesson, students discover dance, art, music, and traditions of the First Nations people. Students design and create a talking stick to represent...
Curated OER
Islamic Art; Exploring the Visual Arts of the Middle East
Students create a monogram, based of the idea of a Turkish Tughra. They examine the connection between writing for communication and writing as an art form. They explore the vocabulary related to the use of art media in the classroom.
Charanga
Sing!
Whether new to the Kodály Method of music instruction or an experienced veteran, you'll find much to make your heart sing in a teacher guide that was designed for a music appreciation project.
Curated OER
1920s Variety Show
To better understand the cultural achievements of the Harlem Renaissance and become familiar with its major figures, class members examine a painting by Aaron Douglas and a poem by Langston Hughes and compare how the artists develop...
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Immigration Appreciation
Readers of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner engage in a simulation designed to give them an appreciation of the immigrant experience. Kids must finished the assigned task or face deportation.
Curated OER
Writing Through Art
Examine the works of visual and performing artists with upper graders. Using the works, they identify the comparisons among the techniques used. They will also review the six traits of effective writing and keep a writing journal...
Curated OER
The Role of the Museum
Museums play an important role in education and preservation of historically and culturally significant information and artifacts. Develop an appreciation among your learners for the scope and depth of work it takes to run a museum. They...
Curated OER
National Gallery of Art: Prinz Friedrich von Homburg: Ein Schauspeil, 3x
Students explore the work of Frank Stella. For this art appreciation lesson, students look at images of the sculpture Prinz Friedrich von Homburg: Ein Schauspeil, 3x and discuss it as a work of art. This lesson includes two simple...
Curated OER
Dali & Desnos
High schoolers explore surreal art and poetry. In this visual arts instructional activity, students examine works by André Breton, Robert Desnos, Salvador Dalí, and Joan Miro. High schoolers then apply the techniques in the works they...
Curated OER
Looking and Learning in the Art Museum - Lesson 1
Explore the artistic elements in artworks with an original and reproduction instructional activity. As learners recognize the difference between an original and a reproduction, they discuss the artist elements used in the reproduction.