Curated OER
Performance into Art
Students explore two works of art of performance art. In this performance art lesson, students analyze performance art in the examples of Yves Klein and Joseph Beuys. Students complete image based discussion activities. Students research...
Curated OER
What Is Your Gripe?
Students discuss historical examples of social injustice and identify perceived social injustices today. They share incidents in their lives when they confronted such experiences.
Curated OER
The Art of El Anasui: Creating a Mural with Discarded/Recycled Objects
Students create murals that feature recycled objects. In this West African art instructional activity, students examine artwork by El Anatsui and his commentary on social issues. Students then create murals in the style of El Anatsui...
Curated OER
The Paper Dress - Circa 1968
You won't believe your eyes when you see these dresses made out of paper. Students create paper dresses by modifying a pattern provided by the teacher, and decorate the dress using 1960's style art. What a fantastic and motivating...
Incredible Art
Historical Narrative Using Silhouettes
Connect art and history with a series of activities inspired by the work of contemporary artist, Kara Walker. After watching an Art 21 video about Walker and examining the images in a PowerPoint presentation, class members use...
Curated OER
Back to School: Style Analysis
Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...
The New York Times
Big Brother vs. Little Brother: Updating Orwell's 1984
Government surveillance is an enduring conflict that has become increasingly complex with our nation's use of technology. Add to the understanding of Orwell’s 1984 by using the resources here that display the contemporary actions of Big...
Curated OER
Lesson: Storyboarding Revolution
Kids consider revolution as a basis for creativity, art, and storytelling. After reading an excerpt from the book, Persepolis, learners choose one event from any world revolution to write about. They storyboard the event focusing on...
Shakespeare Uncovered
All the Globe’s a Stage: Shakespeare’s Theatre
“All the world’s a stage,” exclaims Jaques in As You Like It, but it is the structure of the Globe stage and how that structure influenced Shakespeare’s plays that is the focus of an on-line research project. Class members visit a series...
Shakespeare Uncovered
War and Leadership in Shakespeare’s Henry V
“Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” These two views of war, embodied in George Patton’s statement and Lorraine Schneider‘s famous 1966...
Curated OER
Let Pharady Enjoy Her Childhood
A thought-provoking lesson which will provide your 5th graders with a world view. Pupils discuss children's rights here in the US and around the world, and do some comparisons. They watch a video, embedded in the plan, that shows a young...
Curated OER
Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum
Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...
Curated OER
A Sign of Their Times
Students identify the social climate that created the terms Degenerative Art and Fascist Aesthetic. They also identify how and why certain artists' artwork fell into these categories. Students recognize and discuss the Expressionist...
Curated OER
What is Canadian?
Learners explore how artworks can become symbols of national identity. They examine and analyze Song of the Nations, a site specific sculpture by Quebecois artist Armand Vaillancourt that expresses his views of Quebec's position...
Curated OER
And Then One Night, The Making of Dead Man Walking: Classroom Content
Students examine how art and music help to define and unify a social movement and also how they can function as symbols of protest. They watch KQED program And Then One Night: The Making of Dead Man Walking and discuss what happens when...
Curated OER
Pop Turned Art
Students study the art of Andy Warhol and consider the line between art and life. They create their own artistic renditions of popular culture themes and images in order to explore their influence on our lives.
Asian Art Museum
Defining "Home"
Open-ended dialogue and guiding questions lead children through a discussion about the relationship between physical objects and personal identity. They analyze the work of two contemporary Japanese artists who have use their mediums to...
University of North Carolina
Anthropology
Anthropologists ask the question that everyone wants answered: what does it mean to be human? An online handout provides a brief introduction to the study of anthropology and outlines three common types of anthropology writing...
New Museum of Contemporary Art
Lesson: Unmonumental: Fallen and Disappearing Monuments
Due to vandalism, war, and urban decay, many of the world's great monuments have fallen to ruin. Here is an interesting instructional activity that increases understanding of the dichotomy between what are intended as lasting tributes,...
Curated OER
What Is The Challenge? Manet
Young scholars create a contemporary presentation in which they internalize the information concerning Manet.
Curated OER
Common Good in Aztec Culture What Is Sacrifice?
Young scholars examine contemporary examples of sacrifice while listing the reasons and benefits of these acts. They discuss the idea of when a sacrifice is a violation of human rights. They write a personal goal to make a small sacrifice.
Curated OER
Saving Bambi
Eighth graders read two articles about what is being done with deer dangers. They react to the stories read. They are reacting to if deer should be shot or not to help cut down on the many dangers they impose.
Curated OER
High Anxiety
The Learning Network section of the New York Times produces high-quality teaching materials. This issue gets middle or high schoolers reading an article about how people use art to express their response to high-stress events. They work...
Curated OER
Contemporary Japanese Relief Printing
STudents identify and interpret relief printing and that the art of printing is not only an ancient art in Japan but a contemporary one as well. Students identify who Fumio Fujita is and his artworks.