Art History Lesson Plans

Students create a functional ceramic vessel inspired by the work of another artist from art history. A number of art history resources be provided as well as the Internet. They research outside of class for the written report.

Students examine the art of Impressionists. In this art history lesson plan, students research the art and artists of the Impressionism period and then identify the artist of significant Impressionism pieces. Students also try their hand at the artistic style.

Student groups create an art history timeline. They design collages to represent different periods of art throughout history, and recreate pieces from each era.

Students work together in groups to examine different periods in art history. Using the internet, they use a variety of websites to gather information, paintings, and scultures during the time period they are researching. They create PowerPoint slides and share their information with the class.

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.

Students investigate art history by researching a particular artist.  In this biographical instructional activity, students are given a brief summary of a artist's life and are assigned to create a report on the person.  Students create an outline based on family background, important dates and schools attended before creating a PowerPoint presentation on the artist.

Fifth graders examine the history and art of the Indiana artist Marie Goth. They create a timeline of events in Marie Goth's life and discuss historical events that happened during her lifetime. Students then view portraits and paintings by Goth, write five questions for an art history Jeopardy game, and add details to a face mask they have already created.

Students investigate works of art. In this art history lesson, students listen to a reading of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's, Seen Art?. They search the Internet for images of their favorite artwork which they print out and frame with Popsicle sticks. They write the identifying information for each picture on a note card before adding them to a classroom museum.

Students investigate a sculpture from the 17th century.  In this art history lesson, students examine Bust of a Man by Francis Hardwood and discover the meaning behind it.  Students create their own portrait bust of somebody they admire.

Students design a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate their understanding of portraiture art.  In this art history lesson, students gather information of portraits through history and discuss the artistic techniques used by making a multimedia presentation.