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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Stepping into the Past

For Teachers 6th - 12th
How have things changed from the past until now? Young art historians examine a screen painted in Mexico during the 1700s. They discuss the differences between a garden party then and now. They then write a journal entry about the party...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Lisa Signal: Altering Perspectives

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Kids make big artistic gestures, just like the abstract artist, Lisa Signal. They use her work as inspiration for making simplistic, abstract, statements in an artistic way. They analyze her work, then walk through an unfamiliar...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mind Your Mannerists-Understanding the Art of El Greco

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Kids become mini-experts on the Mannerist movement and the art of El Greco. They identify common elements of El Greco paintings and compare them to a work by Thomas Hart Benton. They use  four ways to examine art taken from the book,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Text Messages

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Can a neon sign be considered art? Kids consider two different works that use neon text as the basis for conveying artistic social messages. They then analyze a truism from Jenny Holzer's web site that holds meaning to them personally....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Creating With A Purpose

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Discovering the creative process can be done through critical analysis. Upper graders examine a hand -carved Shinto Deity, discussing purpose, technique, and artistic expression. They then read a poem about the creative process. and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Sensing a Different Way

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Problem solving and creative thinking are top priority in an interesting lesson. Learners explore how they can think creatively to use four common objects in three different ways, they discuss senses and using senses differently to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Urs Fischer: Reviving the Past Art Movements

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Seven major abstract art movements are analyzed by learners in groups. Each group analyzes various works by determining which work belongs to which movement. They then read Flatland, engage in an art and literary analysis discussion,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan: My Space

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Everyone has a special, personal space; here kids will create a collage that reflects that space. They analyze the painting Soup Tureen and Apple, review two poems, and then conceptualize a personal space through art. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Critical Listening: Music Vocabulary

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The school band or orchestra analyzes their own performance after exploring musical terminology. They listen to a classical piece and describe it using only words. They look up musical terminology and then use those words to compare and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Looking Closer: The Artwork of Shinique Smith

For Teachers 9th - 12th
A critical discussion regarding the nature of Shinique Smith's second-hand clothing art is the foundation for the activity. Critical thinkers fully analyze the meaning behind her work, taking close consideration of where the clothing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Mary Heilmann: To Be Someone

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Kids consider the pure abstraction and minimalism found in Mary Heilmann's work. They analyze several of her pieces through critical discussion and then think about her use of a song title as the title of her exhibit. Learners then use a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Storyboards: The Director's Map to a Video Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Class groups collaborate to produce the storyboard for their video project. After determining the sequence of scenes, the camera angles, and characters in each scene, each group member is assigned a number of scenes to illustrate. When...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan: What We Value

For Teachers 7th - 12th
How have values changed? How does our society influence our choices? Two great questions lead this discussion about food production, history, and cause-and-effect relationships. Pupils analyze a limestone relief from Assyria, research...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wiki Comment: The News and You

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Kids explore the world of news media by creating a wiki page. They will create a wiki page on the Internet in order to comment on and question the stories that take place in the world. They will practice creative writing by summarizing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan: Step by Step

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young authors examine a clay figure in order to learn about the 6+1 Trait writing process. They consider how the art was made or buit up step-by-step, they then write about a process in their own lives that occurs in a similar way. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan: Sensory Exploration

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Using their keen eyes and ears, learners build story observation skills which they will use to create sensory detail in their art. They note all of the things they observed on a walk, categorize them by sense, and then use the same skill...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The New York School: Action and Abstraction

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine the influences and similarities between the New York School poets and Abstract Expressionist artists. They analyze paintings and poems, and write original poetry.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sondheim: Voice of Cultural Change

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crafts, From Gallery to Classroom: Landscape Painting with James Palmersheim

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create their own landscape paintings. Students will learn various techniques to create an effective foreground, middleground, and background.
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Lesson Plan
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James Wyeth: Capturing Dance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students draw portraits of a dancer. In this visual-arts instructional activity, students study the work of James Wyeth online. They then watch a dance performance and sketch 10 - 15 pieces depicting dancers. Five of these sketches will...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Graphs of the Heart

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study Greek literature. In this Greek tragedies instructional activity, students explore the dance-dramas of Martha Graham. Students study the choreography that brings ancient Greek literature to life.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring the Expository Scenes in Macbeth

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the function of exposition in play structure. They will be able to develop multiple interpretations and visual and aural production choices for Shakespearean scenes and choose those that are most interesting.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get Your Mojo Workin': Part 1 Writing Your Very Own Blues Tune!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: David Goldblatt: Structures and Normativity, looking at Photography

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Art can be a vehicle for social change and cultural expression. Upper graders examine the art of photographer David Goldblatt, as it pertains to apartheid, South Africa, and the AIDS epidemic. Discussion questions and image links are...