Arts Ed Washington
Art Lessons in the Classroom: Our Family
Blend art and family into one lesson with an activity involving oil pastels and watercolors. After viewing a few famous portraits of families, learners create masterpieces that represent their own families.
Curated OER
Haring Inspired CD Covers
Students create CD covers from their music-inspired drawing sessions. They compare what they drew while listening to classical, punk and rap music. They scan their drawings into Adobe Photoshop and design their cover.
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Something Fishy
Fourth graders study the Robert Harris works and modern photographs. They compare fishing in the past and the present. They use their knowledge of equivalent fractions to play a version of the game "Go Fish".
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Historical Witness - social Messaging
High schoolers examine and develop artwork that shows women's roles during different eras. In this women's role instructional activity, students look at artwork that shows women at work during the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth...
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Technology as a Design Tool for Abstract Artwork
Young scholars manipulate pictures using Adobe Photoshop and digital cameras to produce unique abstract works. This lesson can be modified to include a painting/mixed media element. State standards are addressed in this lesson.
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A Bug's Journey
Students examine the artwork of John Baldessari that was inspired by a 16th century drawing of a beetle. They analyze a drawing of a beetle, discuss the insect's characteristics, and write a story from the perspective of a bug. Also,...
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Self-Promotion
Students create "assemblage boxes" displaying representations of themselves and the importance they see in their own lives. This middle school level lesson emphasizes the art of American artist Sarah Goodridge who has success in the...
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Symmetrical Mummy Drawings/Mixed Media
Second graders explore Egyptian culture, including mummification, and hieroglyphic writings. They create their own mummy case using paper and a variety of materials. Students use symmetry to create their mummy.
Endangered Species Coalition
Endangered Species Day Art
Albrecht Durer created a highly textured stamp or print of a rhinoceros. To better understand which animals are near extinction, upper graders create similar prints of endangered animals they've researched. The six-day lesson includes...
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Lesson: Paul Chan: "Score for the 7th Light"
Music, art, and poetry coalesce in a single exhibition, and in a single lesson. Critical thinkers analyze the Fluxus art movement as it's seen in the work of Paul Chan's 7 Lights. They consider the use of poetry and music in his work,...
Sargent Art
Improvisation: Dada and Surrealism
Images of works by Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel, and Man Ray launch a study of Dada and Surrealism. After critiquing works by these and other artists, class members gather their own images and arrange them into a cohesive composition.
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Monoprint -Printmaking Challenge
Pupils produce a self-portrait series using a mono printing method.
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Choice of Media
Students view artwork that address issues of representational politics and political campaigns. They journal to describe political and social issues that are important to them. They create art work that represents an important issue in...
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Blick Liquid Watercolor
Introduce this abstract art to your class; they must chose ordinary classroom objects and shapes to paint with watercolors. The overlapping effect will create a fun, abstract piece of art!
Sargent Art
Resist Collage/Painting on Gesso Board
Young artists mix it up by crafting a resist collage painting on a gesso board, and in the process, learn how different media embellish and affect the surface of their work. After analyzing images of the works of Mary Todd Bean and...
Curated OER
Texture: Wild Things
Young scholars experiment with different kinds of marking techniques. They read "Where the Wild Things Are" and observe animals for pattern and line. They compare illustrations with Haring's images. They create a symbolic drawing of animal.
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Mixed Media Weaving
Students will demonstrate the ability to create the illusion of space by overlapping shapes.They will recognize the differences between art materials, techniques, and processes. Students will demonstrate the influence of personal...
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Calligraphy: Symbols & Signs - Visual Arts
Students research the forms and significance of calligraphy in traditional and contemporary Chinese society. They design a mixed media scroll on paper, developing symbols for use as calligraphic images. Students describe how selected...
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Interpreting Lao Design Drawing
Students identify symmetry as a word and concept using drawings. The instructional activity is cross-cultural using traditional Lao Art. The goal is to then apply the skills of symmetry to personal works of art that are produced.
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Communication - Found Art
Students describe the function of art in daily life in various cultures. They describe ways that works of art produce feelings that enable viewers to reflect on their own responses to art.
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Modern Art Styles of Matisse
Students study the history of Matisse as an artist and focus upon his influences upon the style of art that he was famous for. The learners perform research about the life and works. Then they create a work of art that is similar to the...
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Art--"Paper Pasting"--Doing Collage
In this art worksheet, students read a 1 page article on the history or art, prepare their background to making a collage, gather basic shapes, create their collage and then add in the finishing touches to them.
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Soft Sculpture Birds
Art can mimic life, and animals are always interesting subjects. Learners create large soft sculptures (stuffed) birds using paper, paint, and other basic collage materials. They view images of birds, and discuss bird traits and shapes....