Curated OER
Goli Mask Baule, Ivory Coast
Pupils create Goli masks. In this visual arts lesson, students design and create Goli and Kifwebe-style masks that feature symmetry in the style of those found on the Ivory Coast.
Curated OER
Creative Glass Casting
Students carve clay and create glass art. In this glass casting lesson plan, students use a kiln to fire up clay and make glass into the clay sculpture they created.
Curated OER
Egyptian Scarab Lesson Plan
Students explore scarabs of ancient Egypt. In this visual arts lesson, students discover the design and functionality of Egyptian scarab amulets. Students make their scarabs out clay that are etched with personal meanings.
Curated OER
Alphabugs
Students make bugs that feature letters of the alphabet. In this visual arts lesson, students use letters of the alphabet within pictures of bugs that start with the same letter. A game, a song, a craft, and a recipe are all included...
Curated OER
Basic Visual Language
Learners gain knowledge of the basics of visual communication. They are introduced to the three fundamental elements of visual language. Those are: camera angle, lighting, and compositions. Students video each other from different angles...
Curated OER
Fighting The Horse Race: Creating Ads Which Explore 2008 Presidential Candidates & Issues
What is advertising? What role does it plan in an election? Middle and high schoolers discuss advertising and its purpose by sifting through different magazines and discussing the products they find. Then they relate advertisements to...
Curated OER
Shapes to Forms
Here is a math activity that is really a visual arts activity in disguise! In it, pupils utilize their knowledge of geometric shapes and forms to create a detailed version of a cylinder. The instructions on how to go about the task are...
Curated OER
Paul Gauguin: Complimentary Color
First introduce your art class to the master, Paul Gauguin, then to the concept of complimentary colors. This slideshow provides a bit of background on the famous artist then walks kids through a step-by-step process intended as a study...
San Francisco Symphony
Beethoven's Sixth Symphony and the Expression of Feeling through the Arts
Here is an activity used originally to finish off a unit on country life and nature. It requires learners to have a basic understanding of harvest, rural life, and autumn. They'll use what they know to construct dance movements showing...
Novelinks
The Cure: Guided Imagery
Prepare class members for a discussion of Sonia Levitin's dystopian novel The Cure, by leading them on a guided imagery exercise designed to encourage visualization of written descriptions.
Curated OER
Fall Cubism Collage
Fall is an amazing season and leaves are fantastic subjects for artists to examine. Young artists use leaves to create fall collages using the rubbing technique.
Oglebay Institute
Post-Impressionism: Mosaic Still-life
A still life with tissue paper? Why not! Using Paul Cézanne's art as inspiration, learners create their own still life pictures by gluing various colors of tissue paper onto a paper or pattern.
Curated OER
Satchel Page
Bring a activity about Negro League Baseball to your Black history unit, or any other research unit throughout the year. While the lesson plan itself is simplistic, there are several good ideas that you could use, such as creating...
Achievement Strategies
CCSS Unit Design Template for Art
Art classes, like any lab class, require extensive preplanning and set-up time. Use this planning template in the quiet before the storm to identify the equipment and materials that will be needed, the procedures and processes...
Curated OER
Pastel Parfleche Pouch
Students investigate different types of Native American Art. They conduct research using a variety of resources. They create art that recreates the pastel parfieche pouch and then explain the meaning as part of a portfolio. The lesson...
Curated OER
Miraculous Milagros
Students investigate the use of Milagro charms in different cultures. They conduct research using a variety of resources. Students create a shape that is meaningful to them and then copy the charm of magic and explain its significance to...
Curated OER
Parisian Picnic
Students investigate the artwork and life of Paul Cezanne with the help of resources to find information about the Impressionist movement. They sketch a picnic drawing as a copy of Cezanne or use the principles to create an original idea.
Sargent Art
Picasso and Beyond!
After reviewing the life and art of Pablo Picasso, learners set out to create abstract, cubist, relief portraits. They'll draw, color, paint, and cut out portraits just like the ones Picasso created. The instructional activity is...
Curated OER
Jazz Exploration: A Collage Project
Middle schoolers explore and experience jazz through collage. They listen to improvisational jazz, discuss the origins of jazz, then design and create a collage that shows jazz being played. This project will result in amazing works of...
Sargent Art
Rainsticks
This rainstick instructional activity isn't just about making art; it's about understanding Native American symbols and culture. Kids read about the use of rainsticks and why specific symbols were used to decorate them. They then make...
Curated OER
Stewart's Boxes
Learners collect memorabilia and create shadow boxes in the style of David Stewart. They also compose a poem and explain their identity in an oral presentation. This is a rare lesson that works quite well for a variety of age levels.
Curated OER
Complementary Superheroes
Students discover the color wheel. In this color instructional activity, students find the primary colors, secondary colors, and contrasting colors. They look through the designs of super hero logos and create their own using what they...
Sargent Art
Color Value Study
I love geometric art because it applies mathematical reasoning to an artistic endeavor. Creative kids use scale values to highlight their complex, repetitive, geometric designs. Symmetry, angles, and congruence are three concepts that...
Curated OER
Make a Book Into a Movie
Turn your high schoolers into casting directors with this lesson, which focuses on turning a class novel into a movie. Choosing the cast for a movie based on a class reading, as well as designing a poster for the movie, helps young...