Teaching Tolerance
Consuming and Creating Political Art
A picture is worth a thousand words, but political art may be worth even more! After examining examples of political cartoons, murals, and other forms of public art, class members create their own pieces to reflect their ideals and...
Curated OER
We Are Unique - Yet Also Alike
How about four engaging lessons all related to bringing cultural awareness into the classroom through the arts? Sound tempting? Sixth graders will reflect on the art, storytelling, and music of various cultures, and how each transmits...
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Art of Ancient Civilizations
By studying the art of ancient civilizations, students can learn about the history and traditions of different cultures.
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Revive, Contemplate, Integrate
Students recognize flags as a symbol through writing and imagery. In this artifact lesson, students investigate Tibetan prayer flags and their significance. Students create personal prayer flags and write about their life experience of...
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Cross-Curricular Language Arts Lessons
Here are lesson ideas to begin integrating social studies content into the language arts classroom.
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The History of Art
Teachers can use these art history lesson plans as a way to get students to look at art in a new light.
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The Looking Glass: Artwork of Robert Harris
A series of 4 activities foster critical thinking, careful observation, and creative expression with the work of Canadian artist Robert Harris. Learners respond to half a painting and then to the whole picture while listening to a poem;...
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Granary Door Dogon, Mali
Pupils explore a creation myth. In this visual arts lesson, students discuss the Dogon creation myth and the design and make refrigerator magnets in the style of Dogan granary doors. The design of the magnets should include linear and...
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We are Reflections of Canada - Our People, Our Places, and Our Landscape
A series of four lessons on the places, people, and landscape of Canada. These excellent lessons should provide your charges with an increased understanding of the history and culture of Canada - the largest country in North America....
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Visual Literacy
Students focus on visual literacy in this lesson which can be incorporated to any previous lesson. Using images, they identify the visual elements and design in them and examining the various patterns present. In groups, they discover...
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Integrating Japanese Folk Tales into the Classroom Using Japanese Kamishibai
Young scholars study Japanese folk tales focusing on the traditional values and key elements. They compare the Japanese values with their own. They discuss Japanese art before designing a set of kamishibai on which they write a summary...
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The Built Environment-An Integrating Theme
Learners observe, record, and present knowledge of their local built environment while conducting a walking tour of their community. They develop written and photo journals, drawings, time lines, graphs, and charts to engage in...
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Egyptian Symbols: What story do they tell?
Learners create a stele to represent what symbols are the most important to them. In this symbols lesson plan, students learn about Egyptian symbols, and then put their own important symbols into model magic clay according to their size...
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Six Dynamic Designs for Arts Integrated Curriculum
Students create a recipe for a certain aspect of a culture. They create a culture that has never existed before. They analyze either dance, history, geography, history or the future of space exploration. They compare and contrast...
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Discovering Japan Through Cooperative Research
Search a variety of sources to create a multimedia or book project about Japan. Learners use the independent investigation method to plan and conduct research about Japan. They use the information they discover to create a computer book...
Public Media for Northern California
An Educator’s Guide to Teaching Gun Control Issues | The Lowdown
The topic of gun control is vast, controversial, and difficult to introduce to students. This gem of a resource covers both sides of the issue and provides topic background, various multimedia and print resources, analysis questions, and...
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Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt
Young scholars define vocabulary words prior to reading "The Most Dangerous Game" in this interactive language arts lesson that effectively integrates technology. This lesson requires internet access, a mobile computer lab, and an...
Smart Museum of Art
The Making of a Superhero
Thor, Loki, Iron Man, and Captain America. As part of their study of Greek and Roman gods and heroes, middle schoolers compare the characters in The Avengers to Greek counterparts. Individuals then create their own superhero, describe...
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Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
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Facial Studies Through Creation of a Face Jug
Students study facial expressions and create a face jug. In this facial study lesson, students look at images of face jugs through history before drawing thumbnails of facial images. They use the coil method to make a jug, and use a...
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Chinese Shadow Puppets
Learners explore the art of Chinese shadow puppetry. They create puppets, develop and rehearse scripts and perform a show in front of the class.
Japan Society
Our Family and Other Families: Using Totoro to Teach Family Structure
What do families around the world have in common? Explore this theme through the popular animated film My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki. Over the course of two days, pupils view the film, pausing to discuss their own families and the...
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Making a Colorado Brochure
Students create brochures reflecting the state of Colorado. In groups, they write about tourist attractions, important people, major cities, and statistical information. After writing, they create their brochure importing clip art and...
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Visual Elements in the Giant Kites of Guatemala: Shape, Rhythm, and Color
Young scholars view pictures of and discuss geometric shapes included in kites from Guatemala. They discuss the repetition of shapes and how that creates a motif. Students draw three concentric arches across their paper. They create a...