Curated OER
Seeing Words in a New Way
What's the best resource to use when looking up words? Use Visual Thesaurus to see a word's meaning. The class accesses the interactive website and then compares and contrasts the difference between using a traditional dictionary and the...
Curated OER
Whose Afraid of Contemporary Art?
Have your class create original modern art sculptures. Learners analyze and discuss "The Profile," a sculpture by Martin Puryear. They work in teams to develop a proposal for a large outdoor sculpture in the community. Presentations...
TED-Ed
A Brief History of Religion in Art
Did you know that some languages have no word for art? The English language does and the narrator of this short video discusses the aesthetic dimension of religious art as it "visually communicates meaning beyond language."
Curated OER
Improve Your Spelling with the Visual Thesaurus
Using Visual Thesaurus software, class members participate in a computer-based spelling bee. Then they work in groups to analyze the words and use deductive reasoning to infer spelling patterns. They then present one of their "rules" to...
American English
Welcome to the Color Vowel Chart
Focus English language learners' attention on word stress and phrase stress with a pronunciation chart that breaks the sounds into moving and non-moving vowel sounds. The chart tool uses colors and key words to indicate where to put the...
Denver Art Museum
Putting Images into Words
Engage your class in art analysis of Indian Look-Alike by Melanie Yazzie. Using this work of art as inspiration, writers compose a poem or short story. After a peer review session, the teacher conveys information about the work of art as...
Curated OER
Transition Words and Phrases: Road Signs for the Reader
Therefore! However! Furthermore! Explore the power of transition words and phrases. Signal your readers by suggesting the relationship between different thoughts or points. Help them demonstrate an understanding of word relationships.
Curated OER
Word Wake
Put your common writing errors to rest with this resource, which prompts high schoolers to create eulogies and tombstones for overused and incorrect words. They work on correcting common errors in spelling and usage mistakes in their own...
Curated OER
Portraits, Pears, And Perfect Landscapes: Investigating Genre in the Visual Arts
Differentiate between the various genres in the visual arts world, particularly in Western painting. Your class can view and discuss, in small groups, paintings published on the National Galleries website. Then each student individually...
Curated OER
Understanding and Fighting Stereotypes through Words and Images
Use some provocative modern art to get your class considering stereotypes and the impact they have on us all. Your class will discuss the print art Indian Look-Alike by Melanie Yazzie and stereotypes in general before conducting research...
Curated OER
The Visual Thesaurus and the SAT
Demonstrate strategies for tackling unfamiliar vocabulary words in preparation for the SAT. Using Visual Thesaurus computer software, middle and high schoolers interpret contextual clues, solve sample sentence completion questions, and...
Curated OER
"Rapper" Art
Turn your recycled wrappers in "Rapper" Art with this creative lesson plan! Your class will create a collage using wrappers. They will also create a print plate of words or phrases to go along with their project. What a great way to...
Curated OER
Art Journal
What a wonderfully creative way to have your class create a class journal. Learners use a variety of materials to design an art journal using collages, drawings, and paintings. An interesting and motivating variation on traditional...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Art Journal
Here's a prescription for creativity—keep a daily art journal. Words, images, shapes, objects, all can be used as prompts that exercise the creative imagination. Set aside a couple of moments each day for this engaging activity.
Curated OER
Blue Ribbon Readers: Visualizing
Introduce young readers to the comprehension strategy of visualizing by asking them to think about a place that makes them happy. After illustrating or using words to describe this place, the class moves on to an interactive game using...
Denver Art Museum
Lesson: What are Words For?
Words are everywhere in our lives, and our culture shapes how we understand them. Examine the use of words and their impact on society by first examining a word-inspired art piece, and then by creating a thoughtful word-inspired collage....
Curated OER
Should Art Be for Art's Sake?
Students examine how European-America aestheticians (philosophers of art) do not all agree about the value and definition of art. students examine how some cultures do not have a distinct word or definition for art.
Curated OER
Writing About Art: Subjective vs. Objective
Explore objective and subjective writing in this interdisciplinary lesson, which brings language arts and visual art together. Middle and high school students examine the sculpture Head with Horns by Paul Gauguin. They then analyze the...
Novelinks
So Far from the Bamboo Grove: Visual Vocabulary and List-Group-Label
To make vocabulary words drawn from So Far from the Bamboo Grove memorable, class members select a word from the provided list and incorporate this word in a joke, story, or performance.
Curated OER
Picturing America: Images and Words of Hope from Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes
A carefully crafted three-day instructional activity integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The...
Curated OER
Art in the Mail
The "mail art" phenomena was started back in the 20's with the Dada and Fluxus art movements and revitalized in the 60's. The principle of mail art, is free exchange and artistic expression. Learners study these facts and then create...
Curated OER
Magic Words, Magic Brush: The Art of William Butler and Jack Yeats
Students explore the influence of the landscape of Ireland on shaping the poetry of William Butler Yeats. They work in groups researching the growth of the Irish Nationalist Movement, Celtic origins, invasions, and the impact on the...
Curated OER
Juxtaposed Art
Students draw on a memory to create a photographic art work. In this juxtaposed art lesson, students study the work of Dinh Q. Lé. Students illustrate contrasting photos to conveys a specific purpose. Students learn to understand how...
Curated OER
Play on Words Design
Students create a design of an image that combines two words to create an unusual visualization. They improve their drawing skills by completing a detailed, colored pencil rendering of the "Play on Words" they design. Using technology...