Missoula Art Museum
Dance with Your Fingers, Draw with Your Toes
Pair dancing, music, and art into one elementary lesson. Using the work of Henri Matisse and Rudy Autio as inspiration, kids spend a few days listening to music that fits the moods of various pieces of art, then work on their own...
Common Sense Media
The Masque of the Red Death
Poe goes high tech with a lesson that asks high schoolers to use the internet and various apps as they read and analyze "The Masque of the Red Death." In addition to responding to comprehension questions in Quizlet, they use Minecraft to...
Curated OER
I Have A Dream - Pastel Drawings
Discuss the meaning of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, explore figurative language, and read about Harriet Tubman and her courage. After the discussion, learners analyze painter/author Jacob Lawrence's use of...
Curated OER
Figurative Slot Sculptures
Middle schoolers create 3-dimensional works of art in the form of slot sculptures. I love this lesson, because it exposes students to a completely different form of art. Everything you need to do to successfully-implement this lesson is...
Curated OER
Hand Drawing
Explore contour and shape with your class as they complete a hand drawing. This resource outlines important points to focus on as you teach learners of any age how to successfully draw a human hand using a contour or single-line...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - The Glass Eye and the Frog
What do a pair of stinky socks and a toy hamster have in common? The third lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl uses silly objects to teach about figurative language. Zany pranks and role play make for...
Curated OER
Horse Character: Ceramics Lesson
Animals oftentimes elicit various characteristics which make them symbolic or representative of human feeling, action, or emotion. The class creates horse characters out of clay to show character action and symbolism. This is a great...
Curated OER
Geometry Vases: Ceramics Lesson
Geometric shapes are used in math and in art. Learners discuss the various names, dimensions, and attributes of geometric shapes, then apply that knowledge to design a vase. They use 3-D shapes to make a cubist-style vase out of clay.
Curated OER
Portrait and Figure Drawing
Students investigate the self-portraits and figure drawings of famous artists such as Käthe Kollowitz, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt and others following their own attempts to create their expressive original drawings.
Curated OER
Sports Action Figure
Fourth graders identify art elements and design principles in art such as movement, unity, space and color planning.
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying special attention to...
Curated OER
Group Wall Drawing
Students create a group wall drawing that demonstrate the contributions that each part makes to the whole.
Curated OER
Figure Study: Lesson Six
This quick lesson outline is fun and useful in developing drawing skills. Learners complete figure studies of each other. A "runway" is set up at the back of the room, and peers take turns 'striking a pose' as they are considered as...
Curated OER
Personification Lesson Plans and Resources
This resource on personification provides three different approaches aimed at different levels. The first, appropriate for upper elementary, provides examples of personification, followed by an exercise that requires replacing a word in...
Curated OER
Abstract Figure Drawing
Young scholars observe different objects and create their own abstract figures. They are encouraged to be creative while listening to music and viewing different pieces of abstract art.
Curated OER
Paper Bag Butterfly Puppets
Whether you're using it to tell stories, explore the letter b, or during a life science lesson plan, these butterfly puppets will be a hit. Youngsters use crayons, tissue paper, and paper bags to create butterfly puppets.
Curated OER
Miriam Schapiro Action Figures Collage
Students create a background with a marbling technique. They plan and create a figure from assorted papers, mixing solids and patterns. Students glue the figure to the background, and embellish negative space with glitter.
Curated OER
Haring Style Drawings
Young scholars recognize the characteristics of a Keith Haring artwork. In this Keith Haring artwork lesson, students draw a picture and outline with oil pastel in the style of Keith Haring. Young scholars answer questions about the...
Curated OER
Ellis Wilson: An Elementary School Art Lesson
Students study the life of Ellis Wilson. They examine the use of simple shapes when drawing human figures. They examine how to incorporate pattern into a background setting.
Curated OER
Portrait and Figure Drawing
Students practice their drawing skills. In this drawing skills lesson, students complete a self-observation drawing activity and then 3 methods of figure drawing.
Curated OER
What Shapes Can You See?
Students investigate shapes in art. In this visual arts lesson, students examine the ancient Panamanian "Plaque" and identify the geometric shapes in the art piece. Students combine basic shapes to make an artistic picture of their own.
Curated OER
3D Paper-Edge Figure Sculptures
Young scholars discover visual arts by creating sculptures in class. In this personal expression lesson plan, students research the Internet and examine different examples of modern sculptures and 3 dimensional art. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Life size figures - Moveable Murals
Students create life-size human figures and decorate them in a collage style with torn colored pieces of pictures from magazines. They display them around the school, creating life-size murals.