Curated OER
Lesson Plan: A Bird's Tale
Who wouldn't love to get a letter from a blue bird? Elementary art enthusiasts analyze the social and historical context of Ason Yellowhair's Navajo piece, Bird and Cornstalk Rug. They examine the construction and images on the rug...
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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...
Curated OER
Hot, Hot, Hot, Cold
Learners dance the image of falling snow. They move, swing, fall, and rise to music working to depict snow falling, the sun, and high/low movements. This is a well-thought out lesson that aids them in seeing movement as a form of...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Finding Your Path
Our art often reflects who we are as individuals and as part of a larger community. The painting Hopi Eagle Dancer reflects the history and culture of the artists who created it. Critical thinkers analyze the piece and then compose a...
Curated OER
The Importance of Scribbling and Doodling
A series of six lessons that focus on the importance of journaling and sketching awaits your ninth graders. The lessons get into the intricacies of responding to life experiences and events, the creative process, and an exploration of...
Curated OER
Lesson: Emphasis on Exaggeration
His ears, head, and designs are all an exaggerated form of art. Learners examine a South American sculpture in terms of how exaggeration was used to convey meaning. They then work through the design process as they create similarly...
Curated OER
A Musical Composition Experience
Upper graders having skills in music performance will extend their abilities through creative musical composition. They'll use Finale 2000 to explore facets of music composition, they'll then compose a piece for their instrument in C, F,...
Curated OER
Humourous Head Planter Spike: Ceramics Lesson
What a great activity. Kids create humorous ceramic character (heads) spikes to enliven a planter. Modern art is full of expressive and exaggerated forms and your class gets to create them out of clay. This would be a lovely activity to...
Curated OER
The Ancient Art of Shadow Puppet Plays
Shadow puppetry has an ancient past, it is also a great way to build oral expression and reading fluency. Young thespians research folk tales, compare and contrast reality and fantasy, then create and perform a shadow puppet play based...
Curated OER
3-D Texture Painting (Impasto)
A neat art project is on the horizon. Your class can experience impasto, or textured painting with this expressive art lesson plan. They design and then paint using the impasto technique. This is done by mixing toilet paper into the...
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Crazy for Cubes: Art and Science
Learners discuss Sol LeWitt and conceptual art, then analyze the differences in expressing a concept through model-based inquiry and aesthetic art criticism. They develop a geometric, scientific, or mathematical concept, then create an...
Curated OER
Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: The Self in the Other's Image: Portraiture and Identity
Art, identity, and an imaginary community, three components that should make for an interesting lesson. Critical thinkers explore and evaluate the work of contemporary artist, Elizabeth Peyton. They discuss her use of subject and art to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Expressing the Inner Life of Things
Found metal objects were welded together to create an inspiring African sculpture. Learners consider the use of objects and the inspiration of African art seen in Picasso's work. They then find and create a scrap art sculpture, as well...
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Lesson: Sensing a Different Way
Problem solving and creative thinking are top priority in an interesting lesson. Learners explore how they can think creatively to use four common objects in three different ways, they discuss senses and using senses differently to...
Curated OER
Lesson: A Special Place
Everybody has a special place they like to go. I hang out on top of the fridge, for example. Upper graders analyze the painting Mountain Lake, in terms of technique, style, and imagery. They then write or draw a place that expresses...
Curated OER
Creative Writing: Children's Building Blocks
Your class can participate in a writing program involving four building blocks. By exploring words, sentences, writing forms, and story organization, they improve their creative writing skills throughout this year-long unit. Early in the...
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Graffitti
Here is a fun way to encourage a cooperative classroom, drawing skills, and creative expression. Each child draws a design or shape on his paper, then he rotates to the next child's paper where he adds to the previous design. When the...
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Dance: Water Dancing
Examine the way water moves, drips, and splashes with an expressive dance. Learners discuss the ways in which water moves, then create dance sequences that show or describe water. There are several suggestions to adapt this lesson to...
Curated OER
What's Outside the Window
What do your learners see when they look outside the window? This project lets their imagination go wild, and lets you see what kind of daydreaming they do best. They each draw, paint, and color an image of what they imagine as they are...
Curated OER
Lesson: A Spider's Perspective
A fun way to grow a class of creative thinkers, is to add creative projects to your weekly line up. Kids pretend they are small insects or spiders crawling up the side of a huge building. They use vivid imagery, rich detail, and their...
Teaching Tolerance
Buddy Share
Here's a project that gives academics the chance to share their opinions on social justice with storytelling, creative writing, or art. Scholars choose what they want to create and are assigned buddies to support their efforts. To...
Curated OER
Papier-Mache Masks
Read about, and then make culturally inspired masks. Learners watch the video, "Masks and Face Coverings," then design and make a mask with cultural significance out of papier mache. Tip: Have small groups research, write about, and make...
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Advanced Scribble Pictures
Scribble art allows learners of any age to problem solve in order to express their creative thinking skills. They create a simple scribble, then elaborate on it by adding color and shape. Full instructions and extensions are included.
Curated OER
Paper Clay Fish Sculpture
Why not get creative and use paper clay to create colorful fish sculptures? All the steps needed to complete this activity are included. Your class will sculpt beautiful fish while exploring color, shape, and creative thinking. Use these...