Curated OER
What Portraits Reveal
Young scholars examine how portraits can tell us more about people of the past than just what they looked like. They compare three portraits of U.S. Presidents, analyze portraits of Americans from the Revolutionary War, and write a...
Curated OER
I've Just Seen a Face: Portraits
Young scholars examine portraits for different images they project, cite three purposes a portrait can serve, analyze portraits of historical figures, and relate biographical research to portraits.
Curated OER
"The Beaches of Agnes": Planning a Video Self Portrait
Agnes Varda’s autobiographical “The Beaches of Agnes,” models for young filmmakers the cinematic self-portrait. Far from “old and plump,” Varda is a giant of filmmaking and will inspire your pupils. After watching a clip of this famous...
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Looking at Portraits: Literary Monuments
Examine artwork, research literature, and create art pieces for a monument to a literary figure. Young scholars analyze the sculpture Model for a Monument to Alexandre Dumas père and compare it to other well-known monuments. They...
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Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits: Grades 3-5
Learners explore the contributions of African Americans of the 20th century. In this African American history lesson, students examine portraits of Muhammad Ali, Romare Bearden, Lorraine Hansberry, Judith Jamison, and Leontyne Price in...
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Self-Portrait of the Artist
Students analyze the self-portraits by Pablo Picasso. In this art analysis instructional activity, students explore Picasso's direct self-portraits and symbolic self-portraits. Students complete image based discussion. Students create an...
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Self-portrait Projects
Teacher discusses drawing of facial features with students. They then research facial features of famous artists and children's illustrators on the Internet. Students then will create a self-portrait using paper and pencil.
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Portraits as Keys to History: Nathaniel Hurd, portraiture, identity
Students view portraits of Nathanial Hurd. They complete a worksheet and identify differences between the portraits. This lesson plan finishes with a visit to the "About Face" exhibit in the Memorial Art Gallery.
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The Stranger Redeemed: A Portrait of a Black Poet
Read and analyze poems by African-American authors. Using the text, they identify the various patterns, subjects, language and dialects used. Then team up to compare and contrast the various authors and define new vocabulary. The lesson...
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Looking at Portraits: Portraits in Line
Students use Van Gogh's Portrait of Joseph Roulin as inspiration for their own portraits for their friends. In this portrait analysis activity, students explore portrait art and analyze Vincent Van Gogh's use of line in his art. Students...
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Looking at Portraits: Literary Monuments
Students examine artworks, research literature, create drawings, and make a 3-D model for a monument to a literary figure. In this literary portrait lesson plan, students discuss and analyze the sculpture Study of a Monument to Alexandre...
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Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: Pictures of Royalty: The Imagined
Elizabeth Peyton is an artist who creates images of people (often famous) that she doesn't personally know. These images become part of her imagined community. Learners analyze her work, her community of imagined friends, and then create...
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Lesson: All in the Family
Who was the Radcliffe family? Young learners find out about the life and times of a family from long ago. They analyze the family portrait, write a story about the family, and then use their story to create thought or word bubbles which...
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Portraiture
Students compare portraits focusing on the artists' choices in medium, composition, and meaning. In this portrait analysis lesson, students analyze the art pieces for their medium, composition, and meaning. Students create a...
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The Artist at Work
Students analyze art pieces of Picasso and Diego Velazquez to consider artists self-portraits using their work tools. In this art analysis lesson, students complete introductory and image based discuss to consider how an artist chooses...
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Picturing Hemingway: A Writer in His Time
Designed to support a visit to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery exhibition “Picturing Hemingway: A Writer in His Time,” which ran from June 18, 1999 through January 2, 2000, the approach detailed and the activities included in...
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Breaking the Chains, Rising Out of Circumstances
Students investigate a sculpture from the 17th century. In this art history lesson, students examine Bust of a Man by Francis Hardwood and discover the meaning behind it. Students create their own portrait bust of somebody...
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Patriots and Loyalists
Students examine portraits by John Singleton Copley and discuss how the subject's appearance communicates important information about his or her life. They write a diary entry from the point of view of a portrait subject.
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Colonial Identity
Students research and discuss the origins of the American colonies and explore how colonists were still influenced by English culture. As a follow-up project, students produce a portrait of an individual.
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My Story and History: Peeking into the Past with Paintings
Consider how you can use a visual source, such as a painting, to learn about a historical time or event. Young learners discuss primary sources and how they differ from secondary sources, then analyze the painting Mother and Child by...
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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 activity. Critical thinkers explore and evaluate the work of contemporary artist, Elizabeth Peyton. They discuss her use of subject and art...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Concluding the Novel
As I Lay Dying is a beautiful book and a wonderful vehicle for understanding, interpreting, and comparing themes. The class reads and analyzes the novel, discusses possible interpretations, and characterizations. They compare the themes...
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Presidential Election 2000
Students examine the presidential candidates and their election platforms. They further analyze the platforms by creating a chart to determine which candidate most represents his or her beliefs and values.
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Portraits of History
Eighth graders research the Post-Revolution to Pre-Civil War era by investigating the life and contributions of a notable person. They create silhouettes which are framed with timeline. Also, they add the research information to the...