Washington University in St. Louis
Teaching Jazz as American Culture
Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...
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Flora and Fauna as Figures of Speech
What a lovely way to incorporate artwork into your language arts lesson. View artwork in illustrated manuscript pages, depicting insects, animals, plants, flowers, and ornate writing in the Getty Museum. Practice using figurative...
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Abstract Planes in Paper Sculpture
High schoolers create maquettes of abstract sculptures utilizing the elements of art; line, shape, value, color, space and texture and the principles of design; balance, emphasis, contrast, rhythm and movement, pattern and unity. These...
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Looking and Learning in the Art Museum
Pupils analyze art in a museum and write an essay about the responsibilities of museum professionals. In this museum and art lesson, students identify the roles of an art museum. Pupils evaluate the ability of a museum to fulfill its own...
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Neon Signs
Middle schoolers study a commercial art form and explore its historic and social meaning. They apply linear color to a shape, bending and forming the lines in much the same way a sign artist would form glass tubing. They design their own...
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African Ceramic Mask Making
Students investigate a variety of African mask types, design several masks, and create an example of an African ceramic mask in this 5th grade through High School Art lesson plan. The lesson plan can take anywhere from 6 lessons to 16...
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Literary Lingo
Students make connections between reading and writing. In this language arts lesson, students explore literary elements as they examine a number of texts and practice implementing figurative language into their writing.
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Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
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Problem Solved!: Design Solutions
High schoolers learn about charrettes. In this arts lesson, students use creative problem solving processes used by design professionals and then investigate the role of problem solving in the world of design.
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Novel Creation
Students create an alternate ending with digital animations to illustrate their text. In this novel creation lesson, students read a novel and analyze the plot in small groups. Students collaborate on an alternate ending...
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Techno Book
First graders explore language arts by utilizing educational software. In this storytelling lesson, 1st graders utilize Microsoft Word to create their own children's story incorporating images as well. Students proofread their creation...
National Gallery of Canada
Reading Symbols
Introduce your upper-elementary students to printmaking. Class members view prints, select and research symbols in a piece, and create their own sets of prints using styrofoam trays. Pupils can wash off the paint on their trays to make...
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Digital Photography
Scholars learn to use digital cameras to take pictures of natural subjects. They will examine the use of digital cameras, how to download photos, and to develop a digital project. They take nature pictures and develop a Power Point or...
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Scaffolding a Reading/Writing Lesson
Students explore pre-reading activities. Through looking at titles, and observing pictures, students predict what will happen in a story. They listen to a part of the story and then write their own conclusion. Students complete the story...
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Read Research and Report
Third graders organize information from fiction and nonfiction trade books to add to the understanding of a /curricular topic. They prepare oral presentations that reflect their understanding, show organization and include appropriate...
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What's That Habitat?
Fourth graders explore the environment by researching animal characteristics. For this habitat identification lesson, 4th graders utilize paper and crayons to illustrate their own habitats or homes and discuss what it contains that is...
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Reporting Live from the Twentieth Century
Students create a news story on one of the top 100 news stories of the 20th century.choose one past news event. They write a news story about that event, and provide a continuation of the story based on their research.
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Politics and Portraiture
Young scholars examine the art of artists who use portrait drawing to make a political statement. In this art analysis lesson, students discuss the elements of a portrait and view the portraits as political expressions. Young scholars...
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Cartoon-Truth or Tale
Students examine Nazi propaganda. In this Holocaust lesson plan, students investigate the power of symbolism as they examine Nazi propaganda cartoons and then create their own cartoons using propaganda regarding current events of their...
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Powerful Language
Students study word choice by authors. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read the book The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown and discuss with their classmates the importance of an author's words. Students...
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Where In the World Am I?
Learners identify their location in the world after studying latitude, longitude, relative location, and absolute location. They use assigned web site to find information to make a flipbook that answers questions about their location in...
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Picture This: Election Results Graphs
Learners use art supplies or a free online tool to graph election results. Students follow local election and results. Using "Create a Graph, a free online graphing tool, they make a graph of the results.
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Political Cartoons: Introduction to Symbols
Learners make a list of every day symbols they know of and write down what each symbol stands for. Then they are asked to help their knowledge further by considering all the meanings various symbols might have.
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Writing Folktales
Students consider the structure of folktales. In this writing skills lesson plan, students list the attributes of folktales that they read in class. Students then complete handouts based on the elements of the tales as well as types of...