Curated OER
Rhythm and Art: Elements of Art
Students discover the three elements of art. In this visual arts instructional activity, students examine line, shape, and color of works by Torres-Garcia and Picasso. Students then identify the elements of art in works by other artists.
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 young scholars examine the sculpture Head with Horns by Paul Gauguin. They then analyze...
Curated OER
Art of Illustration: N.C. Wyeth and Literacy
High school artists observe and research the illustrations and techniques of N.C. Wyeth. They read (and reread) stories and illustrate the texts using methods inspired by Wyeth's practice. Includes detailed instructional plan and useful...
Curated OER
Exploring Our Cultural Heritage Through Art
Students research the art of selected cultures. In this visual arts lesson, students compose essays after they conduct independent research on the art of a culture. Students also create art proposals that feature the attributes of the...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Shaping Ideas: Symbolism in Sculpture—Lesson 2
Young artists create a series of sketches of ideas for a sculpture, and using the criteria develop in the previous class, critique their sketches. They then choose one of their ideas and create their work of art.
Curated OER
Mind Your Mannerists-Understanding the Art of El Greco
Kids become mini-experts on the Mannerist movement and the art of El Greco. They identify common elements of El Greco paintings and compare them to a work by Thomas Hart Benton. They use four ways to examine art taken from the book,...
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...
Curated OER
Picturing America: Images and Words of Hope from Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes
A carefully crafted three-day lesson 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 lesson activates...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Visual Aural Impressions
Students view a piece of impressionist art, listen to a piece of jazz music and then write a piece about the picture in the style of beat poets. They compare their writing and look for differences in their perceptions.
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing: Using Art to Inspire description
Write with the senses! Try using art to inspire writers to consider all of the senses. Here, the class is divided in half. Each group looks at one of two images, imagines the senses that would be engaged, and records answers to five...
Curated OER
Visual Puns - Paper Mache Sculpture
Explore the pop art movement and create a sculpture in the pop art style based on a visual pun, or play on words. The scholar's work may use humor, allegory, metaphor, or be in the form of a parody. Visual examples are provided, and some...
Curated OER
Japanese Tea and Teacups
Upper graders use the potter's wheel to make Japanese style tea cups, which they will use in a Japanese style tea ceremony. They hone their sculpting techniques while exploring Japanese cultural and the history of tea. There are two...
Curated OER
Connected by Art
Students inspect visual arts by exploring images on-line. In this art analysis lesson plan, students discuss the history of art and the its ability to communicate with people through images. Students utilize pencils and charcoal to...
Contemporary Arts Center
Mughal Miniature Paintings: Pattern Transformations
What is the artist's role in the post 9/11 world? How do artists use imagery to convey meaning in their work? After examining the work of Mughal artist Imran Qureshi, class members create their own work that uses combative imagery to...
Curated OER
3D Paper-Edge Figure Sculptures
Learners discover visual arts by creating sculptures in class. In this personal expression lesson, students research the Internet and examine different examples of modern sculptures and 3 dimensional art. Learners utilize paper stock,...
Curated OER
Agriculture Awareness Through Poetry
Whether you are viewing a landscape painting of a farm, examining a still-life portrait of a bowl of fruit, or reading a descriptive poem about cultivating food, you can't deny that agriculture plays a major role in visual and language...
Curated OER
Sports Action Figure
Fourth graders identify art elements and design principles in art such as movement, unity, space and color planning.
Curated OER
Heroes Portrait
Eighth graders investigate art appreciation and Renaissance portraits through time. They create a portrait.
Curated OER
Writing about Art:Comparing Portraits
Students compare and contrast an academic and Impressionist portrait. For this art history lesson, students look at two different styles of painting and write a paragraph as if they are the subject in the painting. They compare and...
Curated OER
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Pupils study paintings and use their knowledge of story elements to analyze the art. In this art analysis lesson, students review a novel for its elements. Pupils study the image At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance and discuss the story...
Curated OER
Art and Influence of Theatre
Students examine an 18th century drawing and produce a skit based on the drawing. In this art analysis lesson, students analyze the story depicted in a drawing and create a skit inspired the scene. Students research the 18th century...
Curated OER
Looking and Learning in the Art Museum
Young art historians review the elements of art by studying a reproduction of a work of art from a museum visit. They explain the difference between looking at a reproduction of a work of art and looking at the original using their...
Curated OER
Jazz in America Lesson Plan 6
Students survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.