Introduce your class to the seven elements of art through a presentation and related project. Before beginning the project, class members take notes on the presentation, writing down the underlined items and adding drawings into their...

Is there a difference between examining an original work of art and viewing a reproduction? Class members are asked to reflect on this question after researching a piece, study a reproduction of it, and the examining the original in an...

Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.

To prepare for a field trip to a local art museum, art class members journal their initial reactions to a reproduction of the work they will focus on during their visit. The whole class then considers the artistic elements in the piece...

The introduction to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and the finale of his Symphony No. 4 provide young musicians with an opportunity to investigate the music elements composers employ to develop the themes they want to create. They compare the...

Mythic heroes, gods and goddesses, and epic tales come alive as young artists craft their own graphic novel or mind map for classic epics, including The Odyssey, Beowulf, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, identifying the...

Cinderella wants to go to the ball and marry the prince. At the end of the story, she does! But how does the plot move from the exposition to the resolution? Teach language arts learners and fairy tale fans about the basics of plot...

The world may indeed be a stage, and players certainly need to know drama vocabulary. This list of 16 terms (and their definitions) often found in scripts will prompt actors to perform their role.

Lilly Martin Spencer's "Peeling Onions" is the subject of a series of exercises that model for learners how to use the elements of art to read a painting. A series of worksheets focus viewers' attention on how Spencer uses...

Read and incorporate a variety of Aesop's Fables into a fable genre study with an eBook produced by the Library of Congress. The interactive eBook contains 146 fables written by Aesop and includes colorful interactive illustrations...

Play with dimensions and practice making a two-dimensional scene look three-dimensional. Class members view pieces of art and then make their own scenes by layering different materials and drawing in details. Check out all the tabs for...

Explore the literary elements of Mildred Taylor's Song of the Trees with this beautiful Prezi presentation. Focusing on the story's characters, setting, and major plot points, young readers are provided with a complete summary of...

Explore contemporary American Indian art. After viewing a set of images, class members discuss the design elements of techniques present, as well as how these artists represent history and culture. Learners examine the parfleche and...

Is there a connection? Scholars work to make connections between Myth of Cronus and The Key Elements of Mythology. First, they circle important words in the text and look for similarities. They then revisit the concept of theme and...

In a instructional activity that explores art and emotions, scholars analyze a piece of art and discuss which emotions it portrays. They go on to reflect on their own emotions and how they are similar to the feelings expressed...

The task of creating a set for a theater production may leave theater arts students asking where to begin. Set their minds at ease with a packet that not only provides information about the elements of design, but also guides them...

How do you read a frame? How do you read a shot? Here's a resource that shows viewers how to read films. As part of the study, class members examine the camera angles, lighting, movement, and cinematic point of view in Mr. Smith Goes to...

This 97-slide PowerPoint uses Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember, to illustrate the elements of a story. Setting, plot, characterization...

After reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and an article about the use of the novel, class members engage in a Socratic seminar focused on whether or not Twain's book should be banned.

Engage your class in the elements of poetry with a series of lessons and activities. The plans cover simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and imagery. Learners come up their their own metaphors, identify poetic...

Explore the world of textured landscapes through the eyes of the famous artist, Grant Wood. Here is an elementary art lesson in which scholars learn about Grant Wood's life, view his work, draw their own textured landscape, and then...

To gain insight into the many different types of habitats, individuals must first get to know their own. Here, scholars explore their school environment, draw a map, compare and contrast their surroundings to larger ones. They then...

Plays are meant to be seen and so are these 12 elements that give plays the dramatic effect. Introduce young actors to these key terms and their explanations

A language arts instructional activity helps young writers identify elements that make up historical fiction. First, it guides them through elements of fictional pieces with vocabulary cards. Then, pupils work collaboratively to...