Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Removing the Mask

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Describe, analyze, compare and contrast poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Critical thinkers analyze the imagery, characterization, tone, symbolism, and historical context of Jacob Lawrence, Helene Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

PAINTING COLORFUL STORIES INFLUENCED BY JACOB LAWRENCE

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students research the background of Jacob Lawrence and study the music, poetry, and spirit of the Harlem Community that was present during Jacob Lawrence's formative and subsequent art productions. They create a piece of artwork...
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

The Life and Work of Jacob Lawrence

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Black History Month provides a time to talk about the accomplishments of African Americans like Jacob Lawrence.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harriet Tubman

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students detect specific characteristics in the paintings of Jacob Lawrence. In this collage lesson, students utilize the style of Jacob Lawrence to create works about Harriet Tubman and her life.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modern Movements

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students analyze the art of Jacob Lawrence. In this art analysis lesson, students examine a art from Jacob Lawrence. In this art analysis lesson, students complete image based discussion activities and two related activities.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do Artists Effectively Relate Historic Events?

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students explore African American migration. In this black culture and history lesson, students use a map to identify northern and southern states in which African Americans lived in the 1900s. Students observe and describe objects and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning from Jacob Lawrence and Harriet Tubman

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars view and discuss a painting of Harriet Tubman by Jacob Lawrence. They complete a fact sheet/worksheet on Lawrence and on Tubman. They examine the colors, shapes and patterns used in the painting and compare them to their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bold & Bright in Harlem

For Teachers 1st - 10th
Students research and explore the Harlem Renaissance and its rich history to create a bold, bright drawing illustrating everyday stories of people in their community. They research William H. Johnson, Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Highlights of Modern American Family Art and Literature

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students develop imagery in literary and art works. They discuss Jacob Lawrence's painting, the "Tombstones, 1942", which conveyed overcrowded tenements and families living in Harlem (New York, New York). They design picture stories...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Asking Questions

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers examine a painting that depicts a scene from the Underground Railroad. They discuss the painting and write journal entries and poems in response to the painting's themes and their impressions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sports Action Figure

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders identify art elements and design principles in art such as movement, unity, space and color planning.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Migration: Pushed By The South, Pulled By The North

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Young scholars identify key features of the Great Migration. They explain the concepts of push and pull factors for migration. They create an art project which shows an understanding of the push and pull factors.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Migration

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore how migration to Harlem created a new life for African Americans. In this cross curricular lesson, students illustrate maps showing the migration, paint murals representing African American life in the South and...
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 5th - 8th
The Harlem Renaissance inspired a group of writers, musicians, and artists whose influence is still seen today.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Real Me!

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine and explain who they are and communicate that person to the viewer through the use of the visual arts. They think about themselves and try to find five things that represent who they are and what they feel is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Determining Importance

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students observe pieces of art and look for the principle story the artwork portrays. They compare the techniques artists and authors use to focus on and support these essential stories. They create a piece of art that portrays a given...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Bird's Eye View of the Caribbean: Art, Folklore, and Music

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students examine the Caribbean in terms of its music, art, and folklore. As a class, they listen to a folktale and discuss the difference between telling a story and reading a story. In groups, they write their own folktale and share...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How was Your Day? Creating Mixed Media Designs

For Teachers K - 1st
Learners explore how art reflects culture and history. They examine everyday life experiences in various countries. Students design a mixed media composition. They create a class presentation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Visual Art: Romare Bearden and Group 306

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students examine the life and art of Romare Bearden. Using his "Mill Hand's Lunch Bucket" for inspiration, they write a first chapter for a book. Students observe numerous other works of his art and discuss them from artistic and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Laundress

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the concept of work, and work typically assigned to women, through artwork depicting laundresses.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Jacob Lawrence

For Students 9th - 10th
As part of the Smithsonian Art Museum's database of artists, this site provides lengthy biographical information on Jacob Lawrence in addition to an extensive listing of his works as displayed at the museum.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Jacob Lawrence

For Students 9th - 10th
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art presents the African-American painter and Harlem Renaissance figure, Jacob Lawrence, with a short biography, image, and description of his work on view in the collection and a video interview...
Handout
Other

The Legacy Project: Jacob Lawrence

For Students 9th - 10th
After briefly highlighting the life of Jacob Lawrence in a factual biography marked with bibliography references, this site provides links to pictures of Lawrence's works including Wounded Man, Hiroshima, and The Prayer.
Website
Other

Whitney Museum: Jacob Lawrence: Exploring Stories

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at Jacob Lawrence and his art, and instructions on how to make your own tempera paints and "paint your own story," using Lawrence's work as inspiration.

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