Art, identity, and an imaginary community, three components that should make for an interesting lesson. Critical thinkers explore and evaluate the work of contemporary artist, Elizabeth Peyton. They discuss her use of subject and art to...

The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and...

Tenth graders view paintings to determine the identity of the United States in a specific time period. As a class, they listen to their teacher give the title of the painting and they write a prediction about what the painting might be....

Young learners discover how the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes preserved native culture through the making of traditional dresses, identifying the resources used to make the dresses and discussing behind the meaning behind some...

Students look for similarities in basic divisions of compositional space. They compare Currier and Ives landscape lithographs with examples by Thomas Cole. Students compare the figural group style as seen in the works of Currier and Ives...

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.

In this engaging activity involving close analysis of abstract expressionist art, your class members will not only discover more about artist Friz Scholder's Native American art, but they will also have the opportunity to consider...

Students view and analyze various artists' representations of slavery. They create their own illustrations of slavery.

To the Native American people living on the plains, the buffalo represented culture, art, sustenance, and survival. Explore the history of the buffalo with a social studies lesson plan, in which learners create a buffalo hide painting in...

Visual arts lessons don't always mean the children need to make art. Here, they will practice using their visual literacy skills to analyze four images through the compare and contrast method. The first two images deal with gender...

Students examine the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. As a class, they are introduced to five artists and discuss their art and techniques. Using the internet, they also research the philosophers of the time period and how...

Examine American Indian art and culture by observing contemporary art and creating original pieces. Class members discuss artwork included in the plan and use these images to help inspire their own work, which should represent...

Students examine identity represented in contemporary drawing. In this art analysis activity, students analyze identity in the art images. Students complete image based discussion. Students create a work on paper with a message. Students...

Students create outdoor totem poles by creating masks and designing an outdoor painting in the woods. In this totem poles lesson plan, students study Native American culture.

Students explore African American history by researching the Jim Crow laws. In this Civil Rights lesson, students define the Jim Crow laws, the reasons they were put into place, and how they were ultimately defeated. Students write a...

Students analyze paintings to determine characteristics of women and attitudes toward them in different time periods. They create a portrait of a woman and discuss their views of women through their own artwork.

Students analyze identify in art. In this art analysis lesson, students discuss what identify means and discuss how Otto Dix, Pablo Picasso, Dorothea Lange, and Alberto Giacometti represent identities in portraiture. Students complete...

Learners create power shirts that were highly important in the culture of many Native Americans.

Students examine African American art. In this African American history lesson, students research face jugs created by African American freedmen after they watch a video about the artifact and its significance. Students then create...

Students investigate the cultures of Native Americans and Euro-Americans through their clothing.  In this photograph analysis lesson plan, students observe historic photographs and analyze the style of clothes people wore and how it...

Students study the African Grove Theater in New York. For this African American history lesson, students examine the evolution of race relations in the United States as they research the theater and its history.

A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...

Young scholars take a field trip to an art gallery reflecting on the paintings they like the most. Individually, they use magazines to find pictures related to their personality. In pairs, they make a mask to represent their ethnic...

Students create "assemblage boxes" displaying representations of themselves and the importance they see in their own lives. This middle school level lesson plan emphasizes the art of American artist Sarah Goodridge who has success in the...