Curated OER
Interpreting Selected Works of Art from the 20th Century African-American Experience
Students examine pieces of art by African-American artists in the 20th Century. For each piece, they are shown slides of the artwork and others by the artist to identify the techniques used. In groups, they discuss and research the...
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi: Mixing Words and Pictures
Create meaningful illustrations to accompany stories in a web-based art and literacy lesson focused on "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The class takes a virtual art safari with the Museum of Modern Art and then discusses how...
Smithsonian Institution
Affirmation, Assimilation, and Acculturation: Middle School
Latin American culture is deeply embedded in American culture as a whole. From the Latin rock scene in San Francisco to the hip-hop world of New York, Latin American artists have influenced every genre of modern music. Learn about the...
Curated OER
Native American Storyteller Figure
Third graders explore cultures that use clay figures in the art of storytelling. They discover the importance of cultural history being passed through generations. They also form their own storyteller from a clay figure.
National Gallery of Canada
Make a Parfleche
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...
Curated OER
Pop Culture and Art
Learn about American pop culture, art, and the social voice that art can convey. The class discusses the life and art of Barton Benes, views his piece Reliquarium, then discusses what they see and feel when they view his work. Make sure...
Curated OER
Native American Flutes - Activity 1
Students discuss Native American culture and musical techniques after viewing a video of Charles Littleleaf, a member of the Warm Springs tribe and a creator of Native American wood flutes.
Curated OER
Splat! Boom! Pow! the Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art
Students relate abstract expressionism and cultural influences on 1960's art. They use images appropriated from comic books to create a painting in the abstract expressionist style by changing the scale of the comic and reducing content...
Curated OER
The Meaning of Rock Art
Students examine the significance of rock art. They discuss and view examples of historical rock art, and create a design on a rock that tells a story using African and American symbols.
Brooklyn Museum
Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968
What role did women play in pop art during the 1950s and 1960s? The class researches the role of women in mid-century America and how those roles were portrayed through the pop art of the time. They use an excellent set of...
Brooklyn Museum
HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture
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...
Curated OER
Should Art Be for Art's Sake?
Students examine how European-America aestheticians (philosophers of art) do not all agree about the value and definition of art. students examine how some cultures do not have a distinct word or definition for art.
Polk Bros Foundation
American Presidents
Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Alexander Gardner's photograph of Abraham Lincoln. What do these works of art tell us about the character of these American Presidents? After examining the techniques the...
Curated OER
Self-Promotion
Students create "assemblage boxes" displaying representations of themselves and the importance they see in their own lives. This middle school level lesson emphasizes the art of American artist Sarah Goodridge who has success in the...
Curated OER
Shoes and the Backyard Landscape
Your shoes get a lot of mileage in familiar places. Represent the places you have traveled the most with an art project based on a print of Indian People Wear Shoes and Socks by Juane Quick-to-See Smith. Kids trace their shoes and...
Curated OER
In the Shadow of My Country: A Japanese American Artist Remembers
Students analyze artist's themes and means of communication, think critically about their sources of information, and weigh claims of national security against the civil liberties of diverse groups.
Curated OER
Art and Culture
Learners compare and contrast the ways in which human figures are portrayed in rock art made by ancient Native American artists and in the drawings and paintings of historic European and American artists. They use images to identify...
Curated OER
Artists in Colonial America
High schoolers visit the Memorial Art Gallery's exhibit, "About Face: Copley's Portrait of a Colonial Silversmith." They complete a worksheet based on the career of John SIngleton Copley as a colonial American artist. They experience the...
Curated OER
An American Scene Painter
Students study the work of American scene painter Charles Burchfield. In this visual arts lesson, students research the nature paintings of Burchfield and then paint their own watercolor scenes in his style.
Curated OER
Overcoming Censorship Through Art
Students examine and discuss government-imposed censorship of art and artists' methods for counteracting censorship. They view censored artwork, write a persuasive essay, and create an art piece.
Akron Art Museum
Storytelling Resist
The illustrations of Ezra Jack Keats in The Snowy Day inspire young artists to examine shapes in illustrations and to use these shapes to create their own watercolor resist painting.
Curated OER
Kwanzaa Window Book
Learners research Kwanzaa, focusing on the seven principles used in celebration, with an artistic instructional activity. They design their own window books to demonstrate comprehension of the principles and symbols of Kwanzaa...
Curated OER
Taming the Frontier
Learners examine paintings by Thomas Cole and Jasper Francis Cropsey as windows into American frontier life. They consider the pioneer's relationship with nature and the role of Native Americans in the pioneer's lives and settlements.
Curated OER
Grand Canyon Suite
Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...