NPR
This Isn't Right: A History of Women in Industry
Women were in the workplace long before Rosie the Riveter pushed up her sleeve. Learn about the working options available to women during the Industrial Revolution, the Progressive Era, and the Great Depression with a lesson that...
Curated OER
Hold On to Your Hats
Elementary schoolers study the symbolism and influences found in advertising. First, they learn about the history and cultural significance of the Summer Official's Hat that was a symbol of status in ancient China. Then, they access...
Curated OER
Lincoln is in the House! ("Name-Dropping" Poems and the Power of Connotation)
“What’s in a name?” Just about everything. Barack Obama, Vincent van Gogh, Justin Bieber. Famous names evoke a multitude of reactions and poets often use the names of famous people in their works precisely because names carry...
Curated OER
Putting Back the Pieces
Seventh graders become museum conservators and undertake the hypothetical restoration of an ancient American work of art. Groups design a plan for reconstructing the work of art, outlining the steps they need to take and the materials...
Curated OER
Mini Masks: Ceramics
Masks have been used for many reasons throughout human history. They are also great subjects for art projects! Included here are instructions, background information, and all the supplies needed to create mini masks in your class.
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Woodlands Ribbonwork
Learners make art based on the ribbon work of the Woodland Indians. Background information on the art form and procedure are laid out in an easy to follow step-by-step format.
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Shakespeare Was A Black Woman
"I all alone beweep my outcast state." After a discussion of the "Shakespeare in American Life" segment in which Maya Angelou's relates her reaction to Sonnet 29, class groups create and perform a scene about an outcast that includes the...
Prestwick House
The Poetry of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's selection as the 2016 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first songwriter ever to receive the honor, has focused the attention of a new generation on the work of the legendary artist. Class members...
Curated OER
Lesson: Mathias Poledna: Crystal Palace
Film analysis takes critical thinking, connections, and context. Upper graders look at the film installation, Crystal Palace in terms of the film makers choices, presentation, and perspective of truth. After an analytical discussion...
Curated OER
Experiencing Nature
Students create their own landscapes based on the topography of their region after studying the artwork of Cincinnati-based artist William Sonntag and other "Hudson River School" artists.
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Expressionism: Painting
Students judge the effectiveness of artistic expressions using current art theories such as representationalism, functionalism, and formalism, and find examples of each through internet research.
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American Pop Icons
Students analyze art and decide if the images are an attempt to celebrate or criticize American Popular Culture of the fifties and sixties and discuss how successful "Pop Art" mirrored society. Students also discuss the difference...
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Visual Art: Romare Bearden and Group 306
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...
Curated OER
American Folklore
Students develop a class definition of folklore. In groups, they read various folklores and discuss the loss of independence and how to survive. They answer discussion questions and compare the folklore tales to art. To end the...
Curated OER
Oregon Trail Art
Students describe events that happened on the Oregon Trail and in the daily lives of Native Americans by writing a narrative essay of a family traveling through Nebraska based on Thomas Hart Benton's paintings.
Curated OER
The Shapes of Art: A Lesson in Aesthetic Awareness
Students become immersed in analyzing the influences on and development of an artistic paradigm; they also move into, through and beyond the literary piece.
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Electric Light Art
Students write a poem about a single work of art by Flavin. In this descriptive response lesson, students express their feelings about the work and organize words into phrases. Students arrange word phrases on paper to form...
Curated OER
Natural Beauty: Looking Sharp
Students create covers for their "nature journals" using watercolor techniques and the artistic ideas of color, depth, and focal point. This activity can be used in the Science or Art classroom and meets national standards for both.
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The Art of the Puerto Rican People
Students study Taino Art and identify their crafts and stone carvings. They read the life of Campeche as presented and discuss with their teacher the economic and political situation of Puerto Rico in the eighteenth century and how...
Curated OER
Read My Expression
Students create a facial expression in clay using slabs of clay and coils that convey a feeling inspired by a poem in this excellent cross-curricular instructional activity suitable for the Laqnguage Arts or Art classroom. National...
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Arm and Face Casts - body art
Students study African masks. They also study African American Art and look for its influence in Modern Art. They research and design their own culture.
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Comparing Patterns In Chinese And American Textile
Young scholars create Chinese jacket designs using magic markers and paper jackets as well as knowledge of Chinese and American textile designs and techniques in this upper-elementary lesson.
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I SPY Art from A to Z
Students explore the Alphabet and acquire basic English vocabulary through the exploration of art. They find the alphabet in a variety of visual art images the teacher provides for them. Students count, sort and categorize Alphabet...
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Literacy & Art: The Story behind the Quilt
Students examine the many ways quilts were used to chronicle the history and experiences of African slaves and African-Americans in America. They analyze a story quilt using the elements of storytelling, then create a class quilt.