US Holocaust Museum
The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk
Have you ever listened to a song that had a deeper political meaning to it? Every examined a work of art with layers of meaning? Pupils analyze the drawings of Arthur Szyk. They research the deeper meaning of several artistic cartoons...
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Modern Art Lesson Plans
Young scholars explore the history and examples of Modern Art. In this Modern Art lesson, students read background information about Modern Art and a biography of Andy Warhol. Young scholars complete a criticism and aesthetics, art...
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Woody Guthrie: Life and Art
Woody Guthrie will capture the imagination of even your most reluctant learners. Using his work, your class will develop their skills in non-fiction reading comprehension, interpreting primary source material, and use of multiple forms...
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Write a Short Story
Students compare two paintings, depicting urban life in America in the 1940's, answering a series of questions, then create a short story about the paintings' characters. They compare 'Nighthawks' and 'Nightlife.'
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Jazz in America Lesson Plan 5
Students survey Bebop and identify the basic terms associated with jazz.They experience the music of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday and participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of American...
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Jazz in America Lesson Plan 6
Young scholars survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.
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The Chosen: Problematic Situation
"What my father had anticipated was now actually happening." The Chosen explores the complicated relationships between parents and their children. Readers make personal connections to Chiam Potok's story, set in Brooklyn's Hasidic...
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African Americans in Aviation: The 1940s- A Decade of Change
Students investigate African Americans in aviation. In this primary resources lesson, students examine primary resources to research the history of African American in aviation. Students answer two research questions and write an essay...
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Jazz In America - Lesson Plan 6
Fifth graders explore cool jazz and how it reflected American culture in the 1940's and 1950's.
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Helen Frankenthaler Biography
Students examine the abstract art of Helen Frankenthaler. In this art analysis lesson, students complete a criticism of the aesthetics of the art, analyze the color use in the art, and research the history of abstract art.
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Robert Indiana Biography, Activities, and Lesson Plans
Students analyze Pop art and the work of Robert Indiana. In this Pop art lesson, students read about the history of Pop art and a biography of Robert Indiana. Students complete a criticism and aesthetics activity, create their own Pop...
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Dress Rehearsal
Students trace the rites of passage from the 1940's through the present in literature. They review some of their favorite expressions first and compare some of Holden's speech with their own. They discuss initial reactions to the book...
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Pizza for Everyone
Pizza is the inspiration for the cross-curricular lesson detailed here. Start out with a poem about pizza and move into a discussion about balanced eating. To close the language arts portion of the lesson, ask your pupils to write...
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The Chosen: Writing Strategy
Pondering Rembrandt’s portraits provide readers of The Chosen an opportunity to “listen to [the] silence and learn from it,” as they consider Reb Saunders from a different perspective. After examining several paintings, viewers write...
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Impact of War with Asia on Asian Americans Angel Island
Students identify perceptions towards Asians widely held by the American public through the analysis of political cartoons from the 1940's and 1990's. They recognize the ramifications of such perceptions on Asians and Asian Americans.
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Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Fifth graders close their eyes and pretend they live in Denmark during the 1940's. They discuss what they "see." Students create a story chart for the book "Number the Stars," by Lois Lowry.
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Listen Up! Swinging with some Big Band Music
Learners read about the music and life of Glenn Miller. They listen to Miller's "Jeep Jockey Jump" and analyze the piece for instrumentation, formal structure and stylistic characteristics.
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Read All About It! California History of the 30s and 40s
Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...
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An Autograph Book from Yesteryear
Students explore a school autograph book from the 1880s and create a contemporary version of it. They imitate the style of the autograph book entries as they write thoughtful text and rhymes.
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring Little Women
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...
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Fear, Civil Rights and Personal Freedoms
High schoolers write and perform a one-act play. They present constitutional, personal and cultural issues of the internment camps of the 1940's. They research and present a historical examine internernment camps.
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Lesson 13- Lucille Ball: What's So Funny
Students study who were important in Hollywood cinema in the 1940's, 1950's and today. They participate in a comedy improv exercise.
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Read All About It! Events and People of the 1930s and 1940s That Shaped California and the Nation.
Learners look carefully at four photographs by Dorothea Lange and discuss them in terms of what is depicted and what she may have wanted to communicate. They review what they learned about the Dust Bowl, the Depression, the war era, and...
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Jazz in America Lesson Plan 2
Young scholars explore jazz's primary elements. They identify the basic definitions of terms associated with jazz. In addition, they listen to Song for My Father.