Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading...

See how art can communicate the idea of working together with your class. They will view art and describe space, color, shape, and lines in art. Then they will overlap in their art to show a sense of space. In the end, they will be able...

Out-lined here is a two-week procedure that has the class creating ceramic animal tiles that are metaphorical representations of their own personalities. They discuss animal images found throughout history, what they mean, metaphor, and...

Take a trip down Pearblossom Highway with this instructional activity about comparing and contrasting. Using David Hockney's Pearblossom Hwy and another image of the same highway (photograph or other image), students compare and contrast...

After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...

Students study iconic symbols Keith Haring would make in his artwork. They invent a background for the images, and draw the characters. Students create a Tunnel Book and a Pop-Up Book based on their drawings.

Create a natural autumn scene using the monoprinting method. Class members work on creating an image with reflection, foreground, and background using one line. 

Students explain the concept of foreground, middle ground and background in creating a sense of depth in a landscape painting or drawing.

Examine a variety of literary responses to Abraham Lincoln's death and the impact of perception. Your class can work in writing groups to analyze either poetry, eulogy, or a newspaper article. They retell the events of Abraham Lincoln's...

High schoolers 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.

Students discover depth in photographs or paintings by creating a picture from scrap paper.  In this art analysis lesson, students practice creating depth by placing different elements higher or lower on a picture.  Students...

Students examine the composition of landscape paintings with an emphasis on foreground, middle ground, and background. They view and analyze a painting by Poussin, and create an original imagined landscape.

Students investigate the concept of creating drawings with Crayola markers. They examine some realistic pictures and then imitate them. Students create their own pictures that emphasizes how some parts of a picture appear near in the...

Birch trees are wonderful subjects to paint. Here are the instructions needed to show your class how to paint a birch tree landscape that includes spatial logic such as fore, middle, and background. All you need to do is provide...

Study the beauty of the landscape around you with an innovative art instructional activity. After discussing the foreground, background, and middle ground of landscape art, kids work on making their own piece of landscape art. The...

Students discover new art techniques by examining the work of Paul Gauguin and his use of opposite colors.  In this art analysis lesson, students investigate the different perspectives and colors used in classic post impressionist...

The use of perspective is clear in Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. Pupils study and discuss this example, marking the vanishing points and horizon line of a photocopy of the piece. They then create their own urban scene...

Using a digital camera, Photoshop, and a desktop paint program, learners will explore perspective techniques. They apply perspective techniques to develop depth illusions within a scene. The lesson employs both traditional art and...

Students analyze art of changing identities of cities and populations. In this art analysis instructional activity, students analyze the works of art that address constructions of identity in a consumer society. Students explore the role...

Students examine works of art that convey the idea of working together and analyze how artists use foreground, middle ground, and background. They use two-and three-dimensional materials to create a work of art.

Learners discuss a landscape art print and its composition. They create a landscape underdrawing with foreground, middleground and background as well as repeated elements for rhythm. They add a watercolor wash and lights/darks for...

Students examine three landscapes incorporating images from nature and the unconscious. In this art analysis lesson, students explore the artists' perception and impact on a subject. Students complete image based discussion and imagine...

Fourth graders identify art elements and design principles in art such as movement, unity, space and color planning.

Ahhh the vanishing point! Sounds ominous, but it's not. Fifth graders analyze the use of perspective in Renaissance art. They practice using linear perspective to draw railroad tracks that seem to go on forever. Tip: Make this...