Curated OER
How green is your school?
Students read about Sidwell Friends School and the Green School concept and develop coverage for their student media. They employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to...
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Making a Basic Clay Animal Sculpture In-The-Round
Learners create a three dimensional animal sculpture. In this sculpting activity, students use white art clay, gloss glaze, brushes, and wooden tools to create an animal sculpture.
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Planet Dance
Students examine Anna Halprin's philosophies and choreography and perform one of her Planet Dances. They find a site that inspires them to create a dance based on the environment's design, levels, textures, and atmosphere.
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Graph Paper Patterns
Young artists divide a piece of graph paper into sections using rectangles, squares, and triangles. They then fill each section with patterns of shape and color. Elementary graders describe how their patterns are organized. Secondary...
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The Meaning Behind the Mask
Learners explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.
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A look at our larger population
Student team together to tell the story of the U.S.'s rapid population growth. Young scholars research census changes, focusing on changes in the size of the community and the school. Students tell the story by writing articles and...
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Journalism: Bullying Research
Students, after conducting extensive research about bullying, assemble their information into written and visual presentations. They write articles, conduct surveys, and develop infographics and other visuals.
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Narrative Structure: Les Miserables
What is the initiating event? What is the protagonist's goal? What attempts are made to achieve this goal? What is the outcome? Model for your class how to map out the structure of any narrative. Readers then search for answers as the...
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Creative Clay Houses
Students demonstrate knowledge of working with clay and design and make creative houses and other buildings out of clay.
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Linear Sculpture
Students discuss how artists communicate visually in their work using the elements of design. The elements of design should be used as the building blocks of the structure you are trying to create. The elements of design are form, space,...
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Jewelry: Then and Now
Fifth graders identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, & places, recognize & apply elements of art, learn techniques for working with each material, critique artwork, & discuss how artwork...
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Class of Cards
Students create patterns using images of everyday objects, shapes, or colors and four logos for use in a House of Cards. In this design lesson plan, students examine the work of Charles and Ray Eames and become familiar with the elements...
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Composition Compositions
Students explore composition and symmetry to create their own digital media piece. In this design composition lesson, students visit the online websites and examples of asymmetrical compositions and symmetry. Students sketch a...
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Apulian Oinochoe
Learners analyze Greek vase painting and create their own vase art. In this vase painting lesson, students analyze the design element shape and the relationship between figure and ground. Learners design a figure/ground relationship...
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Tempera Batik
Students utilize elements and principles of design and develop strong composition. They explore colors, contrast and simplification of forms. They sketch in pencil, then trace in chalk before applying their paint.
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Power Figure Songye, Zaire
Students create power figures. In this visual arts lesson, students design and build their own sculptures that replicate those made by the Songye in Zaire, Africa.
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Digital Self Portraits
Students use digital cameras and computers to create their own self-portrait. After taking their picture, they download the image and use brush and shape tools, colors and the elements of design to create a distorted portrait of...
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Writing Traits Instruction
Pupils assess and critique a wide variety of writing samples for each of the traits of writing strands from literature, composition writing, reading and assessment tools. They create and design a descriptive definition piece of writing...
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Masks
Students examine how weather masks were used and design their own. In this weather mask lesson, students look at examples of weather masks before planning one of their own. They sketch the mask on the associated template and build it...
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Portraits That Capture Character
Students analyze two of Dorothea Lange's portraits and create their own portraits of classmates. In this portrait analysis lesson, students define portrait and discuss two images of Lange's. Students interview a classmate and use Lange's...
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Team Shape Picture/Shape Creation
Learners study the concept of shape--two-dimensional objects--and have hands-on experience creating pictures using a variety of shapes. They identify, explain and use the basic elements of design and recognize the effect different...
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Basic Design Elements Computer Art Project
Students use PhotoDraw software to create original drawings. Using the basic design elements, line, shape, form, texture, value, and color, students create original drawings on the computer based on drawings previously rendered by hand.
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Designing Animal Masks
Students explore cultural traditions. In this lesson, about culture, students understand beliefs and traditions of different civilizations. Students analyze the meaning of animals to represent meaning to a culture. Students create a mask...
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Ceramic Tile Wall Murals
Students create multi-color lithographic posters, reinterpreting the technique of a famous artist or artistic style. They discuss art history, aesthetics, criticism, and personal expression. Students focus on the elements of design and...