Curated OER
Observe Earth Day with Art Projects Made from Recycled Materials
Creative hands-on art project ideas that are easy on the earth and easy on a teacher’s budget.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Slavery and the American Founding: The "Inconsistency Not to Be Excused"
High schoolers examine slavery in the revolutionary and colonial eras of the United States. In this slavery lesson, students investigate the presence of slavery in early America, the language of the Constitution, and the intent of the...
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The Journey of the Spirit
Students discuss Scholastic Art Magazine issue on 'Artists Today' . They participate in a class discussion & watch a demonstration on the use of 'found objects' and ordinary materials (i.e. paper towels, leaves) to create surface...
Curated OER
Everyone Has Interesting Stuff: Talking Objects Teaching with Objects in the Classroom
What fun! Have your class compose a narrative piece from an object's point of view. They research the object, its origin, and its history, then write their story. Stories can be shared with the class or read to children in a younger grade.
Curated OER
Natural Collaboration: Building With the Five Elements of Art
Students assemble found natural objects into an artistic arrangement. They photograph their arrangement and Photoshop to enhance their artwork.
Curated OER
Concepts Of Spacial Depth
Young scholars create a dynamic composition by repeatedly drawing found objects using the techniques of perspective, diminishing scale, and receding lines. This lesson plan includes rubric for assessment.
Curated OER
Goldsworthy Project: Building With the Five Elements of Art
Seventh graders explore the five elements of art: line, shape, value, texture and color. They collect items from nature and arrange them aesthetically taking the five elements into consideration. They consider their work from several...
Curated OER
Lesson Plans Using Objects Found In Nature
Students create works of art using "found objects" such as bark, leaves, sand, and shells.
Curated OER
Flora and Fauna as Figures of Speech
What a lovely way to incorporate artwork into your language arts lesson plan. View artwork in illustrated manuscript pages, depicting insects, animals, plants, flowers, and ornate writing in the Getty Museum. Practice using figurative...
Curated OER
Play I Spy
If you're looking for a fun way to practice initial phonemes with emerging readers, look no further! They examine a farm scene to find things that begin with f, h, or g, writing the total number they found in a box beside each letter....
Curated OER
Collage and Photomontage
Tenth graders discuss collage and photomontage techniques and artists, and how the art form can convey cultural or current issues. They research a collage artist, then design a topical or personally symbolic collage. Present their...
Curated OER
Symmetry in Relief
Learners explore radial symmetry. In this 3 dimensional art and geometry activity, students identify examples of radial symmetry in everyday objects. Learners create an imprint using radial symmetry on clay tiles.
Curated OER
Lesson: Unmonumental: Fragmentation, Fragility, and Consumer Culture
Looking at art is the first step to analyzing it. And, if you can analyze art, you can analyze anything. Kids examine several pop art pieces that represent consumerism in modern culture. They discuss multiple facets of each piece and...
Curated OER
Middle-East Reflections
Practice symmetry and patterns with this Mid-Eastern art project. Your class will create beautiful, reflective mosaics that will brighten up the classroom! A list of necessary materials is included.
Curated OER
Texture Hunts and More: Madonna and Child with Saints
Students investigate different painting techniques by studying classic works of art. In this art history lesson, students observe the famous Madonna and Child with Saints painting and describe the texture and images they notice....
Curated OER
Lesson: Double Album: The Collection and the Archive
An open discussion starts this lesson off. The class takes a critical look at five works of art that demonstrate the impact and purpose of identity through collections or archives. They then write a list or draw 10-15 items found in...
Curated OER
Lesson: Mary Heilmann: To Be Someone
Kids consider the pure abstraction and minimalism found in Mary Heilmann's work. They analyze several of her pieces through critical discussion and then think about her use of a song title as the title of her exhibit. Learners then use a...
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Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: Pictures of Royalty: The Imagined
Elizabeth Peyton is an artist who creates images of people (often famous) that she doesn't personally know. These images become part of her imagined community. Learners analyze her work, her community of imagined friends, and then create...
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Self Portrait Jars: Labeling Ourselves
Seventh graders create an alternative self-portrait. In this art instructional activity students study the artwork of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Students use her work as inspiration for a self-portrait in a jar form.
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Artfully Searching for Treasure
Search for artwork using online museum databases. Young artists will create their own online art treasure hunts based on a specific theme and set of criteria.
Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning
A Foundation for Implementation
Color is the focus of this amazing resource packed with math, social studies, science, and language arts activities. Kids create a color word wall and post symbols, graph the number of objects they find of each color while on a treasure...
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Turning Everyday Objects Into Art
Students are introduced to the art of assemblage - which is the process of taking ready-made materials, and ordinary objects and using them to create sculptures. They create a self-portrait by assembling and joining found objects in a...
Curated OER
Lesson: I Can See Clearly Now Practicing Careful Observation
Poetry and art analysis go hand-in-hand. In groups, youngsters analyze a landscape painting, making careful observations. They use details found in the painting to inspire an original poem. The poem must include at least three objects...
Premier Literacy
Point of View
Incorporate technology into a literature lesson with an innovative language arts lesson. Middle schoolers read an electronic version of original stories or fairy tales, and after determining the point of view, rewrite the tale from a...