National Gallery of Canada
Who Are You?
What can a self-portrait reveal about an artist? Discuss various self-portraits before tasking your pupils with creating their own. Learners research artists, develop an idea of their own individuality, and create photo collages with...
National Gallery of Canada
From Africa to Canada
Represent the African diaspora with figurines. Using a discussion on the contributions of people of African descent as inspiration, class members prepare sketches of a figure and put together a small sculpture from those sketches.
Curated OER
Geometric Abstraction
Learners create an abstract work of art that is made by repeating geometric shapes and lines, write concise instructions to reproduce the work of art and reproduce someone else's artwork via written instructions.
Curated OER
AZTEC TILES
Pupils observe the shapes and lines that make up Aztec sculpture, study Pre-Columbian art as they discover the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. They create a small-scale Aztec tile using pasta. Creative, clever and engaging.
National Gallery of Canada
Make a Pinhole Camera
Introduce your class to photography by asking them to construct their own pinhole cameras. After putting together their own devices, pupils take and develop pictures and analyze the results. The plan provides step-by-step instructions...
National Gallery of Canada
Urban Panorama
How can a photographer use images to represent a topic? Over the course of three days, learners discuss various photographs and practice their picture-taking skills with an outdoor, panoramic photography session. They use the images...
National Gallery of Canada
How Do You Feel?
Photographs can show a range of emotions. Discuss Dorothea Lange's photo Migrant Mother and a range of other images in relation to emotion. After the discussion, class members contribute to a set of photographs that express various...
National Gallery of Canada
Shadow Chasers!
Experiment with light and shadow with a photography lesson. Learners first view several artistic photographs. They then play with different levels of light and various objects, eventually putting together compositions and taking pictures...
National Gallery of Canada
Being a Photojournalist
Tell a story with images. Learners view several photojournalistic photos before agreeing on a message to convey with their own photo stories. In small groups, they take and select photos to include in their final project.
Curated OER
Presidential Sweepstakes
Fifth graders visit the National Gallery of Art and are introduced to portraiture as well as politics and presidents. They use these themes to form political parties and carry out their own "election".
PBS
Using Symmetry to Create Corporate Logos
Young mathematicians investigate the use of symmetry in graphic design. After first learning about reflection, translational, and rotational symmetry, children use this new knowledge to identify symmetry in letters of the...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge and Making Inferences: What Is a Natural Disaster?
That's a disaster! Scholars complete a gallery walk to view images and make inferences about natural disasters. They fill out a note catcher about what they observe and infer any questions they may have. They then participate in a World...
Curated OER
Quilting: The Story of the Underground Railroad
Students explore quilting. They read and discuss the book, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. They research African American quilting traditions on the Internet and name three common qualities in quilts. They create a quilt block...
Curated OER
A Walk Through History
Students examine the relationship between relics found in history museum exhibits and the meaningful ways in which those relics are presented. They, in groups, select objects for a history exhibit about the event or time period of their...
Curated OER
Egyptian Tomb Art: Expressions of Religious Beliefs
Ninth graders are introduced to the Prown's technique of describing various objects. As a class, they view pictures of the pyramids in Egypt and discuss how the size and shape of them show their belief in eternal life and religion. ...
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Kite Making and Poetry Reading
Readers of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner select 100 words from chapters five and six of the novel, use these words to create a found poem, and then attach their poem to a kite that they construct.
Curated OER
Charles R. Savage Lesson Plan Ideas
Students explore works by English photographer Charles R. Savage. In this visual arts lesson, students investigate photography by Savage as they discuss the use of perspective, space, color, and texture.
Curated OER
Playing With the Grid
Young scholars examine works of grid art by the painter Chuck Close. They discuss the process of creating a drawing using a grid, view images of grid art, and create a grid drawing.
Curated OER
Jean-Leon Gerome Lesson Plan
Students explore works by French painter Jean-Leon Gerome. In this visual arts lesson, students investigate the use of perspective in Gerome's work and then make their own drawings that feature the use of perspective.
Curated OER
What a Painting!
In this language arts learning exercise, students begin sentences with phrases starting with the word "there", complete a crossword, and complete a crossword. Students complete 3 activities total.
Curated OER
Bunny Hats
Students create "Bunny Hats" using construction paper, paper plates, glue, googly eyes, and pencils in this fun Art instructional activity for the early-elementary classroom. The instructional activity emphasizes building cutting skills...
Curated OER
Christmas Baubles
Students create hanging christmas decorations using plastic lids, glue, various colors and shapes of glitter, and tinsel in this early-elementary school Art lesson. The lesson is ideal for the holiday season or can be modified for any...
Curated OER
Easter Baskets
Learners create Easter baskets using paperclips, string, balloons, and paper mache techniques in this early-elementary Art lesson. Due to drying times for the paper mache it is recommended to spread this Art lesson over at least a...