Shakespeare in American Life
Tom Hanks and Caliban: Survivor Superstars
Here’s a clever way to combine language arts and social studies. Shakespeare’s The Tempest is believed to have been inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda in 1609. The class views a brief scene from Castaway in which Tom...
Curated OER
Exploring Islamic Lands
Students explore the culture of the Middle East. In this Islamic culture lesson, students conduct research to create personal narratives that reveal what life is like in the Middle East for Islamic teens today.
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Who Invented English Anyway?
In these English lesson plans, learners use video, the Internet and non-fiction essays to research the history of the English language. They write a short research paper and design a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their findings.
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What Does It All Mean?
Learners investigate the symbolism and meaning of samplers in American history. In this American history and sampler lesson, students examine pictures of original samplers and look at lists of the symbolism included in them. They connect...
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Summer of the Monkeys
While reading the book Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls, the class ties together the core reading objectives, which are making predictions, comprehending new information, reading for author's purpose, independence in reading,...
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Art in the Middle Ages and Today
Young scholars create a contemporary coat of arms and illuminated page. They study contemporary artists who combine text, symbols and images in altered books and create an altered book page of their own.
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Publisher Brochures
Students create brochures on subjects they are studying in Publisher. For this nonfiction writing lesson, students use Publisher to create a brochure telling all the main ideas of a topic they are studying. Students use text boxes, fonts...
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Landscape Painting
Third graders paint a landscape that demonstrates the illusion of space. In this visual arts lesson, 3rd graders paint a creek with reflections as the focus and include images showing foreground, middle ground, and background...
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You Are What You Eat: Lessons from Alice Waters
Students view the AMERICAN MASTERS episode titled ALICE WATERS AND HER DELICIOUS REVOLUTION. They examine their own eating habits and determine how they can eat food that is both healthier and tastier. Through Guided Reading strategies,...
Learning to Give
Closing Ceremonies
Promote volunteerism in your art or writing classes. In this service learning lesson plan, middle schoolers create promotional materials that include photographs and newspaper articles based on their personal service experiences in local...
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Studying An Artist
Students examine the artwork of a specific artist and attempt to create a painting in the style of the studied artist in this middle and high school level Art lesson. Rubric is included for self- and teacher assessment after the project...
San Diego Museum of Art
Atmospheric Perspective Watercolor Painting
How do artists create the illusion of depth and distance on a flat surface? Young landscape painters explore techniques like color saturation and detail placement that create atmospheric perspective.
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The Autobiography of a Middle School
Students use digital cameras to document school experiences. Afterwards, they use computer software to manipulate their photos and write poetry, essays or biographies to compliment the pictures. Finally, students create an...
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Things That Make Us Want To Scream
Pupils create a drawing of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and draw items that make them want to scream in this creative Art lesson plan for the Middle or High School classroom. The lesson plan includes resource links for artwork and...
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Beginning, Middle or End
Second graders work with a partner. In this library skills lesson plan, 2nd graders watch a demonstration on how to find a word in a dictionary. Students practice finding words in the dictionary with a partner.
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Weaving Project
Students practice artistic weaving. In this Colonial arts lesson, students weave pieces using lint from their home dryers. Students replicate the weaving process early Americans used. Students are also challenged to weave using the extra...
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Art Criticism for Elementary
Students view various pieces of art and identify their basic elements. Using the art, they present the elements to the class in a presentation. They answer questions and organize them into written form. They also write and reflect on...
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Exploring the Elements of a Japanese Garden Through the Book Arts
Students create book arts based on a visit to the Botanical Garden. They choose their own images to put into their book and answer discussion questions.
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Finding Math In The World Of Art
Students explore the use of Math in the world of Art. In this mathematics and visual art lesson, they design a picture using math digits that are camouflaged into a pictures. Additional cross curriculum activities are embedded in the plan.
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Adjective, Adjective, Noun
Students create artistic renditions of two random adjectives and one noun in this game-like Art instructional activity for the elementary and middle school classroom. The cross-curricular instructional activity includes a vocabulary...
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Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Words: Art, Art History, Language Arts, Creative Writing
Students write a story inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and then try their hand at their own rendition of this famous piece of art. In a twist, students incorporate the stories into their paintings.
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Abstract Flowers Inspired By Georgia O'keeffe
Students create "abstract flowers" using the artwork of Georgia O'Keefe and knowledge of warm and cool colors in this Art lesson for grades K-12. The lesson includes a short recommended book list and a biography of Georgia O'Keefe.
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Reading Meet Writing
Thinking about introducing your middle schoolers to reading log journals? Try the approach suggested by this resource. After reading to the class an article or portion of a novel, demonstrate a Think Aloud and then model how to transform...
