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Sole People
Students create "sole people" using tempera paint, drawing paper, and shoe prints in this multi-level art lesson. The lesson can be combined with a brief history of the African-American inventor Jan Ernst Matzeliger, who created the...
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Active Voice vs. Passive Voice
Can your class tell the difference between passive and active writing? Use this lesson in your writing conventions unit. The lesson prompts middle schoolers to create essays, demonstrating understanding of an active versus passive voice...
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Starting an Indoor Container Garden from Seed
Middle schoolers create an indoor container garden. In this container garden instructional activity, students explore seed germination. Middle schoolers discuss edible seeds.
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Drug Testing In Schools - Take A Stand
Students examine facts about drug testing in schools.
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Personal Clay Box
Seventh graders discover how to assemble and finish a lidded box-like form from slabs of clay between soft and leather hard. They gain an appreciation for ceramic art.
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Sports Cardboard Relief Sculpture
Students study the artwork of Frank Stella and create a piece of art that represents a sport.
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Hard Edge Painting
Students study the history of hard edge painting and discover demonstration techniques using a variety of fonts and discuss lettering. They present a number of abstract works of art with hard edge technique and works of art with text.
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Flowers a la O'keefe
Students are introduced to the artwork of Georgia O'keefe. The activity presents the history and style of the artist. Then the learners are given the chance to create their own artwork. The goal of the activity is to build art...
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Clay Animation
Learners are introduced to the history of clay animation. The use of construction, technology, and integration of curriculum make the lesson unique. The highlight of the project is the creation of a storyboard.
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Go Fish! Fish or other Sea Creature from Recycled Materials
Students brainstorm what a fish looks like determining the parts from schema and research. They create a unique and interesting 3-d sculpture of fish or underwater creature mostly from recycled materials, then examine the aesthetics of...
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Altered Books
Young scholars bring in a collection of discarded books. Using the book, they turn it into a piece of art that shows a specific theme. They can use a variety of media and techniques to put their book back together. They are graded...
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Art and Anatomy: The Vitruvian Teen
Students are introduced to the history of showing the human anatomy. In groups, they measure their height and arm spans to create a graph and determine if their measurements support Vitruvius' work. Individually, they make their own...
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Torn Paper Collage Portrait
Middle schoolers watch demonstrations on how to create a collage out of different materials. Using town paper, they create their self-portrait and view art by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. To end the instructional activity, they...
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Romare Bearden Collage
The students study collage as it is used in works of art. They create a collage based on a masterpiece. They critique student art work and research the work of Romare Bearden.
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New Year's Hat
Students create New Year's Eve hats in this fun and safe art project for the elementary classroom. The lesson is ideal for a pre-Holiday Break activity or can be adapted to celebrate any holiday or special occasion in the classroom.
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A Bird's Eye View of the Caribbean: Art, Folklore, and Music
Students examine the Caribbean in terms of its music, art, and folklore. As a class, they listen to a folktale and discuss the difference between telling a story and reading a story. In groups, they write their own folktale and share...
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Ideal Living
Learners examine two artists Vasily Kandinsky and Marcel Breuer. In this artist analysis instructional activity, students explore the principles of Bauhaus and consider the elements of chair design. Learners identify the technique of...
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The Geometry of Indigenous Art
Students examine the concepts of symmetry, rotations, reflections, translation, dialations, and tessellations and apply them to indigenous art. They also do Internet research and create artwork (painting, pottery, computer graphic design).
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Paper Masks/Heads
Students examine the processes and beliefs used by different cultures to create works of art. Using the internet, they research the types of arts used by cultures that have been transmitted to future generations. They use recycled...
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Hip Hop Dance Cut Outs
Students research visual art by examining art on-line. In this art expression lesson, students discuss the history of art after researching information on the Internet. Students view images on the web which feature physical movement...
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The Extra Place Lesson
Students take up the challenge of deciding what to do when confronted by a difficult and awkward situation. They read the story and highlight sentences or phrases that have particular meaning to them and think about and discuss a...
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What's in a Name? The Use of Native American Images in Sports
Students discuss and analyze the pros and cons of using Native American names and images to represent sports teams. Using primary sources, including position statements from Native American tribes, interviews with school alumni and...
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What is effective communication?
Students practice a series of communicaton activities. In this communication skills instructional activity, students role play listening and active listening strategies to improve communication. Students write a set of guidelines for...
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Social Issues Facing Children
Students examine the issues facing children in society. In groups, they participate in a simulation to discover the lack of connection between child-support and how it affects the children and society as a whole. To end the lesson,...