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Adopted Dog Goes Home
Young scholars examine the pet victims of Hurricane Katrina. After reading a story about one dog who was misplaced, they write about the situation and their reactions to it. They share their reactions to the class and discuss other...
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Octopus Project: Ceramics
Kids make an octopus out of clay. They practice their sculpting and modeling skills such as pinch pot and slurry technique while sculpting an octopus.
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Unrolling the Landscape
Students create a landscape painting using traditional Chinese techniques. They review Chinese landscape paintings, paint an original landscape and write a poem to go with their picture.
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Haiku Straw Painting
Students explore haiku poetry, have the experience of writing a haiku, and make an ink painting to enhance the haiku.
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A World without Color and a World with Color
Visual arts instructional activity involving the creation of a black and white picture followed by a re-creation of the same picture using color with an emphasis on contrast, depth, and mood.
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Snowflake Book Report Cover
Middle schoolers discuss Snowflake Bentley, the first snowflake photographer, and use art supplies such as Fiskars¿¿ Punches and Snow Texture Plates to create individual snowflake book report covers.
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Blotter Bugs
Students work with primary colors. They choose two primary colors, then put two drops of each color they chose on a white square paper. They fold the white paper in half and rub the paint around.
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MOSAICS
Visual arts lesson emphasizing pattern and design in individual student mosaics made with paper and reviewing line, shape, space, and color. The individual mosaics will be used to create a border for a group mosaic in another lesson.
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Five Fat Turkeys
Students make a tree trunk and branches using brown construction paper. They make thumbprint turkeys using a choice of ink color. Students make the eyes from wiggle eyes and of black ink. They make the beak out of any color foamie triangle.
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Scenes from Cameroon
Students examine art by a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon. Using the artwork, they identify three physical land features. They use sand and other materials to create their own day or evening scene in Cameroon. They share their...
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Unscramble the Letters - Music Terms
Young scholars receive a worksheet on music terms. As a class, they unscramble a couple before attempt them on their own. They then write the meaning of each to research the meaning of the musical terms.
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This Little Pig
First graders study basic information about swine. They write and identify vocabulary words relating to the subject. They write a recipe for "Pigs in a Blanket," using canned crescent rolls and small sausages. They trade recipes and...
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Comparatively Speaking
Students practice creating similes and metaphors together as a class. Individually students create similes and metaphors and illustrate them.
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Working in Photographs
Students analyze illustrations of workers in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this social science lesson, students examine photographs of workers and identify the types of work that were available in the 19th century compared to the 20th...
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Sunprints for Grades K-3
Students, after being introduced to Visual Thinking Strategies, create sunprints.
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Portrait Analysis of Lincoln in Richmond, VA
Students view and analyze a portrait of Abraham Lincoln made during his visit to Richmond, Va. Students determine the historical significance of his visit and create fictional newspaper accounts from various perspectives.
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Johnny Appleseed Pops Up
Learners recount details from the book Johnny Appleseed to create their own pop-up book about his life.
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Portrait Sculptures
Third graders identify characteristics that they have in common with animals. They create a self-portrait sculpture combining the body structures of different animals. They create the sculpture armature, plaster the armature, and then...
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Tall Tales
Students examine the characteristics of tall tales and how exaggerations are used. They create a character that is larger than life, they brainstorm attributes for their character, before writing a Tall Tale. They plan out their story,...
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A Coloring Book From My Friends
First graders create a coloring book based on pictures they pick out. They use Microsoft Paint to create their illustrations. They write sentences at the bottom of each picture.
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Georgia O¿¿¿Keeffe¿¿¿s floral paintings
Students discuss the differences between realistic and abstract art by focusing on Georgia O'Keeffe's work The lesson can be delivered in either a simplistic or more complex way depending upon the grade level.
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Postcards to Rembrandt
Students "read" a work of art and infer meaning by analyzing its elements of art and principles of design. They practice creative writing by composing a postcard to an imaginary person.
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Take Heed, Scurvy Dogs!
Students examine the use of ghosts in shipping stories. As a class, they assign roles and they act them out in a play. They make it seem as if they are in danger on their voyage and work together to create a script. They ask questions...
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Cells=Life!
Ninth graders share what they know about cells. In this biology lesson, 9th graders study different microscopic images of the cell. They draw one and explain to their partner why they chose that image.