Curated OER
Lesson: Mixing Metaphors across Current Events and Literature
Expression, current events, and art can go hand-in-hand. After analyzing a multi-media piece entitled, Trade Canoe for Don Quixote, the class explores their own expressive process. They create collages that show a current event or issue...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Exhibiting Common Threads
Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...
Curated OER
Pastel Scratch Portrait
A great cross-curricular project for any art classroom, this activity encourages young artists to consider color, pattern, texture, shape and line in their depiction of a historical figure. After researching a historical figure of their...
Curated OER
How was Your Day? Creating Mixed Media Designs
Learners explore how art reflects culture and history. They examine everyday life experiences in various countries. Students design a mixed media composition. They create a class presentation.
Curated OER
Art and the Berlin Wall
Students study the relationship between Cold War politics, the people who were affected by it, and the artists who examined it. They create their own "walls" using a spray paint graffiti procedure.
Sargent Art
Glass Jar Sand Art: Inspired by Navajo Sand Painting
Sand has been used as an artistic medium for centuries and can be found in cultures across the globe. The class examines sand art created by the Navajo people. They mix tempera paint and sand to create their colors, and then fill jars,...
Curated OER
Advanced Art – Cultural Place-setting Still life
Upper graders view a series of films that depict rituals or celebrations as they occur in different cultural settings. They conduct a cultural investigation about one culture, brainstorm and research objects that have cultural or...
Curated OER
Dogfighting Unit Lesson Five--The Media and Propaganda
Young scholars consider the implications of dogfighting. In this character education instructional activity, students examine propaganda in advertising and then create their own anti-dogfighting advertisements.
Curated OER
Something Fishy
Fourth graders study the Robert Harris works and modern photographs. They compare fishing in the past and the present. They use their knowledge of equivalent fractions to play a version of the game "Go Fish".
NPR
Distracted by Everything - Being Wired at All Times
This multimedia activity challenges media-savvy learners to look at the critical issue concerning the inundation of technology and multitasking in the classroom, and its effects on the education of themselves and others. The tasks...
Curated OER
Historical Witness - social Messaging
High schoolers examine and develop artwork that shows women's roles during different eras. In this women's role instructional activity, students look at artwork that shows women at work during the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth...
Curated OER
Creating Scrolls Based on the Illustrated Tale of Genji
Now these are learning activities full of fun, art, and cultural exploration. Kids consider the art of storytelling through comic book images. They then look at the Tale of Genji as it was written in the 11th century. They discuss...
Curated OER
Easy and Artistic Printmaking Using Mixed Media Materials
Students explore printmaking which began with the ancient Chinese who carved seals from stone, inked them and used the seals as identification symbols. They produce a print in this lesson.
Curated OER
In King's Words
Young scholars analyze writings of Mr. Martin Luther King Jr. They read and discuss an article, and in pairs, research and analyze a written work or speech by Dr. King, create a mixed media collage to represent the text, and write an...
Curated OER
Character Nichos
This art lesson also incorporates a study Mexican and South American cultures and art. Students then create Nichos, which are small, decorated boxes commonly found in homes and public places, or displayed on walls or pedestals.
Curated OER
Facing War
Young scholars visit two sites about World War II. These sites show how war can impact a nation and how people have coped with life during years of war. Particular attention is paid to how the media covers the current war in Iraq.
Curated OER
Are There Any Heroes Out There?
Students explore political candidates' viewpoints on issues that contribute to the "common good." In this political candidates instructional activity, students read and view mixed media to identify political issues that contribute to a...
Curated OER
Exploring the Asian Cultural Tradition Through Multimedia Art
Learners conduct research using different varieties of resources that include the internet. They organize the research to make it usable. Then they discuss how to present the information in the form of a class project.
Curated OER
Modern Art Styles of Matisse
Students study the history of Matisse as an artist and focus upon his influences upon the style of art that he was famous for. The learners perform research about the life and works. Then they create a work of art that is similar to the...
Curated OER
Calligraphy: Symbols & Signs - Visual Arts
Students research the forms and significance of calligraphy in traditional and contemporary Chinese society. They design a mixed media scroll on paper, developing symbols for use as calligraphic images. Students describe how selected...
Curated OER
The Mystique of the Artist
Young scholars use mixed media to create personal expression on canvas art supplies bag, design three-dimensional model of their ideal studio space, write character sketch of Robert Harris using images of him, letter he wrote, and his...
Curated OER
Art of Mask Making
Students make an African mask. In this culture and heritage lesson, students view samples of African masks and learn about the importance of these masks. Students visit the African Art Museum website to view the styles of mask making. ...
Library of Congress
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the novel...
Curated OER
Rainbow Spinner
In this rainbow spinner activity, students participate in making a rainbow spinner in order to investigate the splitting and mixing of light. Students study the theory of persistence of vision.