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Artscapes
Students consider "The Gates" and other environmental art projects, and create an original public art project for their local community. They draw sketches and write proposals outlining their ideas.
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A Picture's Worth 500-700 Words: Neoclassical Painting Analysis and Creative Write
Students survey Neoclassical art and create a narrative based on their analyses. Focused questions and relevant background information provided by the Getty Museum provides a great foundation for students to understand art techniques as...
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Our Illuminated Alphabet
Students examine artwork and create their own. In this writing and illustrating lesson, students view illuminated letters from the Getty Museum's collection and discuss art vocabulary. Students examine the visual elements in...
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The Persuasive Art of Portraiture
Students first explore the power of the visual image to convey a message by examining the portrait of George Washington on American dollar bills. They next use, 'Prolific Chinese Painter Is Anonymous No More,' to explore a famous...
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It's a Draw!
Students assess the ways in which editorial cartoons, both current and historic, offer insight into events that shape our world. They create a poster that includes a current editorial cartoon and their explanation of the details of the...
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Monkey Puzzle
Third graders analyze the life and work of Keith Haring. In this art criticism instructional activity, 3rd graders view images of his artwork, produce an anthology of his life's work and discuss his achievements. Students will recreate...
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Look Out My Window. What Do You See?
Students explore William D. Huff's experience during Civil War as portrayed in his drawings, express empathy and demonstrate historical knowledge through creating their own artwork, and craft drawings and captions from perspectives of...
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Just Plain Buggy: Art and Science
Budding artists explore the shapes and parts that make insects so fascinating to study, then use what they see to create original insect inspired designs. They use wax, dye, and fabric to create their designs.
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Geography and Culture of China
Take out a map, a paper, a ruler, and those coveted colored pencils for a lesson on Chinese culture and geography. This is a multifaceted approach to basic geography skills that incorporate story telling, class discussion, primary source...
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Creating Letter-shape Patterns #2
Before learners become writers they need to feel comfortable moving a pencil from left to right in various patterns. Use these exercises to give budding printers some fine motor practice. They complete three patterns by tracing a dotted...
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Looking at French Decorative Arts: The Science of Good Design
Young scholars examine the style of an 18th-century compound microscope and its case. In this scientific design lesson plan, students look at Jacques Caffieri's, "Compound Microscope and Case" before comparing the design to a modern...
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MONET'S GARDEN BY THE SEA
Students establish their own design utilizing a similar composition to Monet's, integrate their drawing skills in creating a "garden by the sea."
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Rooster's Night Out
Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton's Rooster's Night Out, a retelling of a classic Cuba folktale, launches a cross-curricular study of Cuban cultural traditions. Class members draw the characters from the book, participate in math and...
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Railroad Idioms Art Lesson Plan
Sixth graders research railroad idioms. In this idiom lesson, 6th graders read through a glossary of different railroad idioms and their meanings. They illustrate a chosen idiom.
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School-Home Links: Uppercase Letters
Young writers use a pencil to identify the first letter of each sentence in a brief paragraph, and locate sentences in books at home. This fine learning exercise should provide effective practice for letter identification. It could be...
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Informative Essay Writing
High schoolers start by drawing Mr. Essay Man, who is supposed to illustrate the different parts of an essay. After discussing what each component should contain, writers start their essay, guided by the teacher and class discussion....
Agriculture’s Lasting Heritage
Apples Around Us
Apple tasting launches an investigation of the story and travels of John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed. After listening to his story, class members craft a summary of the tale, chart his journeys on a map, and sample different...
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Fusing Furniture And Asian Art
Students see how French artists used imported lacquer panels in their furniture. They explore Asian lacquer panels and create their own Asian-inspired lacquer panel design. They incorporate their classmates' designs into a new furniture...
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Classical Art
Students study the evolution of Greek and Roman art in pottery and human form. They examine how the artistic evolution is related to discoveries in science and travel through the lessons in this unit.
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Using Photographs and Models for Drawings
Students make drawings of their classmates in photographs.
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Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Institute
Students view and discuss Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Students interpret works by Miro, Oldenberg, Cornell and de Vlaminck and discuss how they feel when viewing the pieces.
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Classifying Plants and Insects
Art and science come together in a activity based on Flower Still Life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. Learners classify plants and insects in the painting by color, leaf shape, size, reproduction, and season of...
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Looking at French Decorative Arts: Symbols in Marquetry
Students study symbols on a French cabinet. In this architectural design instructional activity, students examine the symbolism of the door panel on the "Cabinet on Stand." Students create their own unique design based on a symbol from...
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Drawing a "Life Map"
Students create an autobiography. In this writing lesson, students use a life map as a graphic organizer to develop their autobiography.