Curated OER
The View From Here
Study the beauty of the landscape around you with an innovative art lesson. After discussing the foreground, background, and middle ground of landscape art, kids work on making their own piece of landscape art. The lesson provides...
August House
The Ogre Bully
English language arts, math, science, dramatic arts, and cooking; this lesson has it all! In this multidisciplinary resource, your scholars will take part in a read aloud of The Ogre Bully by A.B. Hoffmire and have a grand...
National Gallery of Canada
Panoramic Landscapes
Combine landscape with collage to create unique art pieces. Class members examine works of art before creating their own pieces with photos of a special place. Learners create a panoramic image and add in figures.
Curated OER
James and the Giant Peach Plot Analysis
It's all about the plot, main events, and story mapping with this lesson. As the class reads the novel James and the Giant Peach, they create an excitement graph that actually charts key events and moments of excitement. After...
Read Works
How to Say “I Ruff You”
Who says you need a human to be your valentine on Valentine's Day? Give your dog-loving readers an inspiring perspective on how a sister givdes her brother a valentine from the family dog. They then answer 10 questions thatd involve...
Denver Art Museum
Descriptive Haiku
Even though this is technically an art activity, haiku poetry is actually the main focus! Learners view photographs of Japanese tea caddies. They list five descriptive words for the caddies, then write haiku poems using the caddies as...
Curated OER
Mini-Lesson Planning for Inferences
Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...
Curated OER
Painting a Color Wheel
You have to love the color wheel, it's just so colorful! Your kids will love it too, as they work through an introductory exercise which allows them the opportunity to draw and paint a color wheel of their own. This wheel focuses on...
Curated OER
Georgia O'Keefe - A Unit for Grades 9-12
SYoung scholars view examples of O'Keef's work and watch a video about her life. They use colored pencil to create a 6" x 6" reproduction of a 2" x 2" square cut from a magazine picture, finding and using the most interesting shapes in...
Curated OER
Museum Gallery
Children of all ages examine original art in an art gallery. They view art at an art gallery, then view reproductions, and compare and contrast the two works of art.
Curated OER
Not Just the Facts
Encourage your learners to explore the differences between hard news and news analysis. They outline a complex news analysis about the upcoming presidential election, then endeavor to write an analysis of the same topic, using local...
Curated OER
Palace Adventure
Young language arts learners write and illustrate a short fantasy story based on the book Corduroy. First, learners need to develop a character. Then, through their writing and illustrations, they take their characters on adventures...
Curated OER
My First Book
Introduce young writers to the process of writing a book. Start by reading a book of your choice and discussing the essential elements of any book such as the cover, story, and illustrations as well as who is responsible for each...
Curated OER
Jeffrey and Sloth: Six Traits of Writing
Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...
Curated OER
Kip Pix Studio Deluxe
After reading The Sign of the Beaver, learners utilize Kid Pix Studio Deluxe to draw a picture from one scene in the story. They also compose a description to accompany their scene. A minimum of two paragraphs must be written, using at...
Curated OER
Tangerine: Instructions for Guided Imagery
A guided imagery exercise draws class members into a particularly intense scene in Edward Bloor's Tangerine. After listening to a reading of an excerpt from the text, participants respond to a series of questions and then share their...
Curated OER
Natural Twig Journals
Artists of all ages participate in a very basic bookbinding technique incorporating a dimensional object and simple fastening method. They create their own book to use as a sketchbook, writing surface or scrapbook. The results are...
Curated OER
Architectural Letters
Have your class construct their own architectural letter. This art project focuses on architecture, or the art of building. You can connect this activity to a biography activity. Your class can decorate their initial to reflect their...
Curated OER
v and w
Have fun with lowercase letters v and w as scholars get some printing practice. They use dotted lines and arrows to get some printing practice before writing a set on their own for each letter. Then, they complete an image of...
Curated OER
Lao Design: Lotus Flower Constructions
Students create lotus flowers in 3-D designs applying Lao art techniques. Following a teacher demonstration, they assemble their own lotus flower candleholders and the teacher arranges a group flotation in a body of water. Students...
Curated OER
Historical Fiction: A Wealth of Interpretations
How can understanding the genre of historical fiction help your language arts class with literary analysis? Use this activity to help young readers learn about historical fiction. After reading a selection from the "Dear America" or "My...
Curated OER
All the World's a Stage
Is the circus a form of theater? Read "A City of Clowns? What Else Is New?" to sway your class that a circus, is indeed, a theatrical performance. Critical thinkers compare/contrast various forms of theater and identify what makes the...
Curated OER
Interaction as Analysis: Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is a thing with feathers” is the focus of a series of activities that model for learners how close reading can lead to understanding. The whole class plays with the metaphor, groups talk about the author’s...
Curated OER
Comprehension Instructional Routine: Sequence of Events in Text
If you're looking for a detailed lesson on event sequencing from informational text, you've found it. There is an entire script for you to draw from as you explore order of events and sequence words. Scaffolding is key here; learners...