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Curated OER

Observational Drawing

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students create drawings using oil pastels that convey cultural, social and historical meaning. Drawings are evaluated on use of color planning, contour drawing, color blending, line and pattern.
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Sculptures from the Skies

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders research the design of the aircraft used by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. They design a sculpture of aircraft using recycled materials.
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Jazz in America

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Learners explore Free Jazz and Fusion by answering questions and listening to music.
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Jazz in America

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students learn the basic elements of music and gain an understanding of the elements found in Jazz.
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Flying in Unusual Places

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders create a surrealistic composition that depicts flight.
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Jazz in America

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore the Swing Era and its implications. They answer questions and listen to music from the era.
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Me, Myself, and I

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students visually express their personalities using writing and PhotoShop. They manipulate imagery to illustrate their written description of themselves. Students display their creations.
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The Crucible

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students create a movie of a scene from The Crucible upon completion of reading the book. They assume a variety of roles in the film production.
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Abraham Lincoln and the Arts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students engage in a study of history and how the figure of Abraham Lincoln has evolved into a national cultural icon. They discuss the importance of his life and how he influenced the political landscape of America in the past and present.
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Early Jazz

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Young scholars gain an understanding of early jazz. They study Dixieland and the Roaring Twenties. They examine the American historical significance and cultural implications of early jazz.
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Jazz in America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students learn vocabulary associated with the Swing Era. They also listen to music from the time period.
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Jazz in America

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore Jazz in America. They examine greats in Jazz, such as Duke Ellington. They are also to discuss the cultural implications of the music itself.
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1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and...
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Jazz In America - Lesson Plan 6

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore cool jazz and how it reflected American culture in the 1940's and 1950's.
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Jazz in America

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore different instruments and what role they play in Jazz. They also each person's role in a democratic society.
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Flood Control: Environmental History

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the painting, Spring on the Missouri. They role-play and discuss floods and flood control from the views of an environmental lobbyist and a farmer.
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Politics and Religion in 17th Century Dutch Art

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine different pieces of Dutch Art. They identify its social and political meanings by using cultural and historical information. They examine maps of the time period as well.
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Vincent's Flowers

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students create original works of "sunflower" art using Van Gogh's paintings and the book "Camille and the Sunflowers" as a basis. Pastels and sugar paper are the suggested medium for this creative project.
Handout
Ballet Austin

The History of Modern Dance

For Students 4th - 12th
The evolution of modern dance, and the dance history of many of the key figures in the development of this uniquely American form, are the focus of a 13-page packet that includes photos of revolutionaries.
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The Changing Experience of Colonial Childhood

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers research how childhood was depicted in art in the 17th through 19th centuries. In groups, they research pieces of art and write a paper explaining how the portrayal of students in art changed at the end of the 18th century.
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Rights and Responsibilities in History

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Learners research rights and responsibilities in historic themes using primary source documents. They produce an iMovie including appropriate images and sounds.
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Using Dreams in Writing

For Teachers 9th
C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength provides the model for using dreams in narrative writing. After a discussion of the purpose of dreams in Lewis’s tale, class members craft a story in which their dreams play an essential role.
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This Land Is Your Land

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore the many faces of America through the video, "This Land Is Your Land." They discuss places they may have visited and record their responses. Students create symbols that respresent the riches of America.
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Class Books

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Young scholars brainstorm a list of personal information based on a variety of categories. After writing positive comments on their classmates, they spilt into two groups with one entering the information into a database and the other...