Curated OER
From Mark Twain to David Bowie: The Artistic Persona vs. The Individual
Students explore the concept of public image. For this public persona lesson, students discover what public image is and discuss the role of an author's life when interpreting pieces of their work.
Curated OER
Interpreting Selected Works of Art from the 20th Century African-American Experience
Young scholars examine pieces of art by African-American artists in the 20th Century. For each piece, they are shown slides of the artwork and others by the artist to identify the techniques used. In groups, they discuss and research...
Curated OER
Louisiana's Legendary Musicians
Students identify and interpret what legendary traditional musicians of Louisiana that allows them to hear new genres of traditional music. They also identify what it means to be a legendary artist and read, write, and create a project...
Curated OER
American Genre Painting in the Nineteenth Century: Teaching Artistic Interpretation as a Tool for Critically Viewing History
High schoolers view a variety of artwork to determine the history and lifestyle of people from New Haven, Connecticut. In groups, they develop their individual hypothesis about why the paintings were created and share them with their...
Polk Bros Foundation
American Presidents
Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Alexander Gardner's photograph of Abraham Lincoln. What do these works of art tell us about the character of these American Presidents? After examining the techniques the...
US Holocaust Museum
The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk
Have you ever listened to a song that had a deeper political meaning to it? Every examined a work of art with layers of meaning? Pupils analyze the drawings of Arthur Szyk. They research the deeper meaning of several artistic cartoons...
Wordpress
Paper Doll Project
Explore self and social construction with a hands-on art project. After studying and discussing bullying and other social experiences, individuals create three paper dolls that represent specific social constructions. Included here is a...
Curated OER
Winter Wonderland Painting
The examples of art at the top of this page speak for themselves. Here is a fun and lovely project that gets kids outside to observe how snow falls on trees and how various trees are structured. They use crayons, tempera paint, and...
Curated OER
Considering Media And Meanings
Students study reproductions of prints or murals. They interpret artworks supporting their conclusions with evidence in work and from contextual information. They focus especially on significance of artist's choice of mural or...
Curated OER
Modernism in Poetry, Painting, and Music
Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...
History with Peters
A Clear Signal for Change: Multiple Interpretations and Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Was Nat Turner a hero or a violent criminal? Using primary sources and images that discuss the rebellion of enslaved people he led in antebellum Virginia, scholars consider the question. Then, they create memorials to Turner and...
Chandler Unified School District
Ben Franklin Aphorisms
Benjamin Franklin's famous aphorisms are a perfect time capsule of colonist values in the mid-18th century, as well as a clever reminder of the way life still works today. Middle and high schoolers select one aphorism to interpret...
Curated OER
Interpreting Lao Design: Painting
Students examine Lao art techniques and practice replication and modification of Lao designs. Maintaining a symmetrical image, they embellish designs with imagery and background color. They discuss the students' works and note the...
Prestwick House
The Poetry of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's selection as the 2016 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first songwriter ever to receive the honor, has focused the attention of a new generation on the work of the legendary artist. Class members analyze the...
Curated OER
Art & Life During the American Revolution
Fifth graders examine and critique the art, artists, and artisans of late 18th century America.
Curated OER
Art Attraction: Researching the Great Masters and their Works
Students fill out worksheets where they analyze and provide information about different artists, visual art, art techniques, design, and more. For this art lesson plan, students complete 8 worksheets.
Curated OER
The Life and Times of....
Learners assume the role of an investigative reporter and research an artist and the world in which they worked. They create a 2-page newspaper using MS Publisher about the artist and the time period he/she lived in.
Curated OER
JAPAN, IMAGES A PEOPLE
Young scholars interpret Japanese and American paintings; evaluate paintings as sources of cultural and historical information
Curated OER
The Red Studio Turns 100!
Students observe the art of Henri Matisse and discuss the ideas and feelings his art brings about. In this Henri Matisse lesson plan, students look at many of his artistic paintings and discuss and write in a journal the point of view...
Curated OER
Crossing the Delaware with Historic, Cultural, and Personal Interpretations
Sixth graders discover the importance of information sources by researching the United States History. In this research gathering lesson, 6th graders examine a historical painting of George Washington and analyze what it means, what the...
Curated OER
A Look at Life of the Plains Indians through artists like George Catlin
Students identify and interpret the life of the Indians on the Plains during the 1800's through artworks of George Catlin and others during this time period. Students examine life of the Pawnee Indians and interpret conditions that...
Facing History and Ourselves
Interpreting the Works of Samuel Bak: Interruption
Students examine the works of Holocaust artist Samuel Bak. In this Holocaust lesson, students analyze and interpret the works of Bak that feature his first-hand childhood experience of the Holocaust.
Curated OER
Sample Lesson Plan, 3rd-5th grade, Interpretation
Learners become acquainted with the art and literature of artist/author Faith Ringgold.
Curated OER
The Artistic Practice of Collecting
Students view Andy Warhol's Practice of Collecting. They receive a copy of "Artists who collect Andy Warhol Time Capsules." Students view reproductions of Andy Warhol's work. They use the internet and explore Time Capsule 21. They find...