The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.

Students research the surrealism movement and its primary artists. Language is also analyzed, and students will create their own original poem utilizing surrealistic techniques.

Turn your classroom into a music studio as groups work together to determine why music sounds different when performed live versus a recording. After listening to some different music, each group picks a poem, creates a recording, and...

Learners compare and contrast the difference in the two sets of images and discuss the visual interest in the first set and the different visual interest created in the second set of prints.

Learners familiarize themselves with photo editing and montage techniques. They create a montage that tells the viewer about themselves.

Students demonstrate their knowledge of panthers by writing a play on the subject.  In this animal life instructional activity, students view a slide-show on school computers of a veterinary exam of a panther.  Students...

Students investigate the lives of pets by videotaping them.  In this animal life lesson, students videotape a cat and other pets using school cameras in a computer lab.  Students review the footage from the cat and other...

Students examine the influences and similarities between the New York School poets and Abstract Expressionist artists. They analyze paintings and poems, and write original poetry.

Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

Students, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of ideas...

High schoolers examine the concept of heroism in this instructional activity, through personal reflection, group activities and a thoughtful analysis of the documentary, HEROES OF GROUND ZERO. They explore their own understanding of what...

Third graders create an autobiography on the computer. They write, design and illustrate using word processing and graphic tools on the computer.

Young scholars develop a list of individuals in school who help students. In this stamp making lesson, young scholars create a stamp to honor a person who is helpful at school. Students share their stamps and explain why they chose the...

Students understand that writers utilize various techniques to persuade an audience. They develop an awareness of how the media works to persuade them as the consumer. They create a visual representation of various feelings and emotions...

Rational, irrational, real, natural. All these words can refer to numbers. Who knew? Learners use the Visual Thesaurus and a semantic feature analysis grid to examine the different attributes of numbers. Step-by-step instructions for...

Students use a word processor and some of its tools to create an exciting and visual autobiography. They download a sample letter and then create one of their own.

Students discuss the difference between independent films and and films produced by a major studio. They select an independent filmmaker to research and begin their research from a list of given Web sites. When research is complete,...

Students explain the impact that the media may have in shaping their intellectual and emotional responses to current events. They examine broadcast and Web-based news sites to find subtexts through the use of language, audio, and visual...

Students explore the concept of homophones.  In this homophone lesson, students use a selection from the book Matilda to review homophones.  Students use a web to identify homophones. 

Students read poetry  for gist and find images to create a visual narrative.  In this poetry lesson, students read Green Lane and Flies and Nettles to examine the relationship between humanity and the nature. Students reflect...

Students demonstrate the structure of a canon by composing melodies and variations over Pachelbel's Theme from the Canon in D. Requires a networked keyboard lab and computers.

Young scholars examine the way ghosts are portrayed in films and literature. For this poetry lesson, students listen to  the first five stanzas of the poem "Seven Types of Shadow" read by U A Fanthorpe on The Poetry Archive website...

Students read and analyze the works of Shakespeare. In this "Much Ado About Nothing" lesson, students deicper the play and research Shakespeare's works. Students create a quiz based on his life and re-enact a scene from the play.

Students create an alternate ending with digital animations to illustrate their text.  In this novel creation lesson, students read a novel and analyze the plot in small groups.  Students collaborate on an alternate ending...