Curated OER
Describing Paintings: Calm or Stormy
Young writers use nouns, verbs, and adjectives to describe details in two paintings. One depicts a sunny landscape, and the other shows a cloudier view. They write a narrative inspired by the paintings, paying attention to transitional...
Digital Forsyth
Parts of a Whole
High school artists create a collaborative piece based on a historical image. Each member of the class is given two days to draw one part of the whole image, when the two days are up; they put their pieces together and discuss the...
San Francisco Symphony
Dear Mr. Copland and Mr. Ellington
After a teacher-led demonstration on the lives and music of Aaron Copland and Duke Ellington, learners write a letter to them which shows their understanding of how a person's life experiences can be reflected in a composer's music. They...
Curated OER
Reporting Live from the Twentieth Century
Students create a news story on one of the top 100 news stories of the 20th century.choose one past news event. They write a news story about that event, and provide a continuation of the story based on their research.
Curated OER
Shadows & Light, Science & Puppetry
Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...
New Class Museum
Lesson: An Exploration of Places and Spaces Part II
How does your location alter or impede your movement? An interesting question posed by two artists, who work to show the restrictions of people in various landscapes. Learners analyze both exhibitions, discuss location and movement, then...
Curated OER
Story Totems
Students write and illustrate a story to describe the habitat and life cycle of a selected animal. They write and publish their story, and create a picture of the animal on a wooden board.
Curated OER
Drawing Peace
Students create a drawing representative of what peace looks like and evaluate their thinking process. In this art for peace lesson plan, students use paper to begin their drawing. Students also have the option to use a drawing...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Relationships to Places
Young historians take a look at how the Indian tribes of California promoted a mindful relationship between people and the land. They begin to understand how the Indians were champions of conservation, and at preserving the natural...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Days 13 and 14
How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star...
Common Sense Media
Legit-O-Meter
Pop-ups, banner ads, grammar mistakes ... these are all signs of an untrustworthy website. With the handy Legit-O-Meter poster, scholars can now double-check their sources to ensure accurate, reliable information. The color-coded poster...
Desert Discoveries
Sonoran Desert ABC's
Third graders make alphabet cards that depict the wide variety of life forms found in the Sonoran Desert. A terrific lesson that combines language arts, visual arts, and life science all into one wonderful package. Each of the cards has...
Curated OER
My Own Backyard
Students explore and react to the painting The Road to Santa Fe. In this interacting with art lesson plan, students locate various objects in the painting. Students copy the angle of objects by using their bodies. Students...
Curated OER
Doodles
Here is a fun drawing activity that is sure to develop listening, shape recognition, drawing, skills and eye-hand coordination. The class doodles over an entire page based on the instructions they are given. This resource includes...
Concordia University Chicago
Peace and Plenty by George Inness
Learners will need to discuss the Civil War to truly understand the painting Peace and Plenty by George Inness. They'll analyze the painting in terms of context, style, and technique. Then, they'll experiment with light and composition...
Lied Center of Kansas
The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare
Both The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare are great additions to an elementary language arts lesson. Young readers focus on the literary elements of each story, including characters and plot development, and apply...
Innovative Mobile Apps
Fry Words
Looking for a straightforward app for practicing high-frequency words? You've found one here! This app includes all 1000 Fry words and several ways for kids to practice with each and every one.
Curated OER
Adventure Into The World of Shapes
Students view Elmer Holtzrichter's work Mystery Planet and discuss basic shapes and patterns. They create their own collage. and discuss the patterning they created. Students demonstrate how this pattern would sound with clapping and...
Curated OER
A Kindness Tree
Children record instances when they witness kindness on paper flowers. The flowers are posted on a class tree. Children may also journal and add art to the tree. This lovely idea can be utilized during any part or throughout the entire...
Curated OER
Personal Portraits
Young scholars create their own self-portrait or a portrait of someone they know well.
Curated OER
Let's Make a Mural
Young scholars social skills blossom as they work together on this mural-making activity. In this early childhood visual arts lesson, students develop creative-thinking, fine-motor, language, and social skills as they work together to...
Curated OER
Historical Context: Discovering a Painting
Young scholars analyze a work of art. In this historical context lesson, students research the time period in which the art they observed was created. Young scholars consider differing opinions about a work of art.
Curated OER
Traveling Through Time, Wetland Style
Students create a timeline on the development of the Pajaro Valley Area. In this social science lesson, students discuss the changes that took place in the area over the past 300 years. They draw a pictures of how the area has changed...
Curated OER
Carnival Celebrations: Masks and Vejigantes
Students explore Carnival. In this Puerto Rico Carnival lesson, students discover the history of the cultural celebration as well as the significance of the elaborate masks worn for the festivities. Students create their own Carnival masks.