California Education Partners
Covers by Nikki Giovanni
Over three days, scholars listen to and read the poem, "Covers" by Nikki Giovanni. Learners complete a graphic organizer by sketching their visualizations from each stanza then discuss their pictures with a peer. Pupils answer...
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Asking Questions
Students examine a painting that depicts a scene from the Underground Railroad. They discuss the painting and write journal entries and poems in response to the painting's themes and their impressions.
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Creating a Textile Museum Piece from the Islamic Empire
Students create a drawing of an Islamic textile piece from the height of the Islamic Empire. Students describe the textile designs as symbolic representations of life in Islam during the 11th and 12th centuries.
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The Art of "Green" Flying
Students create an airship that doesn't use fossil fuel. In this flying lesson, students research different types of flying machines that only use wind power. They discuss invention designs by Alexander Graham Bell and Leonardo Da Vinci...
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Cardboard Weaving
Fifth graders observe artworks of cardboard weaving for their art elements and principles of organization. In this cardboard weaving activity, student create their own and compare artworks of the past and present. Students...
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Life size figures - Moveable Murals
Students create life-size human figures and decorate them in a collage style with torn colored pieces of pictures from magazines. They display them around the school, creating life-size murals.
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Art as Social Commentary
Young scholars view artworks that make a statement about social conditions. They discuss the artworks, write about them and present their ideas to the class. They create socially conscious art pieces of their own.
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CDs: Creating Direction
Young scholars articulate a direction about prejudice through text and images via a CD album cover. In this prejudice lesson, students view images for prejudice from various sources. Young scholars brainstorm words that contribute to the...
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Picture Books, Retelling, and Writing
Students create stories using only pictures. In this visual storytelling lesson, students read Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie de Paola and analyze the wordless story. Students create new text for the book by writing on...
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EXPRESSIONIST ART LESSON
Sixth graders design and compose a picture that conveys a specific emotion or feeling, and recognize the use of emotion in a variety of artworks using crayons and/or pastels. They experiment and manipulate elements of art including, line...
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African Mask
Students make masks. For this African art lesson, students review background information about African art and the use of masks. Students use geometric shapes and other designs to create their masks.
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Self Portrait Jars: Labeling Ourselves
Seventh graders create an alternative self-portrait. For this art lesson students study the artwork of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Students use her work as inspiration for a self-portrait in a jar form.
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Messages in Art Work
Observe images and discuss what messages they convey. In this critical thinking lesson plan, young scholars determine whether works of art are trying to persuade their audience. They also consider the media and how they communicate...
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"ART ZOO 'Blacks in the Westward Movement', 'What Can You Do with a Portrait', and 'Of Beetles, Worms, and Leaves of Grass'"
Students study black history, examine portraits and portrait making and create their own portraits, and investigate their natural environment. This humanities lesson provides a text that can be used to teach lessons in black...
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Winter Through the Arts
Students read the book The Snowy Day and discover various winter themes. In this winter lesson, students develop movements to express the feeling of a snowstorm. Students also construct winter-themed art pieces.
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Haring Mosaic
Eighth graders design and create a tile mosaic in a public place inspired by the work of artist Keith Haring. For this Haring Mosaic lesson, based on an actual project in Germany, 8th graders study the artist's work, design and...
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Art -- The Secret to Freedom
Fourth graders create a coded message in a quilt. In this art instructional activity students demonstrate the communication used by the Underground Railroad. Students work in a group to make a quilt with a code in it.
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Monkey Puzzle
Third graders analyze the life and work of Keith Haring. In this art criticism instructional activity, 3rd graders view images of his artwork, produce an anthology of his life's work and discuss his achievements. Students will recreate...
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Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Students bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
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Art with Colored Shaving Cream
Students use different textures and mediums to paint with.
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The Influence of Jazz Music in Twentieth Century Art
Learners examine the effect of music on society. While listening to music, they identify the beat, rhythm and write down their reaction to it. Listening to longer selections, they assign a color to the music and share it with the...
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Revolutions in Painting
Students analyze Abstract Expressionist artists and their art. In this art analysis instructional activity, students view the works by Jackson Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler and analyze the pieces. Students complete image based...
Museum of Tolerance
Music Evokes Memories and Emotions
Dim the lights, take a deep breath, and press play to explore the emotions and memories that music elicits. Class members begin using relaxation techniques designed to create a positive listening experience. As music plays, learners...
Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment
Concept Muraling
Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson that models...