Aesop's Fables are the focus of this language arts instructional activity. Young philosophers study and discuss the morals found in the most famous of Aesop's Fables. They write an original fable that teaches a common moral. A "Fable...

Est-ce que ton animal grand ou petit? Pair up your beginning French speakers for a game of Pet Guess Who! Using pet advertisements from newspapers or the Internet, pairs try to guess what kind of animal their partner has. Also, use the...

Use a hot dog as a metaphor for good reading, and make your class drool! Writers identify the parts of a paragraph, linking them to parts of a hot dog. Then, they translate this knowledge into a well-written paragraph. While a check-list...

Children of all ages examine original art in an art gallery. They view art at an art gallery, then view reproductions, and compare and contrast the two works of art.

Everything old is new again. The Los Angeles J. Paul Getty Museum presents a lesson on how Greek black-figure painting influenced eighteenth century Neoclassical artists. After looking at a series of examples, class members create their...

Students sort and compare apples before making apple prints. In this apple instructional activity, students use a painting to inspire art prints made with apple halves. Students compare and sort apples.

Students examine a painting.  In this shapes and puzzle lesson, students view Guston's painting Blue Water and identify the colors, shapes and recognizable forms.  Students work in groups to put together puzzle pieces of the...

Students investigate shapes in art. In this visual arts instructional activity, students examine the ancient Panamanian "Plaque" and identify the geometric shapes in the art piece. Students combine basic shapes to make an artistic...

High schoolers form opinions about children and television censorship after analyzing literature. They complete a journal writing activity to identify the topic and make a list of inappropriate television shows for children. Next, they...

Students study classic paintings by masters like Monet. In this art history activity, students listen to the story Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and sing flower songs with the rest of their class. Students examine the...

Students investigate different painting techniques by studying classic works of art.  In this art history lesson, students observe the famous Madonna and Child with Saints painting and describe the texture and images they notice....

What is an idiom? Learners identify and read common idioms. They discuss what idioms are, and are given a black line master embedded in the plan that has 100 common idioms. Next, they complete "The Daily Idiom" worksheet, which is...

Using Google SketchUp, learners draw a model of their bedroom. They begin by measuring the dimensions of their bedroom, inputting this information into the software program, and calculating perimeter and area. This is an interesting and...

See the changes, controversy, and innovations that define postwar American art. The onset of the modern art era in American history is well-defined in this slide-show. You'll see how Abstract Expressionism shifted into conceptual, pop,...

Here's an activity designed to encourage character analysis. Readers craft a biopoem for a character in Orson Scott Cards' popular science fiction novel Ender's Game.

Class members create literary mandalas for two characters from Maus, Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about his father’s experiences with the Holocaust. After finding quotes that reveal three good traits and three bad traits of each...

Use this well-developed class period to introduce your junior high learners as to how to provide effective feedback concerning their classmates' writing. The plan includes a warm-up, review, introduction, guided and independent practice,...

The design of this two-day lesson eloquently exposes learners to the topic of social justice for people with disabilities. The plan is built off the reading of Are You Alone on Purpose? by Nancy Werlin. The activity introduces...

Japanese tea gatherings are the inspiration for a great lesson. Learners are provided with an image of a tea caddy made for thick tea and asked to describe what they notice and what that might mean. This leads into a larger lesson about...

You want your class to meet all of the Common Core standards, and here is one way to tackle the first speaking and listening standard. Given a theme to focus on from "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Leo Tolstoy, small groups come up...

Does a spider spin its web differently in space? What other ways might microgravity affect an arachnid? Pick a topic to research, plan an investigation, and follow astronauts on the International Space Station as they perform some of the...

Even the littlest learners can become art historians if they have the right training. For the lesson plan, your preschoolers discuss the piece Long Jakes as they point out all the details they notice. They discuss what mountains and...