Understanding how visual codes such as long-shots, close-ups, and camera angles affect meaning helps prepare young filmmakers to plan their own productions. The concepts embedded could also be used to analyze photographs and paintings.

This lesson starts out with a guided discussion about the statement "Birds fly in the sky; airplanes fly in the sky; therefore, airplanes are birds" and goes on to cover logical fallacies and reliable sources, relating these to the topic...

Bloom's Taxonomy is a great way to address the many levels of comprehension. With explanations and examples of each level, you can create questions that focus on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is known for its fantastical imagery and nonsense verse. This unit plan offers a basic exploration into nonsense verse through poetry and teacher read-alouds. It incorporates activities involving...

Students examine the concept of heroism in this lesson, through personal reflection, group activities and a thoughtful analysis of the documentary, HEROES OF GROUND ZERO. They explore their own understanding of what it means to be a hero.

Eighth graders discover the fundamental advantages/disadvantages of both maps and globes. They see that maps may distort size, shape, distance and direction. They discuss the advantages and applications of 5 types of map projections and...

Students examine historical images of the Alaskan Gold Rush and complete a worksheet to better explain this era. They create a PowerPoint related to the images.

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.

Students identify, explore, and analyze the effects of their daily exposure to advertising.

Students examine the suggestion that the subjective experience of everyday life and sense of identity has changed in America in recent years. In this post-modernism and mass culture activity, students engage in 4 multi-step exercises...

Learners compare different types of media.  In this media comparison lesson, students will assess the where all types of media gets its information by viewing a video of a news story and critiquing it.

Students examine inkblot images. In this visual arts instructional activity, students consider perception as an element of art as they partipate in activity that requires them create and analyze inkblot art. Students analyze several...

Students examine African life during slavery on the Internet. In this slavery lesson, students use the Internet to research slavery and create a scrapbook. Students review pictures of slavery and label them as primary or secondary sources.

High schoolers use audio devices to record a text and have a peer edit it.  In this peer review and collaboration lesson, students write a short text on a topic provided by the teacher.  After recording their text the message...

Eleventh graders examine the roles of trading and pilgrimage in promoting exchange of goods and ideas. They appreciate the roles played by Xuan Zang and Marco Polo in the material and cultural exchange among the peoples of the Silk Road.

Young scholars compare and contrast two pieces of artwork in regards to their nastalgic elements. Using the internet, they research local religious institutions in their area and note their function in society. They also compare and...

Young scholars explore how emotions affect the decision-making of peacekeepers and design simulators for training emergency-response personnel.

Students examine the issue of body image and the media. They watch and discuss a video, identify ads with unrealistic images, write a letter to the magazine, develop a timeline of changing body types, and conduct research.

Students explore the complexities of organizing information and to support librarians in developing strategies for reducing cultural bias. Students extend strategies to help raise solutions. Students list a variety of definitions on bias...

Students examine the various portrayals of African-Americans in literature, focusing on the opera, Porgy and Bess. They conduct Internet research on African-American culture between the two World Wars. Students write fictional or...

Students are introduced to the code systems and art of cryptography. As a class, they review prior knowledge and brainstorm lists. Using the internet, they research the history of codes and determine how they are structured. They also...

Fifth graders understand the people and events associated with the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence and the document's significance. They identify the Founding Fathers and their affiliations. As the instructional...