Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pen and Ink Drawing

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Learners hone their drawing techniques to create a nature-inspired piece of art. They practice hatching, cross hatching, stippling, and shading. They discuss how each method is better suited for creating specific elements in nature such...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Elements of Art Through Photography

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders photograph examples of the five elements of art: line, shape, color, pattern, and composition.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pastel Drawing like Vincent Van Gogh

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners discuss the elements of art and design found in a series of flower paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. They explore art, shading, and color as they create mirrored representations of the master's art, using oil pastel. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classic Still Life Drawing

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Provide your young artists with an opportunity to study the masters and their techniques to become skilled at drawing still life. They discuss and view images from artists like Degas and Michelangelo, practice drawing techniques such as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Elements of Art - Memoir Book

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learn and practice the elements of art by making a picture book. Also containing short memoirs of their own lives, this would be a perect project and also a gift to take home. In doing this project, they also gain an understanding of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Line and Pattern

For Teachers 1st - 12th
Students create a silhouette of a simple figure and repeat it to create a pattern drawing with rhythm.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Line: a Geometric Exercise

For Teachers K - 12th
Students study the different types of lines and create a drawing demonstrating what they learned.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Identify the Element of Line

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students explore the element of "line." For this beginning art lesson, students listen to the book Harold and the Purple Crayon, then describe the types of lines Harold drew. Students identify straight lines,  jagged lines, curvy...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Expressive Contour Hands Drawing

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students discuss lines and elements of design. They view examples of artwork, and contour drawings. Students create their own contour drawings. They discuss balance and do an activity that involves balance. Students discuss other...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Stage Design: Using Visual Elements to Provide Information to an Audience

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students study about theatrical design by developing environments for improvised and scripted scenes. They develop focused ideas for an environment using visual elements.
Lesson Plan
Art Institute of Chicago

Urban Space

For Teachers 5th - 8th
The use of perspective is clear in Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. Pupils study and discuss this example, marking the vanishing points and horizon line of a photocopy of the piece. They then create their own urban scene...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

My Treehouse

For Teachers K - 3rd
If you could build your own treehouse, what would it look like? Using a piece of contemporary art as inspiration, learners draw their own treehouses and add geometric and organic shapes. The lesson touches on Visual Thinking Strategies...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Draw Me a Mammal!

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders illustrate at least three art elements in a drawing of a mammal they've read about with 100% accuracy. As a review, Bloom's Taxonomy questions are asked as they prepare to sketch something they pictured in the story they read.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gesture Drawing

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers investigate the use of proportion using gesture drawing as the subject matter. They create a painting using the elements of art and principles of design.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rhythm and Art: Elements of Art

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discover the three elements of art. In this visual arts lesson, students examine line, shape, and color of works by Torres-Garcia and Picasso. Students then identify the elements of art in works by other artists.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rhythm and Art: Gesture Drawing

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore connections between non-verbal language and art. For this visual and auditory art lesson, students investigate the science of sound and principles of drawing. They then use various genres of music to directly apply that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My First Book

For Teachers K - 2nd
Introduce young writers to the process of writing a book. Start by reading a book of your choice and discussing the essential elements of any book such as the cover, story, and illustrations as well as who is responsible for each...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking and Learning in the Art Museum

For Teachers K - 5th
Have you just visited an art museum? Or can you create a gallery in your classroom to visit? Pupils create an original drawing that reinforces what was learned in a visit to the art museum. They will view original art work and verbally...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

The Changing Composition

For Teachers K - 3rd
Play with dimensions and practice making a two-dimensional scene look three-dimensional. Class members view pieces of art and then make their own scenes by layering different materials and drawing in details. Check out all the tabs for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Follow the Leader: Line in the Visual Arts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore line in painting and drawing and examine how it is defined in the visual arts. Recognizing line in the composition of a number of art works and how it affects these works of art is the focus of this lesson.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lots of Lines

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students see that artists make many different kinds of lines. They discuss how artists use line to show ideas such as motion, mood, or emphasis. They geet a "scribble" to transform into a picture using Colorific markers or erasable crayons.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Follow the Leader: Line in the Visual Arts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify line in the composition of a number of art works. They explain how the artist's compositional choices guide the viewer's eye to important components of the image. Students identify sight lines in several paintings and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Explore the Elements of Art

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students recognize elements of art such as texture, shape line and color.  In this elements of art lesson, students create a still life picture with oil pastel or crayons.  Students define elements of art vocabulary....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Text Elements of Fiction and Nonfiction

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders examine the text elements associated with fiction and nonfiction texts. In this text elements lesson, 2nd graders listen to Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock by Eric A. Kimmel. They take formative assessments to determine...