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Jack and the Beanstalk
Third graders read a story and grow a beanstalk. In this literature and life science lesson, the class reads "Jack and the Beanstalk," then lists fairy tale elements and write a puppet show. The students plant pinto beans and observes...
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Greek Mythology: Cultures and Art
Students examine literary arts. In this Greek mythology lessons, students read Greek myths and select characters from the myths to study. Students create watercolor illustrations of the characters, write short stories about the...
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Creating Musical Notation
In this creative music activity from Scientific American, students learn about musical notation and then design their own notations. Great web resource links are alsp provided
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Still Life - Realism
Students discuss still life painting and the Realism style of art. They plan a personal narrative still life drawing, complete the project and present it to the class.
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Understanding Political Cartoons
Students draw two political cartoons. They compare the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 to the stand-off that took place at Wounded Knee in l973. They examine the role that Manifest Destiny played in the West.
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Art in the Middle Ages and Today
Students create a contemporary coat of arms and illuminated page. They study contemporary artists who combine text, symbols and images in altered books and create an altered book page of their own.
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Building Castles
Learners research castle building. In this research and design instructional activity, students research castles, visit a Castle Builder website, and use graph paper to draw a blue print of a castle. Learners continue to work on their...
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Creature Feature
Students work in pairs to create a creature and its habitat out of construction paper. Then students write a narrative to describe the animal and its habitat.
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Solar System Tourist Bureau
Students, working in teams, role-play as advertising agents creating ad campaigns for a planet in the solar system. They design commercials for video, Hyperstudio, or Web pages. The activity includes research, all the production stages,...
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Baked Polymer Clay 3D People Portraits
Students discuss methods of building forms with clay (ball and variations, snake, flat sheets). They draw a stick figure of what their sculpture may look like, including correct figure proportion.
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Mastering the Keyboard
Sixth graders view an animated program showing how the continents fit together millions of years ago. In groups, they compare and contrast the distribution of rocks and fossils based on how the continents fit together. After reading a...
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How Do You Know A Panther Was Here?
Students research the signs that panthers leave. In this panther track instructional activity, students conduct Internet research into the signs that panthers leave such as tracks, scat, scrapes, and scratches. They make a...
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Huguenot Street
Third graders visit Early Huguenot Street and identify architectural structural and design elements that were in use before 1720. They consider how architecture has evolved and complete Venn diagrams with their observations.
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Spice Container
Sixth graders examine and identify classic Greek and Roman motifs on spice containers. They analyze the process of casting and chiseling silver, and design and create a spice container using classic Greek and Roman design elements.
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Art Nouveau
Students study the design elements of Art Nouveau, its sources and development. They create art projects in ceramics and glass that exemplify the focus of Art Nouveau as a decorative style.
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Lesson 27: Illinois/Chicago Unit Assessment
Fourth graders create a Class ABC Book summarizing key elements of Illinois and Chicago.
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Looking at Illuminated Manuscripts: An Illuminated Day Planner
Students examine the contents of a book of hours and then compare it to the modern day-planner. They create class day-planners/ calendars with illuminations that correspond to modern holidays and season.
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Nickels, History, and Peace
Second graders examine the designs on nickels before 2004 and after when the new Peace Medal nickel was minted. They research the events that preceded the new design and explore the symbols of friendship on the new coin. They work in...
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Chinese Dragons
Young scholars identify where China is in relation to the US. They investigate the history of dragons in Chinese culture. Students explore the nine different parts of a dragon and incorporate them into their own dragon. Student...
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Members Only
Students discuss the advantages and disadvantages of private communities and the lives led by their residents. They design ideal planned communities for people featured in other Class Matters articles.
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"Angel Child, Dragon Child"
Students read and analyze the book "Angel Child, Dragon Child" by Michele Maria Surat. They chart the main story elements on a graphic organizer, and write three sentences about themselves and draw a self-portrait. Students then create...
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An Introduction to the Relationship Between Composition and Content in the Visual Arts
Students identify different kinds of narratives used in a number of art works, discuss artist's use of compositional elements to further the story and/or convey a message within a work of art, and explain relationship between composition...
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Daily and Seasonal Cycles
First graders identify the sun as a source of heat and light. They identify features of houses that help keep use sheltered and comfortable throughout daily and seasonal cycles. Students are told that summer is the best season to...
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Time Constant Circuits
In this time constant circuits worksheet, learners answer 23 questions about the design of circuits that need time delays, about capacitors and inductors, and about resistors and the design of circuits.