Getting to Know
Shape and Form in Art
Introduce youngsters to the important role shape and form play in art with this extensive collection of activities and projects. From teaching first graders how to create mandalas to engaging third and fourth graders in the design of...
Curated OER
Follow the Leader: Line in the Visual Arts
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.
Curated OER
Identify the Element of Line
Students explore the element of "line." In 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 lines,...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Expressing Emotions through Art Lesson 3—Everybody Works Together
See how art can communicate the idea of working together with your class. They will view art and describe space, color, shape, and lines in art. Then they will overlap in their art to show a sense of space. In the end, they will be able...
York Catholic
Elements of Drama
Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.
Curated OER
Principle of Art Balance
Reinforce a strong art vocabulary which can also apply to aspects of math and science. Kids read about various types of balance or symmetry found in art. They analyze three paintings based on vocabulary and read a how-to for creating...
Curated OER
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN IN TWENTIETH CENTURY ART
Students examine the elements of design: line, shape, color, space, texture, light. They refer to these elements of design when they view works of art and create their own artwork. They visit the National Gallery Museum.
Denton Independent School District
Elements of Art: Name Design Project
Introduce your class to the seven elements of art through a presentation and related project. Before beginning the project, class members take notes on the presentation, writing down the underlined items and adding drawings into their...
Learning to Give
Teaching Playwriting in Schools
The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.
National Park Service
The Poet's Toolbox
If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities on...
Curated OER
Lights! Cameras! Action!: Creating a Drama About the Lyme Art Colony
Discuss the lives of artists in the Lyme Art Colony in the 1900s with this resource. Young historians write and perform a short scene depicting individuals who lived in the Griswold boardinghouse, used by the colony artists. They use the...
Soft Schools
Onomatopoeia in Literature
Identifying onomatopoeia is one thing; making an inference about the significance of the sound is more advanced. Young poets read a literary passage and identify the examples of onomatopoeia in each before naming the source of the sound.
Memorial Art Gallery
Art Alive! - Beach at Blue Point
And then what happened? Class members engage in a series of activities that model for them how to read the story in a painting. Participants respond to questions that ask them to closely examine the elements in William Glackens' "Beach...
PBS
Explore Art and Movement Inspired by Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series
Panel 58 from Jacob Lawrence's "Migration Series" of paintings provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to sharpen their observation and analytical skills. After engaging in a warm-up activity that introduces the concepts of...
Curated OER
Elements of Art: Student Assessment
What a neat test! The class is asked to draw and color to create examples of eight elements of art. They focus on each element (line, value, shape, form, space, texture, primary and secondary color) by creating an original piece in each...
Curated OER
Line, Shape, Form, and Pattern
ArtsWork produces some very fine art lesson plans. This one is no exception! In it, learenrs experiment with line to develop skill in creating shapes and patterns. They also play around with shading to create forms. There are six...
Curated OER
Abstract Planes in Paper Sculpture
High schoolers create maquettes of abstract sculptures utilizing the elements of art; line, shape, value, color, space and texture and the principles of design; balance, emphasis, contrast, rhythm and movement, pattern and unity. These...
Brigham Young University
Understanding Design, Composition, and Color
The set for a play combines design elements (style, line, shape, mass, measure, position, color, and texture) and principles of composition (unity, harmony, contrast, variation, balance, proportion, and emphasis) to create a particular...
Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
Eric Carle Mural
Inspire first grade artists to learn about abstract and realistic art while reading Eric Carle's Where are you Going? To See My Friend. Young artists design and make a mural collage by tearing shapes of paper while comparing English and...
Curated OER
Humor in the Movies
Lighten the mood in your film class (or film as lit class) with this amusing presentation. From pictures of Sacha Baron Cohen as his infamous character Borat to a play-by-play of jokes and exaggerated plot lines in many popular movies,...
Curated OER
The Elements of Art Through Photography
Fifth graders photograph examples of the five elements of art: line, shape, color, pattern, and composition.
Curated OER
Notes Unit 1: Art Fundamentals
Here is a guide for your middle schoolers to use while you are providing a lecture on the basics of art. They use this worksheet to aid them as they take notes on the purpose of art, art elements, properties of art, and art principles....
Curated OER
After Reading: "Plot the Plot" Activity in the Library Media Class
"Plot the plot" of "The Adventures of the Speckled Band" with your young readers. Take a few days to read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story as a class or in pairs, having learners write down what they consider to be the most important...
Curated OER
Lesson: All in a Name
Lao Tzu was the fabled author of the Toa te Ching, Lau Tzu is also the name of a large sculptural piece. Kids examine Mark di Suvero's larger-than-life sculptures in relation to the elements of art they've learner about. They examine...