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...
Spring Branch Independent School District
Elementary Art Curriculum Guide
Get crafting with hundreds of pages of art lessons! The plans are organized into topics, which include clay, drawing, composition and design, mixed media, painting, printmaking, and paper.
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying special attention to...
Project Articulate
Textured Landscapes with Grant Wood
Explore the world of textured landscapes through the eyes of the famous artist, Grant Wood. Here is an elementary art lesson plan in which scholars learn about Grant Wood's life, view his work, draw their own textured landscape, and then...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: A Bird's Tale
Who wouldn't love to get a letter from a blue bird? Elementary art enthusiasts analyze the social and historical context of Ason Yellowhair's Navajo piece, Bird and Cornstalk Rug. They examine the construction and images on the rug...
Curated OER
Our Illuminated Alphabet
Students examine artwork and create their own. For this writing and illustrating lesson, students view illuminated letters from the Getty Museum's collection and discuss art vocabulary. Students examine the visual elements in the...
Smithsonian Institution
Arts of the Islamic World
Learn more about the history and five pillars of Islam with an extensive resource that focuses on the religion's connection to art. Focusing on calligraphy, textiles, and architecture, the packet illustrates the beauty of the artistic...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Step Inside the Brain
Before digital microscopes, scientists hired artists to draw the things visible in the microscope. Through training in neuroscience and art, Cajal revolutionized the way we view the beautiful brain. The third lesson in a series of four...
Curated OER
Native American Storyteller Figure
Third graders explore cultures that use clay figures in the art of storytelling. They discover the importance of cultural history being passed through generations. They also form their own storyteller from a clay figure.
New York City Department of Education
Theater Units for Lower and Upper Elementary Levels
Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons, assessment...
Curated OER
Musical Terms
Are you starting a recorder lesson with your elementary students? Use this helpful slide-show, perfect for introducing basic music terms such as tempo, dynamics, pitch, and duration. Each slide provides a definition and example of the...
Curated OER
Monet and Impressionism
Monet is a great artist to study and impressionism is a wonderful art style to practice. Learners read about Monet then attempt to use impressionist painting techniques. Book and image links are included.
Curated OER
The Art and Science of Impressionist Color
Discover Impressionist painting as young scholars investigate the 19th century combinations of colors characteristically used. Students experiment with their own paintings, utilizing primary and secondary colors.
Curated OER
Pen and Ink Drawing
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...
Curated OER
Bodies In Motion: Shapes and Gestures
Students use geometric shapes to describe body parts. In this geometry lesson plan, students use geometry vocabulary as they discuss body parts. They practice drawing bodies using shapes based on a wooden model that is poised to show...
Curated OER
Composition and Line
Students examine the use of composition and line as they create original drawings. In this composition and line lesson, students recognize the art vocabulary associated with line and composition. Students illustrate the shape of a tree...
Curated OER
Museum Gallery
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.
Curated OER
Kodomo No Hi: Children's Day Celebration
Children's Day is a beloved Japanese holiday with many colorful and engaging traditions. On this national holiday celebrated yearly on May 5, children are honored for their strengths and given good wishes for happiness. Your younger...
Curated OER
It's All In How You Look At It
Students work collaboratively to create artistic renderings of digital photographs using a color value scale and grid techniques in this late-elementary school lesson based upon Ted Rose's book Discovering Drawing. The lesson includes a...
Curated OER
The Art of Description
Learners apply descriptive language to identify the five elements of art and the basic lines, geometric shapes, and angles in Marie Hull's, Sharecropper. They explain how the elements of a piece of work contribute to the story it tells....
Curated OER
Art Styles - Portrait Triptych
Students select one photos and creates portraits of the photo in three different styles. After making the portraits, they describe the differences between them. They place their finished product on a triptych for viewing and practice...
Curated OER
Literacy: Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth
Students explore language arts by analyzing a children's book in class. In this vocabulary lesson, students read the book Slowly, Slowly, Slowly... by Eric Carle. Students identify the characters, setting and plot of the story before...
Curated OER
My Childhood Portrait
Students practice descriptive writing by viewing auto-portraits of young children. In this art analysis lesson, students examine an auto-portrait of their teacher as a young child and ask him/her questions about their youth. Students...
Curated OER
Dot To Dot Seurat
Students discuss the art of Georges Seurat and examples of Pointillism and create original works of Pointillism using colored, sticker dots. This lesson is intended for use in the elementary Art classroom and includes a short vocabulary...