Students create poems and sound compositions using instruments, sounds, and pictograph notation. After listening Debussy's Children's corner suite, they brainstorm a list of snow vocabulary words. Students write poems and in groups...

"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...

Paul Chan's work has been known to show the cycle of change. Learners explore the concept of change by analyzing his work and reading the poem "For Which it Stands." They consider symbolism, communication, art, and society as they use...

Bring a little excitement to your next poetry analysis lesson. Using the highly energetic poem "Walking With My Iguana," learners consider poem structure and rhyme. They listen to the poem, discuss the rhythm and tone with their...

Learning to analyze language, symbols, and codes is part of becoming a deep and critical thinker. Young analysts consider their ability to see hidden messages as they analyze the work of Paul Chan. There are two fully developed...

Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and...

Third graders learn about Chinese poetry and landscape paintings, then create their own. They view several examples and discuss the elements of each, then paint their own landscape inspired by what they saw. They then listen to, read,...

Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...

Young scholars investigate syllabic metre and rhyming techniques by analyzing poetry.  In this language arts lesson, students read the poem Considering the Snail and discuss the nature and mood of the poem with their classmates....

Learners read a Japanese Noh play and discuss its structure and traditional characters. They choose a short myth and write a Noh play based on it.

Emerging writers identify allusion in poetry by listening to recorded poems, like Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town. They also discuss what makes writing satirical and how writers use allusions to make satirical points.  

Students examine the painting, The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan based on a poem by Lord Byron. They compare how Romantic artists and writers made choices about visual elements and language to depict their subjects.

Paul Chan's latest exhibit includes seven manifestations of light. Today, kids analyze the pieces 1st Light  and 5th Light. They consider the concept of opposed or dualistic realities found in literature, society, and Chan's work....

Remember learning to spell “encyclopedia” by singing along with Jiminy Cricket? How about using a singing exercise to learn the names of the presidents? “The Presidents Song,” includes the names, in order, from Washington to Coolidge....

Students analyze the conventions used in Noh plays and write an introduction to a Noh play of their own. In this Noh play lesson plan, students identify the conventions of the Noh form and analyze the realizations the main character...

Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...

Students create an acrostic poem about winter. In this lesson about acrostic poems, students explore acrostic poetry. Students read an acrostic poem as an example. As a class, students come up with an acrostic poem for the word "CLASS"....

Students explore the language of Shakespeare. In this literature lesson plan, students examine words invented by Shakespeare as they interpret their meanings in drawings. Students pantomime the meanings and then write a short story...

Young analysts write a comparative essay, but about what? They compose a paper based on several critical discussion about reality and illusion, and how both are blurred in art. They analyze several theatre pieces that exemplify Brechtian...

Students analyze Edward Hopper's painting and Hirsch's poem to explore the types of emotion generated by each work. In this literary and art analysis lesson, students discuss how Hopper establishes tone and analyze Hirsch's use of...

Students recite poetry and analyze its meaning.  In this poetry interpretation lesson, students listen to a poem and work in groups to write what the poem is about.  Students share and discuss the poem.  Groups report back...

Students brainstorm ideas after being read a poem and then are to write their own poem and read them out loud.

Sixth graders answer questions about "From a Railway Carriage." They discuss different poetical forms. They work together to write a poem about travel.

Students explore color as they create graphs, write poetry, and examine varied interior designs. They respond to writing prompts describing their favorite color. Students collect data and create a bar graph based on a class survey. They...