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Thirty-Second Look
Students articulate why more than 30 seconds is required to examine a work of art, in order to gain an understanding of it. They give reasons why discussing a work of art increases their understanding of it.
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Looking at Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes
Students read about a god, goddess, or hero and compare two images of him or her.
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If These Walls Could Talk
Students investigate the influence of the Enlightenment on American society and government. In this Enlightenment instructional activity, students work cooperatively in groups to define the principles of the...
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If These Walls Could Talk
Students explore Enlightenment and Neoclassical art. In this visual arts lesson, students compare and contrast images of architecture from both styles. Students create visual art designs that feature the ideals of the Enlightenment.
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Still Life Painting: Arranging Nature
Students display the two still-life paintings they created along with their artist’s statement, write a review of a peer’s work, and discuss all of the paintings in a group critique. In this still life art lesson, students view the...
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Ceramics: A Vessel into History
Students view ceramic vessels from different time periods and cultures, and discuss their meanings, functions, and original contexts.
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Funky Illuminated Fairy Tales
Students create a nameplate and an original fairy tale book using an illuminated manuscript format. They create a personal nameplate using a decorated or historiated initial, a border, and illuminations.
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Statement of Principles
Students create their own work of art that serves as a social commentary. In this art statement lesson, students research how art conveyed moral and ethical ideals during the Neoclassical period and create a drawing that addresses a...
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Looking at Portraits: Thomas Jefferson
Students examine works of art that have influenced images of our founding fathers still in use today, and discuss influences from antiquity on Houdon's sculpture.
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Learning To Look
Learners examine Jacques-Louis David's Telemachus and Eucharis and Dorothea Lange's photograph of a migrant mother and consider how artists communicate ideas across time. They look closely at, and think creatively about artworks.
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Constellation Companions
Students research the star composition for a constellation after a brainstorming session suggesting why humans have organized the night sky into constellation patterns. They use the research to create their own constellation and myth...
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Neoclassical Influences
Students identify artists of the Neoclassical period and how they were influenced by major historical events during the Enlightenment as well as identify the Neoclassical style.In this Neoclassical art lesson,...
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Literary Odyssey
Students read and compare excerpts from The Odyssey and The Adventures of Telemachus. In this literary comparison lesson, students read the two stories and discuss the characters Telemachus and Eucharis. Students view an image by David...
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Ceramics: A Vessel Into History
Students review a previous ceramics lesson and journal about a personal clay vessel they will create. In this ceramics lesson, students recognize various ceramic forms created in different time periods and...
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Flawed Democracies
Ninth graders examine the struggle for equal opportunity. In this American Government lesson, 9th graders create a timeline outlining various groups' struggles for equal opportunity. Students research and construct a timeline to...
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Constellation Companions
Learners identify constellations and the characteristics of the stars that compose them. In this space science lesson, students view depictions of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in the book Astronomical Micelleny. Learners create their own...
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Art as Artifact-A Set of 7 Activities
Students search art objects in these seven detective activities for clues about the people in the past who used them and the world in which they lived.
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Expressing Emotions Through Art Lesson 2: Everybody Needs Somebody
Learners examine works of art that depict two people who care for each other, and analyze how artists use line, shape, color, and space in works of art. They use line, shape, color, and space to create drawings that depict two people...
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A Picture's Worth 500-700 Words
Students interpret and analyze a work of art and write a narrative for the piece of art. In this narrative art lesson, students analyze a work of art and then write a short story 500-700 words long to narrate the art.
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Symbols of a Life
Learners identify the narrative elements in a work of art and write their own narrative. For this narrative and symbolism lesson, students interpret narratives depicted in the given works of art and write a biographical narrative about a...
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Looking at Ritual and Ceremony
Students explore Edward Curtis' photos of a Native American ritual and practice documenting their own religious rituals. In this photography analysis instructional activity, students analyze an Native American ritual in Curtis' photo....
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Periodic Pigment
Students make paint using the ingredients from recipes from the 17th century. In this paint making lesson plan, students follow a recipe with vegetable oil, eggs, pigment, paintbrushes, and more to make their paint.
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Looking at French Decorative Arts: Symbols in Marquetry
Students study a French cabinet, then research and discuss its symbols. They create their own marquetry design based on an animal symbol from another country.
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Greek and Roman Myths in Art-A Set of 7 Activities
Young scholars paricipate in seven activities to investigate ancient stories about heroes, monsters, gods, and goddesses.