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Art of Mexico - Painting
Students create a personal painting of thanks, explain importance of devotional art in Mexico, and critically view art work from another culture. Next, students evaluate self and peer work.
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The Feudal System: Castles at War
Students study the feudal system of the Middle Ages. In this Middle Ages lesson, students watch "The Feudal System at War". Students listen to an instructor-delivered lecture regarding the roles of monarchs, nobles, knights, and...
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Newberry Award Reading Project
Fifth graders complete a project for a Newberry Award winning book. This ambitious lesson plan outlines the expectations for students regarding their project. Included is a list of possible books and a variety of writing, art, music and...
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Swimmy
Students explore the themes of the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni. In this literacy instructional activity, students dramatize a character from Swimmy and identify common themes such as cooperation and caring. Students create a new ending to...
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Sandra Day O'Connor
No unit on important women in history would be complete without a lesson on Sandra Day O'Connor. After reading background information about the first female Supreme Court justice, middle schoolers engage in several activities addressing...
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Smoky Night
Second graders compare the neighborhoods they know to those of a different place and time. In this historical perspectives activity, 2nd graders read Eve Bunting's Smoky Night and discuss the outcome of the story. Students also discuss...
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What Makes a Cat a Cat?
Students investigate the lives of pets by videotaping them. In this animal life lesson, students videotape a cat and other pets using school cameras in a computer lab. Students review the footage from the cat and other...
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Panther Exam: Writing a Play
Students demonstrate their knowledge of panthers by writing a play on the subject. In this animal life lesson, students view a slide-show on school computers of a veterinary exam of a panther. Students utilize this...
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Go Fish! Fish or other Sea Creature from Recycled Materials
Students brainstorm what a fish looks like determining the parts from schema and research. They create a unique and interesting 3-d sculpture of fish or underwater creature mostly from recycled materials, then examine the aesthetics of...
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Bring Your Character in a Bag - Animal Farm (Middle, Literature)
Ninth graders interpret a chosen character from the novel Animal Farm and represent that character in original symbolic form and present orally to the class.
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Looking at Illuminated Manuscripts: An Illuminated Day Planner
Students examine a book of hours to compare it with a modern day planner. In this illuminated manuscripts lesson, students analyze a book of hours example from the 16th century. Students create their own modern day illuminated calendar.
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You've Got Chocolate on my Peanut Butter
Students solve design problems. In this art and design lesson, students create a picture by analyzing two others, and make a prototype of a building. The small group activities call for creativity and ingenuity as well as the ability to...
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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...
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Batlik- Art of Japan
Eighth graders will examine the use of Japanese ar tforms. The paper lantern is the example drawn from for learners to connect with the culture. The end result is a creative project that should reflect the culture of Japan.
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The Middle-East; Water and Life
Tenth graders examine the physical and cultural impressions made by water in the Middle East, as well as their own lives, through exercises in reading, writing, geography and art. They explore how water as an economic good drives...
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Exploring Photographs: Methods of Visual Analysis
Young scholars use the methods of description, reflection, and formal analysis for a study of images. In this image analysis lesson, students work in teams to interpret and analyze an assigned work of art. Young scholars write responses...
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Portraits That Capture Character
Learners analyze two of Dorothea Lange's portraits and create their own portraits of classmates. In this portrait analysis lesson, students define portrait and discuss two images of Lange's. Learners interview a classmate and use Lange's...
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Mexican Version of The Night Before Christmas (Middle, Language)
Students read a poem aloud called the "Mexican Version of the Night Before Christmas. They enact the scenes of the poem. They discuss variations of this poem both in English and Spanish.
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Writing to See
Learners write descriptively and creatively after looking carefully at a work of art.
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High School Drawing and Painting
Students combine multiple unrelated images into single composition with subtle message or theme They become familiar with pen and ink techniques inspired by illustrator, Edward Gorey. They create a visual language for texture and value.
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Contemporizing Myths
Learners examine ancient Greek myths and illustrate origin myths scenes in a contemporary setting. In this Greek myth instructional activity, students analyze Rembrandt’s painting The Abduction of Europa and discuss how the...
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Romeo and Juliet Family Shields
Students create a family shield for themselves as part of the Montague or Capulet family. In this Romeo and Juliet instructional activity, students divide into the two warring clans. Students each create a shield representing...
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Sole People
Students create "sole people" using tempera paint, drawing paper, and shoe prints in this multi-level art lesson. The lesson can be combined with a brief history of the African-American inventor Jan Ernst Matzeliger, who created the...