Curated OER
The Art and Culture of the Afro-American
Your high schoolers will examine the community in which they live and discuss with the class. Using the Internet, they identify the importance of African-American art and how it relates to the African-American culture. Individually, they...
Bright Hub Education
Diego Rivera Murals
Explore Mexican culture and art history through active participation in research and painting. The class discusses and researches the life and art of Diego Rivera, then they paint wonderful murals inspired by his representations of...
Curated OER
Using the Comprehension Strategies
High school learners review the six major reading comprehension strategies. They demonstrate the strategies by putting them into action using more complex reading. They finish by discussing a seventh strategy, monitoring comprehension.
Dream of a Nation
Big6 Research Project
Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...
Curated OER
"The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson
Middle schoolers who are about to read the chilling tale, The Lottery, do some writing beforehand. They are asked to write how their lives would change if they won a huge lottery jackpot. Then, they read the short story, and will be...
Bright Hub Education
How to Outline, Plan & Write a Memoir
Get to know each individual through a memoir project. The lesson outlined here is a bit vague, but has some promising ideas for graphic organizers to help writers prepare their work. In order to succeed with the lesson, you will need to...
Curated OER
Give Yourself Some Credit
Eighth graders identify information and skills necessary to transition to high school. They complete a graphic organizer comparing middle school and high school. They discuss earning credits and specific requirements for graduation from...
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing: Fact or Opinion
What is the difference between a fact and an opinion? Middle schoolers categorize statements as either facts or opinions before writing a persuasive essay to support a thesis statement they create. This is a great introduction to...
Curated OER
Research Projects in Renewable Energy for High School Students
Thirty-eight pages of information prepares you to assign middle or high schoolers a project on sustainable energy. They take a pretest, review the scientific method, conduct background research, and finally choose an experiment to carry...
Curated OER
Venn Diagram for Compare/Contrast
Use this lesson to focus on a compare and contrast writing structure in your middle school language arts class. Here, young writers compare and contrast two texts using graphic organizers. They use a double bubble format for their...
Curated OER
Comparing and Contrasting Heroes
Here is a language arts lesson that can be used with virtually any grade level. The only thing that changes is the reading level of the books. Learners compare and contrast different heroes and the characteristics they hold. They use a...
Curated OER
What Does PAN Mean?
Do your middle school scholars need practice decoding words while reading or for spelling? The root word pan is the focus of a nine-step lesson that asks learners to discover ways to figure out the meaning of words built on a root that...
Curated OER
Art in the Middle Ages and Today
Students create a contemporary coat of arms and illuminated page. They study contemporary artists who combine text, symbols and images in altered books and create an altered book page of their own.
Curated OER
The Art Box
Sixth graders create a 3-D Art Box in this design-oriented art project for the 6th grade. Rubric is included for grading purposes. The elements of design are covered and applied (includes line, form, texture, shape, value, color, and...
Curated OER
Changes in Western Art: From Realism To Cubism"
Learners discover the influences of mid 19th and early 20th century art styles: Realism, Impressionism, Post / Neo Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism through an analysis of styles, subject matter, and media.
Curated OER
Writing about Art:Comparing Portraits
Students compare and contrast an academic and Impressionist portrait. In this art history lesson, students look at two different styles of painting and write a paragraph as if they are the subject in the painting. They compare and...
Curated OER
Esperanza Rising: Lesson 5 of 15 in Unit Plan
Sixth graders complete lesson 5 of 15 about the book Esperanza Rising. In this Esperanza Rising lesson, 6th graders build on work done in the previous lesson. They complete response logs, and vocabulary posters. They investigate how...
Curated OER
Natural Collaboration: Building With the Five Elements of Art
Young scholars assemble found natural objects into an artistic arrangement. They photograph their arrangement and Photoshop to enhance their artwork.
Curated OER
Lesson #23: Ceramic Self-Portrait as a Famous Artist
Students sculpt a bust out of clay using naturalistic features. In this sculpture lesson plan, students use themselves or classmates as models to ensure correct form and proportion of a hollow bust. This lesson plan includes...
Curated OER
Elephants
Students explore elephants. For this elephant art lesson, students compare Asian and African elephants, and draw an elephant by following step by step instructions from the teacher.
Curated OER
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Lesson: Immigration
Many of your class members will have heard of Executive Order 9066 and the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Some may even recognize the terms “Issei” and “Nisei,” but few will have heard of Enemy Alien Hearing Boards, of the...
Curated OER
Connected by Art
Students inspect visual arts by exploring images on-line. In this art analysis lesson, students discuss the history of art and the its ability to communicate with people through images. Students utilize pencils and charcoal to create...
Curated OER
Creative Writing/Poetry Lesson Plan
Students complete poetry writing activities and art analysis activities. In this creative writing and art lesson, students analyze a cubist piece by Picasso and discuss abstraction. Students read a poem by Gertrude Stein about Picasso...
Curated OER
Youth Obesity: Schools Fight Back
Kids fight obesity by comparing the USDA food intake suggestions to what they personally consume throughout the day. They watch a video, read texts, and explore related vocabulary which they use as they compose an oral presentation.