Curated OER
Let's Go Exploring!
Use a Courbet painting of a cave or tunnel opening to reinforce the importance of descriptive writing. Writers of all ages use sensory details to describe what the scene depicts as they pretend to be in the painting. Then they imagine...
Curated OER
Sensory Details
Students observe their environment and write detailed, sensory-specific sentences about that environment. This lesson can be extended to include the creation of a personalized story or movie of the experience (student examples are...
Curated OER
Give Me Five!
Students become familiar with their five senses and how their experiences would change without them. In this observations lesson, students observe using their five senses in a garden. Students illustrate what they've observed...
Memorial Art Gallery
Learning to Look, Looking to Learn - Peeling Onions
Lilly Martin Spencer's "Peeling Onions" is the subject of a series of exercises that model for learners how to use the elements of art to read a painting. A series of worksheets focus viewers' attention on how Spencer uses...
Memorial Art Gallery
Learning to Look, Looking to Learn - Sunday Morning
Jerome Myers' depiction of the urban landscape in "Sunday Morning" is the focus of a series of activities that asks viewers to examine how an artist uses the elements of a painting to tell a story. The resource packet includes an...
Curated OER
Visual Aural Impressions
Students view a piece of impressionist art, listen to a piece of jazz music and then write a piece about the picture in the style of beat poets. They compare their writing and look for differences in their perceptions.
Curated OER
Vanished Occupations: Life on an Iron Plantation
Learners analyze photographs to understand life on a plantation. In this vanished occupations lesson, students examine why iron plantations were created and what natural resources were needed to make iron. Learners compare the...
Huntington Library
Light in Painting
How do painters use and manipulate light in their artwork to give emphasis and establish mood and emotion? Pupils will analyze a few examples of landscape and portrait painting in order to explore the how light is used in art,...
Curated OER
Lost on a Deserted Island
Third graders practice brainstorming with their classmates as they discuss a role-play situation. In this group discussion instructional activity, 3rd graders must present ideas of ways to survive on a deserted island by discussing...
Curated OER
Fantasy, Fables, Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales
Students identify the differences between fantasies, fables, myths, legends and fairy tales. In groups, they create their own versions of the different genres. They practice identifying the examples, as well.
Curated OER
A Bug's Journey
Students examine the artwork of John Baldessari that was inspired by a 16th century drawing of a beetle. They analyze a drawing of a beetle, discuss the insect's characteristics, and write a story from the perspective of a bug. Also,...
Curated OER
A Colorful Rainforest
Middle schoolers are introduced to the various types of birds that make their home in the tropical rainforest. In groups, they use a template of a tropical bird and use color to identify each physical feature. They use the internet to...
Curated OER
Masks Across Cultures
Middle schoolers examine various masks from different cultures. In groups, they review vocabulary related to expressing emotions in art. They work together to create a mask using the techniques described to them and representing a...