Students discuss the historical roots of Hip-Hop to the present as an example of an art form that arose from the street into popular culture. Emphasis is placed on in-class discussion and written reflections in this introductory...

Use this simple collaborative activity to introduce the definition, art, and poetry of romanticism. Educators will have to provide the poetry, images of the art, and the survey for the learners, but by using this resource, they won't...

Caption this! Scholars complete the end of unit assessment by rereading In the Middle of the Storm. Learners answer written response questions about the text, and then create drawings to accompany their work. To finish, they caption...

Examine two works of art and use these pieces as inspiration for dialogues. The whole class discusses Renoir's Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge. Then, in groups of either three or ten, pupils...

What do the homecoming experiences of soldiers who fought in WWII, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan reveal about the politics and culture of the US during the time period of each war? Young historians view The Way We Get By, which tells...

Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the...

What better way to explain the concept of point of view than from an ant's perspective! After reading Two Bad Ants, pupils identify the point of view of the ants by studying the text and pictures. Then, they fill out a...

Students research the topics Boat People: A Refugee Crisis, Dr. Henry Morgentaler: Fighting Canada's Abortion Laws, and CANDU: The Canadian Nuclear Reactor on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site.

Study opposing viewpoints with this instructional activity, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or...

Explore the concepts of community and point of view with these activities complementing the children's book Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Following a class reading of the story, ask students to either draw a map of the...

Consider the role that shari'ah played in the development of Muslim civilization during the Abbasid caliphate. Learners become acquainted with both the religious and scholarly basis of Islamic law to help them understand the differences...

Portraying accurate light in a chalk drawing can be difficult. This useful PowerPoint provides fantastic guidelines to achieve good lighting perspective in a drawing. Three photo examples are provides on slides six, eight, and ten, to...

Work on deciphering the point of view of various pieces of literature. As readers review the concepts of first, second, and third person perspective, they apply what they know to different passages.

Perspective changes everything. Scholars use a close reading guide while analyzing pages 38-47 in Unbroken. Readers learn that the governments of Japan and the United States had very different perspectives about the attack on Pearl...

Interpret current events using editorial cartoons and other print media. Middle schoolers explore the meanings of literary and artistic terms such as satire, irony, and caricature. They visit internet sites to develop an understanding of...

Learners read New York Times articles, letters, and listen to songs written from a soldier's perspective during the Civil War in order to understand who was fighting in the Union Army. This is a great lesson, complete with weblinks,...

The second module in a series for high school seniors focuses on tracking the central idea of a text across genres and from multiple author and character perspectives. Twelfth graders read a speech by Benazir Bhutto entitled "Ideas Live...

A good writer needs to be observant and have an imagination. Hone those creative writing skills with an activity inspired by a very old Chinese artifact. Learners examine the piece Mandarin Duck Rank Badge, and then write a story from...

Cultural discourse can start through a variety of venues. Learners begin to think about how our minds, memories, and identities shape our attitudes toward culture and history. They analyze seven pieces from the Dongducheon art exhibit...

Leonardo da Vinci is the focus of a hands-on activity that encourages scholars to become inventors. Pupils brainstorm and sketch their idea, compose a detailed depiction using a mirror writing technique, and antique the paper for a...

Your youngsters have probably read The Three Little Pigs, but have they read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig? Have your learners brainstorm how the second book could be similar or different from the first....

Students inspect two point perspective. In this perspective lesson, students explore drawing with two vanishing points. Students create an original piece of art using two point perspective.

Students explore one point perspective. In this perspective lesson, students discover how to create illustrations with vanishing points. Students create an original piece of art.