Art Institute of Chicago
Lesson Plan: A Writer’s Odyssey
Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...
Film English
To This Day
Bring bullying out into the open with an involved activity surrounding the animated version of Shane Koyczan's spoken word poem "To This Day." Class members discuss images related to bullying and watch the video without sound. They write...
Curated OER
Lesson: Ginger Brooks Takahashi: Powerstich: A Forum for Community-Building
This is a great way to build community in your school, experience process-based art, and explore the critical-thinking process. While quilting as a class collectively (just like a quilting bee) pupils listen to poetry and prose of a...
Curated OER
Producing Beats
Turn your classroom into a music studio as groups work together to determine why music sounds different when performed live versus a recording. After listening to some different music, each group picks a poem, creates a recording, and...
Curated OER
Electronic Poetry Project
Students explore poetry. In this cross curriculum poetry and technology lesson plan, students choose a favorite poem and analyze its meaning. Students select several images and music to represent the poem, then create a...
Curated OER
Lesson: Double Album: Sentence as Thought
The cut-up technique invented by surrealist artist Tristan Tzara is the focus for today. Young artists examine the technique and analyze its use in relation to expressing and viewing the world. They then use a newspaper to create a...
Curated OER
Ornithology and Real World Science
Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson plan! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson plan incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research,...
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Sunset Pictures
Sunsets and shadows are lovely subjects for creative projects. Kids take a good look at images of sunsets, then use paint and construction paper to create a silhouetted sunset image. Tip: This project is a great way to illustrate a poem...
Candlewick Press
A Classroom Guide to Peter H. Reynolds's Creatrilogy
Help young readers find, identify, and use their voices with a set of empowering activities based on Peter H. Reynolds' trilogy of books. Sky Color, Ish, and The Dot focus on recognizing moods and treating each other...
Curated OER
Recycled Book Boxes
Your class can create colorful book boxes with recycled boxes. Versatile and fun, this project can be adapted to various lessons: book reports, history projecs, science collections, and more!
Curated OER
King Arthur: Man or Legend
Students research the Legend of King Arthur. In this King Arthur lesson plan, students explore him as he is presented in stories, poems, and art. Students compare and contrast the real life of King Arthur versus the man in...
Curated OER
Power Totem
Students investigate the important symbols to Native cultures by writing a poem. In this animal totem lesson, students discuss animal spirits and their relation to the Native American lifestyle. Students write a cinquain poem about...
Curated OER
Responding To Rembrandt's Work Through Poetry
Students write poetry in response to Rembrandt's landscapes and portraits. They create accompanying illustrations based on interpretations of Rembrandt's work and present them along with the poems in book format.
Perkins School for the Blind
Tactile quilts that tell a story
Learners with multiple disabilities need to engage in projects that push them to know their full potential. They need to be able to express themselves in a variety of ways, and this very thoughtful lesson does just that. They make a...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Arts Showcase
An art showcase encourages class members to explore the themes of social justice and tolerance. They create an original artwork, engage in group discussions, and journal writing. The art gallery also provides a chance for families and...
Curated OER
I've Just Seen a Face: Portraits
Students examine portraits for different images they project, cite three purposes a portrait can serve, analyze portraits of historical figures, and relate biographical research to portraits.
Curated OER
What Do Magnets Do?
Second graders discover the physical properties of magnets. In this physics lesson, 2nd graders investigate the differences between natural and man made magnets and the uses of each. Students complete 4 separate RAFT...
Curated OER
Seashell Painting
Let nature inspire your budding artists. They paint seascapes on actual seashells. First, they observe the seaside, then they paint what they see (image or in person) on the inside of a white shell.
Curated OER
Understanding Character
Readers practice character analysis by reviewing Gary Soto's short story "La Bamba" with the whole class (anything you've read together will work). They design t-shirts that feature traits and story elements to reveal the nature of a...
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Sense of Place: No River Too Wide-Bridges
Fifth graders discover the history of their hometown Des Moines River. In this U.S. Geography lesson students speak with Iowans that tell stories of the settlers and early villages near the Des Moines River. Students document...
Curated OER
POP! Goes the Popcorn!
Students complete a variety of activities based on examining corn and popcorn as one of the major crops of Kansas. They journal the results of the multidisciplinary activities in this unit.
Curated OER
A Picture is Worth a Million Words
Students practice composing digital photographs by documenting activities in their lives. In this photography lesson, students utilize digital cameras to create beautiful art from things they find around the campus or at their...
Curated OER
Marbled Butterfly
Students construct butterflies from friendly plastic for a Holocaust Museum in Houston. In this visual art lesson, students honor children of the Holocaust by making butterflies.
Curated OER
America in Film and Fiction
Learners begin the lesson by reading a book on film study. After watching the movie "Citizen Kane", they work together to identify the issues concerning the United States before World War II. As a class, they discuss how the ideas and...