Your shoes get a lot of mileage in familiar places. Represent the places you have traveled the most with an art project based on a print of Indian People Wear Shoes and Socks by Juane Quick-to-See Smith. Kids trace their shoes and...

Fourth graders identify flowers as symbols in art forms. They focus on the Victorian era and create their own flower design for use in visual art or literary forms.

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is difficult to read and difficult to teach. The novel is so highly regarded that it is one of most often listed as an option for the AP Literature and Composition exam. The materials in this packet from PBS...

Order up! Welcome to the World Café, where scholars engage in small-group discussions based on Katherine Paterson's novel Lyddie. As pupils circulate around the room, they talk with classmates about the novel's characters, setting,...

Known as one of the most iconic advertisements of the 20th century, Macintosh's "1984" commercial has become more of a social statement. Present the ad to a new audience of viewers with a lesson focused on identifying dystopian...

Students study the significance of flowers in art from two periods. In this Medieval and Renaissance art lesson, students research the presence and meaning of botanical illustrations in twelfth, thirtieth, and fourteenth century...

If you want some help with teaching themes and symbols in Animal Farm, this may be beneficial. After a class discussion about possible themes, class members write a paragraph explaining which they believe is the most important. Next,...

Students choose a number from one to twelve and tell a number story about it. They listen to the teacher read "Numbers in Art" by Lucy Micklethwait. Students choose three numbers from one to twelve and view works of art while looking for...

Your young readers might know that the stars on the American flag symbolize the fifty states, but what symbols best represent who your students are as people? Use this SMART board presentation to guide learners through an activity about...

Comparative thinking is one way to build critical analysts. Budding artists discuss symbols and how they represent concepts, beliefs, or ideas. They compare the symbols found on an ancient Egyptian mummy case to those found in...

Art can enhance the understanding of history. That's the big idea in a lesson plan that has young scholars read Randall Jarrell's poem "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" and an excerpt from John Hersey's Hiroshima, which provide...

The works of Juane Quick-to-see Smith are featured in a lesson that asks pupils to consider the role artists play in bringing about social and political change. Scholars examine protest art by Smith and several street artists and...

Have your class analyze the narrative art in quilts. They identify elements in this domestic art and the stories they tell. They define a story quilt, view an example, and analyze the work of Harriet Power. This is a great lesson to...

Introduce learners to allegorical art with four bronze sculptures by Francesco Bertos. After modeling how to recognize bias and allegory in Bertos' Africa, class groups examine the other three sculptures in the series before creating...

Here are a series of lessons designed to assist early elementary learners to discover the symbols of Arkansas. They learn about the state flag, insect, state seal, state bird, flower, tree, and gem. A booklet (emedded in the plan), is...

“Humanscape No.65” by Melesia Casas and Ester Hernandez’s “Sun Maid Raisins” launch a study of how works of art can advocate for social change. After examining these two works and discussing the human rights issues raised, class members...

Turn your young artists into great marketing specialists with this fun lesson plan! They will turn ordinary soup cans into exciting choices for dinner by recreating the can label. This is a fantastic project to connect art, advertising,...

Students study symbols on a French cabinet. In this architectural design instructional activity, students examine the symbolism of the door panel on the "Cabinet on Stand." Students create their own unique design based on a symbol from...

Investigate themes and issues in art such as the concept of originality, interpretation of visual language, symbolism, and examination of the categories of fine art and folk art.

High school readers examine George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" for examples of symbolism, metaphor, connotation, and irony. They analyze how these literary tools convey the writer's main point and contribute to the persuasive...

Surrealistic painters like Marc Chagall and Wendy Rouse show viewers an expansive world in a small area. Young artists have a opportunity to create their own surrealistic paintings in response to a study of works by Chagall and Rouse.

Have you ever seen a Mexican yarn painting? They're beautiful! Create a Mexican yarn painting with your class using this lesson. Start by discussing Mexico's culture and viewing different yarn paintings. After reading about important...

Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...

Fifth graders use the internet to research the history of cultures throughout the world. In groups, they disucss the meaning of various symbols and view Tenochtitlan as a center of power and wealth. They use everyday materials to...