Curated OER
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day with Dance
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by teaching your class how to do an Irish jig. This type of dance is very fast. Break it all down and teach each section of the dance thoroughly. There are plenty of hops, kicks, toe touches, and stomps in...
Curated OER
Mexican Charades
Students explore communication by participating in a game of charades. In this visual storytelling lesson, students utilize their acting abilities and physical prowess to communicate Mexican imagery to their classmates without the use of...
Curated OER
VISUAL ARTS
Students learn the historical context of mask-making explore the elements of the art form.
Curated OER
Visual Art: Romare Bearden and Group 306
Students examine the life and art of Romare Bearden. Using his "Mill Hand's Lunch Bucket" for inspiration, they write a first chapter for a book. Students observe numerous other works of his art and discuss them from artistic and...
Curated OER
Papier-mache Greek Vessels
Sixth graders create three-dimensional black and red figured Greek Vessels out of papier-mache, while researching and discussing Greek history, and myths of powerful gods and goddesses.
Curated OER
Origami Ducks: Geometry, Listening, and Following Directions
Make origami ducks with your class to reinforce geometry concepts and vocabulary; develop fine motor and visual translation skills; and enrich study of Japanese culture, the pond habitat, or migration. Create a whole group "worksheet"...
Curated OER
East Meets West: The Art of Simplicity
Fifth graders examine the influences of Japan on American life through this three lesson plan unit. Feudal Japan with its traditional arts and culture is contrasted with current developments of the country.
Curated OER
What Is Art?
Learners discuss the definition of "Art" and are introduced to the richness and complexity of the visual arts in this Art or Art appreciation instructional activity for grades 7 through 12. The instructional activity can be adapted for...
Curated OER
Art and Artists
Students effectively gather and use information for research purposes. They comprehend the visual arts in relation to history and culture. Students practice note taking skills, and summarizing skills. They know and compare the...
Curated OER
Why Not Fabric?
Students investigate art from Native American culture by creating fabric. In this native art analysis lesson, students identify the art of Plains Indians and discuss how it is represented in their fabrics, beads and decorations. Students...
Curated OER
Stone Passing Game with Calabash Song
Students discuss games and their use around the world in many different cultures and how music and games are related. They discuss the rules of West African game then play a game from West Africa and review and learn the "Calabash" song...
Curated OER
Abstract to Real: The Human Form in Art
Students analyze and evaluate the effects of abstraction and realism on depictions of the human form in ancient and modern-day cultures.
Curated OER
Sumi-e Painting
Students create Sumi-e paintings and explore the various materials, techniques, and processes associated with those paintings in an effort to better understand Japanese art and culture.
Curated OER
How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun
Students explore U.S. history by reading a Native American tale in class. In this cultural storytelling lesson, students read the story How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun and discuss the characters and themes of the Native American...
Curated OER
Coil-Built Pueblo Bowls
Use Native American tradition to create the context for making different cultural representations of pottery. Practice using geometrical shapes painted on the pottery, research different patterns found on Native American pottery, and...
Curated OER
The Amazing Maud Lewis
Students investigate cultural art from Canada by reading about Maud Lewis. In this Canadian history instructional activity, students identify the work of Lewis by visiting her magazine website. Students identify other heroes...
Curated OER
The Persuasive Art of Portraiture
Students first explore the power of the visual image to convey a message by examining the portrait of George Washington on American dollar bills. They next use, 'Prolific Chinese Painter Is Anonymous No More,' to explore a famous...
National Gallery of Canada
Urban Desire
Urban spaces are often overlooked and broken down. Offer your pupils the opportunity to reimagine an urban space. Learners examine and discuss works of art related to this theme and consider their own communities. Small groups then...
Armory Center for the Arts
Place Value Collage
How can art represent math? Use a lesson on place value collages to illustrate the different meanings that numbers have in their designated places. Kids observe photographs and paintings that show place value, then work on their own.
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Step Inside the Brain
Before digital microscopes, scientists hired artists to draw the things visible in the microscope. Through training in neuroscience and art, Cajal revolutionized the way we view the beautiful brain. The third instructional activity in a...
ReadWriteThink
A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words: From Image to Detailed Narrative
A picture's worth a thousand words—and even more inspiration! A visual activity uses photographs to inspire writers. The process teaches aspects of narrative writing, such as point of view and characterization.
Curated OER
Manipulating Digital Images
High schoolers work with pre-loaded images as well as with a digital camera to manipulate digital images. At the end of the instructional activity, they analyze and write about their work using complete sentences, correct grammar, and...
Curated OER
Siesta Pillow
Learners investigate the culture of Mexico through the medium of visual art. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used as inspiration for creating their own pillows with the use of fabric markers.
Curated OER
Ceramics Scientific Inquiry Through Chinese Art
Fourth graders explore, examine and study ceramics, a medium of historical importance to China. They review the advanced technology of the early Chinese civilization and are introduced to the scientific method of inquiry and make...