Art Institute of Chicago
African Myths and Stories
Young historians discover African stories associated with a royal altar tusk from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, read myths illustrated on the tusk, and write a story about the life of an oba using figures depicted on the tusk.
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The Crucible
Students create a movie of a scene from The Crucible upon completion of reading the book. They assume a variety of roles in the film production.
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Time Line of the Year
Students record special events and memories on a timeline of the school year. In this timeline lesson, students understand the purpose of a timeline as they chart important events of the school year using photos, drawings, handprints,...
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Jazz In America - Lesson Plan 6
Fifth graders explore cool jazz and how it reflected American culture in the 1940's and 1950's.
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Tuck Everlasting Unit
Natalie Babbitt's award winning fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, is the anchor text in a unit plan that focuses on identifying similes, metaphors, imagery, and personification in the text and analyzing how these elements effect the...
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The Family Quilt
Third graders examine the artwork of Faith Ringgold. They create their own quilt pattern on fabric and piece them together to create a class quilt. They compare their similarities with one another.
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"Leap, plashless": Emily Dickinson & Poetic Imagination
Learners examine different poems from Emily Dickinson. They practice listening for meter in the poems and make connections between the texts. They also practice their own creative writing skills.
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General Lesson Plan for Documentary Lens
Use this general lesson guide to inform your instruction surrounding a documentary. The lesson is made up of five activities. The activities are intentionally general because they are designed to adapted for specific films. While the...
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The Call of the Wild: Differences Between a Book and a Movie Adaptation
Fling your class members “into the heart of things primordial” with a Venn diagram activity that highlights how the same themes are treated in the film and book versions of The Call of the Wild. Consider extending the exercise by having...
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That was Then, This is Now-House and Home
Eleventh graders discover the appreciation of the importance of visuals in exploring different aspects of society past and present. They collaborate on comparing and contrasting information. Students look at what life was like during the...
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Get to Know - Viewfinders
Students use viewfinders to focus on a specific visual image. For this visual image lesson, students use viewfinders as aids to selecting images and subjects for photography or art in nature.
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The Fabric of Our Lives:
Students discuss quilts within their family to reflect on their experiences. Students examine quilt sqares and sewing techniques. Students create the quilt square in the classroom and a Hyperstudio card in the computer lab.
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Checkerboard
Students create checkerboards using paints, glue, rulers, and masking tape in this upper-elementary/middle level Art lesson. The lesson emphasizes the history of checkerboards, strategies and rules, and the checkerboard as an example of...
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Your State's Architectural Scrapbook
Students examine architectural designs and styles found in their state and/or community and create scrapbooks that identify those specific traits. This middle-level art lesson can be adapted to work in a social studies classroom.
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Holidays
Third graders use a wide range of strategies to interpret, evaluate, appreciate, and construct meaning from print materials. They use appropriate reference sources with assistance for a variety of purposes and use the writing process...
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The Rhythm of Life - Episode One - Rhythm
Students investigate the role of music in their lives. They examine rhythm as the building block of music and examine how to appreciate music. They investigate music as a tool in health and healing.
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Education of the Artist: An Investigation into the Ideas that Defined aGeneration of Artists in late Eighteenth-Century Britain
Students explore training of artists as professionals, and identify the many different types of jobs that require art training.
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Magnificent Monet
Learners research the water lily paintings of Claude Monet and the impressionistic art period. They create their own impressionistic art works and display them in the classroom.
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The Lost Frescoes
Students explore the life and art of Giotto and his use of perspective in his drawings. They then write a short paper about how political support needs to be generated for community action to save objects of art. They investigate what...
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Koryo Dynasty Ceramics
Students are exposed to the Koryo Dynasty period of pottery in order to appreciate the Korean culture. They conduct research in order to find out more information in order to explain different aspects of the pottery.
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Georgia O¿¿¿Keeffe¿¿¿s floral paintings
Students discuss the differences between realistic and abstract art by focusing on Georgia O'Keeffe's work The lesson can be delivered in either a simplistic or more complex way depending upon the grade level.
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Arti'stick Mobile
Students examine works of stained glass in one dimensional art form then adapt it a three dimensional transparent mobile. They create their mobile using patterns of shapes and simple images from computer line art, printed art books or...
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Portrait Part Collage
Fifth graders study the concept of self-potraiture using examples. They create their own portraits that are put into a class collage. The skills of working cooperatively with art and appreciation of classmate's work is practiced.