Curated OER
Telling Stories in Art: Symbols of a Life
Through a series of activities, learners are exposed to how artists use symbolic imagery to create the narrative of a subject’s life. They study The Birth of Alexander and some manuscripts kept at J. Paul Getty Museum. They then draft...
National Gallery of Canada
Artful Emotions
Blue is sad, and red is angry, but why is that? Young artists explore the expression of emotions through art by observing and creating artwork. Starting with a questioning session about images of art, this plan moves into a sculpture...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Narrating a Family Tradition
After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...
Curated OER
Twig Construction: Recycled Materials
Construction projects of any kind require learners to use spacial reasoning, creative thinking, and critical analysis skills. They design and make a twig/leaf structure out of natural and recycled materials. This project would be great...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Shaping Ideas: Symbolism in Sculpture—Lesson 2
Young artists create a series of sketches of ideas for a sculpture, and using the criteria develop in the previous class, critique their sketches. They then choose one of their ideas and create their work of art.
Curated OER
When Art Conveys Political and Social Conflict
Twelfth graders consider art as a medium to convey information and opinions on social conflict and issues. They analyze images from the Crocker Art Museum, discuss their effectiveness in raising awareness of an issue, and create a...
Curated OER
Art and Careers
Students study and inquire what museum curators do and their responsibilities of collecting, displaying, researching, maintaining, and promoting their collections. They research an art museum and choose one work of art that is their...
Curated OER
Art Show with the Masters
Students contribute to a classroom art show. In this art appreciation activity, students research the lives and works of artists from different ages. Students write reports, recreate artwork of their researched artists, and participate...
Curated OER
The Elements of Art
The key elements of art are explored as students view a presentation which introduces them to words such as: texture, space, value, line, form, and shape. A nice resource for any art teacher who wants to introduce their students to these...
Curated OER
Drawing Portraits Using a Grid
A well-developed art instructional activity is always great to have around. This instructional activity on portrait drawing includes a full procedure, modifications, background information on artist Chuck Close, recommended websites, and...
American Art Clay Co., Inc.
Ceramic Tile Wall Murals
Science, social studies, language arts, and art classes work together with administrators to produce a permanent, ceramic tile wall mural to install at their school.
Curated OER
Art in the Mail
The "mail art" phenomena was started back in the 20's with the Dada and Fluxus art movements and revitalized in the 60's. The principle of mail art, is free exchange and artistic expression. Learners study these facts and then create...
National Gallery of Canada
Memories of the Past
Explore contemporary American Indian art. After viewing a set of images, class members discuss the design elements of techniques present, as well as how these artists represent history and culture. Learners examine the parfleche and...
National Gallery of Canada
My Own Blanket
Invite your young artists to design blankets that express their own identities. Learners examine various pieces of art before brainstorming a few things that represent their identities. They use these ideas, in addition to symmetry and...
Curated OER
Public Arts Programs
Students choose a project from one of the public art programs and work on it as a collaborative project. The goal is to encourage students to research art programs in their city, and communicate with students from another city.
Curated OER
Visual Arts Careers
What kind of careers are there in the art field? Create an arts occupation book with your class while investigating several art careers. Students include samples in their book of the types of art each career produces.
Curated OER
Arts of the Gilded Age
Students study the art forms of the Gilded Age. In this integrated arts lesson plan, students research the art, music, dance, and drama of the historical era and then create their own personal projects that exemplify the time period.
Curated OER
Understanding Stage Design: Using Visual Elements to Provide Information to an Audience
Students study about theatrical design by developing environments for improvised and scripted scenes. They develop focused ideas for an environment using visual elements.
Curated OER
The Process of Art Criticism
High schoolers interpret possible meanings of works of art by analyzing how specific works are created and how they relate to historical and cultural contexts
Curated OER
Finding out about Gallery 33
While these worksheets are specific for use while visiting the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, they could be used to guide nearly any museum trip. Questions focus on human activity, symbolism, culture, religion, and society as they...
Federal Reserve Bank
Messy Bessey's Holidays
Teach your class some fairly complex terms—factors of production, human resources, capital resources, natural resources, and intermediate goods—with a storybook (Messy Bessey's Holidays), plenty of visuals and handouts, and related...
Federal Reserve Bank
Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building
How tall is the Empire State Building? Lead your class through a collaborative estimation activity to determine the number of quarters it would take to reach the top and teach the following concepts: human capital, human resources,...
Curated OER
Telling Stories in Art: Witness to a Brawl
Middle schoolers examine how a piece of art tells a story. In this visual art lesson, students interpret a piece of art work by writing a newspaper article that tells the story of the moment in time that is depicted in a picture. They...
Curated OER
I spy (Camouflaged Animals in Art!)
Students create a picture of a camouflaged animal in its habitat. In this visual arts instructional activity, students look at Hans Hoffmann's painting A Hare in the Forest and discuss the animal's camouflage. They research their own...