Casting, setting, context, frame, camera angle, lighting, soundtrack. Every choice a writer or director makes is conscious. Here's a instructional activity that asks readers/viewers to examine these choices and consider how they are...

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...

The eyes have it in a project that combines art with creative writing. Class members list three adjectives or characteristics of a person they admire. Then draw a picture of a pair of eyes that they feel reflects these characteristics....

Revisit the documentaries viewed in the previous lesson in this series in order to take a look at the persuasive techniques employed by the documentary creators. Small groups watch the films a second time, taking notes on two provided...

Begin at the end. Present your class with an expository essay and ask them to create an outline of the article, paying particular attention to the main ideas and the details supporting these ideas. After a discussion of what they have...

Young writers personalize their journals by making their own. Whether they make covers for existing journals or make their own books, the activity encourages kids to express themselves in words and images.

A close study of two works of art provides the introduction to this cross-curricular writing assignment. After comparing the clothing, facial expressions, body language, setting, and color in the two 19th century paintings Tissout’s...

Young scholars are challenged to write a realistic analysis of Tennessee Williams' nonrealistic memory play, The Glass Menagerie. Writers use the evidence gathered on their worksheets to craft an effective thesis and concluding statement...

Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading...

Young writers create memory books. They think of important events in their lives from the past year. Then they draw pictures that depict these events, and dictate captions to an adult who writes them down in their books for them. These...

The seventh in a series of nine exercises focusing on songwriting models for young lyricists on how to find and develop their unique voice. Class members suggest songs that they feel sound authentic and contrast the wording with songs...

In this snow people paper dolls worksheet, students color fifteen pieces/parts of two snow people paper dolls and then cut each piece out and glue to the appropriate places on each paper doll.

Need a cheap way to get all those fabulous paintings, collages, and drawings home? Learners use old paper towel tubes to create a handy art transportation device. 

Students examine examples of the qualities of good writing skills and discuss how each of the traits add to the process of good writing. A variety of excerpts from literature provide samples for the exploration.

Seventh graders, in pairs, decide on a product they would like to advertise and design an advertising plan for said product. Using ClarisWorks, 7th graders create an advertisement using pictures, vote on their favorite and discuss what...

Fourth graders use a word processor document to refine and practice their grammar. They focus on subject and verb agreement and/or run-on sentences. The document can be used as assessment.

Students are asked to write down their favorite artists pieces of work, or styles on this journal, perhaps to serve as a preassessment before starting to look at various styles.

Learners develop hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills as they use scissors and other materials to make a time capsule. In this time capsule lesson, students use paper, scissors, glue, and other materials to develop these skills.

Learners become immersed in a compelling anecdote of the civil rights movement through the experience of constructing dramatic scripts. An added goal is to equip students, through this "hands-on" experience, to critique dramatic...

Learners create a book using art, problem solving and language skills. They illustrate and write a tall tale. They sculpt a character from their tall tale.