Missouri Department of Elementary
Happy, Sad, Scared and Mad: All Belong To Me
"What are feelings?" and "Why are feelings important to understand?" are the essential questions of a lesson that boosts self-awareness. Scholars discuss the four basic emotions—happy, sad, scared, and mad—in preparation...
Teaching Tolerance
In Our Own Words: A Story Book with a Purpose
Academics turn into storytellers in an engaging activity on activism. The activity focuses on promoting social change in local communities with stories. Young historians plan a storybook to target a specific audience and social issue and...
Curated OER
Brushstrokes From West to East
Students meld their ideas about art with the philosophy of the Chinese. They discuss each art project, discover the history and culture of each project in China. They create a tea ceremony and various Chinese art projects.
Curated OER
Ceramics: A Vessel Into History
Students evaluate the work of their peers using the criteria for value and meaning they developed. In this ceramics lesson, students evaluate their peers’ vessels in their journals by responding to the given questions...
Curated OER
Theorem Painting
Learners examine the many types of folk art at a museum. They create their own theorem painting by following the steps given to them.
Curated OER
Patterns and Paper Weaving
Students weave construction paper to create a placemat that displays a pattern.
Curated OER
Documenting Where We Are
Students contribute to discussions and identify how an artist elicits a viewer's response. They use William Henry Jackson's Pawnee Indian Village, photograph and painting. After analyzing this information, students use information gained...
Curated OER
Creating a Decorative Drawer Front Concealing Student Treasures
Sixth graders describe the image of a writing desk. They create a separate drawer to scale and create a class desk that displays each drawer. Students use repetitive motifs in designing their drawers. To illustrate the use of the desk in...
Curated OER
Anty-Bodies
Students compare and contrast likenesses and differences to others by creating a life-size picture of themselves. In this character building lesson plan, students dictate a sentence about comments on sharing and display them with their...
Curated OER
Clay Alphabet Sculpture Scenes
Students sculpt clay letters. In this Keith Haring art lesson, students view a video interview of the artist, design their own clay sculpture, and display during a class "gallery walk".
Curated OER
Tolerance Through My Eyes
High schoolers explore multiculturalism. In this visual arts instructional activity, students consider how visual arts may provide service opportunities and create artistic pieces inspired by service.
Curated OER
Cardboard Frames
Students create works of art. In this visual arts lesson, students use recycled cardboard to make picture frames. A game, a song, a craft, and a recipe are all included with the lesson to complement the theme.
Curated OER
Candid Cameras
Students read a New York Times article associated with the use of photography as a tool to depict social issues in order to provoke action. They create a Social Issues display.
Curated OER
Leo the Library Mouse
Second graders share how they should take care of library media center books and display their ideas for others to see. They read the book, LEO THE LIBARY MOUSE and discuss book care rules and reflect on how they compare with the main...
Curated OER
O'keefe's Flowers
Learners participate in a lesson about the artist Georgia O'keefe by examining here artwork as a model for style. The art is displayed and students are allowed the time to paint their own paintings. Then they write a journal about the...
Curated OER
Storytellers: Dave Matthews Band
Students decide what the term "art" means to them. They identify artistic elements displayed by the Dave Matthews Band. They understand the relationship between music and other means of artistic expression.
Curated OER
Commemorative Coin Poetry
Students discuss and research an individual or event that has been memorialized on a commemorative coin. They use the information they found to write acrostics, creating stand-up accordion books to display the poems.
Curated OER
Bulletin Board: Eggshell flowers
Students "paint" Spring flowers by gluing pieces of dyed, hardboiled eggshells onto outlines of flowers. They display their artwork on a Spring-themed bulletin board.
Curated OER
Landscape Photography
Students photograph the school landscape and create photographic displays from the pictures they take. They discuss the visual characteristics of the school grounds. Working in pairs the role-play as camera and photographer and write...
Curated OER
Doodle All the Day
Learners explore the creative potential in everyday objects. Through doodling, collecting found art, and creating drawings and paintings inspired by the world around them, students research their own creative process.
Curated OER
String Eggs
Students follow instructions to make a string egg and work appropriately and neatly with art materials.
Curated OER
Positive Perspectives Posters
Sixth graders create a poster using one-point visual perspective. After exploring several examples of one-point perspective, 6th graders create a drawing around the theme of school community. Posters are illustrated and installed...
Curated OER
Winter Quilt
Second graders create a class winter quilt. In this visual arts lesson, 2nd graders use construction paper, glitter, markers, and ribbon to create a patchwork quilt of winter scenes or memories.
Curated OER
Showing Depth
Fourth graders examine and demonstrate how to create a middle ground, background, and foreground on a picture or work of art. They identify middle ground, background, and foreground on Michael Sowa's works of art, then create their own...