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Active Voice vs. Passive Voice
Can your class tell the difference between passive and active writing? Use this lesson in your writing conventions unit. The lesson prompts middle schoolers to create essays, demonstrating understanding of an active versus passive voice...
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Analyzing Story Elements
Lesson ideas to teach students how to analyze story elements through visual representation.
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Nonfiction Genre Mini-Unit: Persuasive Writing
Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.
Digital Education Resource Archive
Narrative Writing Unit
Each one of the learners in your class has a story to tell, so help them learn the most efficient and organized way to tell their tale. A thorough unit on narrative writing addresses the writing process, grammar, story structure,...
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Starting an Indoor Container Garden from Seed
Students create an indoor container garden. In this container garden lesson, students explore seed germination. Students discuss edible seeds.
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Happy April Fool's Day!
Grab students' attention with these lesson and activity ideas on April Fool's Day.
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Drug Testing In Schools - Take A Stand
Young scholars examine facts about drug testing in schools.
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Personal Clay Box
Seventh graders discover how to assemble and finish a lidded box-like form from slabs of clay between soft and leather hard. They gain an appreciation for ceramic art.
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Sports Cardboard Relief Sculpture
Students study the artwork of Frank Stella and create a piece of art that represents a sport.
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Hard Edge Painting
Learners study the history of hard edge painting and discover demonstration techniques using a variety of fonts and discuss lettering. They present a number of abstract works of art with hard edge technique and works of art with text.
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Flowers a la O'keefe
Learners are introduced to the artwork of Georgia O'keefe. The lesson presents the history and style of the artist. Then the learners are given the chance to create their own artwork. The goal of the lesson is to build art appreciation...
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Clay Animation
Students are introduced to the history of clay animation. The use of construction, technology, and integration of curriculum make the lesson unique. The highlight of the project is the creation of a storyboard.
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Go Fish! Fish or other Sea Creature from Recycled Materials
Students brainstorm what a fish looks like determining the parts from schema and research. They create a unique and interesting 3-d sculpture of fish or underwater creature mostly from recycled materials, then examine the aesthetics of...
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Altered Books
Students bring in a collection of discarded books. Using the book, they turn it into a piece of art that shows a specific theme. They can use a variety of media and techniques to put their book back together. They are graded based on...
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Art and Anatomy: The Vitruvian Teen
Students are introduced to the history of showing the human anatomy. In groups, they measure their height and arm spans to create a graph and determine if their measurements support Vitruvius' work. Individually, they make their own...
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Torn Paper Collage Portrait
Young scholars watch demonstrations on how to create a collage out of different materials. Using town paper, they create their self-portrait and view art by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. To end the lesson, they discuss a career in...
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Romare Bearden Collage
The students study collage as it is used in works of art. They create a collage based on a masterpiece. They critique student art work and research the work of Romare Bearden.
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New Year's Hat
Young scholars create New Year's Eve hats in this fun and safe art project for the elementary classroom. The lesson is ideal for a pre-Holiday Break activity or can be adapted to celebrate any holiday or special occasion in the classroom.
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A Bird's Eye View of the Caribbean: Art, Folklore, and Music
Students examine the Caribbean in terms of its music, art, and folklore. As a class, they listen to a folktale and discuss the difference between telling a story and reading a story. In groups, they write their own folktale and share...
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Ideal Living
Students examine two artists Vasily Kandinsky and Marcel Breuer. In this artist analysis instructional activity, students explore the principles of Bauhaus and consider the elements of chair design. Students identify the technique of...
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The Geometry of Indigenous Art
Learners examine the concepts of symmetry, rotations, reflections, translation, dialations, and tessellations and apply them to indigenous art. They also do Internet research and create artwork (painting, pottery, computer graphic design).
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Paper Masks/Heads
Learners examine the processes and beliefs used by different cultures to create works of art. Using the internet, they research the types of arts used by cultures that have been transmitted to future generations. They use recycled...
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Hip Hop Dance Cut Outs
Learners research visual art by examining art on-line. In this art expression lesson, students discuss the history of art after researching information on the Internet. Learners view images on the web which feature physical movement and...
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The Extra Place Lesson
Students take up the challenge of deciding what to do when confronted by a difficult and awkward situation. They read the story and highlight sentences or phrases that have particular meaning to them and think about and discuss a...