University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Curated OER
Past, Present and Future Through the Eyes of Long Jakes
Even the littlest learners can become art historians if they have the right training. For the lesson, your preschoolers discuss the piece Long Jakes as they point out all the details they notice. They discuss what mountains and mountain...
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Death On Board La Belle: Finding Clues from Old Bones
Students practice analyzing skeletal remains for clues by using the Internet. In this scientific investigation lesson, students research the La Belle shipwreck using the Internet and written materials, later completing a Skeletal Report...
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Referencing the Classical Past
Learners discuss the sculptural group of Three Goddessesby Joseph Nollekens in a study of the classical past. In this Classical history lesson, students describe the three figures in the painting and read an excerpt for the story the art...
Curated OER
Ancient Origins: The Role of Archaeology in Reconstructing the Past
Young scholars read information about the ancient origins of art and archaeology with a focus on the Malian culture. For this art origins lesson, students read background information for the topic and compare ancient and contemporary...
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Second Grade Time Capsules
Second graders leave clues from the past for students of the future by creating time capsules filled with artifacts from the year. These artifacts are buried along with others on school grounds somewhere. Students identify and analyze...
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Art as Artifact-A Set of 7 Activities
Students search art objects in these seven detective activities for clues about the people in the past who used them and the world in which they lived.
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Referencing the Classical Past
Students explore the concept of myths conveyed through art. In this art history activity, students examine "Three Goddesses" and discuss the state of the world at the time that Nollekens created the sculptures as they analyze the pieces.
Curated OER
Pieces of the Past
Seventh graders compare and contrast the way of life of Native Americans in Texas and around the country. As a class, they brainstorm about the uses of pottery today and use broken pieces of pottery to create an artifact. In groups,...
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Drama-Dialogue
Use drama to study and practice dialogue. Creative minds discuss what dialogue tells about a character, and how it can be used to advance the plot. They read a play, think about what they gleaned from dialogue, and record their...
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Japanese Collage
Seventh graders compare and contrast different types of art associated with different cultures. They identify how cultures express their values in art. They create their own collage about Japan.
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Have I Got A Story For You - Folklore of Utah
Fourth graders identify the clues that folklore provides about Utah's past. They create a piece of folklore for a place or event in or near the community. They see that the legends and traditions we pass to one another are also sources...
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Cave Art: Discovering Prehistoric Humans through Pictures
Students understand how to "read" a picture and put together a series of images in a way similar to that of putting together words to form a story and gain knowledge about the past.
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Dorothea Lange and the Relocation of Japanese Americans
Students consider the relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II. In this Japanese relocation lesson plan, students examine photographs by Dorothea Lange, the "Pledge of Allegiance," and a US government flyer from 1942. They...
Smithsonian Institution
Looking at a National Treasure: George Washington
Students explain the definition of a portrait. They identify the visual clues that Gilbert Stuart included in his portrait of George Washington. They compare the reproduction to other images of Washington. They discuss the importance of...
Curated OER
Learning To Look
Students examine Jacques-Louis David's Telemachus and Eucharis and Dorothea Lange's photograph of a migrant mother and consider how artists communicate ideas across time. They look closely at, and think creatively about artworks.
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Walden the Ballad of Thoreau
Students role play to become familiar with the life of Thoreau. In this Thoreau lesson plan, students view a video of the Walden play about Thoreau. Students perform and promote the play as a school event.
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Indians in Georgia: How Do We Know What We Know?
Students discover archaeology by investigating the history of Native Americans in Georgia. In this U.S. history lesson, students participate in a mock archaeological excavation in their classroom by recovering artifacts and drawings...
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"Where's Waldo" About Me Drawing - Self "Portrait"
Pupils identify the cultural clues found within art forms by producing a work of art based on their personal experiences and create a work of art about themself. They recognize how technical elements affect art and how to implement them...
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Dorothea Lange and the Relocation of Japaneses Americans
Students analyze Dorothea Lange's photographs about Japanese American relocation. In this art and history lesson, students analyze a photograph about the relocation of Japanese Americans. Students discuss the impact of governmental...
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Batter Up
Students explore personal achievement by reading a children's book. In this story analysis lesson, students read the book Batter Up, by Sue Muller Hacking and discuss the main character in the story and the actions that she takes to meet...
Curated OER
Historians Interpret Sources
Students read excerpts from the historian Conover Hunt writing about John F. Kennedy and from primary source documents using the handout: Historical Sources and Historians. Students discuss and identify source types, evaluate sources,...
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Cave Art: Discovering Prehistoric Humans through Pictures
Students explore how people in earlier times used art as a way to record stories and communicate ideas by studying paintings from the Cave of Lascaux and other caves in France. Three lessons on one page.
Curated OER
Cave Art: Discovering Prehistoric Humans through Pictures
Students explore how people in earlier times used art as a way to record stories and communicate ideas. By studying paintings from the Cave of Lascaux and other caves in France, students discover that pictures are more than pretty colors.