Curated OER
Native American Story Necklaces
Combine a study of Native American history and art in this lesson. Learners discuss the importance of fetishes in Native American culture, the history of necklaces, and create their own works of art. Your class will find this to be both...
Curated OER
Masks of Many Cultures: Celebrations of Life
Bring art and society together with this highly creative and interesting activity. Learners research various uses of masks in ceremonies. They then create a ceremony of their own and a mask to go along with it. They film themselves...
Curated OER
Lesson: Emory Douglas: Revolution in Our Time, Part 2
I love lessons like this because they let kids see the power of art, poetry, and activism in times of social injustice and unrest. They'll analyze the art used by Emory Douglas in the production of the Black Panther newspaper and...
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 1 - Grades 9-12
Archaeologists have discovered a cache of Native American relics. They want to preserve these relics by removing them from the rapidly eroding site to a lab where they can be studied. Native American traditions demand that the items be...
Curated OER
Sarcophagus
Here is another in a series of fantastic art lessons from this source. This one has young artists create a sarcophagus-style clay box! This lesson would be ideal to utilzie during a study of the ancient Egyptians. One note of caution:...
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...
Curated OER
The Civil Rights Movement
Young scholars compare and contrast African-American, Asian-American, Chicano and Native-American movements with the civil rights movement and are exposed to the sociopolitical and economic factors involved in the rise of social movements.
New Class Museum
Lesson: Emory Douglas: Decoding Images and Vocabulary Activity
To better understand the work of Black Panther logo artist Emory Douglas, learners define literary devices. They define a series of words such as metaphor, simile, and assonance, then place an example of that device found in Emory...
Curated OER
Musical Moods
To celebrate diversity and the purpose of Harmony Day, the class examines culturally diverse music and expression through line drawing. They discuss that all cultures produce music and that music can convey mood just like art can. As the...
Curated OER
A "Teacher Appreciation Week" Card for the Teacher
Anyone can create Teacher Appreciation Week cards for their teachers. This activity is designed to be incorporated with an art class. Learners will design a card and discuss ways to show appreciation for their teacher. Resource links are...
Curated OER
"Old 300"
Fourth graders combine art and history to assess the importance of the "Old 300." They explore a group of colonists that Stephen F. Austin brought to Texas as the first settlers and then create a time line of major events leading to the...
Teaching for Change
Selma in Pictures: Socratic Seminar
Photographs from the freedom movement in Selma, Alabama serve as the basis of two Socratic Seminars. Class members prepare for the seminars by closely observing the images, form a hypothesis, and use evidence from photo to support a...
Channel Islands Film
Who Owns the Bones
A study of the history of the Channel Islands, located off the coast of southern California, continues as class members conduct a mock trial to determine which group of stakeholders should have the right to claim the remains of Juan...
Curated OER
Persuasive Practice: A Mt. Rushmore Addition
Budding authors research a US President and persuade the National Park Service to add him to Mt. Rushmore. In addition to the persuasive essay, individuals are required to develop a visual presentation using a web-based software that...
Brooklyn Museum
Lorna Simpson: Gathered
Lorna Simpson is a photographer who has put together a collection of photos from the 1950s in order to challenge the idea that primary source documents are objective in their portrayal of history. Learners are introduced to Ms. Simpson's...
Curated OER
Designing Clay
Maria and Juliana are two of the most famous Pueblo pottery makers of the modern era. The class will learn about pueblo pottery design and the ways that Maria and Julian use traditional designs in a new and innovative way. They will...
Curated OER
Education, Design & Empowerment: Part One
Learners consider the connection between poverty and education. In this language arts and social studies lesson plan, students research primary and secondary sources in order to explore the relationship between education and poverty.
Curated OER
Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...
Curated OER
Taming the Frontier
High schoolers examine paintings by Thomas Cole and Jasper Francis Cropsey as windows into American frontier life. They consider the pioneer's relationship with nature and the role of Native Americans in the pioneer's lives and settlements.
Curated OER
Fusing Furniture And Asian Art
Students see how French artists used imported lacquer panels in their furniture. They explore Asian lacquer panels and create their own Asian-inspired lacquer panel design. They incorporate their classmates' designs into a new furniture...
Curated OER
Healing Art: Health and Illness
Students examine African artifacts relating to health and illness
Curated OER
Depicting Women and Class in a Global Society
Young scholars explore visual arts that feature women. In this women in art lesson, students analyze "Marquise de Miramon, née Thérèse Feuillant" by Jacques Joseph Tissot and "The Milliners" by Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Oragami Village Diorama
Students take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas. Then they select and evaluate a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas of...
Curated OER
Comparing Cultural Holidays
Third graders explore art that reflects their cultural background. For this writing and research lesson students compare and contrast the Halloween with El Dia de los Muertos. Students study the visual art of these holidays. Then...