Browse lesson plans

In the spirit of... (museum post-visit)

This is an integrated unit that focuses on masks in cultures as reflections of individual spirits. In the post-visit lesson, students will create plaster masks and write a brief description.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5–6 Visual Arts Education)

By Tamela Davis.

Resources on the web

Behind the masks: Exploring culture and self through art and poetry

This ReadWriteThink unit engages high school students in a study of the relationship between masks and cultures. Students research mask making from various cultures, draw sketches of the masks, and take notes that highlight the connections between the masks... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Visual Arts Education, Computer/Technology Skills, English Language Arts, and Information Skills)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Masks and Aesop's fables

This ARTSEDGE lesson is based on a study of Aesop's Fables. Although Aesop's fables are over 2,600 years old, the stories—and their morals—are still relevant today. In this lesson, students learn a fable, make simple masks, and retell the fable... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–3 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

The meaning behind the mask

Students explore the cultural significance of masks, discuss the use of masks in stories, and then investigate the role masks play in ceremonies and on special occasions in various African cultures. After students have studied these masks, they are then... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: EDSITEment

What masks reveal

In this lesson, students explore the cultural significance of masks by investigating the role they play in ceremonies and on special occasions in societies from widely separated regions of the world. They then reflect on masking behavior in American society,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)

Provided by: EDSITEment