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Describing Japanese screens and scrolls through images

The second part of a larger unit on talking and writing about, as well as creating, Japanese screen and scroll paintings. The purpose of this unit plan is to introduce descriptive aspects of art criticism, while teaching the art and culture of Japan. Students create illustrations of classmates' descriptions of Japanese screens or scrolls.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Visual Arts Education)

By Michelle Harrell.

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Analyzing symbolism, plot, and theme in Death and the Miser

Students analyze Hieronymous Bosch's Death and the Miser in this activity that explores the literary elements in a painting. The goal of this lesson is to state an original interpretation of a painting and explain how individual... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

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

Broken worlds

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students explore the similarities and differences between Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. Students will:... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Children of war

This ARTSEDGE lesson explores the realities and effects of war on children by examining diaries, journals, and letters written by children during times of war. Through class discussion and studying various texts of actual events, students examine the similarities... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–9 English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Civil War music

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students use popular Civil War songs to identify rallying songs, recruiting songs, popular entertainment songs, campfire songs, sentimental songs, or patriotic songs. Students will: compare and contrast lyrics... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts, Music Education, and Social Studies)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Eugene O'Neill on page and stage

Plays are “living” art forms, existing not only on the page, but in performance. Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night is a masterpiece of American theatre; the powerful words of the text take on even more weight and impact when performed.... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Exploring A Streetcar Named Desire

Students study setting, plot, character development in Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire and discuss its impact on American theatre. Students will participate in a group reading and analysis of the play and share... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Fractured Families in American Drama

The complicated dynamics of families have served as a continual source of examination for American playwrights. A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, and Long Day's Journey into Night, by Eugene O'Neill are two haunting and compelling masterpieces... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Giving voice to history

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students explore a somber period in American history. During World War II the U.S. government ordered more than 120,000 Japanese Americans to detainment camps. Drawing upon research and analyzing a variety of sources, including... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

I've got the literacy blues

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students read “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry and explore the story's themes using blues music, creative writing, and media study. Students research the history of the blues and create a graphic organizer... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Music Education)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Judging a book by its cover: The art and imagery of The Great Gatsby

In post–and pre–reading activities, students evaluate the significance, theme, tone, symbolism, and color used in art to make predictions about plot and imagery in The Great Gatsby. Students are introduced to the... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Monsters

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students investigate the idea of “monsters” in society and how they have been viewed, what purpose they serve, why they are necessary. Students will: demonstrate an understanding of the concept of... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts and Music Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Navajo weaving

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students explore various aspects of Native American cultures and Navajo weavings. Using the patterns on the Navajo Rugs, they devise dance patterns and perform a traveling pattern based on Navajo weavings. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–3 Visual Arts Education)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Outside in: Finding a character's heart through art

This activity, based on the art of Edward Hopper and fiction by Raymond Carver, allows students to explore the idea of alienation while tapping into their creative talents as they learn to create vivid characters through voice. In the introductory activity,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

PBS Teacher Source

Lessons, activities, video clips and television schedules — your key to the wealth of public broadcasting programming. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: PBS

Peace poems and Picasso doves: Literature, art, technology, and poetry

Students learn think-aloud strategies in this lesson that challenges them to think about peace in their communities. After the teacher reads Somewhere Today: A Book of Peace, Peace Begins with You,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Pictures in words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes

In this lesson from EDSITEment, students will explore how poets Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid and memorable pictures and describe how “word pictures” emphasize or qualify the meanings of their poems. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Mixing words and pictures

In this EDSITEment lesson, the second of a two-part curriculum unit on Rudyard Kipling's story “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” students demonstrate comprehension of plot events and character motivations, describe the author's purpose and evaluate the techniques... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Scripting the past: Exploring women's history through film

In this lesson, students employ the screenwriter's craft to gain a fresh perspective on historical research, learning how filmmakers combine scholarship and imagination to bring historical figures to life and how the demands of cinematic storytelling can... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Theater Arts Education)

Provided by: EDSITEment