Browse lesson plans

Creating your own rock art

In Intrigue of the Past, page 5.4

Students will use regional rock art symbols or their own symbols to cooperatively create a rock art panel. They will also use a replica of a vandalized rock art panel to examine their feelings about rock art vandalism and discuss ways to protect rock art and other archaeological sites.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)

Mending pottery

In Intrigue of the Past, page 2.9

Students will mend broken pottery to learn what archaeologists learn by mending pottery.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)

Pottery traditions

In Intrigue of the Past, page 4.5

Students will learn how Indian people of North Carolina made and used coiled pottery, summarize why archaeologists study pottery, and make and decorate a replica of a North Carolina coiled pot.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 8 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)

Rock art

In Intrigue of the Past, page 5.3

Students will use art materials, drawings, and rock art examples to differentiate between symbol, petroglyph, pictograph, and rock art. They will also interpret rock art to illustrate its importance in the cultural heritage of a people and as a tool for learning about the past.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4, 6, and 8 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)

Snap! Crackle! Box!

The student will create a new cereal and design an original box as their final for Art 1. This is a cumulative assignment incorporating the skills and techniques studied and developed throughout the course of the year.

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

By Joan Lansford and Peggy Peck.

Resources on the web

Adjective monster

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students explore the connections between visual art and language arts, and how both are used to creatively tell stories and express emotions. Students read the book Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley. They are... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ArtsEdge

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

Cave art: Discovering prehistoric humans through pictures

In this lesson on the EDSITEment website, students travel to the past to 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... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Visual Arts Education)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Creating comic strips

This lesson from ARTSEDGE looks at the way we communicate information/ideas through various mediums (words, symbols, illustrations, etc). When analyzing comic strips, students notice that each has a different style, point of view, setting, plot, and summary,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Creative communication frames: Discovering similarities between writing and art

In this lesson from ReadWritethink, students will build a comparative frame to explore the creative processes of writing and art as communication. Students will use graphic organizers to assist the development of comparative vocabulary and generate discussions... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Egyptian symbols and figures: Hieroglyphs

This lesson plan from EDSITEment introduces students to the writing, art, and religious beliefs of ancient Egypt through hieroglyphs, one of the oldest writing systems in the world. The lesson plan is in two parts. In this first lesson, the class creates... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: EDSITEment

Egyptian symbols and figures: Scroll painting

This lesson plan from EDSITEment introduces students to the writing, art, and religious beliefs of ancient Egypt through hieroglyphs, one of the oldest writing systems in the world, and through tomb paintings. The lesson plan is in two parts. In this second... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: EDSITEment

Geography and history in songs

Art works, particularly paintings, can reveal a good deal of information about places and what they looked like in the past. This lesson has students look at some historical paintings on the Internet and describe the things the paintings reveal about the... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: Xpeditions

The great migration

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students learn about the migration of African Americans to Harlem, beginning with the original migration of blacks to North America. Students explore paintings by Jacob Lawrence to understand the experience of blacks who migrated... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

How and why has the White House changed?

In this lesson, the second in the EDSITEment curriculum unit titled “From the White House of Yesterday to the White House of Today,” students explore how the "President's House" has evolved over time. After reviewing James Hoban's original design,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan

Provided by: EDSITEment

How was the White House designed?

In this lesson, part of the EDSITEment curriculum unit titled “From the White House of Yesterday to the White House of Today,” students explore some of the issues involved in designing the “President's House.” They compare proposed... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan

Provided by: EDSITEment

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

A lens into the past

This ARTSEDGE lesson uses photographs to describe the transition from old world to New World experienced by immigrants to the United States. Students gain an understanding of the new life of immigrants in this country, and learn how the medium of photography... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Mirroring Kandinsky

In this lesson, one of a six-part unit from Illuminations titled “Geometry in the World of Art,” students explore the geometric figures Wassily Kandinsky used in his art. Students apply what they have learned in previous lessons by designing... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: Illuminations

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