Students explore picture books to identify the characteristics of four types of conflict. They then write about a conflict they have experienced and compare it to a conflict from literature.
Using excerpts from the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, comics, and songs from different musical genres, students examine the characteristics of transcendentalism.
Students analyze Dorothea Lange's photographs and identify key themes in her work. They then create a thematic exhibition pairing Lange's work with work by artists who explore the same themes in other media.
In this lesson, students incorporate analyses of characters from "The Crucible" with examinations of original seventeenth-century portraits of Puritans to create a visual portrait of the character. The project culminates in a ŇPortrait Gallery WalkÓ where students present and defend their artwork.
You've heard of choice boards, but explore boards are different, and I really think you'll want to give them a try!
Explore Boards are great to introduce a new unit of study to develop background knowledge and vocabulary. They can also be used for studying, becoming an expert in an area to share back (like a jigsaw), support inquiry or research projects, provide context, etc.!
These boards promote personalized learning - student voice and choice as well as autonomy. You can let the students free for 20-30 minutes to explore the options as they see fit, or assign a few options to a group to share back, and students can refer back to these Explore Boards during the entire unit to build a deeper understanding. The only limit on how to use these boards is your imagination!
(But don't worry, this article provides many examples!)
Example Explore Boards are included for: The Outsiders, Risk & Exploration, Global Issues, Ben Franklin, Tomorrow (a sequel to Annie)
The site is a colorful and interactive imaginary recreation of Leonardo da Vinci's studio. Users can click on 12 items for more information. Produced by BBCi/Open University, this site is part of a large collection of materials on da Vinci.
Students explore expressive qualities in music through listening, singing, and moving.
Students explore the sound, evolution, performance techniques, and culture of guitar-like instruments from around the world.
In this lesson, students will discuss what identity means to them and will consider how their own identities are affected by the social and political realities of their time. They will then discuss how four artists—Otto Dix, Pablo Picasso, Dorothea Lange, and Alberto Giacometti—represent individual and universal identities in portraiture.
Explore the elements of art, culture, and identity through this guided lesson based on Leah Dorion's "The Giving Tree: A Retelling of a Traditional Métis Story." We are connected through place and culture! The values, beliefs, traditions, religion, natural environment, recreational activities, music, dance, and art that surround us help to form our identity. We share, listen, learn, and grow from and with each other. Students will think about their own identity and the many pieces that make them unique as they create a painting in the style of Leah Dorion's work.
In the essay "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan explains that she "began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with." How these "different Englishes" or even a language other than English contribute to identity is a crucial issue for adolescents.
In this lesson, students explore this issue by brainstorming the different languages they use in speaking and writing, and when and where these languages are appropriate. They write in their journals about a time when someone made an assumption about them based on their use of language, and share their writing with the class. Students then read and discuss Amy Tan's essay "Mother Tongue." Finally, they write a literacy narrative describing two different languages they use and when and where they use these languages.
Students create movements to represent long and short rhythmic patterns and compose patterns using non-traditional notation.
Students explore phrases in poetry and in song.
Students will learn the basic tools for analyzing images using description, reflection, and formal analysis.
Building on the strategies learned in the lesson 1, students will examine works of art in a museum setting.
Students will read an artist's statement by Dorothea Lange and write an artist's statement based on their own photographs.
Students explore steady beat and instruments of the percussion family.
Students explore expressive qualities through various string techniques.
Students listen to and describe sounds.
This is the first lesson in a sequential unit. Students make connections between their own feelings about caring for something and similar feelings that are expressed in works of art