After an overview of Islamic traditions and art, young artists create their own geometric shapes and patterns using only a straightedge and a compass.

Learners discuss the subject and meaning of examples of visual art. They analyze various paintings found on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website, answer discussion questions, complete online interactive activities, and write an essay.

Middle schoolers write descriptions, narratives, and dialogues based on objects of art and time periods in a museum. They base several writing assignments on art objects and paintings, including a literal description and an emotional...

While these worksheets are specific for use while visiting the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, they could be used to guide nearly any museum trip. Questions focus on human activity, symbolism, culture, religion, and society as...

The Museum of Modern Art provides this educators' guide to Dada and Surrealism. Featuring the works of such artists as Jean Arp, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, and Meret Oppenheim among others, the guide is ideal for art history and...

Build your pupils' visual literacy and ability to identify art from some of the world's masters. They view the mixed-up art pieces and set them straight by matching the correct art piece to the correct artist. 

Provided by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, this resource for teachers examines Islamic art, including calligraphy, arabesques, and geometric designs.  A recounting of the spread of the faith and the tumultuous political...

Did you know that some languages have no word for art? The English language does and the narrator of this short video discusses the aesthetic dimension of religious art as it "visually communicates meaning beyond language." 

Seventh graders become museum conservators and undertake the hypothetical restoration of an ancient American work of art. Groups design a plan for reconstructing the work of art, outlining the steps they need to take and the materials...

Differentiate between the various genres in the visual arts world, particularly in Western painting. Your class can view and discuss, in small groups, paintings published on the National Galleries website. Then each student individually...

Create the classic Andy Warhol mass-produced image using clay slabs. Explore the pop art movement using image transfer techniques. This project incorporates art history as well as multiple clay tools. The finished product is an...

High schoolers relate abstract expressionism and cultural influences on 1960's art. They use images appropriated from comic books to create a painting in the abstract expressionist style by changing the scale of the comic and reducing...

Lilly Martin Spencer's "Peeling Onions" is the subject of a series of exercises that model for learners how to use the elements of art to read a painting. A series of worksheets focus viewers' attention on how Spencer uses...

Which came first—the painting or the poem? In this case, it is the painting. Scholars closely examine a work of art and then craft an ekphrastic poem in response. A carefully scaffolded nine-page plan leads young poets through the process.

Third graders view pieces of Pablo Picasso's art. They discover art can have images and words to express meaning. They create their own piece of art and share with the class.

A curated exhibit at a museum has a point of view. Artifacts are selected and arranged to cause viewers to contemplate this point of view or theme. An interactive provides class members with an opportunity to create an exhibit, to curate...

Students explore the influence of the landscape of Ireland on shaping the poetry of William Butler Yeats. They work in groups researching the growth of the Irish Nationalist Movement, Celtic origins, invasions, and the impact on the...

Students design, set up, and format a brochure for a museum exhibit. They conduct Internet research, locate images, summarize information, and create a trifold brochure.

Do words change or add meaning or interest to a work of art? The final lesson in a four-part series on the beautiful brain as a work of art focuses on art analysis. Scholars write a story about exploring art from the inside. Reflections...

You and your high school class can examine the idea of artistic movements with this lesson plan. Explore various websites, compare/contrast paintings, after which the assignments are to complete a chart, and write an essay.

Students observe the duality in the art of Alighiero Boetti. Students discuss the life of Boetti. They examine the duality that exists in ourselves. Students produce two creative writings about duality in life.

Students visit the National Gallery of Art and form creative writing pieces based on what they have learned about American landscapes of the nineteenth century.

Students pretend they are in a museum and are to explain a painting to a friend using text messaging. They identify the correct painting based on the message. They answer questions to complete the lesson.

Color, light and shadow, the placement and size of objects. These are some of the tools artists used to tell their stories. Model for learners how to read a painting by closely examining these features. The richly detailed packet...