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Teacher Lab Classroom Projects

This section features a sampling of lesson plans developed by participants in the Teacher Lab. During the year-long program participants create a series of in-depth lessons for both the first and second semesters of the school year. In developing these lessons they think about what they already teach and where American art can most effectively fit in to their curriculum. After drafting their lessons they revise them based on feedback from Teacher Lab faculty and fellow-participants; then they rework them again after testing them in the classroom.

Additional lessons will be made available periodically on an ongoing basis.

Search and Browse all Projects Grade K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Subject American Literature English Language Arts Social Studies Visual Arts

Viewing 4 of 4 Projects

"Mood and Emotion in Painting and Poetry" Fitz Henry Lane, 1804–1865, Brace's Rock, Brace's Cove, 1864, oil on canvas, 10 ¼ x 15 ¼ in., Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.83 Grade(s): 6–12 Subject(s): Language Arts Author: Jana Kopczick School: Smyser Elementary School Theme/Topic: Art Communicates Description: Students think about the visual strategies an artist used to create a sense of mood in his painting. They write poems that convey mood in response to the painting, first before having learned about… Read More

"Portraits as Records of Individuals, Times, and Places" Ammi Phillips (1788-1865), Girl in a Red Dress, c. 1835, oil on canvas, 32 3/8 x 27/3/8 in. Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1992.57. Grade(s): 9–12 Subject(s): Visual Arts Author: David McKoski School: The Chicago Academy High School Theme/Topic: Defining Identity through Portraits Description: In this unit, students consider the meaning and role of portraits and what they convey about a person, time, and place. Students examine portraits from different eras and in different media and… Read More

"Painting as Narrative and a Complement to Literature" Thomas Cole (1801-1848), Landscape with Figures: A Scene from "The Last of the Mohicans," 1826, oil on panel, 26 x 1/8 x 43 1/16 in. Terra Foundatino for American Art, Daniel J. Terra collection, 1993.2 Grade(s): 10 Subject(s): English, American Literature Author: Sandra Shimon School: Charles A. Prosser Career Academy Theme/Topic: Literature of a New Republic: 1776–1836 Description: The lesson pairs paintings by Thomas Cole and text by James Fenimore Cooper and engages students in a discussion of values expressed in both Cole's work, which illustrates Cooper's novel, The… Read More

"Art and Propaganda" Emanuel Leutze (1816–1868), Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851, oil on canvas; 149 x 255 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897 (97.34) Photograph © 1992 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Grade(s): 6 Subject(s): Social Studies Author: Craig Segal School: John Greenleaf Whittier Elementary School Theme/Topic: The American Revolution and/or Westward Expansion Description: Through this unit, students will analyze a legendary event from American history. Students will compare the narrative telling with that shown in a famous work of art about the event. Students will… Read More