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Arts And Humanities
National Arts and Humanities Month is celebrated each year during the month of October and highlights the painters, authors, musicians and historians that inspire us every day. Explore resources from Thinkfinity’s Partners to engage students in creative activities such as writing poetry, designing a performance or painting a picture. Or investigate the science behind the arts. For more ideas on how to incorporate arts and humanities across the curriculum, explore Thinkfinity lessons and activities that are sure to inspire.
- Explore a collection of K-12 humanities lesson plans with Picturing America.
- Teach students in grades 5-8 how to Design Your Own Performance.
- Learn how an artist’s vision can shape the perceptions of a society in Romare Bearden's The Dove - A Meeting of Vision and Sound for students in grades 6-8.
- Discover what Mona Lisa's Smile has been hiding all of these years with your grade 6-12 students.
- Listen to a podcast with your grade 6-12 students to understand the connection between Music & IQ.
Join the conversation in the Thinkfinity Community.
- Will you study art more in the classroom in 2011?
- How are you integrating technology in your art education curriculum?
- How can the STEM movement converge with the Arts?
Visit The Arts group to talk about teaching and learning the arts.
Looking for Professional Development Opportunities? Visit our free live and recorded webinars and get started today!
LESSON PLANS
"America the Beautiful": Using Music and Art to Develop Vocabulary
ReadWriteThink | Lesson | K-2
This lesson uses music and art in a vocabulary study of unfamiliar words from the song "America the Beautiful," increasing students' vocabulary while also increasing their knowledge of U.S. geography.
Arabic Poetry: Guzzle a Ghazal!
EDSITEment | Lesson Plan | 9-12
Learn how the Bedouins of ancient Arabia and Persia made poetry a conversational art form where turning rhyme into sly verbal sparring was considered a mark of intelligence and a badge of honor.
A Collaboration of Sites and Sounds: Using Wikis to Catalog Protest Songs
ReadWriteThink | Lesson | 9-12
This lesson makes a connection to popular culture by asking students to work in pairs to research and analyze contemporary and historic protest songs.
Color Burst
Science NetLinks | Lesson | 3-5
In this lesson, students explore the separation of colors in water and other solvents and then communicate and share their findings.
Couriers in the Inca Empire: Getting Your Message Across
EDSITEment | Lesson | 3-5
Find out how the Inca communicated across the vast stretches of their mountain realm, the largest empire of the pre-industrial world, in as little as ten days.
Design Your Own Performance
History Explorer | Lesson | 5-8
In this lesson, students will analyze images relating to Celia Cruz and then design a performance to understand the role of aesthetics and style in the performing arts. This lesson is a resource included in the online exhibition entitled ¡Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz.
Endangered Languages
Science NetLinks | Lesson | 6-8
This lesson introduces students to linguistics and endangered languages.
A Harlem Renaissance Retrospective: Connecting Art, Music, Dance and Poetry
ReadWriteThink | Lesson | 9-12
In this unit, students conduct Internet research, work with an interactive Venn diagram tool, and create a museum exhibit that highlights the work of selected artists, musicians, and poets.
Jean Craighead George: Unsentimental Naturalist
Science NetLinks | Lesson | 6-8
This lesson explores the contributions made to science and society by the naturalist, Jean Craighead George, through her literature for children and young adults.
Make Your Own Carnival Mask
History Explorer | Lesson | K-4
In this activity, from the OurStory series, students will create their own paper mache Carnival masks as a way to learn about Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican culture.
Mental Health 3: Mental Health through Literature
Science NetLinks | Lesson | 9-12
This lesson examines the impact and portrayal of mental illness in literature and to encourage students to further develop their ideas about mental health through the arts.
A Musical Prompt: Postcards From the Concert
ReadWriteThink | Lesson | 3-5
In this lesson, music is an inspirational prompt for writing. After listening to a song, students write simple sentences describing the music and their thoughts about the music.
Picturing America
EDSITEment | Lesson Plans | 8-12
Lessons are designed to stimulate learning across the curriculum through paintings, sculpture, architecture, fine crafts and photography that offer unique insight into the character, ideals and inspirations of our country.
Romare Bearden's The Dove - A Meeting of Vision and Sound
EDSITEment | Lesson | 6-8
How does an artist's vision shape perceptions of society? In The Dove, Romare Bearden challenges us to examine Black culture in America.
The Prometheus Project: The Science behind Science Fiction
Science NetLinks | Lesson | 6-8
In this lesson, students explore the genre of science fiction, through the books The Prometheus Project: Trapped and The Prometheus Project: Captured, by Douglas Richards, to help students understand how scientific discovery can be used in ways people consider both beneficial and detrimental.
Shape Hunt
Science NetLinks | Lesson | K-2
This lesson gives students opportunities to recognize, describe, build, and explore shapes in many different contexts.
Teachers' Quick Reference Indexes
EDSITEment | Lesson Plans & Resources | 6-12
Explore a collection of the most-requested humanities lesson plans. Topics include AP U.S. and World History, Nineteenth Century American Literature, the Civil War and a growing database of State and Territory Encyclopedias.
