Lesson Plans

Taking a 1968 protest photograph by Pirkle Jones, along with other artworks, as inspiration, this lesson for 9-12th grade students demonstrates how to write poems about works of art using concrete visual details.

This lesson teaches K-12 students about the science of seeing using four important themes: light, visible light, color and luminance.

Inspired by the work of contemporary artist Tony de los Reyes, this lesson invites 6-12th grade students to reflect on the American flag and the concept of citizenship.

Using Roman busts as inspiration, this lesson teaches 6-12th grade students how to sketch a simple self-portrait, focusing on the fundamentals of size, shape and proportion.

Inspired by Walter Gay’s painting Interior of His Brother’s House in Boston, this writing prompt invites 6-12th grade students to choose a room they know well and write about moments when it was empty or full.

Inspired by Ernest Ange Duez’s 1873 painting, Woman in Grey on Board Ship, Gazing at the Sea, this writing prompt invites 6-12th grade students to reflect on the concept of being “at sea”. Students may write about a time when they have felt at sea or about a world of the future they imagine worth fighting for.