In this 3-5 lesson, students will examine sunflower paintings by Vincent van Gogh. Students will grow and observe the life cycle of a sunflower to inform their own sunflower artwork creation.
Students will:
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Books
Websites
Additional Materials
Teachers should be familiar with the life cycle of a sunflower and review the background on artwork.
Students should be familiar with parts of a plant and plant or animal life cycles.
Provide assistive technologies during research and the art-making process. Allow sufficient space for movement around the room.
After approximately 15 minutes, have students rotate to a new desk or location. From this new location, each student will create a second piece of artwork in the second area on the art paper.
Original Writer
Karen Smith
Adaptation
Carol Parenzan Smalley
Editor
JoDee Scissors
Updated
March 3, 2022
Join museum educator Tami Wood as she explores Vincent van Gogh's painting, The Starry Night. In this thoughtful examination of a work of art, Tami guides you to voice your observations while also expanding your artistic vocabulary. By looking at art together, you can develop a practice in deep looking that not only helps you appreciate art but also changes how you look at the world around you.
In this K-2 lesson, students will choreograph an original dance that communicates the life cycle stages of the monarch butterfly. They will read Eric Carle’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and explore the monarch butterfly migration process.
Is there poetry in the ocean? How can the wind inspire dance? How can the arts represent the change of seasons? Discover patterns and cycles in nature with these resources that address cell composition and reproduction, animal habitats, the metamorphasis of a caterpillar to a butterfly, and an artistic representation of our relationship with the planet.
In this 6-8 lesson, students will explore the use of trees in paintings and poetry. They will explore the artwork of Thomas Locker and Vincent van Gogh through a scientific lens. Students will combine their knowledge of science and art to write poems and create leaf art.
In this K-2 lesson, students will create a story page about animal habitats using a non-traditional book illustration method. They will be introduced to animal habitats through story, song, and dramatic play using children’s picture books.
In this 3-5 lesson, students will dramatize the ways a mountain can be formed. Students will analyze poems about mountain creation from the perspective of the Tohono O’odham People. Students will compare the poems to science-based descriptions of mountain formation.
In this 6-8 lesson, students will research information on artists’ lives and works. They will create art based on their understanding of the artist, their time and place in history, and their works. Students will plan and design an art show, pretending to be the artist they researched.
Help students build techniques to interpret what they see into written words using art.
Eric Friedman
Director, Digital Learning
Kenny Neal
Manager, Digital Education Resources
Tiffany A. Bryant
Manager, Operations and Audience Engagement
JoDee Scissors
Content Specialist, Digital Learning
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The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Music Theatre International; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts; Newman’s Own Foundation; Nordstrom; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives; Prince Charitable Trusts; Soundtrap; The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; UnitedHealth Group; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Dennis & Phyllis Washington; and Wells Fargo. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts.
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