Students will read a description of the pine barrens by Basil Hall and analyze the text by using the 3-2-1 strategy. Students will discuss the life and work of Basil Hall, including his travels and journaling in North America. They will observe how a camera lucida functions and debate whether using a camera lucida is "cheating" in art. Next, students will venture outside to create a sketch of their environment while appropriately utilizing materials. They will compare and contrast their products to the sketches of Basil Hall and critique each other's work. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Students will observe dance movements depicted in a drawing and a painting. Partners will use simple lines to draw their partner's movements and paint dance costumes on the figures using various brushstrokes. Students will write a persuasive speech to the school superintendent explaining why they believe dance should be a regular part of the curriculum. They will then model dance movements for classmates in teams of four and recite their persuasive speech to the class.

Students will analyze and describe a painting depicting a family. They will discuss similarities and differences between the setting of the painting and where they live. Then students will create a sculpture of their family doing an activity together and also create a diorama of a room in their home.

Students learn the stories of two ambitious and courageous women artists in European history -- Luisa Roldan (also known as La Roldana) and Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun -- and examine works by both. Students then research and write a short report on a female artist working today.

Students will examine two paintings and discuss the use of architectural elements and vantage points in the paintings. Referring to the elements of art, students will also examine how three-dimensional shapes are transformed into two-dimensional forms in paintings, as well as the use of indoor space vs. outdoor space.

Students use the model of the infamous Bill and Ted from the feature film "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" to "go back in time" to learn about deities in the ancient world. After researching, studying, and viewing reproductions of artworks that depict gods and goddesses, students transport their chosen deities to the modern world as characters they write about in a mock television talk-show script, which they enact for the class.

Students will identify nouns, verbs, and adjectives visible in two paintings depicting a stormy and calm landscape, respectively. They will write a narrative inspired by the paintings, paying attention to transitional phrases and sensory details. Students will use color and line to create their own calm or stormy landscape.

Students will examine the use of the elements of art, including line, shape, form, texture, and color, in a drawing. They will also study the elements of architecture and learn to identify architectural elements in detail and their relationship to the surrounding landscape. Then students will draw an ancient Roman temple in perspective, integrating architectural elements in the drawing.

Students participate in a measurement lesson focusing on length. They use their feet as the unit of measurement for furniture in the classroom and at home. They then sketch the pieces of furniture they measured.

Students will learn about the jazz singer Billie Holiday and the sociohistorical context in which she performed. They will learn how discriminatory statutes (called Jim Crow laws) affected daily life. They will also analyze how movement is created in photographs and the effect of a photographer's point of view on composition. Finally, students will photograph a musician, paying attention to what can be communicated through point of view.

Students will discuss a page from a late-medieval choir book, including its function and how it was made. They will learn how music was notated in the Middle Ages and practice a simplified method of notating music. Working in teams, students will create a class choir book of songs of celebration.

Students will discuss the form, function, and decoration of an ancient Greek wine cup. They will learn about the importance of music in the daily life of ancient Greeks. They will discuss a page from a late-medieval choir book and compare and contrast the role of music in antiquity, the Renaissance, and today. They will create cups for a social gathering inspired by ancient Greek symposia, and create and perform a song, poem, or story.

Students will analyze scenes from the Trojan War that are visually depicted in an ancient object and an 18th-century painting. They will research an epic poem inspired by the Trojan War and write a literary response analyzing how themes and values in the poem reflect the historical context in which they were made. Finally, they will work in teams to reframe a tale from the Trojan War in a contemporary context -- visually and in poetry -- and recite the tale in a poetry slam.

Students will discuss what is communicated in an ancient statuette by analyzing the size and poses of two figures. They will learn that stories were passed through oral tradition in ancient times. They will create sculptures of themselves, a companion, and a favorite musical instrument using spheres and cylinders, and then recite a story inspired by their sculptures.

Students will learn about the Trojan War and the hero Achilles. They will compare different stories that were inspired by Achilles, which were passed down orally. They will analyze stories of Achilles in a relief on an ancient sarcophagus and in a drawing by a Renaissance artist. Finally, they will create their own drawing of Achilles inspired by literature.

Students will examine three works of art to learn about the daily lives of working ballet dancers in Paris in the 19th century. Students will conduct additional research to learn about the cultural context at the time these dancers worked, including how ballet dancers were perceived. Finally, students will create a backstage view of a contemporary dancer.

Students will learn about an artist's sketchbook that includes drawings of ballet dancers. They will practice two ballet steps and discuss how an artist uses line to depict dancers in rehearsal. Students will make a sketchbook and produce a series of quick sketches of dancers.

Students will learn about axial movements and locomotor movements by discussing dancers depicted in a drawing and photograph. They will then practice combining axial and locomotor movements. They will describe how artists depict a dancer's motion in drawing and photography. They will also analyze how an artist creates movement and emphasis through contrast, composition, and leading lines, and then experiment with photography to capture motion in dance.

Students will learn about the Impressionist painters' use of color and how it connected to early-19th-century scientific theories about color. They will explore combinations of primary and secondary colors, experiment creating secondary colors, and create a landscape using complementary colors.