Architects of Air: Katena | Media Arts Toolkit

At first glance, Katena might look like an ordinary inflatable with an unusually complex and oversized structure. But when they walk inside, visitors soon realize this is an entirely different experience. They enter a world apart, a world of interconnecting tunnels and domes saturated with light and color, called a luminarium. This video will take your students on a virtual tour of one luminarium that was featured at the Cincinnati BLINK festival. They will learn how the design team of Architects of Air blends geometry, art, and architecture to create a pneumatic, or air-filled, structure in which form must follow function.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Chompers | Media Arts Toolkit

Chompers is a trio of abstract coyotes with levers to lift and lower their heads and open their mouths so that they can appear to be howling at the moon. They were built by the artists at Opera-Matic, a neighborhood art group from Chicago that specializes in community engagement. Opera-Matic was invited to bring Chompers to the BLINK festival in Cincinnati. The BLINK festival was a celebration of light and art with a focus on interactivity. The “coyotes” were a big hit with festival-goers, especially children. They are mounted on recycled ice cream bikes for easy mobility in parades.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

Kinetic Kauchii DekoSofa | Media Arts Toolkit

You may have never thought of pedaling your sofa down the street to visit your neighbors, but that was the idea behind DekoSofa, a kinetic, multimedia sculpture that traveled around BLINK, a festival of art and light held in Cincinnati. Festival-goers were invited to join one of the artists on the three-person mobile sofa, complete with coffee table and chandeliers. The entire rig was decorated with neon lights in the style of Japanese dekotora trucks (decorated trucks) and included a multimedia mural of a creature crawling out of the Chesapeake Bay.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

Ethnobotanist Linda Black Elk: Botany and Art | Art to Preserve Culture and Tradition

Linda Black Elk is passionate about plants. Linda Black Elk is an ethnobotanist and professor of ethnobotany and science education at Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, North Dakota and recently she traveled to the Cansayapi Oyate (the Lower Sioux Indian Community) to share her knowledge of medicinal plants with students there. Two lesson plans for grades 9-12 are included as gallery assets and in the Support Materials.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

Roger Abrahamson: Traditional Bowl Turner | Art to Preserve Culture and History

Roger Abrahamson demonstrates his craft to youth. Abrahamson is a traditional bowl turner who uses the medieval technology of a spring pole lathe and hand-forged tools to create Norwegian ale vessels. A lesson plan for grades 5-12 is included as a gallery asset and in the support materials. More About This Resource Postcards is an award-winning series showcasing the arts, history, and cultural heritage of western Minnesota and beyond. Funding for Postcards comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. To watch more Postcards, visit the show page or video portal.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

The Incredible Illustrations of Elizabeth Zunon

Students will learn about the work of illustrator Elizabeth Zunon. Zunon calls herself “a global artist" because she grew up in Ivory Coast, West Africa, and would spend summers in Albany, New York, with her American grandparents. She loved reading and drawing and decided to combine her two passions to tell stories for children. Today, Elizabeth is a successful children's book illustrator and author. In the related activity, students will work with drawing, painting, and collage to create an illustration of their own. The video and discussion will take one class session. The art activity may take several class sessions. More About This Resource For more studio tours and other arts content from WMHT, visit AHA! A House for Arts. AHA! A House for Arts features the stories of artists, makers, and creative institutions right here in our backyard and across the country. A celebration of all things creative, AHA! features everything from the traditional to the innovative.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

About the Cleansing Dance from Togo | Dance Arts Toolkit

Jeaunita and Adebola Olowe of Bi-Okoto Drum & Dance Theatre talk about the Sohu, a ritual cleansing dance from Togo, in this video from the Dance Arts Toolkit series.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

Cartoon Style with Sirron Norris | KQED Art School

Meet San Francisco artist Sirron Norris, who discusses his public and commercial art projects. Although he works on projects like "Bob's Burgers," he still makes time to teach a cartoon-drawing class for kids every Saturday. He says that the best part about drawing cartoons is that there's no expectations. He teaches the children this, and that as long as they are proud of what they've created, then what they've created is perfect.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star | Everyday Learning

Students are introduced to traditional folk music with an animated rendition of a familiar song, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” The video features shadow puppets and a crankie—a long illustrated scroll, which has been used as a method of storytelling since the 19th century.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

L'Arc en Ciel/The Rainbow | Everyday Learning

Students are introduced to traditional folk music in this animation of the French song, “L'Arc en Ciel” which means "the Rainbow." Students learn the colors of the rainbow in French while following the adventures of a singing bumblebee.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

Skip to My Lou | Everyday Learning

Students are introduced to traditional folk music with an animated rendition of a familiar song, “Skip to My Lou.” The animation features an band made up of forest creatures, plus a few other surprises.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

Glen Horr l Metalsmith

Learn how metalsmith Glen Horr at Highland Forge uses metals, handmade tools, and creativity to create sculpture.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: PBS Learning Media

Playing to the Beat of Your Own Drum...Together with Victor Villegas | 5th Grade | Arts, Care & Connection

About the Arts, Care & Connection Lesson Pilot Series: Arts for Learning Northwest collaborated with Oregon teaching artists on the development of this series of four arts courses designed for K-5 students, with integrated social emotional learning content in the areas of dance, visual arts, theater, and music. This lesson is part of a pilot project, and will be shared in its final version in an Oregon Open Learning Lesson Collection.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Author: Shannon Johnson

Basquiat's Crown with Michele Haney | 5th Grade | Arts, Care & Connection

About the Arts, Care & Connection Lesson Collection: Arts for Learning Northwest collaborated with Oregon teaching artists on this collection of arts integration modules designed for K-5 students, with integrated social emotional learning content in the areas of dance, visual arts, theater, and music.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Author: Shannon Johnson

Grade 6-8 The Arts & Music

Resource suggestions to explore and consider as a way to support your family learning during school closures.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive, Lesson Plan

Author: Jamie Rumage

All I Want to Do Is Dance, Dance, Dance!

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.

Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Lesson Plan

Counting on Art

In these lessons students will explore the paintings of Horace Pippin and Wayne Thiebaud and the mobiles of Alexander Calder to discover and practice math and visual art concepts. Background and biographical information about the work of art and artist, guided looking with class discussion, and activities with worksheets using mathematical formulas and studio art provide the framework for each lesson.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Lesson Plan

Creating and Performing Melodic Contour

Students create and perform melodic contours.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Lesson Plan

Language of Place: Hopi Place Names, Poetry, Traditional Dance and Song

A curriculum unit of three lessons in which students explore Hopi place names, poetry, song, and traditional dance to better understand the ways Hopi people connect with the land and environment through language. The unit is centered on the practice of growing corn. Students make inferences about language, place, and culture and also look closely at their own home environment and landscape to understand the places, language, and songs that give meaning to cultures and communities

Material Type: Lesson

Creatively Navigating the Design Process With Disaster Islands

Used as an introductory activity in an Exploratory Makerspace and STEAM class, this project is designed to be an introduction to using all steps of the Design Process. Students will work through these steps to identify the problem, imagine a solution, create a plan, build (an island), test and evaluate their solutions.After we talk about these six steps, students are encouraged to solve the simple problem of building an island.  As an instructor, I emphasize that this can be any type of island using any materials we have available, encouraging strong personal choice.  

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: Sharla Krell