Lesson Plans and Pre-visit Guides

Current search results within: Theme, Art and Writing

• Arabic Script and the Art of Calligraphy (Lesson Plan)

  Students will be able to identify visual qualities of several calligraphic scripts; recognize ways artists from the Islamic world engage various scripts to enhance works of art supporting a range of functions; and assess the merits of several computer-generated fonts in supporting specific uses.

• Art and Empire—The Ottoman Court (Lesson Plan)

  Students will be able to recognize ways a tughra functioned as a symbol of power and authority within a culturally diverse and geographically expansive empire.

• Art of Ancient Egypt (Pre-visit Guide)PDF

  Introduce students to the art of ancient Egypt, made primarily for religious and magical purposes and reflective of the culture's desire for order, beliefs about eternity, and love of life. Use this guide's collection overview, gallery map, tour-planning guidelines, themes to consider, discussion questions, suggested works of art, and resource list to make the most of your trip to the Museum.

• Art of the Ancient Near East (Pre-visit Guide)PDF

  Introduce students to works of art reflecting the rich and complex cultures that flourished for thousands of years across a vast geographical region and gave rise to many features of modern civilization. Use the guide's collection overview, gallery map, tour-planning guidelines, background information and themes, discussion questions, suggested works of art, and resource list to make the most of your trip to the Museum.

• Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia (Pre-visit Guide)PDF

  Introduce students to one of the most comprehensive collections of Islamic art in the world, including both secular and religious works created in a broad range of media over a vast geographic expanse from the seventh to late nineteenth century. Use this guide's collection overview, gallery descriptions, tour-planning tips, discussion questions, suggested works of art, teaching themes, and resource list to make the most of your trip to the Museum.

• Composing a Landscape (Lesson Plan)

  Study the relationship between the human and natural worlds in art, as well as the techniques artists use to convey ideas, by exploring a painting by Frederic Edwin Church in the Museum's American Wing. Extend the lesson through a writing and drawing activity in the classroom, or a sketching activity outdoors.

• Haremhab—General and Scribe (Lesson Plan)

  Capture students' imaginations in the Egyptian galleries with viewing questions about a sculpture portrait and an observation activity about analyzing portraits, relationships between art and cultural values, and the ways different communities communicate through images and text.

• Take It to the Afterlife (Lesson Plan)

  Delve into daily life and the afterlife in ancient Egypt, as well as strategies for visual analysis and interpretation of art, through viewing questions and a sketching activity in the Museum's Egyptian galleries.

• The Art of China (Pre-visit Guide)PDF

  Introduce students to the primary ideas, values, and traditions of one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations, as reflected in one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of its art in the West. Use this guide's collection overview, gallery map, tour-planning guidelines, background information and themes, discussion questions, suggested works of art, and resource list to make the most of your trip to the Museum.

• The Art of Medieval Europe (Pre-visit Guide)PDF

  Introduce students to the art of the Middle Ages, notable for its expressions of beauty, complexity and importance of meaning, and establishment of new standards for technical achievement. Use this guide's collection overview, gallery map, tour-planning guidelines, themes to consider, discussion questions, suggested works of art, and resource list to make the most of your trip to the Museum.