VMFA Lesson Plans are written by VMFA Educators and include all of the background information, supply lists, and instructions for completing these art-focused lessons.
Subject Area:African American, Fine Arts, Visual Arts
Grade Level:4-12
This art-based adventure explores the African American experience in North America by pairing visual and written primary sources. The works of art have been chosen from the American Art collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The written selections include poems, speeches, and other historical documents. Combining images with words provides students with multiple…
Students will investigate the concept of animal adaptations and how those adaptations help animals interact within an ecosystem by creating their own hybrid animals and explaining their creative choices.
Collection:American Art, 21st-Century Art, Mid to Late 20th-Century Art
Culture/Region:America
Subject Area:English, Visual Arts
Grade Level:4-8
This activity will enhance student observation, analysis, and communication skills through descriptive writing exercises that use visual works of art as writing prompts.
Students will practice decoding vocabulary by exploring a poem by the first African American woman to publish a book. Inspired by a discussion of a painting from the VMFA collection and the life story of author Phillis Wheatley, they will practice close reading techniques to discover the meaning of a written primary source from an…
Subject Area:History and Social Science, Science, Visual Arts
Grade Level:2-3
This activity explores how the observation of the earth, sky, and natural cycles led to the early development of a calendar and the magnetic compass in China. Students will also learn about the meanings that the ancient Chinese associated with the cardinal directions and manipulate a magnetic compass to determine directions.
Collection:African American Art, 21st-Century Art, Ancient Art, Egyptian Art, European Art, Mid to Late 20th-Century Art
Culture/Region:America
Subject Area:English, History and Social Science
Grade Level:4-12
Students will investigate how and why artists reference works of art from earlier times in their creations, and how context affects the interpretation of images by making scratchboard portraits using imagination and craftsmanship.
Subject Area:English, History and Social Science, Science
Grade Level:2-5
As students develop and play this Jeopardy-style answer and question game, they will practice their mapping skills; investigate ecosystems, habitats, and adaptations; and learn about the Silk Road.
Students will explore the rich connections and discoveries that arise from combining words, objects, and images as they plan and make expressive works of art using good craftsmanship and assemblage techniques.
Students will investigate a variety of ecosystems and explore the changes that may occur in them over time by making aerial-view maps of their school’s campus (or other location).
