This resource pairs visual and written primary resources. The works of art with 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 The written selections include poems, speeches, and other historical documents.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 learning pathways for explorations of art, history, and language.

Learn about many ways to combine art and science as we observe the world around us. We often think of scientists as methodical and precise, and artists as free-willed, impulsive creators. But did you know that some art has science packed right into it? And that artists throughout history have helped scientists conduct their work? Learn about the photography of Berenice Abbott who documented the changing New York skyline with photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, and science interpretation in the 1940s to 1960s. Learn how to use the sun to air dry your salt dough creations and explore papier-mâché. 

This is the first lesson in a sequential unit. Students view ceramic vessels from different time periods and cultures and discuss their meanings, functions, and original contexts. They develop criteria for value and meaning of these objects, and create a timeline to situate the objects in history.

This lesson is part of a sequential unit. Students are tested on what they learned about the history of ceramic forms in "Ceramics: A Vessel into History -- Lesson 1." They start work on a personal clay vessel that has a specific use or meaning in their contemporary culture, which could be discerned through study by future archeologists and art historians.

This lesson is part of a sequential unit. Students hold a critique session to evaluate the work of their peers using the criteria for value and meaning they developed in "Ceramics: A Vessel into History -- Lesson 1."

Students will explore both historical and contemporary purposes of masks in various cultures. Students will analyze visual principles and properties of masks construction. Students will communicate personal stories and identity through the creation of masks using contemporary materials. 

Students will analyze Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware by hypothesizing the story the artwork depicts and then create a drawing illustrating an important event in their life.

The "National Archives Experience: Digital Vaults" is a site that features digital items (mostly created or associated with the federal government) from the National Archives' extensive collection relating to United States history. The site provides interactive exercises and a tool to create posters, as well as slideshows with audio, captions, and multiple images.

Learn about the connections between the arts and the Earth. Make art at home using natural and recycled materials, travel the world to see some of the planet’s oldest paintings (in caves!), and check out an Earth-friendly music video featuring primary school students in Mamelodi Township, South Africa.