Art Lesson Plans: Creative Ways to Teach History, Culture and Society

By Nikki Tuting

This cross-posted blog story from Nikki Tuting also appears on the Planbook.com blog. This blog features posts aimed at helping teachers in their planning, pedagogy, and development of their classroom environment. It also features many posts on implementing various types of technology in the classroom.

Art class is much more powerful when it has a meaning or life lesson behind it. Whether honoring a historical figure or re-creating an ancient technique, combining art with history, society and culture enhances student learning across multiple subjects. Here’s how to master your art lesson planning so that students can create art that’s both expressive and informative.

Elements of a Strong Art Lesson

Creating an effective arts classroom starts by establishing positive relationships with your students. Art teacher Jordan DeWilde says opening up to students about your interests will make them more willing to share their own. Plus, this facilitates a relationship of trust between you and your students and between students in the class.

He suggests that topics such as the outdoors, travel, animals, sports and pop culture will encourage students to share a bit more about themselves through creative expression.