A group of young kids sit in the gallery; one boy looks to the side and smiles.

Interdisciplinary Lesson Plans

Created by K-12 educators for K-12 educators, our interdisciplinary lesson plans activate art as a learning tool to achieve curricular and creative thinking goals across disciplines!

In Summer 2021, Carnegie Museum of Art launched a unique residency allowing 11 K–12 educators who teach across disciplines to spend three weeks at the museum. Residents worked in small, grade-based clusters with museum educators to explore the museum as an educational resource to support classroom learning and experience creative recuperation.

Residents produced a number of interdisciplinary lesson plans, ranging from music to Mandarin to algebra and more, using artwork as a foundation.

Download and adapt as you like; you know your students best! The museum is your resource.

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Start a discussion with our education staff
Do you have an interesting example of how you’ve adapted the lesson plan for your learners? Have questions? We’d love to know! Contact teachers@cmoa.org.

Lesson Plans

Art Tells a Story

Visual Arts, Social Studies, MusicGrades K—5

Exploring Math Through Opening Violet and Green

MathGrades 7—12

Facial Expressions Captured in Works of Art

Spanish, Visual Arts, HistoryGrades 3—5

Learning Chinese through Art

World Languages (Mandarin)Grade 6

Math in the Wilderness, Parts I & II

Visual Arts, MathGrades 9—12

Mindfulness in Art

Arts, Humanities, Social Emotional Learning, English Language ArtsGrades 3—4

Music and Art Make a Story

General Music, Visual Arts, English Language ArtsGrades 4—8

Relationship // Autonomy // Competence // Fun

Visual Arts, Math, World LanguagesGrades 9—12

Self-Portrait in the Style of Equivalent by Joan Witek

Math, Art, Counseling/Self-AwarenessGrades 6—8

The Whole Self

Student Mindsets & Behaviors, Career Readiness, Art, MathGrades 9—12

Two Weeks with Charles “Teenie” Harris

English Language Arts, Social StudiesGrades 1—4