Lesson Length
K–3rd grade: 60 minutes4th–12th grade: 60 minutes to 90 minutes
Fees
Philadelphia Public and Charter Schools: FreePhiladelphia independent and parochial schools -$6 per student
All other schools-$8 per student
One chaperone per 10 students is admitted for Free
Extra chaperon $10 per person
4–12 Collection Tours
Museum tours are designed as interactive lessons that encourage students to examine objects and ideas through a variety of activities including discussions, worksheets, and small-group work. Observation, critical thinking, problem solving, and literacy skills are incorporated in all lessons. These programs take place in the Museum’s permanent galleries. Lessons are 1 1/2 hours long except where noted. Expect to visit approximately four to six galleries during your tour.
All tours are appropriate for grades 4–12 (except where noted).
Standards Alignment for School Tours >>
Introductory Lessons
These lessons are ideal for a first visit or for a general introduction to broad aspects of the collection.-
Learning to Look
How can we learn to see more when we look at art? This lesson leads students to become better observers of both art and the world around them through looking, describing, imagining, and responding. Drawing and writing activities are adapted for students’ grade level. Pre-Visit Guide -
Around the World (grades 4–6)
What can art tell us about different times and cultures? Students compare works of art and architecture to discover the common threads and unique qualities of a variety of cultures. Grades 4–6 will complete their own around-the-world travelogue. Pre-Visit Guide -
Art Investigation
Exploring works of art naturally engages our inquiring minds and encourages critical thinking. In this lesson, students practice making meaning through close looking, analyzing visual evidence, making inferences, and examining different perspectives. Pre-Visit Guide
Art History Lessons
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Resistance and Resilience in United States History (4th–12th grade)
Explore the history of the United States through works of art that tell untold stories from American history. Students will develop their historical thinking skills and analyze objects that represent multiple perspectives. This lesson approaches the study of our past through an antiracist lens. -
Greek and Roman Mythology in Art
Beginning with the Museum building, students explore how artists have interpreted the ideas and mythology of the classical world. -
European Art (Choose one)
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Medieval Art
What can the architecture, sculpture, textiles, and armor of medieval Europe tell us about life in the Middle Ages? This lesson explores stylistic changes in medieval art and how they reveal an evolving society. -
Art of the Renaissance
How did art of the Renaissance reflect ideas of that time? Students examine art from Italy and northern Europe to learn more about the art and beliefs of the day. -
Medieval and Renaissance Art
A combination of two lessons, Medieval Art and Art of the Renaissance, this offering is designed for classes studying both periods of European history. -
Renaissance to Modern
This lesson provides a chronological look at European artistic styles from the Renaissance to today. Students consider the strengths and challenges of each period, and evaluate their reactions to each style.
Pre-Visit Guide -
The Impressionist Era
What made the art of the Impressionists so different? This lesson introduces students to work by notable nineteenth-century artists and may include Monet, Degas, Cassatt, Renoir, Cézanne, van Gogh, or others,and places them within the context of their time.
Pre-Visit Guide -
Modern and Contemporary Art
What is modern art and what makes it look the way it does? This lesson explores changing styles and ideas in European and American art from Impressionism to Cubism to the art of today.
Pre-Visit Guide -
Art of Asia
Students examine and compare the art of several Asian countries including China, Korea, and Japan, among others. Classes can take a general tour of Asian art or focus on a specific country. -
French or Spanish Art (grades 9–12) (1 hour)
Students studying French, or Spanish learn about that culture’s art. Tours range from medieval religious objects to contemporary paintings and sculptures.
Interdisciplinary Lessons
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STEAM at the Museum
How is being an artist like being a scientist or a mathematician? In this lesson, students practice core STEAM skills, learning directly from the objects about how artists create innovative solutions to complex problems. Pre-Visit Guide -
Art and Language Arts
During this lesson, students uncover the “stories” told by works of art as they experiment with the different tools that writers and artists use to make an engaging work. Activities encourage careful observation, analysis, and discussion, and include creative, persuasive, and descriptive writing and poetry. This lesson can be adapted for English-language learners. Pre-Visit Guide -
Art Speaks, a Target® Field Trip (for 4th-graders in Philadelphia public schools only)
Designed to help fourth-grade students practice literacy skills while exploring art at the Museum and in the classroom. During the Museum lesson, students use a variety of language-arts skills (such as comparing, describing, interpreting, and expressing opinions) as they share their observations and ideas about works of art.. Each class receives: a teaching booklet with literacy-based pre- and post-visit activities; image cards to use in the classroom; and a flash drive with printable worksheets and a classroom presentation of the images with looking questions. Before your visit, teachers can opt to have a Museum educator visit their classroom virtually to introduce students to Art Speaks and the Museum. Thanks to generous funding, Art Speaks Museum admission and busing are free this school year. Art Speaks is made possible by the Victory Foundation, Target, The Anne M. and Philip H. Glatfelter, III Family Foundation, Lincoln Financial Group, and TD Charitable Foundation. Credits as of August 28, 2017 -
HERstory
This lesson will explore women as artists and women as subjects. By analyzing works of art, students will learn about the changing roles and perspectives of women in society. Pre-Visit Guide -
Artists and the Natural World
During this lesson, students look at works of art from several time periods and places, and explore ways that artists have been inspired by, recorded, and incorporated elements of the natural world in their art. Students have a chance to respond to nature themselves through writing and drawing activities. -
The Artist and Society
What does art reflect about the time in which it was created? Students examine how artists have chronicled, commented upon, and critiqued their societies. -
Exploring Identity through Art
Art can be a window onto an artist’s experiences, relationships, and history. Students will investigate how artists explore ideas about identity and use art as a prompt to reflect on their own sense of self.
For more information, please contact The Division of Education by phone at 215-684-7580 or by e-mail at .