Wall Fountain Made between 1800 and 1850 Persian, Qajar Dynasty Molded glazed composite body with polychrome underglaze painted decoration Gift of Mrs. Wilson W. Mills (54.194) Click the image for more information.

Preparation:
We visited the DIA prior to starting this unit. To prepare students for the visit we discussed:

• Why do we have museums?
  
• What do they tell us about different cultures?
  
• What do they tell us about different periods of time?
  

• We brainstormed examples of how different cultures are represented through symbols, music, and in art.

  
  

Because this lesson was designed to learn about cultural diversity and celebrate the uniqueness of America with its diversity, we pre-selected three works of art from the DIA that represented a variety of cultures:

• Native American Man’s Shirt
  
• Romare Bearden’s Quilting Time
  
• Islamic Tile Fountain
  

student sketching in museum (click the image for a larger version).

Students viewed slides of each work of art before our visit. See Art Images & Information. In the museum, students were divided into three groups, with each group focusing on one of the three works. Students answered the questions on the museum worksheet I prepared.

Museum worksheet (click the image for a larger version).

Each student was given a worksheet, pencil and clipboard to help them focus while at the DIA. This also allowed them to record information to present about their work of art to the other groups upon returning.

Resources:

Books
Giorgini, Frank. Handmade Tiles. Asheville, NC: Larks Books. 1994.

Web sites

The following general reference sites can also be found on the John Page Middle School CyberLibrary which was compiled by Karen Becknell, school Library Media Specialist. You can access sites by clicking on Library Pages on the main menu:
http://www.lamphere.k12.mi.us/education/staff/staff.php?sectiondetailid=671&PHPSESSID=8d30f3ffbc67585b581a3bbd0148e59f

Atlapedia Online: http://www.atlapedia.com/index.html This resource contains maps and information for almost every country in the world.

CIA World Factbook
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html This is the most up-to-date resource available.

The Michigan Electronic Library http://mel.lib.mi.us/
Developed and maintained by the Library of Michigan, research database contains periodical articles, excerpts from encyclopedias and books and pictures and maps. This resource contains an extensive selection of links on "Countries and Cultures" in the Young Adult Resources section.

The World Flag Database http://www.flags.net/ contains information and pictures of flags of the world.

Research Databases:
Two subscription databases we use are:

SirsDiscoverer http://www.sirs.com/products/dow.htm

http://homeclubs.scholastic.com/ Grolier OnLine Encyclopedias has three online encyclopedias; Americana, Grolier Multimedia and New Book of Knowledge.