Tour Topics for Grades 4 through 12
Look and Discover (General Introductory Tour)
Explore the museum’s galleries through this general introductory tour encompassing artwork across various styles and cultures. Put yourself into the scene and discuss and describe what you see to develop your own interpretations.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
Art-Making and Technology
How was this produced? Learn about the materials and processes used to create the works of art you encounter. Explore how developments in technology have affected ways art is made.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- Grades 4–8: Social Studies: History: Historical Thinking and Skills
- High School: Social Studies: American History
- High School: Social Studies: Modern World History
- High School: Social Studies: Contemporary World Issues
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
Foreign Language Tours
Take a tour of the museum’s galleries in French or Spanish.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- All grades: World Language: Communication; Cultures
Places, Spaces, and Community
Explore architecture, specific regions, or imaginary settings, as well as the artist’s motivation for choosing these settings to enhance stories, create mood, and identify locales throughout history.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- Grades 4–8: Social Studies: Geography: Places and Regions
- High School: Social Studies: World Geography
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
The Modern World: 19th Century to Today
Consider artists’ choices in response to transformations in 19th- and 20th-century life. Explore how technology and societal change can effect expression.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- Grades 4–8: Social Studies: History: Historical Thinking and Skills
- High School: Social Studies: American History
- High School: Social Studies: Modern World History
- High School: Social Studies: Contemporary World Issues
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
African Art and History
Use objects as primary sources to reveal sacred practices as well as daily customs.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- Grades 4–8: Social Studies: History: Historical Thinking and Skills
- High School: Social Studies: Modern World History
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
Medieval and Renaissance Worlds
Use primary sources in the galleries to learn about life, warfare, and worship in the Middle Ages and beyond.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- Grades 4–8: Social Studies: History: Historical Thinking and Skills; Feudalism and Transitions
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
American Art and History
Discover paintings, sculpture, furniture, and decorative arts to learn about daily life and the emergence of our nation from the colonial period to today. Themes ranging from the Revolutionary War to Cleveland and the surrounding region can be included. Let us know your curricular needs, such as immigration or industrialization, when registering for this tour.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- Grades 4–8: Social Studies: History: Historical Thinking and Skills; Heritage; Colonization to Independence; A New Nation; Expansion; Civil War and Reconstruction
- High School: Social Studies: American History; American Government
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
Ancient Cultures from Around the World
Uncover ancient civilizations through primary sources that help us understand daily life, ritual, literature, and the emergence of writing.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- Grades 4–8: Social Studies: History: Historical Thinking and Skills; Early Civilizations
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
Narrative and Myth in Art
Explore the point of view of one of the characters, follow the sequence of events, make predications, and focus on setting to reveal the narrative in these works of art. Themes including mythology, religious texts, and fables can be highlighted in this tour.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
Cultural Focus: France, Spain, or Italy
Explore art, artists, and places, focusing on a specific culture.
Standards:
- All grades: Visual Arts: Perceiving/Knowing; Responding/Reflecting
- Grades 4–8: Social Studies: History: Historical Thinking and Skills
- All grades: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
- All grades: World Language: Cultures