Compare and Connect: How do masks connect to our identity? (Ready to Go Resource)

Ready-to-go resources are short, flexible learning activities that center art as texts. In “Compare and Connect” students use a guiding question to compare works of art within the context of a shared theme and produce brief writing examples.

combined image of an African mask and contemporary photograph
Helmet Mask (sowei) and Lorna Simpson's Vantage Point

Guiding Question: How do masks connect to our identity?

Featuring Helmet Mask (Sowei) and Lorna Simpson’s Vantage Point

Check the slide notes for the teacher’s guide.

Make your own copy! Check the slide notes for the teacher’s guide.

 

Total Activity Pacing: 30 min, spread over 2 days. 

Grade(s): 3-5

 

Activity Overview:

  • In this Compare and Connect activity, students will view two different photographs. Students will be exploring the different artworks of masks  
  • In Day One: Discuss, students will discuss what they notice about the masks. Students will make inferences about what they think the masks are for and what they represent. Students will then share how the masks connect and show up in the identities of those who made them.
  • In Day Two: Write, students will write an explanatory text stating the similarities and differences of the two masks and how they are used in the artwork. 
Grade level
3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade
Subject Areas
English Language Arts, Social Studies, Visual Arts
Concepts
Identity