Improvisation Teacher Resources

Young scholars create a women's history trail. They interview residents of their local community. They create information brochures on different women as well.

Second graders design and create a clay tile to represent their families. They research and discuss similarities and differences among families of different cultures, create a tile to represent their own and then compile the tiles in a...

High schoolers draw a pathway and create a movement phrase along that same path using specific movement vocabulary. The phrases are performed in class and rubrics are used for assessment. Meets State standards for the arts.

Third graders sing and play the song "Great Big House" in the Orff style using soprano and alto glockenspiels, bass xylophones, bass marimbas, triangles, woodblocks, and the singing voice. The lesson includes step-by-step teacher...

Tenth graders, in groups, participate in a simulation activity in which they are assigned a certain "status" role to play in a given situation. After the simulation, they reveal their status roles and discuss what they observed. They...

Students explore the music of Edward Elgar. As a class, they listen to Elgar's "Nimrod" and the "Adagio Cantabile" from Beethoven's piano Sonata. They listen to the music, write down the moods and discuss their feelings. Students compare...

Students participate in the simulation of planning an ancient Mayan city. In this urban planning lesson, students role play as citizens of an Mayan city. They act out their roles in a classroom that has been rearranged to simulate the...

In this slang worksheet, learners complete 9 multiple choice questions, choosing the correct idiom for a bold phrase in a sentence. Students may click on an answer button for immediate feedback.

Students analyze posture and pantomime in an analysis of total body movement. In this body movement instructional activity, students read a chart of movements and the mood or attitude they convey. Students complete several space and...

In this ESL vocabulary learning exercise, students fill in blanks to correctly complete sentences, choosing from 4 possible answers. Page has links to additional activities.

Learners explore tempo.  In this rhythm beginnings lesson, students differentiate between steady and unsteady beats.  Learners clap a variety of tempo and then move to the tempo of a song. 

Students study Kwanzaa. In this art lesson, students compare Kwanzaa with the American holdiay known as Thanksgiving. Students decorate seven cards with the seven lessons of Kwanzaa written on them.

Students investigate acting and performing arts by portraying a story in class. In this pantomiming lesson, students read the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and discuss the characters amongst themselves. Students portray the 4...

Students are given a word bank relating to theater. In this word bank lesson, students are introduced to a list of words and their definitions. Students then build their vocabulary regarding theatrical concepts.

An info-packed lesson on jazz improvisation and jazz history. Very useful for musicians aspiring to play in the jazz idiom.

List of definitions of improvisational terms or "structures," each with a link that explains in detail with lots of exercises!

In this video, composers and improvisers are compared and contrasted with use of different types of music showing variation and fixed elements. The video is part of the Exploring the World of Music instructional series. [26:48]

This site analyzes Kandinsky's abstract painting "Improvisation 31." Discusses colors, shapes, line, and mood. Has a short matching exercise involving simple geometric shapes.

After learning the 12 bar blues progression, students will practice their improvisation skills. After performing their solo, they will also transcribe it.

This lesson incorporates the art of improvisation with writing a collaborative short story. Students will learn the relationships music has with other disciplines outside of the arts.

Music for People (MfP) offers workshops in music improvisation for almost 20 years. This page provides improvisational techniques.

A site about the European free improvisation scene. Contains articles, mp3's bibliography and videos.

From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, here is the image "The Garden of Love (Improvisation Number 27)", an expressionist painting by Wassily Kandinsky.

This lesson deals primarily with the number of rhythmic combinations that can be found in a four beat measure of music. Students will learn through trial and error and derive a mathematical formula to calculate the number of possible...