Education Closet
West Side Shifts
Combine math, language arts, music, and dance with an activity focused on "America" from West Side Story. After listening to the song, learners compare the film to Romeo and Juliet, analyze the song's meter, design choreography, plan...
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MTV and Othello
After reading Acts III and IV of Othello, give your class a fun, interactive, music-related activity. Begin by asking students about songs they have heard in movies or plays. Let them look up the lyrics online and ruminate about the...
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Graphs of the Heart
Students study Greek literature. In this Greek tragedies instructional activity, students explore the dance-dramas of Martha Graham. Students study the choreography that brings ancient Greek literature to life.
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DANCE
Students create and perform a dance or series of movements one to two minutes in length. Their dance supports and enhances the expressive qualities of the theater production and accompany the music students selected to perform.
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"Mambo" from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein
Students encounter and study "Mambo" from "West Side Story," by Leonard Bernstein. They practice utilizing musical elements (instrumentation, tempo, and dynamics) to create a certain mood for a scene with music. Each student interprets...
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Speak Out!
Students are introduced to Yvonne Ranier's "Trio A" dance and investigate how to express concern over social issues through choreography. They research important issues from the 1960's, choreograph and perform original dances.
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Just Pass It
High schoolers investigate a minimalist dance using two props, a chair and a pillow. They demonstrate transferring a prop from one person to the next in a task-like manner. Then they work as a group to transfer a prop with restrictive...
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Erase the Quiet
Students recognize how music, theater, dance, and the visual arts can be combined to contribute to their own active learning. They work in small groups to research and use critical thinking skills to identify ways in which the arts could...
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Noh Theater
Learners explore the roles in Noh drama and the significance of Noh masks while creating their own version of a Noh play in this High School instructional activity adaptable for either the Language Arts or Theater classroom.
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Noh Theater
Students compare Noh drama to western drama and trace the influence of Japanese theater on modern western drama. In this Noh drama lesson, students read the play Black Tomb (Kurozuko) defining the elements and conventions of Noh drama...
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Storytellers: Dave Matthews Band
Students decide what the term "art" means to them. They identify artistic elements displayed by the Dave Matthews Band. They understand the relationship between music and other means of artistic expression.
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Chinese Percussion Music
Students investigate Chinese percussion instruments and ensemble performances. They play compositions with Chinese percussion instruments such as small gongs, large gongs and drums.
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Nureyev: After Petipa
Incorporating the arts into regular classroom practices isn't an easy task. Learners will research background information regarding Russian culture, history, and conflict then see how those things have applied to the rigors of Russian...
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Artistic Influence - Lesson 3
Students discuss how musicians' messages can influence society. They think of examples of artistic expression in music, the visual arts, dance, and theater that can lead to a society's self-examination.
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Look, Listen and Learn
Students brainstorm what they know about the performing arts and research an artist or song and its related genre. Students work in groups to create an online banner to attract peers to their performing arts genre.
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Malambo
Learners use appropriate terms to reflect a working knowledge of the musical elements and use terminology from music and dance to analyze and compare structures of musical and other artistic works. They also identify the purpose of the...
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"Carnival Overture"
Pupils assess that music can be used to express feelings and create a story portraying many different feelings based on "Carnival Overture," by Antonin Dvorak. They become more educated listeners as they listen to and interpret "Carnival...
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The Art and History of Japanese Calligraphy
Chinese and Japanese calligraphy is beautiful and significant in both culture and tradition. Engage your class in this expressive fine art form through a activity on using, holding, and creating brush strokes common to Japanese writing...
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Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
High schoolers read a Japanese Noh play and discuss its structure and traditional characters. They choose a short myth and write a Noh play based on it.
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An Approach to Chemistry via the Analysis of Art Objects: The Scientific Method, Laboratory Safety, Light and Color Theory
Students create a painting that clearly exemplifies the use of primary pigments to make secondary pigments. They demonstrate the distinction between value and saturation. They explain the affect of adjacent colors on each other and...
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Inspired by Muses, Graces and Fates
Students examine how artists express the Muses through the arts. In this art and history lesson plan, students work cooperatively to identify the Greek Muses, Graces and the Fates. Students will identify the attributes of each,...
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Jive Foil Puppets
Students engage in a lesson that is about the creation and use of Jive Foil Puppets. They conduct research using a variety of resources to gather information for differences in use by different cultures. Students create their own puppets.
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VISUAL ARTS
Pupils learn the historical context of mask-making explore the elements of the art form.
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Japanese Abstract Art And The Impressionist Movement
High schoolers study several examples of Japanese abstract art and how this style impacted the Impressionist movement of the 19th century. This lesson includes ideas for student-created sketchbooks.