Film imitates life; that's what they say. Using performance theory to tie the lesson together, learners attempt to understand memory and daily rituals as seen in art, film, and life. They read two chapters from the book, watch the...

Your intermediate or advanced thespians choose dramatic scenes to perform in duos, small groups, or solo to demonstrate vocal and physical characterization. Use class time to prepare and rehearse. Detailed rubrics work for peer assessment.

Kids get artistic as they explore the impact of art materials, sculpture, and performance. They discuss the work of Janine Antoni and then create a performance piece that reflects social or global issues they feel strongly about. The end...

To better understand the cultural achievements of the Harlem Renaissance and become familiar with its major figures, class members examine a painting by Aaron Douglas and a poem by Langston Hughes and compare how the artists develop...

Eighth graders are introduced to performance art as a way to respond to important current-day issues in society. Pupils create their very own original art work using photography and poetry. These three lessons do a nice job of, not only...

This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...

What's the most popular music style in Brazil? What about Cuba? Or the Dominican Republic? An immersive project teaches young learners about the salsa, the samba, and the merengue with research assignments and dance performances.

Students perform a scene from Shakespeare for an unsuspecting audience in a public setting.  In this Shakespeare lesson, students create a Shakespearean "flash mob" or "guerilla theater" event.  Students choose a...

Learners investigate soliloquies. For this performing arts lesson, students discuss figurative language within soliloquies and then perform a soliloquy to the rest of the class.

Here is an exciting way to get small groups teaching each other about different fuels that are used for transportation; have them write a song about a fuel type and sing it for the class! Each group must write a three-line, informative...

Students explore two works of art of performance art. In this performance art lesson, students analyze performance art in the examples of Yves Klein and Joseph Beuys. Students complete image based discussion activities. Students research...

Turn your classroom into a music studio as groups work together to determine why music sounds different when performed live versus a recording. After listening to some different music, each group picks a poem, creates a recording, and...

B.B. King and Muddy Waters are two of the most famous blues performers of all time. In this music lesson plan, middle schoolers study the early careers and lasting musical contributions of both artists, each of whom carried the blues on...

The perception of rhythms by reading and the ability to auditorily discriminate these rhythm patterns by listening to them performed by the teacher is practiced here. your students will work to create an eight-beat long rhythm pattern.

Need a musical instructional activity for your drama or performing arts class? VH1 has put together a really neat instructional activity, in which learners use biographical information about Alicia Keys to write and perform a one-act...

Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...

Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples...

Third graders analyze the importance of characters in fiction writing and performances.  In this theatre lesson, 3rd graders identify the important characteristics of a fictional character and how to portray a character through many...

I really like this idea. Upper graders discover the connection between art and theatre by first analyzing the artists' choices and motivation in creating the installation piece, Four Purple Velvet Bathrobes. In groups, they write...

Students analyze and critique theater events by evaluating and constructing meanings from improvised and scripted scenes and from theater, film, television, and electronic media productions.

A series of lessons about dance would be a great addition to your physical education class. Straightforward as well as creative, it teaches the basic skills of dance movement. A rubric helps guide the dancers to let them know what steps...

Upper graders having skills in music performance will extend their abilities through creative musical composition. They'll use Finale 2000 to explore facets of music composition, they'll then compose a piece for their instrument in C, F,...

Your second graders can become composers with a little help from the Garage Band software. You pre-select several drum, piano, and guitar loops for the groups to choose from, then they put them together following an ABA looping pattern....

Use drama techniques to recreate the story, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. They engage in problem-solving as they identify the roles they will fufill in their groups for the performance. This is a motivating way to...