Curated OER
Art Critic for a Day!
Middle schoolers practice evaluating art by creating a research project and presentation. They use the Internet and library to discover a piece of art or artist whom they feel has an impact on the world of art. Next, they create a...
Curated OER
Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
Curated OER
Tortoise and Hare Races
Practice basic map skills with the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. After listening to the story, class members create a map that indicates the starting line, the path the animals took, where they stopped to rest, and the finish line....
Curated OER
Exploring Force: The Nutcracker
Students explore basic dance element of force, compare and contrast the use of force as it distinguishes the expressive qualities of a given dance, and explore the use of force in several of its many expressions.
Curated OER
Maus I and II: Pictionary
Why is visual literacy so important in understanding Maus? Introduce your class to basic elements of graphic novels with a game of pictionary. A list of 13 words are included, but you could potentially add some World War II-related...
Curated OER
Tales to Live By
Students explore the concept of theme. In this fairy tales lesson, students read several tales and complete hands-on activities, art projects, and dramatic play that lead to an awareness of the themes of the tales.
Curated OER
Shakespeare 2000
Comparing the more modern film Ten Things I Hate About You to The Taming of the Shrew leads to an understanding of how Shakespearean plots can be applied to modern-day situations and characters. As a culminating activity, groups select a...
Curated OER
Starting at the Beginning
Sixth graders develop basic band skills through in-class instruction, individual practice, and the Essential Elements band method. Instruction is teacher-led with examples and drill/practice. National Standards for the arts are...
Curated OER
Let Pharady Enjoy Her Childhood
A thought-provoking lesson which will provide your 5th graders with a world view. Pupils discuss children's rights here in the US and around the world, and do some comparisons. They watch a video, embedded in the plan, that shows a young...
Curated OER
Body Movement
Second graders interpret and transform drawn lines into locomotive movements. In this improvised movement lesson, 2nd graders draw a line on a piece of paper and use the elements of dance to interpret and transform their draw line into...
Curated OER
You Too Can Haiku: How to Write a Haiku
Students explore language arts by writing their own poems. For this haiku lesson, students investigate the Japanese culture and their beautiful music, poetry and art. Students count the syllables in every line of a haiku poem and write...
Curated OER
Theater: Create a Script
Figurative language is the focus in the book Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia. After reading Peggy Parish's book, class members dramatize idioms from the text, using dramatic strategies such as characterization, exaggeration, and...
Curated OER
Ballet and Classical Music
Fourth graders explore ballet. For this dance and music humanities lesson, 4th graders practice ballet positions and play a card game using French ballet vocabulary. Students count beats in rhythm patterns and listen to classical music...
Curated OER
The Crucible
Twelfth graders use an Internet scavenger hunt, vocabulary, sample essay questions, and short answer questions suitable for study and review of the play, The Crucible.
Curated OER
The Role of the Opera Orchestra
Students listen to and examine a recording of the opera Don Pasquale and study the various musical instruments in an orchestra. They discuss the difference between a symphony orchestra and an opera orchestra. Finally they play the music...
Curated OER
Comparing Two Poe Classics
Students read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In this poetry lesson, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.
Curated OER
Listening to Airplane Announcements in Movies
Third graders listen to and practice in comprehending airplane announcements. They determine the predictability of these announcements.
Curated OER
Comparing Tales through Performance
Students compare and contrast versions of The Three Little Pigs. In this fairy tale lesson, students read 3 versions of the fairy tale and dramatize them in order to analyze the similarities and differences.
Curated OER
Checkmate: The Play's The Thing
Students investigate the Middle Ages and it's relation to the theater. For this acting lesson, students read Arthurian stories form the Middle Ages and practice using vocabulary words from the Medieval Times. Students write a...
Curated OER
The Heart of Human Experience: Cultura Azteca
First graders explore Aztec culture to gain understanding of relationship between music, recreation, and culture. Seven lessons on one page.
Curated OER
Writing a Letter to a Friend
First graders practice their letter writing skills by writing to a fictional character. For this formal writing lesson, 1st graders read the books The Jolly Postman and Frog and Toad are Friends to examine the different parts of a...
Curated OER
Border Teatro
Learners analyze elements unique to the Chicano art form of the teatro (theater) and examine history connected to the form, namely the farm workers' movement of the 1960's.
Curated OER
The Composer's Blueprint
Students recognize AB and ABA form in music and distinguish between these two forms. They explore meaning of tempo and how to perform accents in written music.
Curated OER
Cause and Effect
Students identify cause and effect relationships in a short story. After reading a short story, they participate in a discussion of how one event in a story can lead to several others. Students are then paired for a matching task that...