Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Performing Arts
The classical arts have made a lasting impact on our society and your advanced learners get to find out why. The activity starts as the children create a list of the arts found in society, they discuss how these art forms impact their...
Curated OER
Elements of Art: Student Assessment
What a neat test! The class is asked to draw and color to create examples of eight elements of art. They focus on each element (line, value, shape, form, space, texture, primary and secondary color) by creating an original piece in each...
National Gallery of Canada
Class Commission
Simulate a real-life situation with a project proposal activity for an art installation. Learners look at work by Joe Fafard and examine his website for information about public art displays. They also search for other proposals for...
Curated OER
1920s Variety Show
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...
Curated OER
Thrilling Information: Music and Reading
Here’s a cross-curricular program music activity that uses Peer Gynt to engage class members. Groups take one section of “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” choreograph their section of the tune to represent the story as they imagine it,...
Curated OER
The American Wilderness? How 19th Century American Artists Viewed the Separation of Civilization and Nature
The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and works...
Curated OER
Plagiarism Workshop
What do George Harrison, Vanilla Ice, and Steven Ambrose all have in common? The Warner Brothers’ films Batman Forever and The Devil’s Advocate? All are guilty of plagiarism. And if you are considering a research project and want to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Nikhil Chopra: Performing Memory
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...
Broadway GPS
The Lion King—The Broadway Musical Study Guide
Musicals have been adapted from stage plays, novels, and movies. With The Lion King, Disney transforms its animated film into show-stopping, live-action musical theatre. The guide Disney provides to accompany a study of the award-winning...
Curated OER
Alexander And The Wind-Up Mouse
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...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Narrating a Family Tradition
After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...
EngageNY
Final Performance Task: Sharing Visual Representations of Position Papers
It's time to put down those pencils and celebrate! Scholars share the visual representations of their position papers with the class. They participate in a gallery walk to view each other's work, writing a piece of praise for their...
National Gallery of Canada
My Own Tree
Nature contains both symmetry and asymmetry. Have your young artists examine symmetry and asymmetry in their own surroundings. After viewing works of art, pupils find trees in their neighborhoods and determine if they are symmetrical or...
Orange Public Schools
Stagecraft
The house lights dim, the curtain parts, lights slowly come up, revealing the stage. Before the actors appear, before a word is spoken, the audience is drawn in by the lighting, by the colors, by lines of the set, by the props, and...
EngageNY
Final Performance Task: Sharing Visual Representations of Position Papers
Let's take a stroll! Scholars go on a gallery walk to view the visual representations for the performance task created by the class. They then view a variety of books about environment and sustainability and conduct book talks on the...
National Gallery of Canada
Contemporary Reflections
Combine art and writing in a instructional activity about legends. After viewing Inuit art, class members examine their own cultural surroundings in order to write and visually represent a legend. Individuals are invited to take the...
iTheatrics and Broadway
School of Rock the Musical: Education Guide
That old fashioned rock and roll comes alive as theatre arts students prepare to attend a live performance of the musical School of Rock. Packed with both pre- and post-production materials, the guide has it all. Rock on!
Midland Independent School District
Drama
Ten drama lessons are the perfect addition to your language arts or theater class. With a focus on script elements, plot development, and parts of a dramatic story, the lessons guide young playwrights through the steps of telling a story...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: My Space
Everyone has a special, personal space; here kids will create a collage that reflects that space. They analyze the painting Soup Tureen and Apple, review two poems, and then conceptualize a personal space through art.
National Gallery of Canada
To Canada with Love
Focus on line and color with a postcard project. Learners view various works of art and discuss line and color before moving on to creating their own work. Using nature as inspiration, pupils decorate postcards and mail them after...
Art Institute of Chicago
Act It Out
Examine two works of art and use these pieces as inspiration for dialogues. The whole class discusses Renoir's Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge. Then, in groups of either three or ten, pupils...
Curated OER
Producing Beats
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...
Curated OER
Try a Drawing Drawer
Integrating art into your classroom every day just got easier. This fantastic idea provides 43 strips intended to keep early finishers busy and to bring art into the classroom. You cut the strips, put them in a drawer, and have early...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Arts Showcase
An art showcase encourages class members to explore the themes of social justice and tolerance. They create an original artwork, engage in group discussions, and journal writing. The art gallery also provides a chance for families and...