Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Dimension Dances
Use dance to help learners conceptualize line segments, rays, lines, and planes. They choreograph dances that show dimensional space. Dancers start by pondering space, point, and lines as the teacher draws them in the air. Each movement...
Missoula Art Museum
Dance with Your Fingers, Draw with Your Toes
Pair dancing, music, and art into one elementary instructional activity. Using the work of Henri Matisse and Rudy Autio as inspiration, kids spend a few days listening to music that fits the moods of various pieces of art, then work on...
Curated OER
Dance: Discovering the Culture of Gullah
It's wonderful to see a lesson that incorporates art, movement, and writing. These three forms of creative expression are explored as learners dance to music from the Gullah people of West Africa. They analyze several paintings, listen...
Curated OER
Abstractions/Gestures
Students examine and display the differences between literal, and non-literal movement and abstraction using a creative project in movement. This project originates as an individual item, culminating in a small group performance.
Curated OER
Pantomime vs. Abstract Gesture
Students explain dance as a way to create and communicate meaning and demonstrate the difference between pantomiming and abstracting a gesture.
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La Raspa, Mexican Hat Dance, and Cinco De Mayo Celebration
Learn two dances that your class can perform at a Cinco De Mayo school celebration. This is really an outline and would be better used if there were plans for how to teach the dance steps. The idea is good to teach the cultural...
Curated OER
Wildwood Dancing: Anticipation Guide
Themes in Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier's young adult fantasy novel, are the focus of an anticipation guide that asks individuals to agree or disagree with a series of statements.
Curated OER
Interpreting Mythology Through Dance
High schoolers use abstract movement to tell the story of Re's journey. In this ancient Egypt lesson, students choreograph locomotor and non-locomotor movements to describe ancient Egyptian journeys to the afterlife as described in...
Curated OER
ABSTRACT EX[RESSIONISM DE KOONING STYLE
Students view and discuss the work of Elaine de Kooning and then the students create a painting in the Abstract Expressionist style.
Curated OER
Japanese Abstract Art And The Impressionist Movement
Students 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.
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Dancing Hands, Abstract Drawings
Students discover African musical rhythms by performing Ancestral Spirit Dances. Â In this musical instructional activity, students research Willis "Bing" Davis and the abstract work he created. Â Students listen to Yoruba drum music and...
Curated OER
Hispanic Arts and Culture Unit: Visual Arts, Dance, and Music
Young scholars learn about Latin American dance and rhythm in different forms and participate in dancing. In this Latin American lesson plan, students also analyze Latin American paintings.
Curated OER
"Shapes" Dance Lesson Plan
Sixth graders create dances by manipulating shapes with their bodies.
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Navajo Weaving
Students explore the Navajo culture. In this Navajo Indians lesson, students gain information about their weaving and dancing. Students note the patterns in the weaving. Students create a dance that corresponds with the patterns they see...
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The Nutcracker
First graders define a ballet as a story told through dance. They listen to melodies and demonstrate beat and accent through body movement. They watch the ballet.
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Fancy Footwork
For this painting worksheet, students remove their shoes and put their feet in a tray of paint. Students paint an abstract painting with their feet. This worksheet is geared to the adults who will be guiding students.
Curated OER
Pablo Picasso Lessons
Students explore art history by creating their own abstract art pieces. In this Pablo Picasso lesson, students read assigned text discussing biographical information about the artist and examine several of his paintings. Students create...
Curated OER
Chance Art: Pollock, Cage and Cunningham
High schoolers clearly identify commonalities and differences between dance and other disciplines with regard to fundamental concepts such as materials, elements, and ways of communicating meaning.
Curated OER
Less vs. Fewer
When should you use less, and when should you use fewer? Straighten out this dilemma with a helpful resource about using less vs. fewer based on sentence context clues. After reading detailed instructions and examples, young learners...
Sargent Art
Kandinsky - Inspired by Music
Who is Wassily Kandinsky? Introduce your young artists to the wonders of abstract nonobjective art through music. They'll listen to music as they cut, paste, and paint emotional works of art. The activity suggests the use of soothing...
Curated OER
Applying Abstraction: Creating Five Sense Poems
Students in a dance class practice performing abstract movements. Using their five senses, they write a poem about one type of abstraction and perform it in front of their classmates. To end the instructional activity, they compare and...
Curated OER
THE TRAVELS OF BABAR: An Adventure in Scale :Interpreting the music of Raphael Mostel's Dance/Movement exercise
Students explore how dance/movement tell a story. They analyze the elements of dance through interpretation of the story. Students exercise how the feelings and moods of the music suggest certain body movements and actions.
Curated OER
Telling Stories About Ourselves
Students discover how visual images communicate meaning. They create costumes that tell personal stories and perform dances wearing the costumes.
Curated OER
Music of the People - Native American Music
Third graders complete a unit of lessons on the singing, instruments, and dancing of Native Americans. They identify and play various instruments, complete worksheets, define key vocabulary, sing songs, and perform dances.