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Views of the American West: True or False?
Students explain that a landscape painting may or may not accurately represent a specific place. They identify techniques that create the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface.
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Japan: Images of a People
Students learn the geography of Japan and its location in reference to the United States.
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Lift and Drag: Principles of Flight and the Soaring Imagination
Learners construct models of early gas balloons and gliders. For this balloon and glider lesson, students create models of early gas balloons and gliders, discover how the forces of lift and drag effect aircraft in flight, and put on...
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Strike Up the Band
Students create song lyrics celebrating the history of labor unions serving the entertainment industry, then create posters illustrating the importance of each union to the industry they represent.
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"West Side Story"
In this music history worksheet, students discover the musical "West Side Story" by first reading a summary of the plot. Students answer 5 questions about the story line. Students then read and analyze the lyrics to "America" and discuss...
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Exploring the Roots of Modern Dance in America
Students develop an understanding of how African culture impacted modern dance in the United States.
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Lessons of the Indian Epics: The Ramayana
Learners read a version of Ramayana and explore the elements of the epic hero cycle. For this Ramayana analysis lesson, students retell the basic narrative of the Ramayana and identify the main characters. Learners identify elements of...
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Noh Theater
Students 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 lesson adaptable for either the Language Arts or Theater classroom.
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Mirror Exercise
Kids get up and act! To promote inventiveness, timing, and clowning, they pair up and act as though they are looking in a mirror. Child A does a move while child B attempts to mimic it as closely as possible. This is a fun activity that...
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
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Baga Drum
Students examine a Baga Drum in order to explore the history of the Baga people of West Africa. In this art history lesson, students recognize figures used in Baga Drum design that represent aspects of Baga culture. They also design and...
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Modern Minstrelsy: Exploring Racist Stereotypes in Literature and Life
Satires may be designed to expose a bias to ridicule but if misunderstood can they reinforce that bias? Langston Hughes poem, “Minstrel Man” opens a discussion of racist stereotypes, the minstrel tradition, and the musical, “The...
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Checkmate: The Play's The Thing
Students investigate the Middle Ages and it's relation to the theater. In this acting lesson, students read Arthurian stories form the Middle Ages and practice using vocabulary words from the Medieval Times. Students write a...
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Dinosaurs Were Real!
Pupils investigate the history of dinosaurs, as real animals. In this dinosaur lesson plan, students examine basic concepts that help them understand the history of all life. Included in this article is information on the world of the...
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Learning from Letters and Other Mail
Students explore the history of our mail system. In this postal lesson plan, students evaluate mail as a means of communication, create a mail system in their classroom where they can send and receive mail. Once the students receive...
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Cooking Kansas City
Students investigate the history of Kansas City and then create recipes from the area, including Kansas City Barbecue Sauce, and Kansas City Corn.
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Under the Spell of Spiders
Students examine spiders. In these spider lessons, students will view spider images and live spiders to determine physical characteristics, habits, and habitats. Students will examine fantasy and folklore about spiders to create and...
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Chinese Shadow Puppet Play
Students experience through role-play the art of shadow puppetry and appreciate the role of oral traditions in Chinese history. They research the origins and history of puppetry as a part of a unit on China. They discover what Chinese...
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James Whitcomb Riley
Students describe James Whitcomb Riley's poems and identify the themes they portray. In this poetry lesson plan, students read the history of James Whitcomb Riley and read some of his poems.
San Francisco Symphony
Ballads for Americans
"Ballad for Americans" was a song written for performers participating in the Federal Arts Project, during The Depression. Learners will analyze the lyrics of the song and then create informational posters about other Federal Works...
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Theatre Prop Design and Construction
Fourth graders construct individual props. In this theatrical arts lesson, 4th graders use the elements of art to create various props using paper mache. Students construct objects such as logs, fruit, and a picture frame.
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Stories of the Wrights' Flight
Students examine and compare primary and secondary source accounts of the Wright brothers' first flights on December 17, 1903.
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Lewis and Clark: The Language of Discovery
Young scholars replicate some of the trailblazing methods of Lewis and Clark on a fifteen-minute "writing journey" through the school or neighborhood.