Curated OER
Improvise a Short Story through Jazz
Learners evaluate jazz music and a jazz music performance. They collaborate and create an improvised group short story. They improvise a musical piece on found objects.
Curated OER
Improvisational Setting - "Where are You?"
Second graders explore setting through improvisations. In this theatre lesson, 2nd graders perform a variety of improvisations in different settings and chart how they established the setting in the different environments.Â
Curated OER
Theatre Lesson Plan, Performing a Story
Second graders read the story, The Bundle of Sticks, and discuss the story elements within the story; setting, plot, conflict resolution.  In this readers theater lesson, 2nd graders reenact the story in small groups, then reflect on...
Curated OER
Dramatizing Your Story
Students write a script, planning and recording improvisations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature and history.
Curated OER
A Way with Words or Say What?
Young scholars explore the language of Shakespeare. In this literature lesson, students examine words invented by Shakespeare as they interpret their meanings in drawings. Young scholars pantomime the meanings and then write a short...
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Blues Improvisation
Students practice playing and improvising while playing the 12 bar blues. They practice compositional skills, evaluate and perform musical pieces focused on the blues.
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Musical Freeze Improvisions
Students are introduced to the process of creating story from movement through improvisation and invention. When the music is playing, they move. When the music stops, the students freeze. A discussion on the role that music plays in the...
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Creating Opera
Learners study the how music enhances drama in opera. They work in small groups to develop a short story that would be enhanced with music, costumes and props. They perform their operas for classmates and others.
John F. Kennedy Center
Folktale Theatre
Introduce your middle schoolers to a performance and movement activity that uses their favorite stories from fairytales and folklore. They practice basic acting skills, create dialogues with a partner, and then as guided practice,...
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Portrait of a Place, Portrait of a Family
Students act out stories based on lives of famous people from Harlem. In this memoirs lesson, students compare the life of the people in Harlem in 1930 to the people of today. Students explore how "home" is different for different...
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Readers Theatre: The Three Snow Bears
Students dramatize the story, Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett. In this readers theatre lesson, students read the story and then dramatize the events during readers theatre. There is an included script.
Curated OER
Night on Bald Mountain
Students use appropriate terms to reflect a working knowledge of the musical elements. Then they use terminology from music and other arts to analyze and compare the structures of musical and other artistic and literary works. Students...
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Have You Heard About the Clinton, New Jersey Story?
Students role play one of the three given situations. They discover how to deal with a conflict in a positive way. They discuss the role of radon in their community and complete another role-play scenerio.
Curated OER
Antifreeze - Anti Fish
Students participate in the production of a play that highlights the direct linkage between storm drains and natural river, stream, or creek ecosystems. They explore their thoughts, feelings, and actions through dramatic interaction and...
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Movement Adventure
Pupils discover movement and pantomime techniques in this adventurous story telling experience for kindergarten. Assessment is done through a short question and answer session and students drawing the "adventure".
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Make a Book Into a Movie
Turn your high schoolers into casting directors with this lesson, which focuses on turning a class novel into a movie. Choosing the cast for a movie based on a class reading, as well as designing a poster for the movie, helps young...
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To Travel or Not to Travel: Locomotor andNonLocomotor Movement
Students develop dances. In this movement lesson, students play action and stillness games and learn motif writing symbols that communicate dance moves. Students use locomotor and non-locomotor movement to create their own movement phrases.
Curated OER
VH1 Storytellers for Save the Music Starring Billy Joel
Learners use a Billy Joel song to write a scenerio about it.
Curated OER
Lesson Plans for 2nd grade Japan Unit
Second graders explore the music and dance of Japan in this five lessons unit. Aspects of Janpanese and American culture are compared. The food, holidays, clothing, and the school day of the two countries are discussed.
Curated OER
Edward Elgar
Students explore the music of Edward Elgar. As a class, they listen to Elgar's "Nimrod" and the "Adagio Cantabile" from Beethoven's piano Sonata. They listen to the music, write down the moods and discuss their feelings. Students compare...