Musical theater is a trifecta, requiring cast members to be actors, singers, and dancers. Help theater arts students develop these skills with a unit designed to prepare them for a staging of a musical.

The 16 lessons in Teaching Musical Theatre: The Essential Handbook are designed to help actors enrolled in a theatre arts class develop the skills they need to be successful in musical theatre. Check out this sample lesson to see if you...

Here's a collection of unit plans for middle school musicians. Topics include the mbira, opera, rhythm and culture, music in Africa, music in the movies, music theory and notation, blues and jazz, and the ocarina. Definitely worth a look.

Aladdin, Disney's Broadway musical comedy, is a magic carpet ride. Prepare your class for a field trip to the show with a study guide that is a treasure trove of activities, cultural connections, and background information.

Introduce young thespians to all aspects of the theater. A syllabus for a one-semester drama course provides lessons that take learners from the history of drama to the many facets of play production.

Drag queens in thigh-high shiny red leather boots! Welcome to Kinky Boots, the Tony Award-winning musical about a young man trying to save his family-owned shoe-making business. With an engaging story line and songs by Cyndi Lauper, the...

General music students learn about the history of popular American music by creating and performing a one-act musical. After researching and creating an American Musical timeline, class members write a song with lyrics using Jam Studio,...

The traditions, costumes, and the music of the Mardi Gras Indians, African-Americans and those with African American or Native American Heritage are the focus of a unit that introduces class members to a little-known group that...

Over the course of six lessons, scholars try their hand at composing and dancing after a thorough examination of the famous ballet, The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky. Participants watch and discuss the performance of two dances, create...

Consumer technology has made it possible for filmmakers to create entire movies from the comfort of their home computer. Guide high school film buffs through the process of designing a documentary with an extensive unit published by...

Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...

What was music like during the Stone Age? Learners listen to a CD entitled, Art of Primitive Sound as they consider the culture of people in the Stone Age. They use objects found in nature to create instruments, and then...

The second and third movements of the Eroica, Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, provides listeners with an opportunity to connect to French Revolution and to Napoleon Bonaparte. As they listen to the music, individuals draw what their ears...

Students complete a unit of 9 lessons to learn about realism in music during the time of the Underground Railroad. In this music realism lesson, students learn about coded lyrics in the slave songs. Students complete 9 lessons using...

Over the history of the world, music has been at the heart of some of the greatest social and political movements. Scholars discover their musical roots as they dive into the sounds and emotions of renowned jazz players. They see how...

Three lessons in the Let Freedom Swing concert tour resource guide packed with information, materials, and activities that provide the context for any study of American history.

Celebrate the arrival of spring with this fun primary grade science unit. Engaging young scientists with a variety of hands-on activities and inquiry-based investigations, these lessons are a great way to teach children about...

How are films made? As part of their study of film, middle schoolers investigate the pre-production, production, and post-production process and consider the role of the director, the screenwriter, production designer, cinematographer,...

Students use rhymes, songs and games to help them study music. They discover how music can be used with movement, speech and singing.

There are a lot of great ideas to be found here. To better understand the connection between art and history, learners research several music and art pieces, then relate them to major social events. They study the lives and works...

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...

Students are introduced to several forms of indigenous European music. Students become familiar with instruments, musical and forms and styles from Spain, Sardinia, Austria and Switzerland. Students recreate selected rhythms and styles.

Students examine different types of music and discuss the issue of whether downloading music from the Internet should be allowed. They create a music alphabet, develop a list of words connected to music, participate in a "Music Find...

Students explore the music from Burundi, Zimbabwe, and Pygmy cultures. They listen to and discuss music from the African cultures, analyze the musical elements, write a song, and perform music.