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...

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...

Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples...

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.

Students examine and discuss stage directions, stage area layout, and body positions. They complete a stage directions and body positions worksheet, and draw the body positions for each stage area layout.

Students identify and research cultural, historical, and symbolic clues in dramatic texts. They demonstrate knowledge of research sources.

Students explore the art of shadow puppetry. For this performing arts lesson, students study the functions of lighting in the puppet theater as they examine the transmission, absorption, and reflection of light. As a culminating...

Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.

Students create an alternating and repetitive design using at least two original designs. The cut paper design be exposed to a direct source of light (spotlight) in order to form an overall pattern with structural and tonal counterchanges.

Young theatre artists engage in a scavenger hunt to acquaint themselves with set design. The challenge is to search the site and match a separate maquette with each of the 24 clues.

Pull up a cushion, grab an apple or some nuts, light a candle, and get ready to explore indoor theatres from Elizabethan England. Readers use a handout to distinguish between indoor and outdoor theatres and the types of actors who...

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...

Students participate in a lecture in which they are introduced to the different types of lighting and lighting fixtures. Individually, they are given a floor plan of a house and create a lighting plan for it by placing symbols for each...

Students create a dance that expresses a specific mood. They describe the composition in writing and explain how they would alter actions, movement qualities and spacing to convey a new mood. They perform the dance they created...

Second graders view a video from United Streaming and design still frames of important parts of a story.  In this story-telling from different cultures instructional activity, 2nd graders understand general vocabulary about...

High schoolers go through the experience of creating a dance. They use the correct vocabulary when creating the dance in writing. Students choreograph the steps needed to perform the dance in sequence. Then they perform the dance for...

Utilizing computer software, learners demonstrate the color spectrum. They investigate the life of the artist Piet Mondrian and define his style of artwork. Then they use Photoshop to recreate some of his designs while discovering the...

Learners discuss a landscape art print and its composition. They create a landscape underdrawing with foreground, middleground and background as well as repeated elements for rhythm. They add a watercolor wash and lights/darks for...

Students participate in an alternative reading assessment using a video camera and script. For this alternative reading lesson, students work as a group to perform their reading story. students memorize their lines and film their play.

Fourth graders explore the music of Buenos Aires as they hear and then dance the Tango. They practice basic Tango rhythm, learn to sing the song, "Any Turkey can Tango," then practice a few Tango-riffic dance steps with a partner....

Middle schoolers learn about the artist Canaletto, play a vocabulary game, and create a landscape using collage technique. Background information on the artist is provided along with instructions for the game and vocabulary words to...

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,...

The evolution of modern dance, and the dance history of many of the key figures in the development of this uniquely American form, are the focus of a 13-page packet that includes photos of revolutionaries.

What to do at a time when we have a little extra time to fill and need an activity that won't take a lot of prep? This art project is simple and can be linked to various other subjects. Learners use crayons to color in their paper, then...