National Endowment for the Humanities
The Glass Menagerie: Key Themes
Using the list of expressionist techniques generated in the first lesson, groups analyze how Williams uses these techniques to develop one of the play's themes. The whole class then shares and discusses the examples they found where...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Glass Menagerie as Expressionist Theatre
The first instructional activity in a three-part unit has high schoolers examine The Glass Menagerie as an example of expressionist theatre. After reading a short article about expressionism, scholars list expressionist techniques...
K20 LEARN
Power To The People: Bill Of Rights Art
The works of Juane Quick-to-see Smith are featured in a lesson plan that asks pupils to consider the role artists play in bringing about social and political change. Scholars examine protest art by Smith and several street artists and...
K20 LEARN
Jazz In Oklahoma
When considering the possible hot spots of jazz in the United States, Oklahoma isn't the state that first comes to mind. However, it is the birthplace of several jazz musicians that influenced the evolution of the genre and Oklahoma City...
Institut Obert de Catalunya
20th Century Music: Jazz
A 67-page packet provides instructors with a complete course in the history of Jazz. Lessons look at the roots of jazz in early 20th century African American communities in the southern United States and continues to the New Orleans...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Music
Music is the focus of the reading adventure pack. After reading, pupils complete hands-on activities. Scholars use household items to make shakers and cymbals. They listen to eclectic music by turning on the radio, borrowing music from...
PBS
The Harlem Renaissance
A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...
EBSCO Industries
Music and Poetry
Song lyrics, like poems, are meant to be heard. After examining the literary devices in several poems, scholars examine the lyrics of popular songs and identify the sound devices and the figurative language writers use to create the...
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
Are You My Mother? An Opinion Writing Unit
During a five-day lesson, scholars analyze written and visual art—primarily the poem, Mother to Son by Langston Hughes— identify facts, and write opinions. Learners read the poem several times, discuss, write, compare and...
Digital Public Library of America
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
Digital Public Library of America
Women and the Blues
A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...
John F. Kennedy Center
Musical Harlem: How Is Jazz Music Reflective of the Harlem Renaissance?
Bring jazz music and the Harlem Renaissance to light with a instructional activity that challenges scholars to research and create. Pupils delve deep into information materials to identify jazz terminology, compare types of jazz and jazz...
Smithsonian Institution
Songs, Sounds and Stories from the Georgia Sea Islands
American music is the result of the influence of many cultures, including the traditions brought by the African slaves. Young scholars study the polyrhythms, the call-and-response format, and the vocal improvisations of the Gullah...
Smithsonian Institution
Jamaican Song, Dance, and Play: Experiences with Jamaican Musical Traditions
Young musicians experience song, dance, and play of the Jamaican culture. Scholars listen for and recreate beats, they play tunes, make up original dances, and play a game that challenges pupils to pass stones to a specific beat.
Smithsonian Institution
Braiding Rhythms: The Role of Bell Patterns in West African and Afro-Caribbean Music
Africans transported to the Caribbean as part of the transatlantic slave trade brought with them a rich tradition of music and dance. Four lessons teach young musicians the rumba clave rhythm, cascara rhythm, and the 6/8 bell patterns...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s marched to its own beat—literally. Using songs from the era, as well as other primary sources such as King's "I Have a Dream" speech, class members analyze lyrics to discover how music and protest...
National Endowment for the Humanities
American Utopia: The Architecture and History of the Suburb
Let's build a dream house! By examining promotional materials and photographs of early suburban developments, scholars consider what led to the development of this particular American dream. The resource includes case studies of three...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Still-Life Painting: Arranging Nature—Lesson 1
Art learners examine still-life arrangement images and respond to a series of prompts. In a whole-class discussion, pupils list elements and qualities that still-life paintings can have. After instructors create an arrangement and model...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Narrating a Family Tradition
After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Exhibiting Common Threads
Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...
Royal Shakespeare Company
King Lear Teacher Pack 2010
Every production of Shakespeare's plays is different—the director and designer must decide upon a theme. For his 2010 production, David Farr and his team decided to emphasize the conflicts that follow a regime change. The materials in a...
Royal Shakespeare Company
RSC Activity Toolkit: Much Ado About Nothing
Are you frustrated by searching for activities to engage readers in their study of Much Ado About Nothing? Sigh no more. Young thespians will find much to do in this Royal Shakespeare Company 23-page Toolkit. Included in the sections are...
Royal Shakespeare Company
RSC Activity Toolkit: The Merchant of Venice
Mercy! It's a wise teacher that knows their own students and what they need to appreciate Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. A 28-page tool kit ensures that every scholar will play a part. The kit is divided into 20 sections, each of...
Royal Shakespeare Company
RSC Activity Toolkit: Romeo and Juliet
Is your head beating as if it would break into twenty pieces looking for activities to accompany a reading of the woeful tale of Juliet and her Romeo? Here's a weighty tool kit that won't hurt your back. The packet is divided into 20...