Orlando Shakes
West Side Story: Study Guide
Hey, enough frabbajabba about that stool pigeon, Daddy-O! Using the West Side Story study guide, scholars explore the language of the play and read about its historical associations and themes. Pupils also engage in a Spectrum of...
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
West Side Story Suite and In The Night Fancy Free
West Side Story and Romeo & Juliet—two classics in their own rights that help young literature lovers better analyze different works. Learners research and compare the characters and story elements of West Side Story and Romeo &...
Thalian Association Community Theatre
West Side Story: Teacher Resource Guide
West Side Story is widely known as a modern-day Romeo & Juliet. Learners read a list of characters from the play and list their counterparts from Romeo & Juliet before completing a vocabulary enrichment activity and word jumble....
Education Closet
West Side Shifts
Combine math, language arts, music, and dance with an activity focused on "America" from West Side Story. After listening to the song, learners compare the film to Romeo and Juliet, analyze the song's meter, design choreography, plan...
Tune Into English
America – West Side Story
Anita's iconic rooftop ode to American life in West Side Story is the focus of a lesson plan on immigration. As class members listen to "America," they follow along with printed lyrics, and discuss whether they agree with Anita's...
Southwest Career and Technical Academy
Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story - Compare and Contrast
West Side Story, the modern retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, won ten Academy Awards for its rousing depiction of the tale of star-crossed lovers. But how closely does the plot align to its source material? Compare and...
Curated OER
Experiencing "Romeo and Juliet"
Ninth graders read and analyze the William Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet" and compare it to the 1996 modern version of the play and the movie "West Side Story." They write an essay comparing and contrasting the three versions.
Curated OER
"Mambo" from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein
Students encounter and study "Mambo" from "West Side Story," by Leonard Bernstein. They practice utilizing musical elements (instrumentation, tempo, and dynamics) to create a certain mood for a scene with music. Each student interprets...
Curated OER
West Side Story
In this music worksheet, middle schoolers examine the musical of West Side Story. They write parts of the musical while examining the musical score.
Curated OER
"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...
Curated OER
Expressions of Anti-Racism through Painting: The Puerto Rican Community from West Side Story to Connecticut
Students create a graffiti wall using their own name or personal symbol. They examine their own understanding of the film as a source of inspiration and listen to the music from the soundtrack as an effective motivation. They make...
Library of Congress
Loc: West Side Story: Birth of a Classic
View the online exhibit featuring photographs, documents--opening night telegraphs, letters, notes by Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein, set designs--and other items such as posters, DVD covers, and a pair of slippers worn in the...
Library of Congress
Loc: The Leonard Bernstein Collection
The online version of the Library of Congress' collection. Content includes more than 400,000 items, including music and literary manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, audio and video recordings, fan mail, and other types of...
TES Global
Tes: West Side Story (1961) Film Guide
[Free Registration/Login Required] This is a film guide for the film West Side Story (1961), the musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which is set in 1950s New York and incorporates themes around street crime,...
Other
The Official Leonard Bernstein Site
As the Official site, there are recordings, lectures, letters, photos, publications, scripts, etc. that are unavailable elsewhere. Links to the Library of Congress' Leonard Bernstein Collection, another excellent source.
Leonard Bernstein Office
West Side Story
This official West Side Story website offers a synopsis of the play, lyrics for all of the songs, information about the creators, and various productions, and much more. The site is created by Jamie Bernstein, Leonard Bernstein's daughter.
Yale University
Pen and the Pad: Romeo and Juliet and Westside Story
This lesson plan explains how to compare and contrast Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet with the film West Side Story.
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Musical Theater
Introductory site focusing on American musical theatre and Broadway. Shows how these parts can be taught in the classroom. Useful for teachers and students working with music theater.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Treasures: Something's Coming
Inspiration for the song "Something's Coming" from "West Side Story" came from a speech Arthur Laurents had written for the character Tony in his libretto for the musical.
Library of Congress
Loc: The Leonard Bernstein Collection
This site from the Library of Congress provides information on perhaps the most important American musical figure of the 20th century has over 400,000 items housed in the Library of Congress. Photographs, his famous Young People's...
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Jerome Robbins
The John F. Kennedy Center provides an in-depth biography on ballet choreographer Jerome Robbins that discusses his many achievements and works.
Seymour Brody
Jewish Heroes in America: Leonard Bernstein
Presents a biographical summary of the life of conductor, composer, and pianist Leonard Bernstein. He composed music not only for symphonies, but also for Broadway (West Side Story) and operas.
British Library
British Library: Teaching Resources: Putting Romeo and Juliet in Context: A Summary of Sources
This summary of sources is a quick and easy way to explore the contexts for Romeo and Juliet - from young love in Shakespeare's day to sonnets and sleeping potions, and from Brooke's 1562 poem on Romeus and Juliet to a 21st-century...
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: Star Cross'd and Starry Eyed
From the opening lines of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows what lies in store for the tragedy's title teens: that these two "star-crossed lovers" are doomed to die. By the end of the play, an "ancient grudge"...