Curated OER
The Poetics of Hip Hop
The Bard, Nikki Giovanni, Mos Def? “Sonnet 18,” Ego Tripping,” and “Black on Both Sides”? Sure! It’s the poetics. Class members compare the lyrics, rhythm, and rhyme in classic poetry to hip-hop in a richly detailed resource that...
Curated OER
Shall We Dance?
This four to five day mini dance unit has many components. Discussion on what makes a good dance partner, research on famous dancing pairs, as well as learning a choreographed piece in class. The class learns a short dance sequence and...
Curated OER
Crafts, From Gallery to Classroom: Landscape Painting with James Palmersheim
High schoolers create their own landscape paintings. Students will learn various techniques to create an effective foreground, middleground, and background.
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Depicting the Piscataways: The Government of Maryland Student Booklet
Fourth graders construct an original booklet that consists of summaries and artwork dealing with their study of the state of Maryland. They work on this booklet after their study of the Piscataways, a Native American tribe in Maryland,...
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Landscapes of the Mind
Students review Emily Dickinson's biography and examine themes and forms of some of her poems. They measure ways Graham integrates aspects of Dickinson's life and the themes and forms of her poetry into Letters to the World.
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Sondheim: Voice of Cultural Change
Students explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
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Exploring the Expository Scenes in Macbeth
High schoolers examine the function of exposition in play structure. They will be able to develop multiple interpretations and visual and aural production choices for Shakespearean scenes and choose those that are most interesting.
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The New York School: Action and Abstraction
High schoolers examine the influences and similarities between the New York School poets and Abstract Expressionist artists. They analyze paintings and poems, and write original poetry.
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Magic Words, Magic Brush: The Art of William Butler and Jack Yeats
Students explore the influence of the landscape of Ireland on shaping the poetry of William Butler Yeats. They work in groups researching the growth of the Irish Nationalist Movement, Celtic origins, invasions, and the impact on the...
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Ballet and Classical Music
Fourth graders explore ballet. In this dance and music humanities lesson, 4th graders practice ballet positions and play a card game using French ballet vocabulary. Students count beats in rhythm patterns and listen to classical music...
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Setting the Story: Techniques for Creating a Realistic Setting
“It was a dark and stormy night.” Thus begins the 1830's novel Paul Clifford and, of course, all of Snoopy’s novels! Encourage young writers to craft settings for their stories that go beyond Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s often-mocked phrase...
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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Reviewing Good Playing Habits
The string section of your school orchestra can get a proper form make-over by incorporating this activity. They reestablish proper playing form, posture, and sound as they compose an essay on how to maintain good playing habits during...
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Rhythm, Math, Rhythm
Students play instruments in math class to learn the interconnectedness between math and music. In this math lesson, students subdivide a piece of music, clapping rhythms and charting rhythm patterns in the song. A guided discussion...
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Set a Poem to Music
Fun awaits both you and your class as you embark on a musical activity. After discussing different rhythmic meters they choose a poem to set to music. The poem must rhyme and be set to a melody in the key of C Major. Because the activity...
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Shadows & Light, Science & Puppetry
Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...
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Playing with Puns
"O pun" the door on this activity. Have your pupils compare the puns and word play in scenes from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to those in Gary Blackwood’s The Shakespeare Stealer. Warm up and introductory activities, as well as...
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A Way with Words or Say What?
Students explore the language of Shakespeare. In this literature activity, students examine words invented by Shakespeare as they interpret their meanings in drawings. Students pantomime the meanings and then write a short story...
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Characterization in Literature
Students discover characterization techniques and methods. In this characterization lesson plan, students choose favorite fiction characters and discuss what makes a character come alive. Students then describe a family member or a...
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Cheerful Hearts and Willing Feet
High schoolers explore characterization in Little Women. In this literature lesson, students participate in written analysis and research in order to explore Alcott's characterization in the novel.
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Graham's Appalachian Spring: A Study
Students explore choreographic narrative. In this choreography lesson, students explore the elements of Appalachian Spring as they develop a series of written responses to assignments that challenge them to investigate the structure of...
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Art of Illustration: N.C. Wyeth and Literacy
High school artists observe and research the illustrations and techniques of N.C. Wyeth. They read (and reread) stories and illustrate the texts using methods inspired by Wyeth's practice. Includes detailed instructional plan and useful...
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Nureyev: After Petipa
Incorporating the arts into regular classroom practices isn't an easy task. Learners will research background information regarding Russian culture, history, and conflict then see how those things have applied to the rigors of Russian...
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Oklahoma! The Cultural Myth of America
Learners explore cultural myths in America by collecting images and characteristics of stereotypical Americans. They read a primary source document, discussing the views of the author in class. Next, they compare the terms used to...