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- El Paso, TX
- 12-28-10
Theater from Various Cultures Teacher Resources
Find teacher approved Theater From Various Cultures educational resource ideas and activities
Read and act out folktales, fairy tales, or myths from various Asian American cultures with your class. Each group reads a story aloud and then works together to create a short play or skit about the story. Suggestions for stories are provided along with comprehension questions to help guide the students' presentations. Variations are also given for different grade levels.
What a great instructional activity, upper graders are sure to love. They explore costume design and the relationships between theatre, culture, and history. They research three time periods, write a response about two of them, then create a composit period costume. The costume will be constructed either as a photograph, drawing, graphic design, or dimensional object, and then assessed by the group.
If you are teaching Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, you can't afford to miss this source. An extensive list of ideas outlines numerous discussion topics, writing prompts, comprehension questions, oral presentations, and projects. Have class members research some element of Greek tragedy and then give a panel presentation about this element, write about the similarities between Jesus and Prometheus, or just answer close reading questions on a provided handout. So many choices!
Pupils listen to a number of Aesop's fables and identify characters, plot, and morals. They construct and decorate "comedy" and "tragedy" masks, and then perform a retelling of the Aesop's fable of their choice.
Explore creative interpretations of literature! Groups work cooperatively to create a dramatic presentation of one of Edgar Allan Poe's poems or short stories. Using the actual text, they incorporate figurative language, dialogue, phrases, lyrics, and/or choreography into a dramatic presentation. Turn your room into a theater!
Learners write a rap or hip-hop lyric about the life of a famous Black American. They explore famous Black Americans in history and explore how the rap form compares to other forms of poetic expression.
Students take a closer look at Japanese drama. In this Japanese culture lesson, students study the attributes of Noh theater and compare it western theater. Students conduct independent research on the art form prior to acting out a Noh play.
Students study the African Grove Theater in New York. In this African American history lesson, students examine the evolution of race relations in the United States as they research the theater and its history.
Students gain insight into Greek tragedy and such concepts such as fate, hubris, and (dramatic) irony. They recognize the Greeks concern with fate, self-determination and the role of gods and oracles in everyday life and compare and contrast ancient Greek drama with modern dramatic forms such as movies and modern theatre.
Students write a script of a chapter from the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha to be performed in a Spanish reader's theater with an assigned group. They write and edit their script, and perform their script for the class.