Curated OER
Costume Exploration
What a great lesson, 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...
Curated OER
Lesson: Creativity on Parade
Parades, ceremonies, and rituals are common to most traditional cultures. Kids analyze a carved piece entitled, Death Cart to understand the significance of these events. They then create floats, carts, and costumes for a class parade...
Curated OER
The Monkey Dance: Exploring Balinese Culture
Young scholars explore Balinese culture. In this Balinese integrated fine arts activity, students listen to a podcast of "The Monkey Dance," taking notes about important features of the dance. Young scholars participate in a jigsaw...
Curated OER
Masks Across Cultures
Young scholars examine various masks from different cultures. In groups, they review vocabulary related to expressing emotions in art. They work together to create a mask using the techniques described to them and representing a...
Curated OER
Art of Mask Making
Students make an African mask. In this culture and heritage activity, students view samples of African masks and learn about the importance of these masks. Students visit the African Art Museum website to view the styles of...
Curated OER
Creating Stage Designs that Reflect
Learners identify and research cultural, historical, and symbolic clues in dramatic texts. They demonstrate knowledge of research sources.
Curated OER
Jive Foil Puppets
Students engage in a lesson that is about the creation and use of Jive Foil Puppets. They conduct research using a variety of resources to gather information for differences in use by different cultures. Students create their own puppets.
Curated OER
Costume And Make-Up Shakespeare Style
Students create original costumes and make-up for a puppet presentation of a scene from Shakespeare in this week long creative project. Performances of the Shakespeare scenes end this lesson geared towards state and national standards...
Curated OER
Study Guide for the 2009 Doris Conant Lecturer on Women and Culture: Barbara Ehrenreich
Students analyze the teachings of Barbara Ehrenreich about women and culture. In this women and culture lesson, students define "joy" and "collective joy." Students do field research on these topics and write a field report and a letter...
Curated OER
Day 4: Folk Dance
Day four of this dance lesson teaches the steps to a Mexican folk dance. It uses chunking and dance to aid them in memorizing the steps. Note: This lesson appears incomplete.
Smithsonian Institution
The Music of the Mardi Gras Indians
The traditions, costumes, and the music of the Mardi Gras Indians, African-Americans and those with African American or Native American Heritage are the focus of a unit that introduces class members to a little-known group that...
Curated OER
Northwest Coast Indians: Spring and Summer Salmon
Here is a fabulous lesson about the cultures of the Northwest Indians. Through an exploration of a story about the Salmon People, learners study the practice of harvesting salmon and the cultural importance of salmon to the Northwest...
Broadway GPS
ALADDIN: Broadway's New Musical Comedy
Aladdin, Disney's Broadway musical comedy, is a magic carpet ride. Prepare your class for a field trip to the show with a study guide that is a treasure trove of activities, cultural connections, and background information.
Curated OER
The Play's the Thing: The Drama of Cyrano de Bergerac
Students practice dramatic 'living' through various drama activities. In this drama lesson, students define drama, view examples of dramatic elements in Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne, define characterization within the dramas, study the...
Dick Blick
Mardi-Gras Mask
Celebrate Mardi Gras in style with beautiful sparkling masks! Class members use provided materials to create their own Mardi Gras masks and then don their costumes for a fun masquerade.
Curated OER
African Ecology and Art
Explore Samburu culture as students examine art work by many artists and compare and contrast their styles. They view Kenyan images and find Kenya on the map. Students identify conflict in the animal world and draw animals and record in...
Curated OER
One Of A Kind
Students explore current fashion trends. As a class, they discuss the statements that a dress makes, brand names, and cultural trends. Fashions from other cultures are observed and discussed by students. In pairs, students create...
Curated OER
Put on a Happy Face!
Students explore using recycled materials. In this ecology/art lesson, students use recycled materials to create a Halloween mask. Students view folk art made of natural and available resources, and discuss possible cultural uses for...
Curated OER
Byzantine Art: 5th century to 1453 AD
Art and architecture are great ways to help define historical periods and cultural norms. Take a critical look at the art of the Byzantine period as seen under Justinian rule. Iconography, vocabulary, religious, and political concepts...
Curated OER
Masking: Honoring Animals, Ancestors, and Gods
Students analyze the role of masks in African culture. In this African masks instructional activity, students read about the importance and meaning of imagery of African masks. Students observe animals in local ecosystems and create a...
Curated OER
Tudor Costume
In this Tudor clothing worksheet, 7th graders analyze pictures and read short passages about the costumes during the early and late Tudor period. Students also learn the 9 steps of putting on an Elizabethan gown.
Broadway GPS
The Lion King—The Broadway Musical Study Guide
Musicals have been adapted from stage plays, novels, and movies. With The Lion King, Disney transforms its animated film into show-stopping, live-action musical theatre. The guide Disney provides to accompany a study...
Curated OER
LA CENERENTOLA (Cinderella)
Young scholars investigate different cultures' versions of the Cinderella tale in comparison to the Rossini opera synopsis. They experience dramatizing a Cinderella tale and study about the group and individual process required for...
Curated OER
Chinese Lion Dance
Students celebrate the Chinese New Year and listen to the story behind the Chinese Lion Dance. In this Chinese New Year lesson, students research the geography and culture of China. Students create puppets, dance the Lion...