Curated OER
Korean Dance
Students examine the various types of dancing present in Korea. In groups, they discover the history and cultural purposes of the dances and how society influenced the role of dance in its culture. They answer discussion questions and...
Curated OER
Hoe Down: An Integrated Unit on Social, Folk & Square Dancing
Fifth graders experience the movements required to perform social, folk and square dancing. They describe each dance movement. Students discuss the elements found in folk art, folk music, and fold dance.
Curated OER
Hispanic Arts and Culture Unit: Visual Arts, Dance, and Music
Students learn about Latin American dance and rhythm in different forms and participate in dancing. In this Latin American lesson plan, students also analyze Latin American paintings.
Curated OER
Exploring the Roots of Modern Dance in America
Students develop an understanding of how African culture impacted modern dance in the United States.
Curated OER
Dance: Cultural Dance Festival
Young scholars participate in a folk dance presentation. In this multi-cultural activity, students and their families work together to learn and perform folk dances at a school sponsored festival. The teacher acts as facilitator, working...
Curated OER
Island Breezes: Exploring Hula Dance
Students explore Hawaii and the art of hula dance. In this art lesson, students research the art of hula dance and Hawaii. Students create their own unique hula dance.
Curated OER
Folk Dances of Eastern Europe
Pupils discover the rich cultural heritage of Eastern Europe by experiencing folk dance as a form of expressive art.
Curated OER
Music and Dance Celebration
Third graders demonstrate effective use of a Venn Diagram Graphic Organizer by comparing and contrasting music and dance. They discover how different cultures around the world celebrate with music and dance.
Curated OER
Music: Dancing a Jig
Students Watch a video to observe Celtic dancers prior to playing a game called, "Irish Jig Tag." When students are tagged with a Shamrock wand, they mimic an Irish jig. The game can be adapted to celebrate other nationalities or...
Curated OER
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day with Dance
Students perform Irish dances. In this Irish dance lesson plan, students learn a variety of dance steps and use these dances for physical activity, fun, and exercise.
Curated OER
The Mandan Buffalo Dance and You
Pupils create short oral presentations describing how Native American tribes use dance, poetry, music, art and other expressions to make a dedication to a physical concept or thing.
Curated OER
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, Dance of the Floreadores, Waltz of the Flowers in the Meter of Duke
Young scholars contrast the meter and style of two different versions of the musical piece, "Waltz of the Flowers." Duke Ellington's meter in the "Dance of the Floreadores" is compared to Tchaikovsky's version in the "Nutcracker."
Curated OER
Speak Out!
High schoolers are introduced to Yvonne Ranier's "Trio A" dance and investigate how to express concern over social issues through choreography. They research important issues from the 1960's, choreograph and perform original dances.
Curated OER
Escolas de Carnaval
Students create a carnival display displaying the different themes they have studied. In this carnival lesson plan, students display the work they have studied through the samba schools in Brazil. Students also incorporate music in their...
Curated OER
Native American
For this music worksheet, learners identify and describe the Native Americans. They respond to several questions about the music of the Native Americans and their dancing. Students also identify and name various musical signs and symbols...
Curated OER
Observational Drawing
Students create drawings using oil pastels that convey cultural, social and historical meaning. Drawings are evaluated on use of color planning, contour drawing, color blending, line and pattern.
Smithsonian Institution
The Sounds of an Island: Jamaican Music for the Classroom
Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.
Curated OER
Interpreting Mythology Through Dance
Learners use abstract movement to tell the story of Re's journey. In this ancient Egypt lesson, students choreograph locomotor and non-locomotor movements to describe ancient Egyptian journeys to the afterlife as described in Egyptian...
Curated OER
Walk Like an Egyptian
The singing group The Bangles produced a music video for their song, "Walk Like an Egyptian" in 1985. Students watch the video, then work in groups in order to come up with the choreography for their own "Egyptian Dance." A fun lesson is...
Curated OER
Japanese Tea and Teacups
Upper graders use the potter's wheel to make Japanese style tea cups, which they will use in a Japanese style tea ceremony. They hone their sculpting techniques while exploring Japanese cultural and the history of tea. There are two...
PBS
Broadway and The American Dream
Considering a unit study of American Musical Theatre? What better way to start than at the very beginning. Eight pairs of cards provide class members with background information about the genre from 1893 through 2004. The cards are...
Curated OER
Chance Dance Compositions
Fourth graders create dances through a randomly generated process (such as throwing a dice) and perform their dances for the class. Class work is based on Merce Cunningham's "Chance Dance" and includes walking, skipping hopping, and...
Curated OER
Dance Transitions
Learners create a small group dance that addresses free-flowing techniques and transitions for in-class performance. This lesson meets state arts standards and includes rubric for assessment.
Curated OER
Masks
Students create weather masks. In this social studies lesson, students discover the history behind the weather masks used by Native American cultures and then create their own.