Connecticut Gilbert & Sullivan Society
Jobs in the Musical Theater
Much like an iceberg, the actors you see on stage are only a fraction of the number of people involved in a theatrical production. Introduce theatre arts students to the roles played by the behind-the-scenes- personnel with an worksheet...
Curated OER
From Page to Stage
Students, utilizing video clips and Web sites, compare specific passages from original texts to moments in Broadway musicals on which they were based, analyzing similarities and differences between them. They adapt literature into a...
Curated OER
The Cinder-Eyed Cats - Storybook Theater
The students listen to the story "The Cinder-Eyed Cats." The students then chose individual parts to play in a theater like production. The students move like their character, be it a fish, an octopus, a lobster, a cat, etc. Water music...
Curated OER
Theater Arts/Creative Movement Lesson Plan
Here is a series of five exercises intended to bring movement, dance, and theater into the classroom. Intended for special ed classes, but appropriate for any grade, learners will pantomime, play pretend, dance, move, and create...
Curated OER
"Movies That Rock": Moulin Rouge
Upper graders explore musical film and the Bohemian lifestyle common in Europe during the turn of the century through the musical Moulin Rouge. After listening to (or viewing) songs from the movie, they discuss the Bohemian era and how...
Curated OER
Adapting a Musical
High schoolers transform literature into musical productions. For this integrated arts lesson, students discuss how musicals are written and produced. High schoolers then select literature they are familiar with to adapt into musical...
Curated OER
Aristotle's Six Elements Of A Play
Fifth graders view the play, The Ant and the Grasshopper. They define Aristotle's six elements of a play. At the end of the instructional activity, 5th graders be asked to participate in the play by acting like busy ants. This...
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....
Curated OER
MTV and Othello
After reading Acts III and IV of Othello, give your class a fun, interactive, music-related activity. Begin by asking high schoolers about songs they have heard in movies or plays. Let them look up the lyrics online and ruminate about...
Curated OER
Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
High schoolers read a Japanese Noh play and discuss its structure and traditional characters. They choose a short myth and write a Noh play based on it.
Curated OER
The Play's the Thing
Students describe to a partner theater experiences they have had in their lives that were memorable, and analyze why. They study about one director's original artistic choices for staging Shakespeare by reading and discussing "Nature's a...
Curated OER
Studying The American Musical Theatre
Students discover the group dynamics necessary to produce an American musical in this six day lesson. Themes and characterization techniques are explored during collaborative small group research projects.
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
Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
Students analyze the conventions used in Noh plays and write an introduction to a Noh play of their own. In this Noh play lesson, students identify the conventions of the Noh form and analyze the realizations the main character achieves....
Curated OER
Noh Theater
Students take a closer look at Japanese drama. In this Japanese culture lesson plan, 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...
John F. Kennedy Center
Jazz music, Dance and Poetry
Learners view video and become familiar with the type of movement in jazz dance. In this jazz dance instructional activity, students write a cinquain about jazz dance. Learners recognize the elements of jazz dance and the type of music...
Curated OER
Checkmate: The Play's The Thing
Students investigate the Middle Ages and it's relation to the theater. In this acting activity, students read Arthurian stories form the Middle Ages and practice using vocabulary words from the Medieval Times. Students write a play set...
Curated OER
Romeo and Juliet
Students study Romeo and Juliet. In this language arts activity, students read the play and complete a series of activities. Students choose the activities to complete. Students write a summary, draw a poster or compare and contrast...
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...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Days 13 and 14
How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star Wars: A New...
Curated OER
Chinese Percussion Music
Students investigate Chinese percussion instruments and ensemble performances. They play compositions with Chinese percussion instruments such as small gongs, large gongs and drums.
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 on immigration. As class members listen to "America," they follow along with printed lyrics, and discuss whether they agree with Anita's assessment...
Busy Teacher
The Phantom of the Opera
It's no masquerade! If Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera is part of your curriculum, check out this three-page packet loaded with suggestions for before, during, and after reading activities.
Curated OER
Incorporating Literature into Social Studies Teaching and Learning
Students engage in a study of incorporating literature into the Social Studies classroom. They review a variety of literature sources and then create a bulletin board with the information. Then students practice using the Reader's...