BBC
The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky
Over the course of six lessons, scholars try their hand at composing and dancing after a thorough examination of the famous ballet, The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky. Participants watch and discuss the performance of two dances, create...
St. Joseph Community Consolidated School District #169
Nutcracker
'Tis the holiday season and the Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Nutcracker Prince come alive with a teaching and study guide for Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. Background information, activities, games and puzzles are all included in...
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
The Nutcracker Teacher Resource Guide
Clara becomes Marie, The Mouse King becomes a rat, and the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh becomes the setting for a modern interpretation of Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. Intended as a resource guide for a 2012 performance, the...
Curated OER
Sharp and Smooth Movements: The Nutcracker
Students explore sharp and smooth movements. In two groups, students perform dances using sharp and smooth movements. They are asked to discuss the differences between the movements and how they felt when you watched or performed.
Curated OER
Exploring Force: The Nutcracker
Students explore basic dance element of force, compare and contrast the use of force as it distinguishes the expressive qualities of a given dance, and explore the use of force in several of its many expressions.
National Park Service
Nutcracker Fantasy
The Clark's nutcracker bird hides seeds in 25,000 different sites every year to save for winter. Lesson demonstrates how difficult it would be to find these seeds months later when they need them for food. In the first of five lesson,...
Curated OER
The Nutcracker
First graders define a ballet as a story told through dance. They listen to melodies and demonstrate beat and accent through body movement. They watch the ballet.
Curated OER
The Dancing Flute
Learners use a cardboard tubes as props as they create their own dance steps to express the emotions invoked in a portion of The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.
Curated OER
Analyzing Two Dances and Making a Dance Map: The Nutcracker
Young scholars discuss dance elements and create a dance map. They choose a dance theme and incorporate movement into their dance maps and choreography. They also experiment with different types of music.
Curated OER
Fill The Bill
Students identify and describe five different types of beaks. Using that information, they explain how each of them is adapted to feed on different foods. In groups, they travel around the room to various stations in order to practice...
Curated OER
Sounds of the Season
During Christmas time, use common carols and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music as the basis for writing advertisements. Learners can work in teams or individually as they listen to songs via the links provided. A "Christmas Music Comparison...
San Francisco Symphony
Lesson Ideas for Any Music
Music is a wonderful tool you can add to enhance the learning process for every subject. Here is a list of music selections that are categorized by subject, along with some neat teaching suggestions. You'll find songs suited to...
Curated OER
"Nutcracker"
Students recognize the timbre of a celesta by listening to music that contains the celesta. They listen to music from Tchaikovsky's "Danse de la Fee-Dragee" (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairies), track #14 and describe how the music...
Curated OER
Symphonic Poetry (SMART Board Lesson)
Let music and poetry collide in this well-orchestrated language arts lesson plan. After studying program music and C. Debussy's Prelude to an Afternoon Faun, view the attached SMART board lesson plan to read through "Fog" by Carl...
Curated OER
Hot, Hot, Hot, Cold
Learners dance the image of falling snow. They move, swing, fall, and rise to music working to depict snow falling, the sun, and high/low movements. This is a well-thought out lesson that aids them in seeing movement as a form of...
Curated OER
Christmas Celebrations
Second graders view a video of the Nutcracker ballet and then compare and contrast holiday celebrations in Germany and the United States. They use the computer to write a paragraph exploring their observations.
Curated OER
Carrot Seed Lesson Plan
Students create a seed museum. In this early childhood lesson plan, students identify various seeds and the plants the seeds will grow into. Students write a description of the plant, illustrate the plant and create a seed museum in...
Curated OER
Simple Machines in the Home
Students explore simple machines used in the home. In this simple machines lesson, students discover that many household items are constructed from simple machines. Students interact with nutcrackers, peelers, egg slicers, and egg beaters.
Curated OER
Archeology: Weapons of the Texanos
Students develop archaeological context skills through a simulation which places them in the year 2500. After listening to the teacher read, "Weapons of the Texanos," they record what they think the weapon is. Next, in groups, they...
Curated OER
Retell A Story Through Dance
Students tell stories through dance. In this ballet lesson plan, students learn pantomime dance skills and examine "The Nutcracker" ballet performances as they examine ballet as storytelling.
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Color Moods
Can art be a mode of communication? You bet it can! Learners explore how colors are used to convey mood in art. First, the class listens to three very unique musical selections that convey three different moods. Then, they compare...
Curated OER
Symphonic Poetry
Students interpret the themes in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, create a 6-line poem based on the themes in the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and define musical terms related to the study of programmatic music in...
Curated OER
Lever as a Simple Machine
Students study the three different types of levers and develop a simple machine. In this levers and simple machines lesson, students look at different types of levers, and experiment with a ruler and a marshmallow to determine how they...
Curated OER
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
High schoolers identify what Tchaikovsky's personality was like and what kind of school he attended first. Then they identify and research what was happening in Russian politics during his lifetime. Students also identify who the...