ARTSEDGE: Sondheim's Into the Woods

This Unit at a Glance:

Grade Band:

Integrated Subjects:
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Targeted Standards:

The National Standards For Arts Education:

Music (5-8)
Standard 3: Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments

Theater (5-8)
Standard 1: Script writing by the creation of improvisations and scripted scenes based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history

Theater (5-8)
Standard 2: Acting by developing basic acting skills to portray characters who interact in improvised and scripted scenes

Other National Standards:

Language Arts II (3-5) Standard 1: Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process

Language Arts II (3-5) Standard 2: Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing

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Sondheim's Into the Woods

Unit Overview:

This unit introduces students to the work of Stephen Sondheim, one of the most celebrated composers of the American musical theatre, and teaches them about the process of writing an original musical.

In his musical Into the Woods, Sondheim incorporates (and distorts) elements of traditional fairy tales to create a lively and unique piece of theatre. In this unit, students will create the libretto and script for an original musical based on The Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, The Frog Prince. Classroom activities focus on improvisational techniques and small-group work.

Lesson Overviews:

Fairy Tale Variations

Students create the book for a mini-musical based on The Frog Prince and The Frog Prince Continued.

Fairy Tale Tunes

Students create music for a mini-musical of their stories from the book they created in the Fairy Tale Variations lesson.