The Kennedy Center: ARTSEDGE — the National Arts and Education Network

Lesson: Performance-Lesson

Lesson: Acting Up, A Melodrama
In this lesson, the students practice some melodramatic movement.

Lesson: Adapting a Musical
This lesson explores the implications of developing a musical from a literary text or an historical event, and includes suggestions for immersing students into the creative process of building a musical.

Lesson: Adjective Monster
Use the visual art and language arts to creatively tell stories of monstrous proportions

Lesson: Alexander Calder: Master of Balance
Viewing mobiles created by sculptor Alexander Calder, students learn about the function and form of levers. They build mobiles, experiment with balancing levers, and equilibrium.

Lesson: All Around the Baseball Field
Students construct a mock baseball field and from there explore the sport of baseball through art, movement, and sound.

Lesson: Amazing Fibonacci
Using the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, your students study math concepts of pattern, recursion, Pi and the Golden Ratio, developing their ability to analyze the structure of music.

Lesson: America, A Home for Every Culture
Students will discuss and explore the cultures that have contributed to making the United States the unique and diverse country it is today.

Lesson: An American Scene Painter
Students learn about American artist Charles Burchfield. Students capture information and sketches in a journal, then use these ideas to create an original watercolor.

Lesson: Analyzing Photographs: From Theory to Practice
Throughout this lesson, students will examine works of art and learn tools to analyze and discuss photography.

Lesson: Animal Habitats
Pre-readers are introduced to animal habitats through story, song, and dramatic play using children’s books

Lesson: Art from Tragedy: Remembering 9/11
In this four-day lesson, students will be reading Anne Nelson’s play, The Guys, not only as a vehicle for remembrance, but also as a mentor text for their own playwriting. Over the course of four classes, students will interview their peers about their memories of September 11th, 2001, and use those memories to craft a one-act play for performance

Lesson: Art Show with the Masters
Research information on artists' lives and works and prepare works of art based on their understanding of the artists, their time and place in history, and their works.

Lesson: Arthur Miller and The Crucible
This lesson examines the consequences of personal conscience in conflict with rigid societal perceptions of what is "right" in human behavior as articulated in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Lesson: Arts of the Gilded Age
Learn about and discuss characteristics of the Gilded Age. Using books, internet and other media, research the various fine and performing art forms popular during that time period.

Lesson: Ballet and Classical Music
This lesson will introduce students to both conceptual and practical elements of classical ballet.

Lesson: Brass Instruments and Pitch
This lesson introduces students to the instruments of the brass family.

Lesson: Broken Worlds
This lesson provides a variety of options for conducting comparative analysis between Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.

Lesson: Capturing History
Through teacher-guided discussions and hands-on activities, students will understand the political and economic reasons for the African-American migration to Northern cities between the World Wars.

Lesson: Castles & Cornerstones
This lesson will explore the historic importance and function of castles in King Arthur's time and introduce students to a general history of castles and architectural terms.

Lesson: A Character Life Box
This language arts lesson offers a hands-on opportunity for students to understand characterization in literature and to connect historical and contemporary culture.

Lesson: Characterization in Literature and Theater
In this lesson, students explore various methods authors use to create effective characters.

Lesson: Children of War
This lesson explores the realities and effects of war on children by examining diaries, journals, and letters written by children during times of war.

Lesson: Chinese Calligraphy
Students will experience the art and culture of Chinese calligraphy and Chinese ink painting through watercolor painting and Chinese instrumental music.

Lesson: Chinese Instruments
Explore the similarities and differences between traditional western instruments and Chinese instruments while creating a Chinese instrument.

Lesson: The Chinese Lion Dance
Dance in the Chinese New Year with your K-2 students

Lesson: Chivalry and Courtly Love
Explore the Arthurian codes of chivalry and courtly love in art, modern films, books, and poetry. Examine the way in which these ideals have influenced modern concepts.

Lesson: Cinderella Trilogy
Compare and contrast three variations of the Cinderella folktale: “Rhodopis,” the Egyptian version; “Yeh-Shen,” the Chinese version; and “The Hidden One,” the Native American version.

Lesson: Civil War Letters
Using letters written during the Civil War students develop an understanding of the message of the letters. They will create a dramatic reading based on their letter.

Lesson: Civil War Music
Learn how music was used in the Civil War.

Lesson: Corridos About the Mexican Revolution
In this lesson, students will be introduced to causes of the Mexican Revolution and key revolutionary figures.

Lesson: Counting Crows
Students will learn the meaning of Aesop's fable, "The Crow and the Pitcher," blending math and art with literature and film.

Lesson: Creating AB Patterns
Patterns exists both in the natural and manmade world. It is an element in art, as well as math and science.

Lesson: Creating Characters
Students examine character as a significant element of fiction, learning methods of characterization, identify and critique.

Lesson: Creating Comic Strips
In this lesson, each student creates an original comic strip to convey a mathematical concept and explores comics as a form of communication.

Lesson: Cultural Creation Myths
Students will explore different cultures' supernatural explanations for human existence in several societies.

Lesson: Dalí & Desnos
In this lesson, students will enhance their creative writing skills and develop their individual writing voices through surrealist techniques.

Lesson: The Dance of the Butterfly
Create an original dance that communicates the stages of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.

Lesson: Decades Mural Project
Students will learn how to use primary sources, and work in groups to create murals about the events and trends of a decade of the twentieth century.

Lesson: Deep Roots of Ancient Greece
This lesson examines specific areas of ancient Greek influence on Western thought and culture.

Lesson: Discovering National Parks
Students will learn about the history of America's national parks, and learn about the role that artists played in their creation and maintenance.

Lesson: Discovering Russian Folk Dance
Students will learn the Russian folk dance "Troika." Then, they will work in groups of three (the traditional grouping used in the "Troika") to research Russian culture and history.

Lesson: Drawing Political Cartoons
Analyzing political cartoons will allow students to develop both factual knowledge and interpretive skills.

Lesson: Elements of Ballet
Explore and discover the elements of dance by demonstrating various simple movements. This exercise will help assess the students’ level of experience and ability.

Lesson: Elements of Fables
This lesson focuses on describing the general literary elements in fables. In this particular lesson, students will recognize the key elements of a fable (moral, character, and figurative language).

Lesson: Elements of Myth
How can myths help to explain nature and science? Students will explore these themes in this lesson. Students will read and explore several myths, identifying the elements of this literary form.

Lesson: Escape from Reality: Miró and Surrealism
This lesson will introduce the history and concepts of the Surrealist movement.

Lesson: Eugene O'Neill on Page and Stage
Continue the exploration of "Puritanism" as an influence on the development of modern American drama by focusing on elements of narrative, theme and characterization.

Lesson: Explorers’ Experience
Students will learn about world explorers by researching facts and information relating to the routes traveled. They will discuss what motivates people to want to discover and explore new places.

Lesson: Exploring American Tall Tales
Students will explore the common elements of folktales and tall tales while learning how these tales built the spirit of the American people.

Lesson: Exploring Pottery Techniques
This lesson introduces students to the age-old techniques used in constructing and decorating a burnished coil pot.

Lesson: Exploring Russian Folktales
Students are introduced to the genre of folktales and engage in a study of several Russian folktales. They are asked to read the tales aloud, and then to fill in a chart about each one.

Lesson: Exploring A Streetcar Named Desire
Students study setting, plot, and character development in Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire and discuss its impact on American theater.

Lesson: Exploring Weather Conditions Through Painting
Students will learn about how weather influences culture, daily life, and mood by examining paintings depicting different types of weather.

Lesson: Fancy Fencing
Stage-fighting, and especially sword-fighting, is important to the plot of many Shakespearean plays. In theatre, fights are based on precise choreography.

Lesson: The Far Reaches of Greek Culture
This lesson is designed to help students shape a frame of reference for examining specific areas of ancient Greek influence on Western thought and culture.

Lesson: Finding Your Own Frog Prince
Students will use a traditional tale, “The Frog Prince,” and Jon Scieszka’s variation of it, The Frog Prince Continued, to create improvised scenes and then a book for a mini-musical.

Lesson: First Rhythmic Composition
This lesson introduces students to rhythm concepts, including the names and symbols associated with music notation.

Lesson: Five Artists of the Mexican Revolution
Much of Mexican art at the beginning of the 20th century was influenced by or created in response to historical events.

Lesson: Form and Theme in the Traditional Mexican Corrido
Students will learn about the traditional Mexican musical form of corridos, which dates back to the 1800s and continues to be very popular.

Lesson: Fractured Families in American Drama
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Long Day's Journey into Night, explore the tension, tragedy, heartbreak, and love within flawed and fractured families.

Lesson: From Greece to Main Street
Students will learn defining elements of classical Greek architecture by comparing the Lincoln Memorial with the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.

Lesson: Get Dramatic: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
In this lesson students will explore the concepts behind the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle slogan through theater.

Lesson: Get Inside a Cell!
In this lesson, students will gain an understanding of the components of an animal cell.

Lesson: Giving Voice to History
Students will understand a somber period in American history. During World War II, the U.S. government ordered more than 120,000 Japanese Americans to detainment camps.

Lesson: The Great Migration
In this lesson, students will learn about the migration of African Americans to Harlem.

Lesson: Greek Mythology: Cultures and Art
Gain insight into Greek culture and make aesthetic, perceptual, creative, and intellectual connections to contemporary culture by creating and painting mythological characters.

Lesson: Guantanamera: A Poem and a Song
Students will listen to "Guantanamera," a Cuban folk song made famous by Pete Seeger with lyrics from a poem by Jose Marti.

Lesson: Gyotaku Japanese Fish Printing
By acquiring knowledge of historical and cultural qualities unique to this particular art form, students can gain an understanding of how Gyotaku reflects a part of Japanese history

Lesson: Harriet Tubman: Dancing on the Freedom Trail
In this lesson, students are introduced to the emotional struggles Tubman faced as she helped slaves escape and travel north along the Underground Railroad.

Lesson: Harriet Tubman: Illustrating History
Using collage, students create a scene from the life of Harriet Tubman.

Lesson: Harriet Tubman: An Informative and Impressionistic Look
Examine the life of Harriet Tubman through a comparison of informative resources and impressionistic art

Lesson: Harriet Tubman: Secret Messages Shared through Song
In this lesson, students are introduced to the African-American spiritual and its use of a secret language to share information within the slave community.

Lesson: Haunting Music
Learn about orchestral “program music” inspired by the spooky and bizarre.

Lesson: Historic Heroes
The class will break into groups and write a working definition of a hero which they will present to the class.