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Free teacher resources to help you use art to teach social studies.

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Click below to learn more about the project, download the Teachers Resource Book and explore more Picturing America resources for the classroom through NEH's educational website, EDSITEment.

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In 2001, North American Vexillological Association conducted a survey of the 72 flags of the United States and Canada.

New Hampshire's state flag came in 63rd place .

Tom Mungovan teaches Graphic Design at the Concord Regional Technical Center at Concord High School.

I visited the school last week to see what his students thought of our state flag.

The students had read Ted Kaye's pamphlet, Good Flag Bad Flag, which outlines the 5 rules of good flag design, and they noted that it broke every one of those five rules.
Listen to this story:
I asked these high school seniors if they'd be willing to try a redesign of our "Seal on Blue" flag, and they were more than happy to do so. Their flags were created in Adobe Illustrator in about thirty minutes.

Their inspiration came from birches, mountains, lilacs, the Abenaki, the Old Man in the Mountain, and even outer space.

Special thanks to Mr. Mungovan, Alexandra, Alice, Andrew, Brandon, Brendan, Djana, Hailey, Jack, Juliet, Katherine, Kyra, Lucas, Alex, Sarah, Tyler, Will, and all three Zachs for sharing their designs.

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In 30 Minutes, High School Students Came Up With Better Versions Of The N.H. State Flag

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In 2001, North American Vexillological Association conducted a survey of the 72 flags of the United States and Canada. New Hampshire's state flag came in 63rd place . Tom Mungovan teaches Graphic Design at the Concord Regional Technical Center at Concord High School.

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Kids Art Classes, Camps, Parties and Events - Small Hands Big Art

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These paper sculptures in our 9 - 14 yr. old class were inspired by topographic maps. The final pieces of this middle school 3D art project looked so amazing!

We started by examining topographic maps and discussing how lines and shading are used with map making to create the illusion of depth for mountain ranges and valleys. Students then cut organic shapes out of heavyweight card stock, starting with approximately 2 inch pieces, and used a pencil to trace gradually larger shapes, altering the shape ever-so-slightly as they got bigger.

They were given the choice of using a particular color pattern such as all warm or cool colors, going from light to darker shades or vice versa, or any other color palette they found pleasing. Lastly, they glued a small cardboard spacer in between each layer, and we mounted them on a white poster board.

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Topographic Sculpture // Middle School 3D Art Project - Kids Art Classes, Camps, Parties and Events - Small Hands Big Art

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These paper sculptures in our 9 - 14 yr. old class were inspired by topographic maps. The final pieces of this middle school 3D art project looked so amazing! We started by examining topographic maps and discussing how lines and shading are used with map making to create the illusion of depth for mountain ranges and valleys.

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Math, Science, SS

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Yes, we provide PBL training for educators!

PBLWorks offers a variety of PBL workshops, courses and services for teachers, school and district leaders, and instructional coaches - whether you're just getting started or advancing your practice.
Learn more

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This project features teacher Cheryl Bautista of Katherine Smith Elementary School, San Jose, CA and her third graders.

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Social Studies and World History through Music and Dance (collection)

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Social Studies and World History through Music and Dance | PBS LearningMedia

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Social Studies and World History through Music and Dance: When students are learning about world cultures and global issues, infuse some engaging art content into your lessons with this collection of videos that focus on folk music and dance from around the globe that either maintains a tradition, or adapts customary traditions with contemporary styling.

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The 22-year-old artist paints vivid watercolors of mountains, glaciers, waves and animals, that on closer inspection, reveal jagged line graphs more commonly seen in the pages of a scientific journal than on a gallery’s walls. Pelto incorporates real scientific data into her art.

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Climate change can be seen when a mountainside's trees turn brown thanks to the burrowing of bark beetles, an insect population that explodes during drought, or when an iconic species is pushed closer to extinction. But some of its effects are obvious only to those who look for them. From decades' worth of data, scientists build narratives about how the oceans are acidifying, the average temperatures are warming and the precipitation is becoming more extreme.

Jill Pelto, a recent graduate from the University of Maine, has made it her mission to communicate these changes. The 22-year-old artist paints vivid watercolors of mountains, glaciers, waves and animals, that on closer inspection, reveal jagged line graphs more commonly seen in the pages of a scientific journal than on a gallery's walls. Pelto incorporates real scientific data into her art. In one piece, the silver bodies of Coho salmon dance over blue, rippled water filling a space under a falling graph line. The line connects data points that document the decline of snow and glacier melt that feed the rivers the fish inhabit. Another combines data that describe the rising of sea levels, the climbing demand for fossil fuels, the decline of glaciers and the soaring average temperatures. All of those line graphs lay one over another to create a landscape telling the story of climate change.

Mauri Pelto, Jill's father, is a glaciologist and professor at Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts. When she was 16, Jill joined him in the mountains of Washington for a field season, measuring the depths of crevasses in the glaciers they tracked, recording the extent of snow and ice, and looking for other changes. The experience was life changing. She hiked up the North Cascades for six more field seasons and, in that time, witnessed the slow deaths of the mountains' glaciers. Around the world, once intimidating bodies of ice and snow are ceasing their centuries-old movement and becoming static remnants of their former selves, pocked with melt-water pools and riddled with caves in the summer.

Now that she has earned her undergraduate degree in studio art and earth science, Pelto has plans to pursue a Master's degree in climate science at the University of Maine next fall.

"I think the science evolved more from my love of the outdoors and caring about the environment, but the art was always supposed to be a part of my life," she says. "I've always considered myself an artist first."

I spoke with Pelto about her inspiration, her process and her desire to communicate the threats of climate change in a way that emotionally resonates with people.
Can you describe one of the most memorable experiences you had out in the field?
Everything about this past field season [late summer 2015] was striking. It was nothing like any of the others in many ways, due to climate change, due to the drought out West. Everything was different. There was virtually no snow left on the glacier, which was really odd to see. It was just all ice, which melts a lot faster. All the little ponds up there were really small, the reservoirs were depleted, but there were also more forming under the glaciers. I saw a huge lake forming there for the first time and that was really bizarre. It's weird, and sad.
Do you carry your art materials with you to the glaciers?
I take small stuff. I usually take a little watercolor sketchbook, a set of watercolors, some pencils. Fieldwork is usually in the morning, so in the late afternoon or early evening, I'll have time to do a watercolor and capture the different aspects of the landscape. During the summer, the sun doesn't set until pretty late.

When did you start including the graphs of climate data in your work?
I started doing that after this last trip to Washington, this past September. I've been struggling for a long time how to have an environmental message in my artwork. I've done sketches, but those are more just landscapes and memories for me. So they don't really tell a story.

I realized that people who are interested in science pay attention to graphs. I think they are a really good visual, but other people don't really pay attention to them. That was my first thought when I looked at a graph that my dad made of the decline in glaciers-it is a really good visual of how rapidly the volume of these glaciers has declined. I saw how I could use that as a profile of a glacier, incorporating a graph but giving an artistic quality to it. People can learn from the image because you are seeing actual information, but hopefully they are also emotionally affected by it.
Where do you find the data?
Sometimes I'll be reading something and I'll see a graph that I think will be good for a piece. Often, I'll have a particular topic and I'll want to create something about it, so I'll look for visuals. I'll research different scientific papers, but also different sites like NOAA or NASA, or sites that have climate news-reliable sites where I can find different graphs and decide which one I think represents and best communicates what's going on.
Do you have a favorite piece?
I like the piece on glacier mass balance, which was one of the three in the series I created after this most recent trip to Washington. It's my favorite just because I feel a very personal connection to those glaciers after working on them seven years.
Why is it important to you to use art to help communicate science?
I think that art is something that people universally enjoy and feel an emotional response to. People across so many disciplines and backgrounds look at and appreciate it, and so in that sense art is a good universal language. My target audience is in many ways people who aren't going to be informed about important topics, especially scientific ones.
What do you hope viewers take away from your work?
I hope to have both intellectual and emotional content in my artwork. I also hope to inspire people to make a difference about these topics. I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet. People have been responding to [these pieces], but I think they are more likely people who already think these topics are important. So I want to find some way to challenge people to do something with my art and make it more of an activist endeavor.
What's next?
I have a lot of plans. Right now, I have a piece in progress about caribou populations. Another thing I'm trying to do is collaborate with other scientists. They can tell me what they are working on, what the data is and what it might mean for the future.

Jill Pelto's work can be seen at her website. She also shares works-in-progress and completed pieces on her Instagram account.

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These Watercolor Paintings Actually Include Climate Change Data

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Climate change can be seen when a mountainside's trees turn brown thanks to the burrowing of bark beetles, an insect population that explodes during drought, or when an iconic species is pushed closer to extinction. But some of its effects are obvious only to those who look for them.

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Arts Education & Social Emotional Learning Framework A Synergistic Pairing Arts Education & Social Emotional Learning Framework is designed to illuminate the intersection between arts...

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for those students wanting to build a Broadway career

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What to do, where to look, and how to build a career on Broadway.

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Do you need some new drama games for your Acting classes, or just want to refresh your games list?

We hope we can help you do this with our ever growing list of drama games.

The Games and fun warm ups played in your Acting classes are vital to a successful session. There's nothing worse than you saying: 'Now we're going to play Biff-Boff' to be met with a collective groan from the students!

Below are some tried and tested drama games .Some are well known Improvisation games, some are original concepts.

If you have any suggestions for fun theatre warm up games for acting classes please send them to us by clicking HERE for inclusion on this page.
Drama, Scrips and Plays
COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT:

Game for 2 Players. One player has to leave the room whilst the rest of the class decide what it is that player is bringing back to complain about. Player two becomes the shop assistant. Through powers of deduction the player has to establish what the item is. This can only be done by indications and not direct questions. EG: Rather than saying: 'Is it electrical?' They should say: 'It doesn't work when I plug it in'. If the response is: 'You don't plug it in'. They know it's not electrical.

WHAT I'M REALLY THINKING:

4 Players.
Example:
Two players establish a scene from a suggestion from the class. The other two become the subtext of the players. Anyone can shout freeze to either Player 1 or 2 at anytime to discover what they are really thinking.

Player 1: Would you like to go for a picnic?
Freeze player 2:
Player 2: Oh that sounds nice.

Subtext Player 2: Why on earth would she invite me on a picnic?

Continue scene...

Player 1: We could go on Tuesday after work/school.

Freeze player 1:

Subtext Player 3: If she agrees then at least I know she won't be going to the party.

The game continues till the players can find a suitable Tag.

SCENE GENERATOR: Traffic Light.

It is a good idea to make a list of around 30 for each section, these can then be pulled out of a hat. Each group should be given different scenarios. Put Players into small groups of between 3-5 players. It is a good idea to give groups a short time limit of between 5-10 minutes to complete the impro.
First make a list of scene starters:
This is a great exercise for developing quick thinking short impros.

Examples: Green light.

1: After graduating from college.

2: Ignoring the advice of friends...
Then make a list of characters. Amber Light.
3: After moving to Birmingham...

Example 1: A retired Dancer...

Example 2: The worlds tallest woman...

Example 3: A clown in training...

Then make a list of what happens next. Red Light.

Example 1: Uncovers a hidden fortune.

Example 2: Recives some shocking news.

Example 3: Discovers they can time travel.

TAXI DRIVER:

4 Players.

One players takes on the role as the Taxi Driver. The other three are passengers. As each player boards the taxi they must adopt strong characteristics, whenever the cab driver is talking to anyone of the three passengers they must copy the the characteristic of the player. When all players are joining in the Taxi driver must switch from character to character.

Accent tube is a variation on Emo Tube.

6-8 players.

Each Person chooses an accent, then they all wait on one site of the playing area. The first player enters and establishes that they are waiting for a train. The second player enters and the first player adopts the same accent as the second player. THe third player enters and the other players adopt the third players accent. Once all players have entered, the first player exits and they all revert back to the first players accent.

A fun and comfortable way for students to experiement with accents!

RESOLVE:

Player 1: Establishes an enviroment such as a kitchen, they start to improvise a scene and a problem occurs. Example: They can't find the ham they put in the fridge.

Player 2: Then comes into the scene and conflict arises. Example: An argument about where the ham is.

Player 3: Comes into the scene and resoves the situation. Example: Well never mind we could always have tuna, look I've just brought some!

MORE SPECIFIC:

A game for two players.

Give your players a situation Example: Stuck in a lift'
At any point during the scene, the teacher can call out, "More specific!" So for example...

Player 1: The lift seems to have stopped.
Player 2: Well it's not moving.
Teacher: 'More specific'
Player 2: It seems stuck, it's not going up or down...

Players continue...
"More specific" can be called out multiple times until the players are specific enough.

This is a great game to expand a scene, also it helps to develop students characters and keeps them thinking.

Change - Game

This is a great game which you can play in twos.
PLAYER 1:
Player one starts with a sentence:
PLAYER 2:
I went to the high street today.

Continues...That's nice did you buy anything?
PLAYER 2:
The teacher can shout change at any point, the player must then change the last sentence... so for example...

That's awful did you buy anything...

Teacher may say change as many times as they wish.

Ten Second Object -Game

Put players into small groups of between four and six.

The idea of the game is to get the groups to create the object in ten seconds.

Objects can be categorised into:

Kitchen objects, Garden, School, Bathroom etc.

You can also do this with animals.

It is a great warm up team game.

Choose two people to be the presenters/hosts.

All other class members sit out front and wait to be allocated a role to play on the show.

The hosts then introduce who they have got on their show. It is a good idea if the hosts make notes as they allocate the various guests.

Example: A group could be the latest band, a cooking duo, a weather person, a news team, an author, a scene from a made up movie, a quiz show extract, a group to do a series of commercials for made up products.

Once the groups are allocated the hosts then give the players 10 -15 minutes to work on their piece during which time the hosts work out what order the show will play out in and what interviews they will do.

As soon as everyone has worked out their performances the hosts get the players to sit out front and introduce them as per their running order and then it's on with the show.

Think Quicker, learn to react faster and always have something to say.

The Raspberry Game -a popular warm up game for all ages.

This is Game that works really well for kids and adults. The kids love the competition element and the adults just can't quite believe how tricky it is!!!

Stand players in a line or circle then give them categories.

There is a 3 second rule applied to this game. Each player has only three seconds to think, if they have not answered in three seconds they hear the 'Raspberry' and are out.

Facilitator goes down the line with various categories.

Something you wear on your head...
Something beginning with 'G'...
A fruit...Girls name beginning with C...
Something you find at the beach...
A tree beginning with B...

Make up as many different catergories as possible.

Each answer has to be different and if they're duplicated they're out!

You can make the game as difficult or easy as possible to fit in with your age group.

Film title with a girl/boys name in it...
Film title with a colour in it...
A body part beginning with F...

When you get down to the last three/four keep the category the same so that players have to think of more than one response.

This is called the Raspberry game because as a player goes out the teacher blows a Raspberry! (The Kids love it!)

Timing Game Beginning- Middle- End

Team game for 4/5 Players. This is a timed game and is great for teaching players to be aware of time.

All teams are given the same beginning line, middle line and end line, then have to fill the gaps in and create a scene. Each group is given 5 -10 minutes to make up the scene.

As soon as they say the beginning line the timer starts. the middle line has to come as close to 30 seconds as possible and the end line has to come as close to 1 minute as possible. The closest to each time limit wins!

Example:

Beginning line: 'There you are'.
Middle line: '237'. (30 seconds)
End line: 'Hence the chair'. (1 minute)

Justify Your position-Group game

Class more around the room, jumping, skipping, walking anything that is energetic, it would be good to use music, then shout freeze. Whatever position they are in they must justify by making that position work and taking it into a scene. (For example a person stops and their right arm is stretched up and left hand lower, it could be a netball match.) This game can also be down with just the face, on freeze they use the expression to create a character.

BUZZY BEE -Poplular warm up game

A great warm up game for all ages. The whole class buzz like bees around the room, then the teacher calls out a letter for example B) the class then have 10 seconds to make an object. You then go round the room asking everyone what they are, if there are duplicates the duplicated ones are out! All ages love this game.

JUSTIFY YOURSELF

Students spread out around the room and move freely around until the teacher says FREEZE, they must all freeze in the position they land in and then justify that position, ie, bouncing a ball, hailing a cab, batting a ball. You can vary this by adding in the directive of 'create a short scene', 'add an accent'.

HEADLINE:BONGS. Quick thinking Game

Players in a circle. The teacher gives the students a 'BONG!' and they have to come up with a News Headline ( AKA: 'News at Ten'). The teacher can change the category to: Sentences you might hear in a 'Nature' programme, on a 'Game Show', a 'Weather Report', a 'Sports Programme', a 'Cookery Show', 'X Factor', 'Cartoon'... A great game to get the class thinking quickly.

ONE WORD MORAL:

Students stand in a line. The teacher gives the class a very short story. IE: "Matthew went to the shops, left his bike outside and it was stolen". He then asks them for a 'Moral' and points to each player in turn. Each player has one word to make up a 'Moral'. This is repeated with different stories and the teacher can swap the end people around at the end of each 'Moral'. (The moral HAS to make sense!)

MONO-SYLLIBIC SOUNDS:

This is a fun warm up for all ages. Players stand in a line or circle. As the teacher points to each one they have to make a LOUD monosyllabic sound*. IE: BOO, PAH, SHOOP, LA. The teacher can then increase the pace of this and can also stay on the same player for multiple repetitive sounds. Making it hard for the student to stay in rhythm. If anyone drops the rhythm they are out.

FIREWORK DISASTER:

Students spread right out around the room, one at a time they then have to 'Go Off' like a firework crossing to the opposite side of the room and setting another off by tagging the next student. (Examples: A Rocket, Jumping Jack, Sparkler, Catherine Wheel...) students can run, skip, jump whilst making their firework noise and 'tag' any other player around the room. Once they have tagged another player they sit down. The Game is over when all 'Fireworks' have gone off! You can now ask each student about their Firework: Name. colour when it was invented and by who.

A.B.C CONVERSATION/ADVERT. NB: THIS DOESN'T HAVE TO RUN TOGETHER!

While one team is doing the A.B.C conversation another team will be given a title of an imaginary product to make up a T.V commercial. The commercial has a time limit of 30 seconds. The team getting the closest will win maximum points and bonus points can be awarded for performances etc

STANDING, SITTING, BENDING.

Three players act out a scene of the audiences choice, during a scene one must always be standing, one sitting and one bending. The more more changes there are the more challenging it is.

SCENE STYLES:

Two players/students act out a situation, once they have got into their swing 'Freeze' the action and change the style of scene, the action continues on the same path but the style changes IE: Pantomime, Shakespeare, Soap, silent Movie etc...

MORE SPECIFIC
Player 1:
Two players start a scene at any point the class can shout out 'more specific' which means the player must elaborate on what they have just said. Example, scene takes place in a lift.
Player 2:
This lift doesn't seem to be moving!
Player 1:
Don't be daft try pressing the button again ( students shout...More specific.) press that round thing again..( students shout...More specific.) press the thing on the grey pannel...( students shout...More specific.) hit the silver shinny button that is attached to the grey pannel, that is on the side of the lift by the door..again!

Ahh good idea, why didn't I think of think of it? ( students shout...More specific.) Why didn't my brain kick in to action? ( students shout...More specific.) why was i not quick enough to realise that the button could be useful? ( students shout...More specific.) why am i so useless?

The scene continues and students can interject with ( students shout...More specific.)

LIMERICK

Students/players line up and are given the first line of limerick they then have to make up rest.This is best against the clock.

NURSERY NEWS

Team game a nursery rhyme is reported on the news with 'Studio guests' and an outside broadcast interveiwing 'witnesses'

Four players. Two players become the interviewers whilst the other players become witnesses and experts on the situation.

ONE WORD, TWO WORD, THREE WORD....

Team game in which one person speaks using one word, another uses two, another three...etc A tricky game but one that gets the students thinking!

PROPS

Two or three props are put on stage all teams compete in the most imaginative item the prop could be a box, a bat, a frisby, it item must be worked into a short scene.

WHOSE LINE?

Random sentances are written down on pieces of paper and put into a hat, the players will then be asked to act out a scene incorporating these sentences. They must find inventive ways to introduce the sentances, by phone, text, letter, written on a telephone box, a map, a tatoo...

TV CHANNELS

Players are various television programmes. One is elected the 'Hopper' and changes channels by pointing at their chosen programme. Restrictions can be added IE: You can't start your sentance with anything beginning with 'T', 'W'....etc, then linking them so it all makes sense!!! A great game to improve your students presentation skills.

RAP

Players have to make up a 'Rap' about...Shoes, fruit & vegetables, television, school, etc.

WORLDS WORST

In a semi-circle individuals step into the middle as soon as they have an idea and act out the Worlds worst...Shop assistant, Air hostess, Car Sales person, Tele sales person, Swimming instructor, ect

Warm Up Game Stage 3 or Stage 2

DRAMA DODGE

You will Need: A group of students, A Ball (not too heavy!) - you can add more (up to 3) depending on how quickly they pick up the game. Divide the class into two teams.Divide the room in half, so each team has their own "home". Using the ball, the teams have to knock each other out by throwing the ball at the opposite team. If the ball hits a team member, they must die a very dramatic death (if it's not good enough, make them do it again!), and then lie on the floor until the end of the game.

The aim is for the teams to wipe out their opponents before they are wiped out. Whichever team is wiped out first loses. This is a good game to encourage team work, quick thinking and improvised deaths, all necessary for performing on stage. You can always add more balls to increase the difficulty of the game.

Posted by: Melody Ashman: Stagecoach Performing Arts School, Leighton Buzzard.

Stage 3 Exercise

STEP IN TIME

You will need: A group of drama students, something to create a beat (drum, table or just clap your hands) Start off a steady beat - nothing too fast or too slow. Get the students to walk exactly to the beat - when the beat comes their foot should touch the floor, not before or after. While continuing this beat, shout out an emotion, e.g. happy. While still walking at the speed of the beat, they must portray the emotion. Often they want to walk faster, so make sure they stay with you. Then start to change the beat, becoming slower. They still have to keep the emotion and step to the beat, which can be a bit difficult - often if the beat slows they want to become more subdued, but make sure they keep the energy and the full emotion.

Then change the beat again - this time getting faster. Once they have explored the first emotion, shout out a different one, e.g. scared, and repeat the exercise.

The most important thing is for them to stay in time with your beat, whether it's fast or slow, and keep thinking about the emotion. Other emotions that work well - sad, excited, nervous, angry, shocked. You could also use characters and emotions from a play you might be working on.
This exercise encourages the students to avoid the obvious - especially if you have a quick discussion afterwards about how they felt doing the opposite of what they wanted to.It's also a good exercise if you want them to be over the top, and think about actions and body movements, rather than just facial expressions. I used as a lead into mask work, and they responded very well.

Posted by: Melody Ashman: Stagecoach Performing Arts School, Leighton Buzzard.

Stage 1 game

TEACHER'S PET

You will need: A group of excited students. This is a good Drama game to get stage 1's to focus and have a chance to be cheeky but within the game. The students have to pretend they're in a classroom at school, writing in their (pretend) notebooks. Get them to imagine where the desks would be, how many would sit in each row, how many rows, etc. Tell them they are a very good class most of the time, but they really like to be cheeky, but only when they know they can get away with it. Nominate one person to be the teacher. The teacher walks around the classroom making sure the class are behaving, and doing all of their work.

The students, being very cheeky, pull faces and do silly dances while the teacher's back is turned, but if the teacher catches them, they have to sit in detention, i.e. sitting out with you, the real teacher! The game continues until there is one student left. Sometimes, they are too keen to win, that they don't pull any faces, so make sure you have an eye on everyone as well. Once the game is finished, play again with the best student (the one who won) as the teacher. To make things more difficult, have two or three teachers.

Posted by: Melody Ashman: Stagecoach Performing Arts School, Leighton Buzzard.

Warm Up (All Ages)

SPELLING TEST

Players in a circle. The teacher randomly points at each player. The players have to respond with a letter from the alphabet (these cannot be consecutive) after about three/four letters the teacher points to another player and asks them what those letters spell.

This should be the first thing that comes into their heads but cannot be a word that sounds like a letter IE: Tea, Bee, Queue. Or the name of a place.

The teacher then asks another player where those random letters spell that word. So the sequence would run:

TEACHER: Letter?

PLAYER # 1: 'A'.

PLAYER # 2: 'W'.

PLAYER # 3: 'M'.

PLAYER # 4: 'Q'.

TEACHER: Spells?

PLAYER # 5: Radiator.

TEACHER: Where?

PLAYER # 6: In Spain.

Then start again. They're out if: The letters are consecutive or sound like a word (see above). The object sounds like a letter or is a place. NB: Places can be anywhere. IE: Spain, Glasgow, High Street, Kings Road, The Moon...

This game is illogical, it is a really great game for getting your students to think quickly and lose any hesitation.

Warm Up (All Ages)

ALPHABET-ITIS:

Players in a circle. The teacher then asks each player for a word beginning with each consecutive letter, telling them what the next letter is. (This can be done a couple of times depending on ages of players). Then the teacher doesn't tell them what the next letter is and they have to think for themselves. If they get the wrong letter, they're out! Once again a three second time limit can be added.

Warm Up (All Ages)

SEQUENCE:

Players in a circle. The teacher points to each player (in sequence first) and tells each one what to do: "Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap, Stamp, Jump, Clap". (This can be done a couple of times depending on ages of players). Then the teacher doesn't tell them what's next and they're left to remember the sequence by themselves. The teacher can now point to random people but they have to keep the sequence in order or they're out!

Warm Up (All Ages)

LAST LETTER/NEXT WORD:

Players in a circle. First player says a word, next player has to say a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word.
IE: Yellow - What - This - Stool - Light - Them - Marshmallow - Witch - House - Elephant...

Game (All Ages)

DAYTIME T.V:
JUST A MINUTE
Group game. Two people are chosen to be the hosts. In turn they introduce who's on today's show. It is down to the hosts what teams they put together and what they're going to be. EG: They could put together 5 players to be a band. They then interview them and send them away to work out what 'promo' performance they are going to perform 'later in the programme'. This process continues until all players have been allocated their various genres. IE: Cookery Video, Quiz Show, Film Trailer, Magic Act, Dance Troupe, Sketch Show, Todays News & Weather, Fashion Shoot...etc.

Once all players are working out what they're going to do our hosts have to work out 3 TV 'Bloopers' that they've experienced. As soon as everyone has worked out their performances the hosts can put together their 'Show'.

A great game to strengthen students focus.

Students find a space in the room and can either close their eyes or focus on a spot on the wall. The students will need to estimate when one minute has passed from the moment the game has started. Students will identify when one minute has passed by raising their hand.
Posted by Chris , Drama Works for me.
We suggest the students do it with their eyes closed so they are no swayed by other's in the class.

FREEZE TAG

Two people start a scene, a suggestion for the scene is taken from the students. Other players can 'freeze' the action when they see an opportunity for them to change the scene, however they must take up the exact position from the person they take over from and the inspiration for the next scene must come from the physical position they have taken. The remaining player MUST accept the new direction this scene has taken.

QUICK LIST OF SITUATIONS.

Visiting the Dentists
Boarding a bus
stuck in a lift
First day in a new job
Taking a pet to the vets
A complaints department
Visiting the Doctor
At the dentist
Headmistresses office
Buying a car
On a market stall
Having a photo taken
Choosing a gift for a partner
Selling your house
Checking into a hotel
Hiring a private detective
Getting a quote from a builder
Having your hair done
Pushing into a queue
Visiting someone in hospital
Firing someone
Job interview
Ordering a Wedding Cake
On a spying mission
The first men in space
Visiting the parents-in-law
Getting a signature
Hypochondriac at the doctors
Slow service in a restaurant
Police officer pulls someone over
Waiter In a cafe
Breaking up with someone
A zoo keeper
A driving lesson
Auditions

SCENE STYLES

Science Fiction
Romantic Comedy
Disney
Disaster Movie
Shakespearian Comedy
Shakespearian Tragedy
Greek Tragedy
Horror
Thriller
Western
News
Melodrama
Documentary
Children's programme
Travel Documentary
James Bond
Silent Movie
Harry Potter
Daytime TV
Magic Show
Love Story
Australian soap
Star Trek
Costume Drama
Murder Mystery
Cookery Programme
Washing Powder Advert
Musical
Opera
The weather

Impro Improvisation and the Theatre
by Keith Johnstone

"A hundred practical techniques for encouraging spontaneity and originality by catching the subconscious unawares...here is an inexhaustible supply of zany suggestions for unfreezing the petrified imagination" Daily Telegraph A leading figure in the theatre, Keith Johnstone lays bare his techniques and exercises to foster spontaneity and narrative skill for actors. These techniques and exercises were evolved in the actors' studio, when he was Associate Director of the Royal Court and then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers called The Theatre Machine. Divided into four sections, "Status", "Spontaneity", "Narrative Skills" and "Masks and Trance",

Improvisation Starters: A Collection of 900 Improvisation Situations for the Theater
Philip Bernardi

Most beginning actors assume that rehearsing a play or scene involves taking home the script, memorizing lines, and rehearsing scenes over and over until everything - timing, movement, facial expression - is perfect. But that's only partially correct. One missing element in that approach is improvisation, an invaluable technique that can be used in acting classes and in rehearsals for school, amateur and professional productions.
Most teachers and directors realize that value of improvisation as a regular part of their classes or rehearsals, but many find it difficult to come up with fresh ideas on a daily basis.

Games for Actors and non - Actors

Games for Actors and Non-Actors is the classic and best selling book by the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal. It sets out the principles and practice of Boal's revolutionary Method, showing how theatre can be used to transform and liberate everyone - actors and non-actors alike!

This thoroughly updated and substantially revised second edition includes: two new essays by Boal on major recent projects in BrazilBoal's description of his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, a revised introduction and translator's preface.

101 Drama Games and Activities: Theatre Games for Children and Adults, including Warm-ups, Improvisation, Mime and Movement
David Farmer

Gain access to a personal collection of 101 highly effective drama games and activities suitable for children or adults. Sections include improvisation, mime, ice-breakers, group dynamics, rehearsal, story-telling, voice and warm-ups. This unique book has been developed over a thirty year career in education and theatre, through workshops with actors, teachers and children around the world. The pages are packed with tried and tested ideas for a whole range of activities useful for drama lessons, workshops or rehearsals. 'Belongs amongst the top 10 books any director or drama teacher should own.' - English Touring Opera

If you would like to contribute to our Drama Games we would love to hear from you, sharing resources is exactly what the internet was created for, so lets share and enjoy each others Games in Class. More Drama resources and fun theatre games.

Email hello@dramaclasses.biz

SHARE THIS NEWS ARTICLE

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We hope we can help you do this with our ever growing list of drama games. The Games and fun warm ups played in your Acting classes are vital to a successful session. There's nothing worse than you saying: 'Now we're going to play Biff-Boff' to be met with a collective groan from the students!

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Edutopia

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School 21 infuses the arts into a project-based learning model, emphasizing personalized learning and redrafting multiple revisions in the process of iteration. This London-based public school teaches students from Reception through Year 11 (approximately pre-K to 11th grade), and will ultimately serve through Year 13.

At the secondary level (Years 7 through 11), each PBL unit is co-taught by a core academic subject teacher and an arts teacher. School 21 believes that integrating the arts and PBL is a natural fit.

"I would argue that the arts is project-based learning," says Emily Crowhurst, a music teacher. "In every music lesson, whether it's a project lesson or what you might deem a typical lesson, there are project-based learning techniques going on naturally in the way that students are constantly critiquing and rehearsing what they're creating; and they're always working towards an end project that will have an authentic audience."

"My PBL process is one that mirrors the art form," adds Ahmet Ahmet, a drama teacher. "For me, project-based learning is putting on a performance."

Every student takes one co-curricular, arts-infused PBL course per 12- to 15-week term. "When we were doing immersive theatre," recalls Matilda, a Year 9 student, "it gave me a chance to put myself in the shoes of the people at the time and to experience history through their eyes. The history livens up the drama, and the drama livens up the history."
Related Article: How to Infuse the Arts Into Core Curriculum (and Why It Matters)
When Planning Your Project, Ask for Feedback

At School 21, teachers plan their project in the term prior to teaching it. For feedback, they put their proposal through the tuning protocol -- a group critique among staff -- multiple times. "The first tuning is an ideas tuning -- from an early, nascent form, getting feedback on initial ideas and overall design," says Jess Hughes, an English teacher. "Later tunings are on the detailed plan and are used to interrogate practicalities, iron out concerns, and ensure academic rigour."

In the planning stages, her Romeo and Juliet project went through three tunings, taking a total of 80 minutes. In her post " Tuning Protocol: A Framework for Personalized Professional Development," she explains how to set up your tuning protocol norms and the six steps of the protocol itself. You can also follow School 21's Project Planning Structure guide (PDF) to plan your project from the first to last tuning.

Use a PBL Project Planning Checklist

Joe Pardoe, a history teacher, and Ahmet, a drama teacher, were paired to create an arts-infused PBL project. Together, they planned how they could teach about both immersive theater and the French and Russian Revolutions. Below is School 21's PBL project planning checklist detailing these teachers' plans.

1. Essential Question: What question or problem will drive the project? How do we use immersive theater -- where the audience becomes part of the play -- to tell a story within the French or Russian Revolution?

2. Authentic Audience and Exhibition of Beautiful Work: What is the vision? Who is it for? Why are they learning it? Students will perform their play to a public audience, including the local history association, immersive theater actors and producers, and 200 other community members.

3. End product: What is being created? The end products will be a three- to five-minute immersive theater performance and an essay.

4. Significant content: Is curriculum content properly covered? Students will focus on weaknesses within the leadership, emerging ideas during that time, and an issue -- economic, political, or social -- that led to the revolution. They'll also have to incorporate specific drama techniques, and focus on a particular event, like the storming of the Bastille.

5. Rigorous assessment (including the opportunities for 1:1s with all students): How will you ensure the children have learned and made progress? Students will be assessed with non-graded multiple choice tests at the beginning of most lessons, one-on-one and small group conversations each lesson, weekly essay workshops and play critiques by their peers, and their final performance. Students will also be assessed by theater professionals and a historian who will watch their play and spend about 15 to 20 minutes with them in a question-and-answer session.

6. Timelines and transparency: Has the flow of the project been considered? How will you share this with students? The immersive play and essay will be broken down into smaller deliverables with weekly critiques and deadlines. On day one, students will get a design brief outlining their final product, their authentic audience, the content they need to cover, and their deadlines throughout the process.

7. Student choice: What aspects of the project will allow students to express themselves creatively? Students will choose which revolution they will focus on -- either the French or Russian Revolution. They'll also choose who they'll group with for their play, how their play unfolds (and what they need to learn to create an accurate and strong script and performance), and the focus of their essay -- as long as it's related to either revolution.

8. Grounding text: What will students read in order to develop their understanding? Over the holidays, students will watch a documentary, read at least part of a textbook, and read a scene from a play. They'll have their textbook to work with throughout the course of the term, and they'll also watch speeches, documentaries, and listen to immersive theater experts speak in class.

Give Your Students a Design Brief

Students meet three times a week for 100-minute class periods. On day one, both teachers launch the project with a design brief -- outlining what the final product will be, what they need to include in it, all of the deadlines from start to finish, and who their audience will be at exhibit night.

"From day one, we say, 'This is your end product. It is going to happen -- the exhibition -- on this date and time.' We give our students the complete brief so they know from day one what they should be doing," explains Pardoe. This allows students to take ownership and direction over their own learning, and plan how to meet deadlines at their own pace.

Choose Your Teaching Style

How the content and class are taught varies with the teaching style of those collaborating. Some teachers choose to co-teach every class, while others split the students in two groups, teach the subjects separately, and bring everyone back together for key co-taught classes. In either case, teachers integrate elements of their own discipline with their co-teacher's, with their students' end products ultimately reflecting both content areas.

Crowhurst and Heather Birtwistle (music and science) split their class into two and rotate them. During one week, students will go twice to music and once to science. The following week, they'll have two science classes and one music class. Throughout the term, they also have periods where all students come together to receive the design brief, for whole-class critiques or rehearsals, and during flexible sessions where students work on their products and ask for specific support. This combined class is creating multiple end products: dance music tracks, a Cymatics music video (showing the physicality of sound), and short videos explaining the learning behind their products.

"We've got certain lessons that are fixed," says Birtwistle. "In science, they absolutely need to know the laws of reflection. So we'd go to the science lab and we would have a standard science lesson, and next time, we'd have a standard lesson about refraction, but then the next lesson would be a more flexible period spending time creating their dance track, editing their music video, or filming themselves explaining their learning."

Meanwhile, Pardoe and Ahmet co-teach each history and drama class. "For me, a true fusion is two practitioners with a large group, doing it together. That's my style," says Ahmet. "Students might write an essay for 20 minutes, have a critique session, write some of their script, and then the last ten minutes they'll do a run-through. It's one big project, rather than separate lessons."

Foster Student-Directed Learning

When making their product, students learn to see their own gaps in knowledge and are able to go to either teacher, letting them know what learning they need to improve their product throughout the term.

Instead of whole-class lessons, Pardoe is able to personalize his students' learning by their interests and needs. When students come to him asking to learn more about a topic, he'll pull about 12 students together and facilitate Harkness debates -- student-led discussions at an oval table where everyone can see each other and participate. He'll give them something to read beforehand so that they'll come to the debate prepared to speak.

"Students have a chance to spend 20 minutes discussing a problem or discussing some content in depth," says Pardoe. "At the end of the session, I feedback how they performed and also clarify any misconceptions that I heard. It's a way of developing knowledge in students, but it also allows them to talk about and think through their ideas."

Assess Your Students While They're Making Their Product

Birtwistle and Crowhurst use the flexible time while students are working on their products to assess and deepen student learning. "For the music and science link," says Birtwistle, "we've been looking at how you can show vibrations and how different styles of different frequencies and amplitudes might affect those vibrations."

While their students work on their dance tracks or edit their Cymatics video, Birtwistle and Crowhurst will observe them and ask questions to assess their understanding, such as:

Explain why this happens.

Explain why you've done this.

What is this showing about the science?

Tell me what would happen if you had done X rather than Z.

"By doing that, you can start analyzing how much have the students understood," says Birtwistle. "You can say, 'I know I need to speak to this student. I need to work with them because they still haven't understood what the difference between amplitude and frequency is.'"

Provide Targeted Support

If there's a gap in a student's knowledge, Pardoe will pull students into smaller groups -- even in groups of two -- and teach them content in a more traditional way.

"What's brilliant about this process, and working with two teachers," explains Birtwistle, "is that you can start to target individual students who you know aren't quite there yet. It provides the opportunity for students to work independently, but also provides pivot points in which you can start doing interventions with students quite intensely and within a lesson."

Foster a Culture of Redrafting

"One of the big messages of this school is to do things in greater depth," says Peter Hyman, a co-founder and executive head teacher at School 21. They achieve this through their redrafting process. "What I want to see is not just how good the third draft is, but what is the journey that you've gone on?" adds Hyman.

"It's the drafting and critiquing process that really drives the project," explains Pardoe. In his project with Ahmet, their students will bring in a plan for their essay and get it critiqued, then an introduction which is also critiqued, then a whole first draft focused on grammar, spelling, and punctuation -- and they'll continue to bring in drafts for critiques diving deeper into the concepts behind the essay. They show off their final essay on exhibit night -- either displayed in a book or on a wall.

Their students go through the same critique and redrafting process with working on their immersive play. "They make, they redraft, and they are critiqued," says Ahmet. "We do something called an audience response -- a peer critique. I don't want a top-down structure. I want them to make it for themselves. I want them to own what they do."

Students participate in a weekly audience response, giving feedback about what their peers might keep, add to, or take away from their play. "It points them to the direction of what needs to be improved, what's not clear, and where they need to add more knowledge," says Ahmet. "Our students are buying into this idea of a process. It's OK to not know enough. It's OK to have an idea and then find that actually that idea is completely irrelevant by week 10. What the play looks like in week one will have no resemblance by week 12."

You can adapt Ahmet's eight-step audience response protocol and read about his three tips for implementing it in his post, " The Power of Critique and Redrafting."

When a student spends a term redrafting one essay -- or a three- to five-minute play -- it allows him or her to cover a topic in depth. This process also creates a constant discussion among School 21 teachers: How can we teach a topic in depth, while still covering all the content on the exams?

Their solution: going deep into topics that bridge into other topics. "By spending more time on a gateway topic, we've gained a greater understanding that can be used for the other topics that we can cover in less depth," says Hyman. "We're finding our way towards the right mix. We haven't got all the answers yet, but that is the discussion that's going on here."

Redrafting also makes students aware of how far they've come in their learning. "When they're getting that feedback, acting on that feedback, and changing things," says Birtwistle, "they can actually see that they can do something that's really worthwhile and beautiful for them."

"Once you've crafted something beautiful for the first time," adds Hyman, "you never look back because you know the heights you can now reach."

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Arts-Infused Project-Based Learning: Crafting Beautiful Work

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School 21 infuses the arts into a project-based learning model, emphasizing personalized learning and redrafting multiple revisions in the process of iteration. This London-based public school teaches students from Reception through Year 11 (approximately pre-K to 11th grade), and will ultimately serve through Year 13.

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Edutopia

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Many teachers integrate art in Project Based Learning when developing public products. While using art in this way can enrich aesthetic appeal and build design skills, infusing art throughout the project process can enhance every design element of Gold Standard PBL.

Sustained Inquiry

Creating art is more than personal expression; it is a way of investigating, evaluating, and representing the world. As such, art can support inquiry throughout the project process. By making sketches, oral histories, videos, and photographs, students can develop their analytical skills as they explore a project's driving question. In the example below, student Ellie Crowley mixed polaroids and questions to support her inquiry during Border-land, a project focused on immigration.

Student Voice and Choice

Presenting students with a range of artistic options increases student choice. Some students may be more comfortable investigating a topic by sketching it while others may prefer writing poetry or making photographs. When approaching art in this manner, more students may feel that art is accessible to them while simultaneously generating engagement in a topic due to increased individual choice.

For example, in the Oil-land project, students investigated the topic of energy policy through different mediums. This excerpt from the Oil-land newspaper shows a written piece by Bailey Nicholson next to a picture made by her classmate Jonelle Gonzalez.

Authenticity

By elevating art to a central PBL practice, teachers can implement new strategies that reflect real-world learning. In the real world, professionals do more than just take notes on what interests them. They create pictures, videos, sketches, essays, models, and more. They record conversations with experts as well as collect and archive objects. Adults create art to process and understand the things they find interesting; students should be allowed to do the same. Student Claire Wilson explored energy policy through a variety of forms, including the embroidered works below.

Reflection

When students use art as a tool for inquiry, they can build a rich multimodal archive of their learning. This archive can serve as a powerful resource to drive reflection. By curating their art in an evolving portfolio, students have a tangible foundation from which they can reflect upon their growth. Students can pass around collective journals like this one from the Border-land project in order to engage in artistic processes by sharing ideas and posing new questions with their peers.

Public Product

Art is often used in PBL when making public products. However, teachers can consider incorporating art in public exhibitions to highlight not just what students learned but how they learned. Activities like chalk talks, notecard conversations, rough drafts of work, and written reflections can all be exhibited on a gallery wall alongside students' final products. Through this approach, the learning process itself can be viewed as art.

At a public exhibition of the Border-land project, visitors observed artifacts of student learning, including viewing notecard conversations and listening to recorded group dialogues.

Critique & Revision

Utilizing art practices throughout a project can help encourage a spirit of critique and revision. If students view art as an essential part of the learning process instead of just an aspect of a final product, they are more likely to seek feedback throughout a project instead of nervously fearing critique. Below, students are discussing project driving questions and giving one another feedback during the Oil-land project.

Challenging Problem or Question / Key Knowledge and Understanding

Rote curriculum can be painfully boring. It's difficult for teachers and students to get excited about pursuing a predetermined path to a predetermined answer. But it's invigorating for a classroom to learn together, pursuing and posing authentic and complex questions like "What is the purpose of a border?" or "What is the best way to improve energy policy?" Art and PBL both ask challenging questions about the world, and by grappling with such questions, teachers and students can build essential 21st century success skills like critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration.

Similarly, art and PBL shift students and teachers from a black and white, right or wrong mentality-a way of thinking often encouraged in high-stakes testing environments but which contradicts the complex thinking needed by today's global leaders. In contrast to binary, black and white thinking, the fusion of art and PBL invites students into spaces of nuanced grey so they may explore the ambiguity and multiple perspectives inherent in pressing global issues. In this way, infusing art into PBL creates a rich framework to develop the complex thinking and creative problem solving required of present and future global citizens.

Art practices can enhance PBL by providing students new avenues to engage with important and challenging questions in critical and creative ways.

Ryan Sprott is a high school humanities teacher in San Antonio, a member of the BIE National Faculty, and the co-founder of Borderland Collective, a long-term art and education initiative.
Want to learn more about PBL? Check out our books.

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Many teachers integrate art in Project Based Learning when developing public products. While using art in this way can enrich aesthetic appeal and build design skills, infusing art throughout the project process can enhance every design element of Gold Standard PBL. Creating art is more than personal expression; it is a way of investigating, evaluating, and representing the world.

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Why didn't I think of this!??

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PICASSO SCALE - Which Picasso Self-Portrait are you feeling like right now? (emotional check-in)

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New American History - graphic novel combines visual arts and history standards in this lesson.

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The Black Radical You've Never Heard Of * New American History

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T. Thomas Fortune is one of the great forgotten black radicals.

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Sign up via Gilder Lehrman Institute - look for online version link

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The Hamilton Education Program is an in-person program for Title I-eligible high schools. It is offered in New York City and select tour cities for Hamilton, the musical. Due to theater closures, it is suspended for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year. The curriculum and resources are available through our new EduHam Online program for free to 6th-12th grade teachers and families. Sign up here.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute is proud to partner with the producers of Hamilton on the Hamilton Education Program. Title I-eligible high schools are being invited to integrate Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Era into classroom studies and then see the musical. The Hamilton Education Program is part of the Gilder Lehrman Institute's broader mission to improve the teaching and learning of American history. Thanks to the generous support of The Rockefeller Foundation, which helped launch the initial program and fund its national expansion, and many national and local donors, high school students in Title I schools in New York City, Chicago, and selected cities will each pay just a "Hamilton" ($10) to see the performance.

The Institute has more than twenty years of experience developing educational programming in American history. In addition, the Gilder Lehrman Collection is a unique archive of 70,000 primary source documents, including a love letter from Alexander Hamilton to his fiancée, Elizabeth Schuyler; a first edition of the Federalist; and the only known extant letter from Philip Hamilton to his father, Alexander.

To learn more about the program and to explore documents, essays, and videos relating to Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Era, visit the links below and go to "Alexander Hamilton in the American Imagination," a special issue of our online journal History Now. For additional information about the program, please contact hamilton@gilderlehrman.org.

HAMILTON

The Gilder Lehrman Institute has an array of resources on Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Era in the History Resources section of the website, including essays, Spotlights on Primary Sources, videos, online exhibitions and timelines, and lesson plans.

In addition, you can sign up for a Self-Paced Course, or request a Traveling Exhibition on Alexander Hamilton.

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hamilton education program | the hamilton education program is an in-person program for title i–eligible high schools. it is offered in new york city and select tour cities for hamilton

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it is suspended for the remainder of the 2020–2021 school year. the curriculum and resources are available through our new eduham online program for free to 6th–12th grade teachers and families. sign up here.the gilder lehrman institute is proud to partner with the producers of hamilton on the hamilton education program. | the hamilton education program is an in-person program for title i–eligible high schools. it is offered in new york city and select tour cities for hamilton

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it is suspended for the remainder of the 2020–2021 school year. the curriculum and resources are available through our new eduham online program for free to 6th–12th grade teachers and families. sign up here.the gilder lehrman institute is proud to partner with the producers of hamilton on the hamilton education program. title i–eligible high schools are being invited to integrate alexander hamilton and the founding era into classroom studies and then see the musical. the hamilton education program is part of the gilder lehrman institute’s broader mission to improve the teaching and learning of american history. thanks to the generous support of the rockefeller foundation

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which helped launch the initial program and fund its national expansion

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high school students in title i schools in new york city

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and selected cities will each pay just a “hamilton” ($10) to see the performance. the institute has more than twenty years of experience developing educational programming in american history. in addition

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the gilder lehrman collection is a unique archive of 70

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including a love letter from alexander hamilton to his fiancée

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elizabeth schuyler; a first edition of the federalist; and the only known extant letter from philip hamilton to his father

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alexander.to learn more about the program and to explore documents

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and videos relating to alexander hamilton and the founding era

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visit the links below and go to “alexander hamilton in the american imagination

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” a special issue of our online journal history now. for additional information about the program

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please contact hamilton@gilderlehrman.org.hamiltonthe gilder lehrman institute has an array of resources on alexander hamilton and the founding era in the history resources section of the website

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or request a traveling exhibition on alexander hamilton.

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Hamilton Education Program | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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Hamilton Education Program | The Hamilton Education Program is an in-person program for Title I-eligible high schools. It is offered in New York City and select tour cities for Hamilton, the musical. Due to theater closures, it is suspended for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.

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We have partnered with this artist and embedded his portraits into our New American History Barbara Johns and Rep. John Lewis Learning Resources:  Good Trouble https://resources.newamericanhistory.org/good-trouble and School Interrupted: https://resources.newamericanhistory.org/school-interrupted

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Our Children's Future: A Portrait of Robert Shetterly is a documentary film about this political artist and activist, who has created theportrait seriesAmericans Who Tell the Truth: Models of Courageous Citizenship. One of Shetterly's greatest contributions is how he models what Americans can do now to effect change.

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The Atlantic

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"It's not like brown and non-white faces appeared on the scene recently. It's been there for a while and it's been part of the building of this country, which is similar to the point of Hamilton."

Charles Sykes / AP

Earlier this spring, the students at Palms Middle School in Los Angeles gathered in their school's auditorium, their eyes fixed on the stage before them as a Hamilton-inspired rap battle played out.

"My ancestors had a Central Asian persuasion, came to India in what was called the Aryan invasion. This light-skinned group of people would be known as Caucasians when they left to settle down in European locations," rapped Vinny Chhibber, 36, the actor portraying Bhagat Singh Thind, an Indian American Sikh who fought for U.S. citizenship after serving in the U.S. military during World War I.

"Your honor, we don't debate ancestral unity. And yet we must condemn the way that Thind speaks with impunity," Steve Humphreys, 43, responded, playing the immigration and naturalization examiner V.W. Tomlinson (among other roles in the two-man cast).

The students at Palms Middle-80 percent of whom are Latino, African American, or Asian American-laugh as Chhibber and Humphreys throw down. Singh, as the dialogue between the two actors later shows, would eventually gain citizenship after having it granted and rescinded two times in a case that went to the Supreme Court.

The United States vs. Bhagat Singh Thind is a production of the Los Angeles-based Asian American theater group East West Players (EWP) and its Youth Arts Education program. Since 2005, East West Players has commissioned a playwright each year to produce a work centered on significant Asian Pacific Americans in U.S. history. Past subjects include the Filipino American novelist Carlos Bulosan; the first Chinese American aviator, Katherine Chung; and the first female gunnery officer in the U.S. Navy, the Korean American Susan Ahn Cuddy.
The program was started by Marilyn Tokuda, an actress and EWP's arts education director, who felt theater was an effective conduit for Asian Pacific American history to be presented in classrooms.
"It came out of a need and almost an anger of, "Where are we? Why aren't we represented?" It's our history," said Tokuda, who estimates up to 15,000 students-many of whom attend schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods-see the plays annually.

Recommended Reading

Mayank Keshaviah, who wrote The United States vs. Bhagat Singh Thind, said the goal is less about changing the hearts and minds of middle-school students and more about exposing them to the history of minority groups that they may not be getting in the classroom.

"It's not like brown and non-white faces appeared on the scene recently. It's been there for a while and it's been part of the building of this country, which is similar to the point of Hamilton. You're part of America, you're part of the history," said Keshaviah.

How minorities are or aren't represented in U.S. history classes-across all grade levels-continues to be controversial, with some officials not seeing the point of investing in ethnic-studies programs despite evidence that such programs boost students' academic performances and attendance. Campaigns for including minorities in U.S.-history textbooks have popped up around the country. But Eurocentric narratives have persisted, like when a controversial version of the U.S. slave trade popped up in a high-school textbook published by McGraw Hill.

Bias and stereotyping against minorities have also become points of contention, like in Texas where one proposed Mexican American studies textbook includes descriptions that link Mexican Americans to illegal immigration, drug trafficking and a desire to "destroy" U.S. society. Other examples highlight politics from abroad, like the current battle over proposed edits to California's middle school history books that would replace "India" with "South Asia" and tie Hinduism to the caste system.

Whose version of history makes it into textbooks-and, ultimately, classrooms-can have negative consequences, especially on minority students, as one graduate-level study about textbooks used in suburban high-schools in New York suggested. When minorities are inaccurately or stereotypically portrayed, minority students themselves question the validity of the source material and, at times, the teachers themselves. The study cites research conducted with Japanese American and Mexican American students, among others, in other parts of the U.S.: "The main conclusion which the authors were able to draw was that when minority students become aware they are not being presented with accurate and unbiased information, they will begin to resent the topic, the text, and the teacher."

Theater, then, has become one avenue through which non-profit groups in California-a state with a 62 percent minority population and one of the most diverse make-ups in the country-ensure students learn about minorities in U.S. history, both past and present. The ramification of pushing a white-dominant historical narrative, argues EWP's Tokuda, is erasure of minority voices: "The consequences are that no one will care, and we become invisible again."

Blair points to several case studies where Theatre of the Oppressed techniques were used, including a community theater project engaging at-risk youth in

Similar initiatives have emerged around the country, like Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre in Seattle, which, following the murder of a Native American woodcarver by a police officer, produced a play in 2011 about the violence Native Americans have historically faced at the hands of law enforcement. Silk Road Rising, a theater group in Chicago that focuses on Asian American and Middle Eastern stories, organizes a 16-week writing program for area schools that emphasizes cultural sensitivity, at the end of which students produce an original 10-minute play.

But whether these lessons stick is debatable. Many programs, like EWP's, parachute into schools once a year, making stories about marginalized groups an event rather than endemic to students' educations.

Administrators of the three programs I examined for this story could only cite anecdotal evidence and surveys-self-reported by teachers and students-about the efficacy of their programs. It's unclear what lasting effect, if any, the programs have had on white students.

Brent Blair, an associate professor of theatre practice at the University of Southern California, sees the potential shortcomings of these initiatives. He specializes in Theatre of the Oppressed, a set of techniques developed by the Brazilian director Augusto Boal that emphasize audience-performer interaction to promote messages of social change.

He likens the programs to students reading a play about someone who is bullied for being gay, the proposed lessons of which can be limited, even entirely ineffective, depending on how students interact with the material. "There's no indication that reading that inclusive story in the classroom is going to shift anybody's perspective except possibly make the class, en masse, collectively grateful that they themselves are not gay," said Blair.

Per the pedagogy of Theatre of the Oppressed, the theater experience, he says, has to be more participatory for the audience in order to generate a lasting sense of empathy for the "oppressed" party, e.g., gay cast members act out a scene then invite audience members to imitate the cast members' roles onstage and attempt to fight against the bully. "Then the audience members, students in the classrooms, [put] themselves in the shoes of the person and fail against a strong antagonist. The hearts have to be changed in attempting actions before the mind has a strong shift in perspective."
South Africa and another one with homeless women in New Haven, Connecticut. But he acknowledges that measuring the efficacy of Theatre of the Oppressed techniques is difficult. The case studies, for example, do not show how these productions impacted the community around them and whether they had influenced lasting change.
Homero Rosas, 20, is one actor who is directly connected to the experience he portrays on-stage. The San Francisco-based student is a cast member of In and Out of the Shadows, a musical about the Bay Area's undocumented youth, sometimes known as " DREAMers." Written by the Chicano poet and novelist Gary Soto and based on hundreds of first-person interviews, the production is the brainchild of the San Francisco Youth Theatre director and composer Emily Klion. A third of the cast is made up of undocumented actors from an array of backgrounds, including Mexican, Filipino, and Guatemalan. The show is performed at middle schools, high schools, and colleges.

"When you're not a DREAMer, you don't realize the challenges you're not facing," Klion said. Klion first took notice of those issues-including not being able to travel, attend school, or retain work permits-when she tried hiring several students as interns, only to learn that they did not have social-security numbers. Rosas was one of them.

"I definitely didn't know what I couldn't do because I wasn't born here, but I knew I wasn't born here," said Rosas, who came to the U.S. at age 6. He says his undocumented status has made him fearful of traveling outside of California; in the past 14 years, he says he has only gone as far as Oregon.

Growing up, he was astutely aware of his family's status. "It was more cautionary tales like, 'Watch out for immigration,' or '[Don't get in trouble] 'cause if you get in trouble, they'll send you back to Mexico and you can't come back.' It was very direct."

In the production, Rosas plays "Juan #2," a light-hearted high-school senior who loves to skateboard. While initially hesitant to share his own story with Soto and Klion, he ultimately found the experience cathartic and hopes to humanize the plight of undocumented young people like himself. "People sometimes forget that we are normal human beings that are not documented. That's the only difference between me and my neighbors, between me and my classmates."

Rosas sees the play as a launching point for discussing the legal purgatory DREAMers find themselves in; Soto does, too. "I would ask our government to answer the question of undocumented youth. What is their legal status? How are we going to weave them into our country?," said Soto, the playwright. "They're not going anywhere. They're here. So how are we going to possibly welcome them in a legal manner? That would be the highest goal [of this production]."

California's immigrant history was also central to L.A. Opera's in-school residency program this year. Adapting the music from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, The Legend of Cannery Row is an original operetta set in Monterey, California, and depicts the story of Chinese immigrants as they built up the area's fishing industry in the 1850s.

Stacy Brightman, the senior director of education and community outreach at L.A. Opera, says she saw parallels in Turandot -about a prince who travels to China and falls in love with a princess-with the Chinese American experience of discrimination and rejection.

"The unknown prince is a stranger in a strange land. He comes into the kingdom and falls in love with the princess who disdains him. It's sort of like all the stories of immigrants and all the different ways they heard, 'I might want your money, I might want your labor, but I don't want you,'" Brightman said.

Opera professionals teach the 10-week program to select L.A. county elementary schools, with students concluding the program by performing the play as chorus singers. Brightman says she deliberately picks works that can resonate with the history of minorities in California to not only reflect the student body of Los Angeles Unified School District-the second largest school district in the country, almost 90 percent of whom are minority students-but also to change the stereotype that opera is an art form exclusively accessible to the old, rich, and white.

Next year's play will be The White Bird of Poston " about the Poston War Relocation Center, a Japanese internment camp housed on the Colorado River Indian Reservation between 1942 and 1945.

The stage, then, has become one place where minority history is not only acted out but also remembered as part of a larger U.S. historical narrative, something history textbook scribes may want to consider since students of color account for more than half of today's public-school population-and that minority-majority shift is expected to take place for the entire U.S. population within the next few decades.

It also highlights the ways history sometimes repeats itself: Bhagat Singh Thind fought for the right to wear his turban during his military service in 1918. A Sikh U.S. Army captain was engaged in-and won- a similar fight in April.

After the showing of the The United States vs. Bhagat Singh Thind at Palms Middle ended, the students peppered the actors, playwright, and director with questions about how they learned their lines, whether they could "feel" what the characters were feeling. They ask about whether the rap battle actually took place. The answer? It didn't-at least according to the history books.

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"It's not like brown and non-white faces appeared on the scene recently. It's been there for a while and it's been part of the building of this country, which is similar to the point of Hamilton."

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The Kennedy Center's definition is a good one

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The Kennedy Center's definition is a good one

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Distinguishes between:

Arts as Curriculum

Arts-Enhanced Curriculum

Arts-Integrated Curriculum

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Explore the Kennedy Center’s comprehensive definition of arts integration

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Elliot Eisner's "Ten Lessons the Arts Teach"

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Elliot Eisner's "Ten Lessons the Arts Teach"

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Especially good if you want to defend your arts integrated lessons to someone who is afraid it isn't "rigorous" enough!

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Elliot Eisner, a Chicago High School art teacher turned Professor of Art Education at Stanford University, developed a lidy of lessons that capture the importance of teaching the arts. These concepts strongly support the Common Core values.

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Dance and Civic EngagementBy Paloma McGregor

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Dance and Civic EngagementBy Paloma McGregor

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Democracy Works Podcast
Democracy takes center stage on Wynton Marsalis’s latest album, The Ever Fonky Lowdown and his forthcoming work, the Democracy Suite. However, he’s been thinking about the connection between jazz and democracy for his entire career.

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Aaron Maybin on Doing the Hard Work of Democracy

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Aaron Maybin on Doing the Hard Work of Democracy

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Democracy Works Podcast

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Interesting guy!  Artist, Activist, Author-  Through his work with Project Mayhem and as a teacher, Aaron has implemented art workshops and curricula into many Schools in the Baltimore City area that have had budget cuts due to a lack of State Funding. Aaron teaches creative arts and literacy in Baltimore public schools, created his Art Activism Curriculum (being taught in several Baltimore City Schools)

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Advocacy & Research

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Americans for the Arts honors Charya Burt and Christopher "Mad Dog" Thomas with the 2022 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities. Each of these extraordinary dance artists demonstrates a sustained commitment to civic participation and makes a positive and meaningful difference to inspire, inform, engage, challenge, animate, and celebrate their communities through arts and culture.

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The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM

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Arts Integration and STEAM Professional Development

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All-Access Pass SUPPORTING EDUCATORS SINCE 2010 K-12 Education Through Arts Integration and STEAM Best-in-Class Curriculum, PD, and Resources - Anywhere, Anytime. GET AN ALL-ACCESS PASS EXPLORE CERTIFICATION

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Fantastic free "book" with lots of great information! Includes things like "how to set an arts integration action plan".

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an amazingly simple yet very powerful system for developing skills for careful looking and critical thinking.  Tons of research backs it up, check it out!

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Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS): Critical Thinking and Inclusive Discussion

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VTS is an education nonprofit providing schools and museums with curriculum, professional development, and training in critical thinking skills.

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Minnesota Arts High School - has a lot of resources if you dig a bit. Includes a list of distance learning resources!

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STATE ARTS EDUCATION SPECIALISTS

Distance and E-Learning Tools and Resources for the Arts

Our State Arts Education Specialists have collected and created several resources for Minnesota educators to use for distance and e-learning development. Some lesson ideas do not require internet, or could be adapted. Resources are updated regularly. You are encouraged to check back. Please reach out to any Arts Education Specialist for assistance; contact information is below.

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Distance and E-Learning Tools and Resources for the Arts Our State Arts Education Specialists have collected and created several resources for Minnesota educators to use for distance and e-learning development. Some lesson ideas do not require internet, or could be adapted. Resources are updated regularly. You are encouraged to check back.

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All Curricula and Guides (Education at the Getty)

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created 2012 ESL students at the beginning level build language skills by looking at and describing paintings, decorative arts, and photographs focused on people, things, and places.

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PBS Learning Media Arts Across the Curriculum

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PBS Learning Media Arts Across the Curriculum

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Arts Across the Curriculum is comprised of arts-infused digital media instructional resources, providing teachers and students with innovative and engaging media content and tools to help them meet key requirements and goals in core curriculum areas, while bringing arts into the classroom.

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Arts Across the Curriculum | PBS LearningMedia

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Arts Across the Curriculum is comprised of arts-infused digital media instructional resources, providing teachers and students with innovative and engaging media content and tools to help them meet key requirements and goals in core curriculum areas, while bringing arts into the classroom.

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What are the National Arts Standards? A process that guides educators in providing a unified quality arts education for students in Pre-K through high school Read More

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Fabulous resources!
"The mission of Project Zero is to understand and enhance learning, thinking and creativity for individuals and groups in the arts and other disciplines."

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Formerly called Out of Eden Learn, The Open Canopy is an approach to teaching and learning that encourages young people to slow down and observe the world closely, share stories and perspectives with one another, and make connections between their own lives and bigger human stories.

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More interesting research on Arts Integration.

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Welcome

Welcome to our website! The Lab is dedicated to improving teaching and learning in schools, in relationships and in our society.

The Mission

The mission of The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc. is to bridge the gaps between teachers, parents, researchers, administrators, and policymakers by conducting and distributing research filled with common understandings, clear findings, and coherent policy, resulting in greater learning for all students.

The Lab

The Lab researches school reform data and conclusions to provide answers to questions on relevant topics useful to the general public and the field of education.

The Partnership

The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc. actively partners with students, teachers, schools, organizations, school districts, states, countries and international organizations to improve education and restore hope to teaching and learning.

Contact

Robert A. Southworth, Jr., Ed.D., President
The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc.
c/o Maryellen Rogusky
25-71 34th Street, Astoria, NY 11103

rasouth@schoolworkslab.org

Voice: 917-861-8492

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Welcome to our website! The Lab is dedicated to improving teaching and learning in schools, in relationships and in our society. The mission of The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc. is to bridge the gaps between teachers, parents, researchers, administrators, and policymakers by conducting and distributing research filled with common understandings, clear findings, and coherent policy, resulting in greater learning for all students.

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is the nation’s hub for research on the impact of arts education.

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This article is based on a multiple embedded case study, the purpose of which was to explore adolescent choral students' perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in an urban nonprofit children's choir organization.

Pitts, S.E. | 2016

This research used a range of methods to evaluate the 'Soundplay' project which ran in four early years (pre-K/K) settings in Sheffield, UK, in 2014-15.

Kisida, B., Bowen, D.H., & Greene, J.P. | 2016

This study uses original data collected through a randomized controlled trial to measure the effects of school visits to an art museum.

Kaimal, G., Drescher, J., Fairbank, H., Gonzaga, A., Junkin, J., & White, G.P. | 2016

This qualitative study presents an analysis of how guided visits to an art museum can provide leadership lessons for developing urban school leaders.

Feen-Calligan, H. & Matthews, W. K. | 2016

This article describes a study of art therapy and music education students participating in a single-semester service-learning assignments prior to their clinical internship or student teaching experience.

Alemán, X., Duryea, S., Guerra, N.G. et al. | 2016

This study aims to assess the effects of a largescale music program on children's developmental functioning in the context of high rates of exposure to violence using Venezuela's "El Sistema" program which emphasizes social interactions through group instruction and group performances.

Thomas. M. K., Singh, P. & Klopfenstein, K | 2015

High school dropout is a significant public education problem in the United States.

Menard, E. A. | 2015

Achieving all objectives in the National Standards for Arts Education would require fundamental changes to the way music is taught in school today.

Kraehe, A. M., Hood, E. J., & Travis, S. | 2015

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This article is based on a multiple embedded case study, the purpose of which was to explore adolescent choral students' perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in an urban nonprofit children's choir organization. Pitts, S.E. | 2016 This research used a range of methods to evaluate the 'Soundplay' project which ran in four early years (pre-K/K) settings in Sheffield, UK, in 2014-15.

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Includes a searchable library of lesson plans!

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Includes a searchable library of lesson plans!

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Registration Open for Summer Arts Integration Workshops

United Arts invites all K-8 teachers in Wake County to be a part of our Arts Integration Teacher Workshops on June 20, 21, and 22, 2023. All six workshops will be in-person at Pullen Arts Center, NC Museum of Science, and the NC Museum of History.

These hands-on workshops are led by teaching artists and are designed to integrate arts and non-arts curriculum standards. You may choose to take just one workshop or as many as your schedule allows. Detailed descriptions are below. If you register for both workshops in a single day, lunch will be provided at no extra cost.

Who Should Attend: All K-8 teachers who would like to learn innovative techniques to invigorate their classrooms. No arts experience necessary.

Cost: Each workshop is $10 or $50 for all six.

Continuing Education Units: 0.25 CEU per workshop

Stipend: Available to teachers who attend three or more workshops

Registration: Wake County teachers are invited to REGISTER TODAY!
Deadline: June 12, 2023 P lease Note: ALL workshops have limited capacity.
Questions: Contact Ragen Carlile at [email protected]

Day 1: Tuesday, June 20 at Pullen Arts Center Day 2: Wednesday, June 21 at NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Day 3: Thursday, June 22 at NC Museum of History

The Arts Integration for Educators programs make dynamic, active learning possible in every classroom by providing elementary and middle school educators with hands-on opportunities to work with extraordinary teaching artists and learn how to invigorate their classrooms by integrating arts and non-arts curriculum standards. Other programs include:

Designing an Arts Integrated Unit: A Collaborative Residency

Elementary and middle school educators collaborate with a professional teaching artist to design and co-teach a new four-day arts-integrated unit. Program Details New application will be available this fall.

Arts Integration Lesson Plan Directory

We are excited to provide a searchable directory as a resource for educators to integrate the arts into elementary classrooms across Wake County. These lesson plans have been developed by educators who have participated in the Arts Integration Institute. To date, nearly 100 lesson plans are available to inspire and engage you and your students!

For more information about arts integration opportunities, contact Ragen Carlile.

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United Arts invites all K-8 teachers in Wake County to be a part of our Arts Integration Teacher Workshops on June 20, 21, and 22, 2023. All six workshops will be in-person at Pullen Arts Center, NC Museum of Science, and the NC Museum of History.

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Michigan Assessment Consortium Policy & Practice on Arts in Education

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Michigan Assessment Consortium Policy & Practice on Arts in Education

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Policy & Practice

We believe every child should have access to a quality, K-12 articulated arts curriculum, taught by teachers certified in the disciplines.

Arts are a part of the well-rounded curriculum of our nation's schools and are an integral part of every child's development.

The arts teach children the skills necessary to succeed in life: problem solving, decision making, thinking creatively, and exercising self-discipline. The arts foster creativity and innovation.

Why focus on the arts?

Arts can help close achievement gaps that exist for students from under-resourced environments and are more prone to drop out or not go onto college. 1Catterall, J.S., Dumais, S.A., and Hampden-Thompson, G. (2012) <em>The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies</em>. Washington, DC: National endowment for the Arts.

The arts boost learning and achievement for young children, middle school students, students with disabilities, and students needing remedial instruction. 2Horowitz, R. &amp; Webb-Dempsey, J. (2003). Promising signs of positive effects: Lessons from the multi-arts studies. Catteral, J.S. and Arenge G. (2016) JumpStart Theatre: Impacts in Three Middle Schools (p. 25-34). In R.J. Deasy (Ed). Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership. (p.98-100). Mason, C.Y., Thormann, M.S. &amp; Steedley, K.M. (2004) How Students with Disabilities Learn in and through the Arts. Washington, DC: VSAarts. (p.19-25).

Students in arts programming have better attendance, fewer disciplinary issues and improved "on-task" behavior relative to comparison groups. 3U.S. Department of Education. Progress and Promise: Ten Years of the Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination Program (p. 13).

How We Contribute

Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment (MAEIA)

MAEIA is a community of educators supported by a comprehensive set of resources. The MAEIA resources and tools are designed to improve the quality of an arts program, the abilities of the educators delivering arts programming, and the achievement of students receiving the arts curriculum. MAEIA also offers a variety of support materials that explain effective use of the resources-especially the use of performance assessments in the context of educator evaluation plans.

MAEIA was commissioned by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and accomplished in partnership with Michigan arts educators, Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), and Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA).

Additional Areas of Focus

We support efforts at MDE to include arts education data in the new "Points of Pride" feature in Michigan's Parent Dashboard for School Transparency.

In addition, we are working with other state education associations to support the use of MAEIA performance assessment information to assist educators in demonstrating educator effectiveness.

Who Informs Our Work?

In development of Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment (MAEIA), the MAC worked closely with the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE), publisher of the National Core Arts Standards. In addition, every Michigan arts association contributed to the development of the MAEIA resources, providing necessary disciplinary expertise.

We especially value working relationships with the Michigan Council on Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA). And we are a recognized partner in the Arts Education Partnership, organized by the Education Commission of the States (ECS).

Related Arts Education Policy and Practice Resources

SEADAE 2020
During the COVID-10 Pandemic SEADAE published thisUnified Statement of Support: Arts Education Is Essential from 53 national arts organizations

ArtScan
A project of the AEP, this is a searchable clearinghouse of the latest state policies supporting education in and through the arts from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

ESSA and the Arts
AEP's resource: Mapping Opportunities for the Arts and ESSA, as well as ECS's general resources on ESSA.

National Archive of Data on Arts & Culture (NADAC)
A repository that facilitates research on arts and culture by acquiring data, particularly those funded by federal agencies and other organizations, NADAC is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

SEADAE: White PaperPromoting Universal Access To High Quality Arts Education: Roles of Certified Arts Educators, Certified Non-Arts Educators, & Providers of Supplemental Arts Instruction

To learn more about our Policy and Practice work regarding arts education, please contact Kathy Dewsbury-White at (517) 816-4520.
Contact Us

Our resource bank contains additional materials and resources to support educators in the effective use of assessment.
Visit Resource Bank

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Arts Education - Michigan Assessment Consortium

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Policy & Practice We believe every child should have access to a quality, K-12 articulated arts curriculum, taught by teachers certified in the disciplines. Arts are a part of the well-rounded curriculum of our nation's schools and are an integral part of every child's development.

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Kennedy Center Arts Integration Resources for Educators.

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Kennedy Center Arts Integration Resources for Educators.

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A wealth of free resources!

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For educators looking to infuse the arts into their educational practices, we’ve developed hundreds of free learning resources: lesson plans, articles, learning guides for performances, how-tos, and much more. Kennedy Center Education is here to help you succeed with newly revised lesson plans and…

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George Lucas Educational Foundation

Bringing the arts into core curricula raises student achievement and improves student engagement. Discover and share strategies for integrating the arts throughout core subject areas.

Sort by:

The science is clear: Drawing beats out reading and writing to help students remember concepts.

What happens to our brains 'on art'? New studies-often backed by brain imaging technology-are beginning to dial in on the answers.

Young students can apply language skills to learn to 'read art,' including their own work.

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George Lucas Educational Foundation Bringing the arts into core curricula raises student achievement and improves student engagement. Discover and share strategies for integrating the arts throughout core subject areas. Sort by: The science is clear: Drawing beats out reading and writing to help students remember concepts. What happens to our brains 'on art'?

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Started as part of a rewrite of the NH State Arts Standards lots of good resources!

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With the updates of the NH Arts Standards in 2019, an Integrated Arts team was formed and tasked with creating a resource compendium to help educators, artists, and other community members engage in intentional and collaborative arts integration in our public schools and beyond.

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With the updates of the NH Arts Standards in 2019, an Integrated Arts team was formed and tasked with creating a resource compendium to help educators, artists, and other community members engage in intentional and collaborative arts integration in our public schools and beyond.

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One collection that has free games!

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Do you need some new drama games for your Acting classes, or just want to refresh your games list?

We hope we can help you do this with our ever growing list of drama games.

The Games and fun warm ups played in your Acting classes are vital to a successful session. There's nothing worse than you saying: 'Now we're going to play Biff-Boff' to be met with a collective groan from the students!

Below are some tried and tested drama games .Some are well known Improvisation games, some are original concepts.

If you have any suggestions for fun theatre warm up games for acting classes please send them to us by clicking HERE for inclusion on this page.
Drama, Scrips and Plays
COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT:

Game for 2 Players. One player has to leave the room whilst the rest of the class decide what it is that player is bringing back to complain about. Player two becomes the shop assistant. Through powers of deduction the player has to establish what the item is. This can only be done by indications and not direct questions. EG: Rather than saying: 'Is it electrical?' They should say: 'It doesn't work when I plug it in'. If the response is: 'You don't plug it in'. They know it's not electrical.

WHAT I'M REALLY THINKING:

4 Players.
Example:
Two players establish a scene from a suggestion from the class. The other two become the subtext of the players. Anyone can shout freeze to either Player 1 or 2 at anytime to discover what they are really thinking.

Player 1: Would you like to go for a picnic?
Freeze player 2:
Player 2: Oh that sounds nice.

Subtext Player 2: Why on earth would she invite me on a picnic?

Continue scene...

Player 1: We could go on Tuesday after work/school.

Freeze player 1:

Subtext Player 3: If she agrees then at least I know she won't be going to the party.

The game continues till the players can find a suitable Tag.

SCENE GENERATOR: Traffic Light.

It is a good idea to make a list of around 30 for each section, these can then be pulled out of a hat. Each group should be given different scenarios. Put Players into small groups of between 3-5 players. It is a good idea to give groups a short time limit of between 5-10 minutes to complete the impro.
First make a list of scene starters:
This is a great exercise for developing quick thinking short impros.

Examples: Green light.

1: After graduating from college.

2: Ignoring the advice of friends...
Then make a list of characters. Amber Light.
3: After moving to Birmingham...

Example 1: A retired Dancer...

Example 2: The worlds tallest woman...

Example 3: A clown in training...

Then make a list of what happens next. Red Light.

Example 1: Uncovers a hidden fortune.

Example 2: Recives some shocking news.

Example 3: Discovers they can time travel.

TAXI DRIVER:

4 Players.

One players takes on the role as the Taxi Driver. The other three are passengers. As each player boards the taxi they must adopt strong characteristics, whenever the cab driver is talking to anyone of the three passengers they must copy the the characteristic of the player. When all players are joining in the Taxi driver must switch from character to character.

Accent tube is a variation on Emo Tube.

6-8 players.

Each Person chooses an accent, then they all wait on one site of the playing area. The first player enters and establishes that they are waiting for a train. The second player enters and the first player adopts the same accent as the second player. THe third player enters and the other players adopt the third players accent. Once all players have entered, the first player exits and they all revert back to the first players accent.

A fun and comfortable way for students to experiement with accents!

RESOLVE:

Player 1: Establishes an enviroment such as a kitchen, they start to improvise a scene and a problem occurs. Example: They can't find the ham they put in the fridge.

Player 2: Then comes into the scene and conflict arises. Example: An argument about where the ham is.

Player 3: Comes into the scene and resoves the situation. Example: Well never mind we could always have tuna, look I've just brought some!

MORE SPECIFIC:

A game for two players.

Give your players a situation Example: Stuck in a lift'
At any point during the scene, the teacher can call out, "More specific!" So for example...

Player 1: The lift seems to have stopped.
Player 2: Well it's not moving.
Teacher: 'More specific'
Player 2: It seems stuck, it's not going up or down...

Players continue...
"More specific" can be called out multiple times until the players are specific enough.

This is a great game to expand a scene, also it helps to develop students characters and keeps them thinking.

Change - Game

This is a great game which you can play in twos.
PLAYER 1:
Player one starts with a sentence:
PLAYER 2:
I went to the high street today.

Continues...That's nice did you buy anything?
PLAYER 2:
The teacher can shout change at any point, the player must then change the last sentence... so for example...

That's awful did you buy anything...

Teacher may say change as many times as they wish.

Ten Second Object -Game

Put players into small groups of between four and six.

The idea of the game is to get the groups to create the object in ten seconds.

Objects can be categorised into:

Kitchen objects, Garden, School, Bathroom etc.

You can also do this with animals.

It is a great warm up team game.

Choose two people to be the presenters/hosts.

All other class members sit out front and wait to be allocated a role to play on the show.

The hosts then introduce who they have got on their show. It is a good idea if the hosts make notes as they allocate the various guests.

Example: A group could be the latest band, a cooking duo, a weather person, a news team, an author, a scene from a made up movie, a quiz show extract, a group to do a series of commercials for made up products.

Once the groups are allocated the hosts then give the players 10 -15 minutes to work on their piece during which time the hosts work out what order the show will play out in and what interviews they will do.

As soon as everyone has worked out their performances the hosts get the players to sit out front and introduce them as per their running order and then it's on with the show.

Think Quicker, learn to react faster and always have something to say.

The Raspberry Game -a popular warm up game for all ages.

This is Game that works really well for kids and adults. The kids love the competition element and the adults just can't quite believe how tricky it is!!!

Stand players in a line or circle then give them categories.

There is a 3 second rule applied to this game. Each player has only three seconds to think, if they have not answered in three seconds they hear the 'Raspberry' and are out.

Facilitator goes down the line with various categories.

Something you wear on your head...
Something beginning with 'G'...
A fruit...Girls name beginning with C...
Something you find at the beach...
A tree beginning with B...

Make up as many different catergories as possible.

Each answer has to be different and if they're duplicated they're out!

You can make the game as difficult or easy as possible to fit in with your age group.

Film title with a girl/boys name in it...
Film title with a colour in it...
A body part beginning with F...

When you get down to the last three/four keep the category the same so that players have to think of more than one response.

This is called the Raspberry game because as a player goes out the teacher blows a Raspberry! (The Kids love it!)

Timing Game Beginning- Middle- End

Team game for 4/5 Players. This is a timed game and is great for teaching players to be aware of time.

All teams are given the same beginning line, middle line and end line, then have to fill the gaps in and create a scene. Each group is given 5 -10 minutes to make up the scene.

As soon as they say the beginning line the timer starts. the middle line has to come as close to 30 seconds as possible and the end line has to come as close to 1 minute as possible. The closest to each time limit wins!

Example:

Beginning line: 'There you are'.
Middle line: '237'. (30 seconds)
End line: 'Hence the chair'. (1 minute)

Justify Your position-Group game

Class more around the room, jumping, skipping, walking anything that is energetic, it would be good to use music, then shout freeze. Whatever position they are in they must justify by making that position work and taking it into a scene. (For example a person stops and their right arm is stretched up and left hand lower, it could be a netball match.) This game can also be down with just the face, on freeze they use the expression to create a character.

BUZZY BEE -Poplular warm up game

A great warm up game for all ages. The whole class buzz like bees around the room, then the teacher calls out a letter for example B) the class then have 10 seconds to make an object. You then go round the room asking everyone what they are, if there are duplicates the duplicated ones are out! All ages love this game.

JUSTIFY YOURSELF

Students spread out around the room and move freely around until the teacher says FREEZE, they must all freeze in the position they land in and then justify that position, ie, bouncing a ball, hailing a cab, batting a ball. You can vary this by adding in the directive of 'create a short scene', 'add an accent'.

HEADLINE:BONGS. Quick thinking Game

Players in a circle. The teacher gives the students a 'BONG!' and they have to come up with a News Headline ( AKA: 'News at Ten'). The teacher can change the category to: Sentences you might hear in a 'Nature' programme, on a 'Game Show', a 'Weather Report', a 'Sports Programme', a 'Cookery Show', 'X Factor', 'Cartoon'... A great game to get the class thinking quickly.

ONE WORD MORAL:

Students stand in a line. The teacher gives the class a very short story. IE: "Matthew went to the shops, left his bike outside and it was stolen". He then asks them for a 'Moral' and points to each player in turn. Each player has one word to make up a 'Moral'. This is repeated with different stories and the teacher can swap the end people around at the end of each 'Moral'. (The moral HAS to make sense!)

MONO-SYLLIBIC SOUNDS:

This is a fun warm up for all ages. Players stand in a line or circle. As the teacher points to each one they have to make a LOUD monosyllabic sound*. IE: BOO, PAH, SHOOP, LA. The teacher can then increase the pace of this and can also stay on the same player for multiple repetitive sounds. Making it hard for the student to stay in rhythm. If anyone drops the rhythm they are out.

FIREWORK DISASTER:

Students spread right out around the room, one at a time they then have to 'Go Off' like a firework crossing to the opposite side of the room and setting another off by tagging the next student. (Examples: A Rocket, Jumping Jack, Sparkler, Catherine Wheel...) students can run, skip, jump whilst making their firework noise and 'tag' any other player around the room. Once they have tagged another player they sit down. The Game is over when all 'Fireworks' have gone off! You can now ask each student about their Firework: Name. colour when it was invented and by who.

A.B.C CONVERSATION/ADVERT. NB: THIS DOESN'T HAVE TO RUN TOGETHER!

While one team is doing the A.B.C conversation another team will be given a title of an imaginary product to make up a T.V commercial. The commercial has a time limit of 30 seconds. The team getting the closest will win maximum points and bonus points can be awarded for performances etc

STANDING, SITTING, BENDING.

Three players act out a scene of the audiences choice, during a scene one must always be standing, one sitting and one bending. The more more changes there are the more challenging it is.

SCENE STYLES:

Two players/students act out a situation, once they have got into their swing 'Freeze' the action and change the style of scene, the action continues on the same path but the style changes IE: Pantomime, Shakespeare, Soap, silent Movie etc...

MORE SPECIFIC
Player 1:
Two players start a scene at any point the class can shout out 'more specific' which means the player must elaborate on what they have just said. Example, scene takes place in a lift.
Player 2:
This lift doesn't seem to be moving!
Player 1:
Don't be daft try pressing the button again ( students shout...More specific.) press that round thing again..( students shout...More specific.) press the thing on the grey pannel...( students shout...More specific.) hit the silver shinny button that is attached to the grey pannel, that is on the side of the lift by the door..again!

Ahh good idea, why didn't I think of think of it? ( students shout...More specific.) Why didn't my brain kick in to action? ( students shout...More specific.) why was i not quick enough to realise that the button could be useful? ( students shout...More specific.) why am i so useless?

The scene continues and students can interject with ( students shout...More specific.)

LIMERICK

Students/players line up and are given the first line of limerick they then have to make up rest.This is best against the clock.

NURSERY NEWS

Team game a nursery rhyme is reported on the news with 'Studio guests' and an outside broadcast interveiwing 'witnesses'

Four players. Two players become the interviewers whilst the other players become witnesses and experts on the situation.

ONE WORD, TWO WORD, THREE WORD....

Team game in which one person speaks using one word, another uses two, another three...etc A tricky game but one that gets the students thinking!

PROPS

Two or three props are put on stage all teams compete in the most imaginative item the prop could be a box, a bat, a frisby, it item must be worked into a short scene.

WHOSE LINE?

Random sentances are written down on pieces of paper and put into a hat, the players will then be asked to act out a scene incorporating these sentences. They must find inventive ways to introduce the sentances, by phone, text, letter, written on a telephone box, a map, a tatoo...

TV CHANNELS

Players are various television programmes. One is elected the 'Hopper' and changes channels by pointing at their chosen programme. Restrictions can be added IE: You can't start your sentance with anything beginning with 'T', 'W'....etc, then linking them so it all makes sense!!! A great game to improve your students presentation skills.

RAP

Players have to make up a 'Rap' about...Shoes, fruit & vegetables, television, school, etc.

WORLDS WORST

In a semi-circle individuals step into the middle as soon as they have an idea and act out the Worlds worst...Shop assistant, Air hostess, Car Sales person, Tele sales person, Swimming instructor, ect

Warm Up Game Stage 3 or Stage 2

DRAMA DODGE

You will Need: A group of students, A Ball (not too heavy!) - you can add more (up to 3) depending on how quickly they pick up the game. Divide the class into two teams.Divide the room in half, so each team has their own "home". Using the ball, the teams have to knock each other out by throwing the ball at the opposite team. If the ball hits a team member, they must die a very dramatic death (if it's not good enough, make them do it again!), and then lie on the floor until the end of the game.

The aim is for the teams to wipe out their opponents before they are wiped out. Whichever team is wiped out first loses. This is a good game to encourage team work, quick thinking and improvised deaths, all necessary for performing on stage. You can always add more balls to increase the difficulty of the game.

Posted by: Melody Ashman: Stagecoach Performing Arts School, Leighton Buzzard.

Stage 3 Exercise

STEP IN TIME

You will need: A group of drama students, something to create a beat (drum, table or just clap your hands) Start off a steady beat - nothing too fast or too slow. Get the students to walk exactly to the beat - when the beat comes their foot should touch the floor, not before or after. While continuing this beat, shout out an emotion, e.g. happy. While still walking at the speed of the beat, they must portray the emotion. Often they want to walk faster, so make sure they stay with you. Then start to change the beat, becoming slower. They still have to keep the emotion and step to the beat, which can be a bit difficult - often if the beat slows they want to become more subdued, but make sure they keep the energy and the full emotion.

Then change the beat again - this time getting faster. Once they have explored the first emotion, shout out a different one, e.g. scared, and repeat the exercise.

The most important thing is for them to stay in time with your beat, whether it's fast or slow, and keep thinking about the emotion. Other emotions that work well - sad, excited, nervous, angry, shocked. You could also use characters and emotions from a play you might be working on.
This exercise encourages the students to avoid the obvious - especially if you have a quick discussion afterwards about how they felt doing the opposite of what they wanted to.It's also a good exercise if you want them to be over the top, and think about actions and body movements, rather than just facial expressions. I used as a lead into mask work, and they responded very well.

Posted by: Melody Ashman: Stagecoach Performing Arts School, Leighton Buzzard.

Stage 1 game

TEACHER'S PET

You will need: A group of excited students. This is a good Drama game to get stage 1's to focus and have a chance to be cheeky but within the game. The students have to pretend they're in a classroom at school, writing in their (pretend) notebooks. Get them to imagine where the desks would be, how many would sit in each row, how many rows, etc. Tell them they are a very good class most of the time, but they really like to be cheeky, but only when they know they can get away with it. Nominate one person to be the teacher. The teacher walks around the classroom making sure the class are behaving, and doing all of their work.

The students, being very cheeky, pull faces and do silly dances while the teacher's back is turned, but if the teacher catches them, they have to sit in detention, i.e. sitting out with you, the real teacher! The game continues until there is one student left. Sometimes, they are too keen to win, that they don't pull any faces, so make sure you have an eye on everyone as well. Once the game is finished, play again with the best student (the one who won) as the teacher. To make things more difficult, have two or three teachers.

Posted by: Melody Ashman: Stagecoach Performing Arts School, Leighton Buzzard.

Warm Up (All Ages)

SPELLING TEST

Players in a circle. The teacher randomly points at each player. The players have to respond with a letter from the alphabet (these cannot be consecutive) after about three/four letters the teacher points to another player and asks them what those letters spell.

This should be the first thing that comes into their heads but cannot be a word that sounds like a letter IE: Tea, Bee, Queue. Or the name of a place.

The teacher then asks another player where those random letters spell that word. So the sequence would run:

TEACHER: Letter?

PLAYER # 1: 'A'.

PLAYER # 2: 'W'.

PLAYER # 3: 'M'.

PLAYER # 4: 'Q'.

TEACHER: Spells?

PLAYER # 5: Radiator.

TEACHER: Where?

PLAYER # 6: In Spain.

Then start again. They're out if: The letters are consecutive or sound like a word (see above). The object sounds like a letter or is a place. NB: Places can be anywhere. IE: Spain, Glasgow, High Street, Kings Road, The Moon...

This game is illogical, it is a really great game for getting your students to think quickly and lose any hesitation.

Warm Up (All Ages)

ALPHABET-ITIS:

Players in a circle. The teacher then asks each player for a word beginning with each consecutive letter, telling them what the next letter is. (This can be done a couple of times depending on ages of players). Then the teacher doesn't tell them what the next letter is and they have to think for themselves. If they get the wrong letter, they're out! Once again a three second time limit can be added.

Warm Up (All Ages)

SEQUENCE:

Players in a circle. The teacher points to each player (in sequence first) and tells each one what to do: "Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap, Stamp, Jump, Clap". (This can be done a couple of times depending on ages of players). Then the teacher doesn't tell them what's next and they're left to remember the sequence by themselves. The teacher can now point to random people but they have to keep the sequence in order or they're out!

Warm Up (All Ages)

LAST LETTER/NEXT WORD:

Players in a circle. First player says a word, next player has to say a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word.
IE: Yellow - What - This - Stool - Light - Them - Marshmallow - Witch - House - Elephant...

Game (All Ages)

DAYTIME T.V:
JUST A MINUTE
Group game. Two people are chosen to be the hosts. In turn they introduce who's on today's show. It is down to the hosts what teams they put together and what they're going to be. EG: They could put together 5 players to be a band. They then interview them and send them away to work out what 'promo' performance they are going to perform 'later in the programme'. This process continues until all players have been allocated their various genres. IE: Cookery Video, Quiz Show, Film Trailer, Magic Act, Dance Troupe, Sketch Show, Todays News & Weather, Fashion Shoot...etc.

Once all players are working out what they're going to do our hosts have to work out 3 TV 'Bloopers' that they've experienced. As soon as everyone has worked out their performances the hosts can put together their 'Show'.

A great game to strengthen students focus.

Students find a space in the room and can either close their eyes or focus on a spot on the wall. The students will need to estimate when one minute has passed from the moment the game has started. Students will identify when one minute has passed by raising their hand.
Posted by Chris , Drama Works for me.
We suggest the students do it with their eyes closed so they are no swayed by other's in the class.

FREEZE TAG

Two people start a scene, a suggestion for the scene is taken from the students. Other players can 'freeze' the action when they see an opportunity for them to change the scene, however they must take up the exact position from the person they take over from and the inspiration for the next scene must come from the physical position they have taken. The remaining player MUST accept the new direction this scene has taken.

QUICK LIST OF SITUATIONS.

Visiting the Dentists
Boarding a bus
stuck in a lift
First day in a new job
Taking a pet to the vets
A complaints department
Visiting the Doctor
At the dentist
Headmistresses office
Buying a car
On a market stall
Having a photo taken
Choosing a gift for a partner
Selling your house
Checking into a hotel
Hiring a private detective
Getting a quote from a builder
Having your hair done
Pushing into a queue
Visiting someone in hospital
Firing someone
Job interview
Ordering a Wedding Cake
On a spying mission
The first men in space
Visiting the parents-in-law
Getting a signature
Hypochondriac at the doctors
Slow service in a restaurant
Police officer pulls someone over
Waiter In a cafe
Breaking up with someone
A zoo keeper
A driving lesson
Auditions

SCENE STYLES

Science Fiction
Romantic Comedy
Disney
Disaster Movie
Shakespearian Comedy
Shakespearian Tragedy
Greek Tragedy
Horror
Thriller
Western
News
Melodrama
Documentary
Children's programme
Travel Documentary
James Bond
Silent Movie
Harry Potter
Daytime TV
Magic Show
Love Story
Australian soap
Star Trek
Costume Drama
Murder Mystery
Cookery Programme
Washing Powder Advert
Musical
Opera
The weather

Impro Improvisation and the Theatre
by Keith Johnstone

"A hundred practical techniques for encouraging spontaneity and originality by catching the subconscious unawares...here is an inexhaustible supply of zany suggestions for unfreezing the petrified imagination" Daily Telegraph A leading figure in the theatre, Keith Johnstone lays bare his techniques and exercises to foster spontaneity and narrative skill for actors. These techniques and exercises were evolved in the actors' studio, when he was Associate Director of the Royal Court and then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers called The Theatre Machine. Divided into four sections, "Status", "Spontaneity", "Narrative Skills" and "Masks and Trance",

Improvisation Starters: A Collection of 900 Improvisation Situations for the Theater
Philip Bernardi

Most beginning actors assume that rehearsing a play or scene involves taking home the script, memorizing lines, and rehearsing scenes over and over until everything - timing, movement, facial expression - is perfect. But that's only partially correct. One missing element in that approach is improvisation, an invaluable technique that can be used in acting classes and in rehearsals for school, amateur and professional productions.
Most teachers and directors realize that value of improvisation as a regular part of their classes or rehearsals, but many find it difficult to come up with fresh ideas on a daily basis.

Games for Actors and non - Actors

Games for Actors and Non-Actors is the classic and best selling book by the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal. It sets out the principles and practice of Boal's revolutionary Method, showing how theatre can be used to transform and liberate everyone - actors and non-actors alike!

This thoroughly updated and substantially revised second edition includes: two new essays by Boal on major recent projects in BrazilBoal's description of his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, a revised introduction and translator's preface.

101 Drama Games and Activities: Theatre Games for Children and Adults, including Warm-ups, Improvisation, Mime and Movement
David Farmer

Gain access to a personal collection of 101 highly effective drama games and activities suitable for children or adults. Sections include improvisation, mime, ice-breakers, group dynamics, rehearsal, story-telling, voice and warm-ups. This unique book has been developed over a thirty year career in education and theatre, through workshops with actors, teachers and children around the world. The pages are packed with tried and tested ideas for a whole range of activities useful for drama lessons, workshops or rehearsals. 'Belongs amongst the top 10 books any director or drama teacher should own.' - English Touring Opera

If you would like to contribute to our Drama Games we would love to hear from you, sharing resources is exactly what the internet was created for, so lets share and enjoy each others Games in Class. More Drama resources and fun theatre games.

Email hello@dramaclasses.biz

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We hope we can help you do this with our ever growing list of drama games. The Games and fun warm ups played in your Acting classes are vital to a successful session. There's nothing worse than you saying: 'Now we're going to play Biff-Boff' to be met with a collective groan from the students!

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Includes lesson plans

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The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is a place that fuels creativity, ignites minds, and provides inspiration. Its extraordinary exhibitions and collection of modern and contemporary art are dedicated to helping you understand and enjoy the art of our time. Caption: The Museum of Modern Art, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi.

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Elizabeth Peterson offers PD to teachers but also has a lot of cool free resources. She coined the term "SEAL" Social Emotional Arts Learning"

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Welcome | The Inspired Classroom | Arts Integration & SEAL

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The Inspired Classroom provides professional development and resources in Arts Integration and SEAL (Social-Emotional Artisitic Learning)

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Historical Witness, Social Messaging J.P. Getty Museum

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Historical Witness, Social Messaging J.P. Getty Museum

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Social Justice Curriculum that looks through the lens of art.

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Over the course of history, powerful works of art have depicted examples of social injustice, utilized propagandistic techniques to exert power and sway public opinion, and communicated aspects of current events during times of war, slavery, racial and gender bias, and unfair labor practices.

This curriculum explores the many ways that art can provoke dialogue about the costs and consequences of significant events in U.S. and world history while simultaneously effecting social change and increasing awareness among individuals and governments.

The lessons are grounded in historical contexts surrounding works of art in the Getty Museum's collection, yet connections are made to modern-day events and human struggles as well as to contemporary uses of images to communicate to a wide audience. Such connections to contemporary society allow students to trace common themes in history across time and to comprehend events that took place in the past through studying their counterparts in the present.

The curriculum covers these eight topics:
* Breaking the Chains, Rising Out of Circumstances
* Celebration and Satire
* Depicting Women and Class in a Global Society
* Flawed Democracies, Human Rights
* Land Use and Lawmaking in California
* The Many Different Sides of War
* Putting a Spin on Current Events
* What Is Work and Who Are the Workers?

Each topic is divided into beginning-, intermediate-, and advanced-level activities that act as scaffolds for step-by-step learning. Middle and high school teachers can use less advanced activities to review student understanding of basic principles required for the more complex activities. Beginning-level activities address elementary school standards, intermediate activities address middle school standards, and advanced activities address high school standards. History, social studies, and art teachers are encouraged to collaborate when implementing these lessons in order to share resources and expertise.

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Historical Witness, Social Messaging (Education at the Getty)

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Over the course of history, powerful works of art have depicted examples of social injustice, utilized propagandistic techniques to exert power and sway public opinion, and communicated aspects of current events during times of war, slavery, racial and gender bias, and unfair labor practices.