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Below, post a link to a visual art activity, video, article, etc. and post a brief description of it in the spot below your name. Look for resources that are tied to K-6 education.
Here is my sample post.

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On Dr Seuss Day, let's celebrate the father of wit & wisdom with these simple Seuss Crafts for kids! As he says, "These things are fun and fun is good!"
Walk into any book store or log on to an online one and you'll find a wide range of categories to choose from. Of course, there is the genre-wise categorization, but a more general one is adults and kids' sections. However, there are some books that stand out - because they belong to both!

These are the books that grow with you - they make sense at any age. Maybe that's why they're called evergreen classics, and the most popular ones have got to be the Seuss books! What appears to be utter nonsense on the surface actually hides a lot of depth, making these books truly unique.

And since it's the author's birthday on March 2nd, it's only right that we pay tribute to the father of fun with some crafts that are just as enjoyable! These crafts are excellent to get kids to fall in love with reading and will encourage them to check out other titles too. " Oh, the things you can find, if you don't stay behind! "

The Cat in the Hat is the first Seuss book I read, and it's also the first Seuss movie I watched. The Cat and the things he does are just hilarious, and there won't be a kid who doesn't laugh on reading this! Resourceful Mama has an easy Popsicle stick craft to recreate the cat's iconic red and white hat.

Good ol' Lorax wants to protect the Truffula Trees from greedy people, and it's an important lesson that kids need to learn about our environment. Make your own truffula trees with paper straws and pom poms - it's a craft that'll be over in 15 minutes!

If you're ever in need of some serious tongue twisters, you needn't look much farther than the Fox in Socks! This craft from 30 Minute Crafts brings alive the Tweetle Beetles inside the bottle which looks quite realistic with the water splashing out and everything!

Horton is a kind-hearted creature who understands the very basic truth that 'a person's a person; no matter how small'. Our cardboard roll Horton here isn't as big as the original one, but he's just as kind, holding tight to the clover of Whoville!

Love Teaching Kids shows us how to make these beautiful Seuss-theme magnets, which would make a perfect gift for a bibliophile. You may need a trip to the craft store to get the supplies, but the extra effort is totally worth it!

Who can forget Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat? Their entry in the story just takes it to another level of crazy! These Thing-theme bookmarks from Red Ted Art are ideal to mark your place in any book, not just a Seuss one!

Crafty Morning features a Lorax craft with very detailed features using construction paper and a toilet paper roll. The Lorax' eyes and bushy mustache are perfectly captured in this craft - he also looks suitably shocked at the goings-on around him!

The One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish book by Dr. Seuss has everything an early learner needs - words, numbers, and colors! Pair up this all-rounder book with an Origami craft featuring fish in a calm underwater scene.

Yertle the Turtle is a literal example of the saying 'Pride comes before a Fall', and is as good a moral story for kids as any! Kiwi Co turns the story into a fun game of toppling turtles with cute little turtles made out of bottle caps and felt.

If you know someone who is feeling stuck in life or discouraged, gift him or her this book - it's sure to change their perspective! Free yourself from the "The Waiting Place" by flying away in a colorful balloon made of paper quilling strips! Inspired by the book Oh, the places you'll go!

This project from Chica Circle mixes icons from two popular Seuss books - the hat from The Cat in the Hat and the Truffula trees from The Lorax. The hat turns into a pencil holder, while the Truffula trees are made from pom pom topped pencils.

Simple Everyday Mom has the perfect project to fulfill any wish you've ever had of being a Seuss character - printable Seuss hats! Just download, print and turn into your favorite Seuss character for a Dr Seuss Party!

Which book has been among the top 15 in major book lists around the world? Which book has inspired a famous musician's name? Which book has been referenced by District Court Judges and Senators? The answer to all these questions is - Green Eggs and Ham! Glued to My Crafts makes a simple craft based on this iconic book.

Most Horton-theme crafts tend to focus on the large-hearted Horton, but here is a craft that puts the focus on Whoville instead! Horton holds on tightly to a paper quilled clover Whoville, keeping its inhabitants safe.

If you have a pocket, it'll be incomplete unless there's a Wocket in your Pocket! 30 Minute Crafts shows us how to make a nice little Wocket who'll comfortably fit into your pocket, making others go green with envy!

A Mom's Impression has an easy fish craft that's great for preschoolers. You can either use plain cupcake liners and paint, or you can opt for colored liners, or you could simply cut circles out of colored paper to make the fish.

A black cupcake liner and white card stock are all you need to create this cute Cat in the Hat from I Heart Crafty Things! Young kids will enjoy putting the pieces together, and you end up with a cheery looking cat!

This Oh the places you will go project from Gina Tepper looks just like it popped out of the Seuss book! This craft is great as room decor for a kid's room, or as a centerpiece for a Dr Seuss party. Check out the full video tutorial on how to make this.

Want to create your own crazy fun with Thing 1 and Thing 2? Then you must make these puppets from Must Have Mom! The template is available for free download, and you just need a paper bag and craft foam along with the usual supplies.

Sugar Bee Crafts has a Dr Seuss project that'll require a bit more effort but are just gorgeous. You can take it up as a family project for a long weekend. You can get plain wooden blocks in craft stores, and all you have to do is add the details. Perfect gift for beginning readers.

Bonus

Put your quilling skills to use with these Quilled Paper Truffula Trees! Use this craft as an accompaniment to the famous book, 'The Lorax', by Dr Seuss.

Learn about numbers and colors with the help of the Dr Seuss book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and this One Fish Two Fish Paper Quilling Craft!

With so many ideas, you'll have enough to keep you busy all through Dr. Seuss Day and beyond! You can also use some of these to plan a Dr. Seuss-theme party, which works for kids and even grown-ups if you plan it right. As Dr. Seuss says, " It is fun to have fun but you have to know how! "

Also see -

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20 Easy and Fun Dr Seuss Crafts for Kids

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On Dr Seuss Day, let's celebrate the father of wit & wisdom with these simple Seuss Crafts for kids! As he says, "These things are fun and fun is good!" Walk into any book store or log on to an online one and you'll find a wide range of categories to choose from.

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I know this says ideas for Middle school, but it actually is a website with a ton of integrated visual art lesson ideas for early grades K-1.

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Hi! I'm Emily McEneely, art educator and advocate for the arts in everyone's life! My own artistic journey began, of course, as a child. Art was always my favorite activity although I wasn't necessarily big on traditional skills. I just liked to make stuff!

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https://artclasscurator.com/art-and-math-projects/   This is a great website where I found the tessellations math project. I think this is something so fun and engaging for students especially for math, the website above has lots of ideas, I like the link below with the tessellations too though. I had to include both!

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By Cheryl Trowbridge

Tessellations are all around us! A tile floor is a good example. Encourage your students to find other tessellating patterns in the world around them. Then make your own tessellations inspired by artist M.C. Escher. (Don't be afraid to try these... they are much easier than they look!)

First, some helpful vocabulary: index card to 3″x3″.(I use 12″x18″ paper when I do this with 6th graders.)
M.C. Escher - a Dutch artist (1898-1972) who is best known for his mathematically inspired drawings and prints which displayed great realism, while at the same time showing impossible perspective, eye trickery and metamorphosis. - a pattern made with polygons that completely fills a space with no gaps, spaces or overlaps.
Tessellation
Polygon - a shape with three or more sides 1. Cut a lined

Directions:
2. Next, cut a shape from one side of your 3″x3′ card, and slide it to the opposite side of the card, without flipping it over or turning it. (The lines on your index card will show you if you've flipped or turned it!) exactly across from the spot you cut it from. If you include a corner in your cut, it makes it
easier to line the shape up on the opposite side. (For older students, you can make this project more challenging by having them repeat this step on an adjacent side of their card, as in the sample project above.)
4. Turn your newly created shape (we'll call this your "tile") in different directions and use your imagination to see if it "looks like" anything. Lightly sketch your idea onto your tile.... be creative!
3. Now, tape the shape so that it is 5. Place your tile on the center of a 9″x12″ paper and carefully trace around it. Sharpie and add details to each shape to help others recognize what you "saw" in it. (Remember that whatever details you add to one shape, will need to be added to EVERY shape! Keep your details simple.)
9. Finally, color your design with markers, colored pencils or crayons.
6. Now, pick up your tile and place it next to your traced design, as if it were a piece fitting into a jigsaw puzzle. There shouldn't be any gaps or overlapping. Then, trace around your tile again.
7. Repeat this step until your whole paper is covered and there are no gaps or spaces.
8. Trace over your pencil lines with a

Below is an example of a more basic tessellation done with first graders, where the shape was cut from one side of the card only. We treated this as an abstract design and didn't add any details, but just colored it in an alternating pattern.

Filed Under: Tagged With: Colored Pencil, artist M. C. Escher, imagination, math, pattern, tesselations Crayon, Drawing, Escher, M.C., Famous Artists, Lessons, Markers / Pen and Ink, Math with Art

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Tessellations are all around us! A tile floor is a good example. Encourage your students to find other tessellating patterns in the world around them. Then make your own tessellations inspired by artist M.C. Escher. (Don't be afraid to try these... they are much easier than they look!) First, some helpful vocabulary:M.C.

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This website gives great ideas for art activities with younger children! There are very creative ideas.

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Art activities get much more intricate and focused when toddlers become preschoolers. Check out these 10 fun creative art activities for preschoolers!

Its amazing what a year means in these young ages!

Since Henry has been a preschooler, he has become a little more focused (believe it or not...). Which means the art projects, as well as other creative activities, we do can also be a little more focused.

And George is right behind him. Almost in the preschoolers category himself, he'll be doing these art activities in no time!

Note: Big Art creative activities are great for toddlers and preschoolers that can't or don't want to sit still to create.

How is art different with a preschooler?

When they get a tad older, (think older preschooler age) everything changes. Fine motor skills improve, along with attention span and the ability to focus on the project at hand.

Of course, the age in which a child can do this will vary. So take a look at your toddler or preschooler and see where their own skills are at.

These are 10 activities that we've done that take just that tad bit more focus and understanding to do. I think they are perfect art activities for preschoolers.

Of course, there is usually a way to incorporate a toddler into the mix. I had both a preschooler (soon a kindergartner!) and a toddler myself.

Here's some of our art activities that are perfect for preschoolers:

1. Learn about mixing colors. Perfect for a hot day. Freeze some cubes of paint (in 2 or 3 of the primary colors) and take it outside in the sun to melt as they paint. When they run together see what colors it makes!

2. Copy a masterpiece. Print out a masterpiece (such as Starry Night) and set it beside them to try to draw themselves. It's quite impressive what they'll find in the piece of art as they study it themselves to draw.

3. Amp up tape resist art. Instead of just chunks of tape around on a piece of paper, or you doing it, have them tear a piece of tape to create a picture! Add details to the finished tape resist art.

4. Add sensory to art. We used sand, but really anything can be used in its place. Flour, salt, sugar, dirt, rice, tissue paper.

5. Try pulling string to create art. This one takes a little patience, understanding and coordination. But nothing preschoolers can't handle in art activities. Its kind of magical to see what designs will happen!

6. Rainbow sponge art. Yes, toddlers can do this. But preschoolers can take the care it needs to actually make this a rainbow!

7. Add special touches around the house. Preschoolers are just getting into drawing. So design or draw a wrapping for everyday items such as a tissue box. What else can your little preschoolers spruce up with these art activities?

8. Shave crayons and melt them! It's great for fine motor skills to make the crayon shavings. And the designs they make can be so cool (ahem, learn a little about color mixing in the process)!

9. Use multiple painting techniques together to create a piece of art. Preschoolers will have to follow directions to make it right. Along with having the patience to put it all together. But it's really simple!

10. Tie dye something together! A t-shirt, a pillowcase, a sheet! They'll love a special touch to wear or use that they can say they made! Try different tie-dye effects too. It's all about the rubber-bands!

10 Art Activities that are Perfect for Preschoolers:
What's your favorite art activity to do with your preschooler?

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10 Creative Art Activities for Preschoolers

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Art activities get much more intricate and focused when toddlers become preschoolers. Check out these 10 fun creative art activities for preschoolers! Its amazing what a year means in these young ages! Since Henry has been a preschooler, he has become a little more focused (believe it or not...).

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This is a great article by a former museum educator. She explains how to use visual arts to help build literacy skills. She walks you through having students analyze a painting and gives great questions to have the children think about.

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Great Minds integration of visual art offers powerful opportunities to build literacy for students of all reading levels.

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This is a great lesson for first graders to learn about abstract art. You can show your class pieces done by Reggie Laurent, and then have them make their own abstract pieces.

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Reggie Laurent is a self-taught artist living in Georgia. He creates very intricate abstract shape paintings. I saw his paintings online and I was immediately drawn to all of the fun patterns and colors.

My first graders learned about his abstract pictures. They are filled with lots of different shapes, fitted together like a puzzle. His artworks are highly detailed and very colorful.

The students learned about and used organic (freeform) and geometric shapes in their collages. Shapes were cut from construction paper and glued to black paper.

Materials (some Amazon Affiliate links used)

Black construction paper (I use Tru-Ray)

Assorted and neon colored construction paper

Glue sticks

Scissors (regular and/or decorative edged)

Crayola Metallic Markers (these metallic markers are clean, safe for kids and show up pretty nicely on black paper)

Kwik Stix solid tempera paint sticks (the white colors on the black construction paper were the Kwik Stix. They also used them to draw designs on top of the cut out shapes)

They used paint sticks and metallic markers to add patterns and details on top of the shapes and on the black paper. I got the idea for this project from this presentation on Shapely Abstractions. by Mrs. Phillips, who did a similar lesson with her students.

Here are some more of our finished shape collages. I love how they are all unique, busy, colorful and show the students' personalities.
More information on Reggie Laurent from Yessy Gallery Reggie Laurent Facebook Page
Interview with Reggie Laurent from Extra Imaginary

** Don't forget to enter to win a $10 gift card from Teachers pay Teachers. Sorry, I was having big technical difficulties on my blog and it took about 6 hours to fix, so if you were trying to enter last night, I apologize. The website should be up and running and you can enter now. The contest ends Sunday at midnight. **

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Abstract Shape Collages and Artist Reggie Laurent

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Reggie Laurent is a self-taught artist living in Georgia. He creates very intricate abstract shape paintings. I saw his paintings online and I was immediately drawn to all of the fun patterns and colors. My first graders learned about his abstract pictures. They are filled with lots of different shapes, fitted together like a puzzle.

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There are multiple of activities on here that are awesome for all grades. The one I really like was the activity that is shown right here. It's called the Crazy Hair line drawing Art activity. This is using the visual arts with the all different kinds of lines and showing them in your picture. This can be used with any subject and for fun creative Visual Arts activities.

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Just about every school offers some art education these days, although the requirements are pretty fast and loose regarding whether or not there needs to be an art teacher on the premises. Certainly, there's plenty to gain when your school has an active arts education program: The studies show that art education is linked to everything from motivation to concentration to confidence, even and teamwork.

But what art activities for elementary students are really worth it? The teachers on the Teach Starter gathered our favorite art activities for kids to provide some ideas for elementary teachers!

Art Activities for Kids

Tropical Bird Art

Learning about the different biomes? Follow up your adventure to the hot, wet rainforest with a fun art project that will give your class a bird's eye view of one of the Amazon's many creatures!

Supplies

Yellow, green, and brown construction paper

White paper

Paints

Feathers

Googly eyes

Black marker

Glue

How to Create the Rainforest Art Project:

1. Students take off a shoe and sock and trace a foot on a white piece of paper to create the outline of a footprint.

2. Students then paint the inside of the footprint.

3. Draw a tree branch on brown paper, cut it out and paste onto the piece of yellow construction paper. You'll want to make sure the branch is about a third of the way down the page and placed horizontally - this is where their tropical bird will sit.

4. Once their footprint is dry, students cut it out and paste it to the piece of yellow construction paper with the heel at the top and toes sitting on the branch.

5. Add feathers for the tail.

6. Add googly eyes and draw a beak with a marker.

7. Cut leaf shapes out of the green paper, and add them to the picture to complete their rainforest art project.

Take the study of the rainforest a step farther: Print a free rainforest maze!

Cherry Blossom Crepe Paper Art

Do you have leftover crepe paper from a child's birthday party? This colroful paper is often used to create party streamers. Because it's so thin, it tears easily. That makes it harder to reuse for a second party but perfect for kids' art projects in the classroom!

Jessica from @teachlearncreate shared this fun idea for creating Cherry Blossom Art with our teacher team, and we love that it can be used by a variety of grade levels. Why not teach students about the Cherry Blossoms in Washington D.C. or Japan along with this art project?

Pick up these beautiful children's books to go along with the lesson:

Supplies:

How to Make Cherry Blossoms Crepe Paper Art:

1. Draw the shape of tree branches on your white cardstock with a pencil, and draw over it with a black permanent marker.

2. Then, layer the squares of crepe paper over the top.

3. Wet the crepe paper with a brush and water.

4. Let the crepe paper dry and then gently remove the crepe paper.

5. Finally, roll balls of white and pink crepe paper and glue onto the branches to form the cherry blossom flowers.

Some other fun ways to use crepe paper for kids' art projects:

Allow students to ball up green bits of crepe paper to make "leaves" on tree art.

Bits of colorful crepe paper can be substituted for the tissue paper in this "I Love You to Pieces" card project.

Happy Art

Join Romero Britto and the Happy Art Revolution with some of our happiest art activities for elementary students!

Optical Illusion Art

Optical illusions may have been all the rage in the 1990s, but the artistic elements have never gone away! Try some fun optical illusion art with your students! Bonus: Optical illusions can actually help kids develop their cognition skills, making this an art activity for kids with added benefits.

Pop-Up Dragon Art Activity

Planning a Lunar New Year lesson? It's time to bring out the pop-up dragon art activity! Using construction paper, this fun art activity was devised by an art teacher on our team to make it appear as if the dragon is slithering in and out of the background.

Use the lesson as a jumping-off point to talk about Lunar New Year and the importance of dragons in Chinese art and mythology.

Zentangle Drawing

Promote concentration in the classroom with Zentangle drawing activities for kids! Created by a monk named Rick Roberts and an artist named Maria Thomas, Zentangle art is focused on drawing structured patterns, but there's plenty of freedom - making it the perfect art activity for kids.

Download any of our funky art templates - many of which are free - for your zentangle creations.

Straw Painting

Although our teacher team created this art activity for kids with New Year's celebrations in mind, there's no reason you can't pull out the straws and "paint" fireworks with your students any time of the year! Get the art template here. Not only is this a great way to practice their creativity, working with the straw also helps strengthen verbal and motor skills.

Diversity Heart

Created by art teacher Cassie Stephens, the diversity heart activity is a perfect complement to lessons on equality and inclusion, and the result is a beautiful display for the classroom too.

Silly Hair Line Drawing Art Activity

In this art activity, students create a portrait of someone with silly hair by experimenting with different types of lines. All that is needed is a pencil, white paper, a black marker, and crayons.

Neverending City Art Activity

In this art activity for kids, students create the illusion of a city that goes on and on by using different shades of one color.

Again, very few materials are needed, yet students will love creating this art piece. A pencil, white paper, paints, and paintbrushes are all they need to practice creating things to scale.

Profile Art

Upcycle old magazines for this art activity kids love - a self-portrait of their profile! These profile art instructions are easy for elementary schoolers, and the result is a keepsake their parents will actually want to keep on the fridge.

How to make them:

1. Option 1 - If you have access to a projector, ask students to stand side on and get a buddy to outline their face.

2. Option 2 - If you don't have a projector, take a photo of each student's profile, print it out, and turn the page over. Students put their page against a window and draw around their face.

3. Students cut strips of paper from a magazine, ensuring they find different colors, textures, and patterns, and glue to their face. They must cut their strip to size to fit their face, eg. around their nose.

4. Once all strips have been stuck on, turn over your page, cut around the outline of the face, and stick the face onto a piece of black paper or cardstock.

Making Mosaics

Use mosaics as an art activity to teach kids about shapes and how things fit together! Choose from Easter templates like this egg and bunny, a lucky shamrock-shaped mosaic project for St. Patrick's Day, or a mosaic poppy for Memorial Day.

Caterpillar Painting

The perfect art activity for younger students to practice fine motor skills and to teach about color theory, this cute caterpillar can be tied into spring butterfly and caterpillar activities! Get the printable template and instructions here.

Famous Artist Activities

Teach your students about Picasso, Warhol, Mondrian, and more famous artists with these seven art activities for kids inspired by some of the world's most accomplished artists.

Silhouettes

Teach your students about light and shadow with these fun silhouette art activities that double as perfect Mother's Day presents.

Pattern to Picture Art

This art activity lets kids practice patterns and using lines to create a fun picture of a kitty cat.

Directed Drawing

Practice listening to directions with fun how to draw videos that you can play while students follow along! Learn to draw a monster, boy, ninja, and more.

Art Activity Task Cards

Once you have discussed and even investigated and analyzed famous paintings focusing on the different art elements, pick between 28 different art activities in our Art Elements Activity Task Cards.

This pack is available in both British English and American English, and includes four different activities for each of the art elements:

These task cards were created with the busy classroom teacher in mind. All materials and directions are explained in a kid-friendly way.

The materials have been kept to a minimum and use the kind of supplies that most classroom teachers will have in their art cupboard/shelf.

Art Work Display for the Classroom

Displaying students' artwork is a critical component of Visual Arts within the classroom. Here's an idea we love, plus it will save you time at the end of the year.

Dedicate a wall in your classroom to display your students' artwork. Create a banner using our selection of display banners for the classroom. Using our editable tray labels you can create a special section of the artboard for each student.

Hot tip: use manilla folders as the backdrop for each students' artwork. and use manilla folder clip fasteners, each week add your students' artwork to the folder.

At the end of a marking period, you can simply take the folder down off the wall and send it home as their art portfolio.

Art Elements Posters

OK, OK, it's not an art activity per see, but our Art Elements Poster Pack helps teachers visually explain the different art elements of Visual Arts to students with these beautifully designed posters for the classroom.

See more visual art resources for teachers plus fine arts resources too!

Share your art activity ideas in the comments of this blog... we'd love to hear from you!
Banner image via Shutterstock/Kolpakova Daria

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40+ Fun + Funky Art Activities for Kids to Try in the Classroom

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These fun art activities for kids and resources are perfect for busy teachers! Teach the elements of art using supplies you already keep in your classroom.

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This is a lesson plan on how to make stained glass sun catchers. This would be a fun and relatively easy activity to do with a class.

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Objectives

Students' will learn shapes and colors.

Materials

Clear tupperware covers or clear drink lids

Colorful tissue

Ribbon

Clear glue

Scissors

Hole puncher

Procedures

1. Punch a hole in the top of the lids.

2. Students cut geometric shapes out of the tissue paper.
3. Glue the tissue paper to the lid. Allow them to dry on completely.

4. Cut a piece of ribbon, and string it through the hole.

5. Hang projects in the window so they will catch the sun.

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Students' will learn shapes and colors. Clear tupperware covers or clear drink lids Colorful tissue Ribbon Clear glue Scissors Hole puncher Punch a hole in the top of the lids. Students cut geometric shapes out of the tissue paper. Glue the tissue paper to the lid. Allow them to dry on completely.

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Here are some ideas for all Elementary school grades for visual arts.

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These fun games and books were originally created for my students who enjoyed doing art when they finished work early. After creating fun coloring pages and games for 5 years, I spent another three years compiling them into a book, Teaching Art To Children: Elements Of Art Workbook. It's fun, educational and great for any!

The art workbook pairs well with the Elements of Art Bingo set with the same examples from the text! This Elements of Art Workbook will have your kids asking: "Can we work on another page?" The skills are easy to teach and fun to learn! Preparation is easy, just pick the skill and you're ready to go.

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These fun games and books were originally created for my students who enjoyed doing art when they finished work early. After creating fun coloring pages and games for 5 years, I spent another three years compiling them into a book, Teaching Art To Children: Elements Of Art Workbook.

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This is a 3rd grade lesson plan on how to turn text as image. I think that it would be super fun.

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PowerPoint shows examples of designs based on text and shows how to use Serif PagePlus to create an image from text (obviously other programs like illustrator or Photoshop could be used instead. See also Typography and Layout resources on this website.

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Text as Image lesson plan template and teaching resources. PowerPoint shows examples of designs based on text and shows how to use Serif PagePlus to create an image from text (obviously other programs like illustrator or Photoshop could be used instead.

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I found this great website with 36 art lessons! It is great because it has a picture of the art and then a link to how to create the art. The only thing about this website is there is a lot of adds.

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36 Elementary Art Lessons for Kids - one for every week of the school year! Perfect for homeschool families, teachers, scout leaders, and parents!

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This is an app that can be put on iPads. There are 8 different interactive activities based on famous works of visual art.

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Discover the world of art in a fun and easy way. Explore and learn about some of the most famous works from the Gallery's collection, make your own art, and share it with friends. The NGAkids Art Zone app for iPad lets you explore your inner artist.

Description

The NGAkids Art Zone app has eight interactive activities inspired by works in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, plus a sketchbook for freehand drawing and a personal exhibition space where users can save and display art created with the program. The child-friendly interface, easy-to-use tools, and the overarching emphasis on discovery, careful looking, and artistic self-expression make the NGAkids app educational and fun for the whole family.

NGAkids activities are designed for children to use-unassisted-in a recreational, nonacademic context. They are not art lessons, although our programs are extremely popular in schools and are often used as an adjunct to the traditional curriculum. The low-key activities preserve a sense of quiet exploration that encourages artistic expression and creativity. This absorbing, self-directed interaction has a long-term impact. The fact that children are encouraged to figure out how things work and to mentor each other adds a unique dimension to the experience, one that sparks a personal connection to art that often lasts a lifetime.

If you share artistic creations made with our app on social media, please be sure to include the hashtag #ngakids. We look forward to seeing what you make!

Don't have an iPad? Email [email protected] for the PC version of these interactives.

Special Features

The NGAkids app provides an immersive experience as children visit a virtual art museum and explore a variety of works spanning more than 300 years of art history. High-resolution graphics, careful attention to detail, and exposure to a variety of subjects, painting styles, and techniques help convey an authentic understanding of the artistic process and reinforce their familiarity with the fundamental elements of art. Although not games in the traditional sense, unexpected animation and audio features enliven the programs and help make learning fun.

There are 10 sections to explore:

* Portrait
* Landscape
* Seascape
* Still Life
* Action Painting
* Exploring Color
* Color Field
* Collage
* Sketchbook
* My Art Gallery

Works of art by a wide range of artists-including Edward Hicks, Fitz Henry Lane, Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Mark Rothko, Josef Albers, and Robert Rauschenberg, along with several anonymous American naive painters-serve as inspirational models.

The National Gallery of Art is committed to producing quality children's programming that provides informative, entertaining, and age-appropriate content for kids of all ages. We hope you and your children enjoy the NGAkids app, and we invite you to plan an in-person visit to the Gallery, where many of the original works of art that inspired this program are on display.

NGAkids is supported in part by a generous grant from the Ruth S. Willoughby Foundation. Apple, the Apple logo, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
Additional Resources

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Discover the world of art in a fun and easy way. Explore and learn about some of the most famous works from the Gallery's collection, make your own art, and share it with friends. The NGAkids Art Zone app for iPad lets you explore your inner artist.

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This Pinterest Board has some super fun and creative ideas for visual art projects in an elementary classroom.

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Above is a site with different home projects you could try to use in your class or send home assignments students can do. The site was made because of our unique circumstances of COVID-19.

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In the current situation of the widespread transmission of COVID-19, the hands of educators are tied. Knowing schools could be the first places to shut down, we're waiting to see what's expected of us. Will schools close? What happens if my school closes? Do I need to prepare for virtual learning? What if my students don't have access to the internet or technology? How do I teach when students have limited access to art materials at home?

These are all questions that have probably been on the top of your mind in recent weeks. We don't have the answers to all of these things, but we do know that trying to keep some normalcy in the routines of the art room at home is going to be a challenge.

The approach to this situation is not going to be one-size-fits-all. Every single art teacher has a unique situation and different student body they are trying to reach. Keeping that in mind, you, as the educator, will have to develop ways to plan and facilitate learning in a way that meets your specific situation. To help ease the pain of trying to figure out what to teach to your students at home, we've created a list of ideas to help inspire your planning. As you look at these ideas, keep in mind the circumstances of your students, and make adaptations to serve your students best.
Have all your curriculum resources available from anywhere: FLEX Curriculum
Alternate Paint Ideas

Unfortunately, many students will not have access to paint at home. Consider using this as a time for exploration to introduce students to new types of paint. Challenge students to think about what natural materials they might have, much like the people creating might have used. Try some of these homemade paint options:

Found Object Ideas

Found object artmaking is a medium that has been explored by artists throughout the ages. Let your students' creativity flow by creating with the objects they have around them.

Here is a list of found objects that might help inspire your students. Try one of these found object ideas:

3-D Lesson Ideas

Planning activities and lessons for 3-D classes like ceramics and sculpture might present an extra challenge. It won't be very easy to truly emulate the happenings of a ceramics class without clay at home. Maybe, you'll get lucky, and you can send each student home with a pound of clay, but this won't be the case for everyone. Instead, get creative and keep it simple. Here are some ideas to consider.

Create temporary sculptures with household items. Have your students photograph them, and use them as a drawing inspiration. When you eventually get back to the classroom, students can recreate their sculptures with other materials.

Have your students create stop-motion videos using clay-like material. This can be done with clay, play-doh, or even cookie dough.

Paper Pottery

Here are some additional clay recipes your students can try to make their own homemade clay:
Lessons with Limited Supplies

When it comes to limited supplies, drawing is going to be the best way to have our students find success. They can simply draw with the materials they have, any type of mark-making and paper will do the trick.

Use these drawing prompts to continue your students' drawing skills.

Observational Drawing

Now is the perfect time to refine observational drawing skills. To encourage your students to take note of the world around them, encourage them to participate in the "View From My Day " drawing challenge.
Other Drawing Activities:
Additional Art Challenges to Engage Your Students

Use and adapt these art challenges to fit the needs of your students.

These lists are just a few ideas to help you create lessons or art from home. Just as in times of uncertainty, there are no silver bullets or definitive answers, but there are often options. As art educators, you do have options at your fingertips; at AOEU, we are here to help you find them.
What are your go-to options when schools close? How do your students respond with a variety or lack of options?

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27 Art Activities and Lessons to Try at Home - The Art of Education University

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Art Education and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) In the current situation of the widespread transmission of COVID-19, the hands of educators are tied. Knowing schools could be the first places to shut down, we're waiting to see what's expected of us. Will schools close? What happens if my school closes?

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Here is a fun lesson plan for 1st graders on shape collages!

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Reggie Laurent is a self-taught artist living in Georgia. He creates very intricate abstract shape paintings. I saw his paintings online and I was immediately drawn to all of the fun patterns and colors.

My first graders learned about his abstract pictures. They are filled with lots of different shapes, fitted together like a puzzle. His artworks are highly detailed and very colorful.

The students learned about and used organic (freeform) and geometric shapes in their collages. Shapes were cut from construction paper and glued to black paper.

Materials (some Amazon Affiliate links used)

Black construction paper (I use Tru-Ray)

Assorted and neon colored construction paper

Glue sticks

Scissors (regular and/or decorative edged)

Crayola Metallic Markers (these metallic markers are clean, safe for kids and show up pretty nicely on black paper)

Kwik Stix solid tempera paint sticks (the white colors on the black construction paper were the Kwik Stix. They also used them to draw designs on top of the cut out shapes)

They used paint sticks and metallic markers to add patterns and details on top of the shapes and on the black paper. I got the idea for this project from this presentation on Shapely Abstractions. by Mrs. Phillips, who did a similar lesson with her students.

Here are some more of our finished shape collages. I love how they are all unique, busy, colorful and show the students' personalities.
More information on Reggie Laurent from Yessy Gallery Reggie Laurent Facebook Page
Interview with Reggie Laurent from Extra Imaginary

** Don't forget to enter to win a $10 gift card from Teachers pay Teachers. Sorry, I was having big technical difficulties on my blog and it took about 6 hours to fix, so if you were trying to enter last night, I apologize. The website should be up and running and you can enter now. The contest ends Sunday at midnight. **

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Abstract Shape Collages and Artist Reggie Laurent

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Reggie Laurent is a self-taught artist living in Georgia. He creates very intricate abstract shape paintings. I saw his paintings online and I was immediately drawn to all of the fun patterns and colors. My first graders learned about his abstract pictures. They are filled with lots of different shapes, fitted together like a puzzle.

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It's always fun having visual art integrated with a book. I love this list of ideas for art projects students could do while reading Harry Potter (one of my favorite books!)

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Since his debut in 1997, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling's boy wizard, has sold over 400 million books in 68 languages and led readers through more than 4,000 pages. Most importantly, Harry continues to unlock the magic of reading for children around the world. Transform your curriculum with these fun Potter teaching ideas! For more, check out the Harry Potter series in The Stacks by Scholastic.

Easy Crafts

These fun crafts are a cinch to make, even for Muggles. Use them to help set the stage for a Harry Potter skit, parade, or celebration.

Golden Snitches
What you need: Plastic ping-pong balls; white feathers; craft glue; gold spray paint, paint pens, markers, or glitter
What to do: Give a ball to each student. Paint or color the balls gold, or roll in craft glue and then glitter. When the surface is dry, glue a feather to either side. Time for Quidditch!

Harry Potter Glasses
What you need: Two black pipe cleaners and one white one for every kid
What to do: Pass out the pipe cleaners. Help students twist the pipe cleaners together and into an eyeglass shape. Wrap the white pipe cleaner around the bridge of the nose to appear like tape. Wear with Gryffindor pride.

Dragon Eggs
What you need: Balloons, newspaper strips, water, flour, paint
What to do: Mix one part flour to two parts water and dip the strips into the mixture. Apply the strips to the surface of blown-up balloons. When dry, pop the balloons and invite kids to paint the surface to resemble dragon eggs.

House Scarves
What you need: Yarn in the various house colors, cardboard scraps
What to do: Show children how to make a loom out of a cardboard scrap. Follow Diane Gilleland's directions in her blog on CraftStylish.

Magical Wands
What you need: Paper-towel tubes, small objects from home, tissue paper, rubber bands, decorations
What to do: Invite kids to place objects inside their tubes. These should represent a magical ability the child wishes to have. Seal with tissue paper and rubber bands. Decorate with stickers, etc.

Ways to Make the Series Manageable

Harry has helped thousands of kids discover the joy of reading. These techniques can give struggling readers a boost.

Listen to the Audio Books
We love narrator Jim Dale's recordings of the seven Harry Potter installments almost as much as the books themselves. Struggling readers can listen to a chapter, then read the same portion - or just listen to a section they are having trouble with.

Try Reading Partners
Pair a stronger reader with one who's still working on basic skills. Give the partners guided questions for discussion, but also allow time for open conversation. Have pairs choose their most interesting observation to share with the rest of the class.

Watch the Movie Previews
Use the film trailers (available on YouTube) as a way to tickle students' interest in the books, too. After students have read the book, discuss the differences between the book and movie versions.

Recognize Milestones
Celebrate when students have finished a chapter, section, book, or the entire series. Purchase an inexpensive witch's hat and decorate it with glittery stickers and stars. Let the student of honor wear the hat during silent reading time.

Take students on a Harry Potter-themed tour of the historic city.

Visit King's Cross
In honor of Hogwarts's secret platform 9¾, the station has erected a luggage cart that "disappears" into the wall. See the bewitched cart at On This Very Spot.

Wander Cecil Court
Said to be the real-world inspiration for Diagon Alley, this quirky section of London is filled with book and antique shops. Try "flying" there using Google Earth.

See the "Real" Hogwarts
In the Harry Potter movies, many of the scenes of Hogwarts were filmed in Gloucester Cathedral in London. Take a virtual tour of the Gloucester Cathedral.

Notable Numbers

There's no doubt about it, Harry has changed millions of lives. Here are a few key figures.

400 million copies sold worldwide

68 languages in which Harry is published

200 countries sell Harry Potter in bookstores

228 weeks Harry Potter spent on the New York Times bestseller list

51% of kids say they did not read books for fun until reading Harry Potter

74% of kids say reading Harry Potter made them more interested in reading other books

65% of kids say they do better in school after reading Harry Potter

Wizard Writing Lessons

Enlist Harry, Hermione, and Ron to help teach students the 6+1 traits of writing.

Ideas
Keep a chart of the "big ideas" in the series, like "the chosen one," "family," and "sacrifice." Have students use different-colored highlighters to mark passages that reflect these themes, thereby getting a visual representation of how often Rowling returns to the same ideas.

Organization
Review Rowling's organization on various levels, from paragraph to chapter to book to entire series. For example, each book 1) occurs over one school year; 2) includes a back-to-school scene, a holiday scene, and a climactic scene; and 3) moves between the real and wizard worlds.

Voice
Make flash cards with quotes from various characters in the series. Have students read the quotes aloud to a partner; the partner must then guess who said the quote. How do students know who said what?

Word Choice
Keep a running T-chart of unusual words students come across as they read the series. Use one column to record words Rowling invented for her books, such as Quidditch and Muggles. Use the other column to record real words that aren't familiar to students, like balaclava.

Sentence Fluency
As students read, invite them to record favorite lines in a journal. Periodically have children share some of these lines with the rest of the class. What makes the quote work on a sentence level? Is there anything students would change or add to improve the fluency?

Conventions
Discuss the fact that the international versions of Harry Potter are slightly different based on each country's conventions. Several words have different spellings, for example, and others are particular to specific countries. Why is it important for the various editions to use the conventions of that country?

Presentation
Ask students what contributes to the consistent look of the series. Discuss factors such as font, illustration, chapter headings, and jacket style.

Magical Math Ideas

Teachers at every grade level say they've used counting galleons and mixing potions to inspire mathematical thinking. Here are some of our favorite activities.

For Grades 1-2
At this age level, chances are you are reading the series out loud in class. Try giving each student a dry-erase board or small notebook. As you read, periodically stop and ask students to sketch a quick picture of what they've just heard or what they think might happen next. Not only will this aid in reading and listening comprehension, but you can highlight illustrations that lend themselves to mathematical discussion. For example, if a student draws Harry and Hermione shopping for school supplies, talk about how many books they might buy with a given number of galleons. Draw further pictures if necessary to help students visualize the concepts under review.

For Grades 3-5
Invite students to assemble magic potions to practice fractions. Cut large kettle shapes from black construction or butcher paper. Then give students a round paper plate to attach to their kettles. Challenge children to "fill their kettles" by coloring portions of their paper plates according to the potion ingredients mentioned in one of the Harry Potter books. Rowling rarely gives precise measurements, but students should determine exactly how much of each ingredient goes into the potion, for example, 1/2 leeches, 1/4 powdered bicorn horn, and 1/4 knotgrass.

For Grades 6-8
Harry and his friends spend a great deal of time worrying about their O.W.L. exams, or Ordinary Wizarding Levels. As a way to review material at the end of a chapter or unit, challenge students to write their own O.W.L. exams covering the topics you have been studying. The twist? Students must create word problems related to the series. If you've been studying probability, for example, students might use a table to determine the probability of each Hogwarts house winning the House Cup. Have students work in partners and then exchange their O.W.L with another twosome.

Science Videos

Many of Harry Potter's "magical" elements are becoming real-world possibilities, thanks to new technology. Watch these YouTube videos to learn more!

Watch The REAL Daily Prophet to see an explanation of emerging technology that embeds moving pictures and video into newsprint.

Watch Invisible Cloak for Soldiers to see how scientists are developing technology that uses tiny, outward-facing cameras to simulate invisibility.

Quidditch Pointers

Schools all over the country have adopted Muggle versions of Quidditch, every wizard's favorite game. Want to try it? Check out these websites for help!

Forget the books' complicated rules - we like PECentral's simplified version the best. All you need are balls of various sizes, hula hoops, and a big, empty space for kids to run around.

Visit the official site of the International Quidditch Association (yes, there is such a thing!). Watch videos and follow the annual World Cup action.

If you don't have time for a real-life game of Quidditch, you can play the online Harry Potter Quidditch Game.

Ways to Commemorate Reading 4,224 Pages

For many kids, the Harry Potter series represents the longest books they've ever read. Here are five ways to keep track of that singular achievement.

With a Paper Chain: Kids can add a new loop for every 10 pages (or 100). Invite them to write a new vocabulary word from the current book on every piece of the chain.

In a Graph: Make a giant one out of butcher paper or use the interactive whiteboard. Have students color in blank squares as they read.

Using House Points: Award points to small groups based on number of pages completed. Trade for extra reading time.

Through Money: Put a penny in a jar for each page read. At the end of Deathly Hallows, have a celebratory pizza party with the money collected.

By Owl Post: Post a paper owl with a flap for the beak. Have kids write the total pages they've read each week on a sticky note and place it under the beak.

Online Home for Harry Potter

Visit Harry in The Stacks by Scholastic, an online experience dedicated to J.K. Rowling's series. Kids can demonstrate their knowledge about Harry and cast magical spells on their own!

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Harry Potter Crafts and Activities | Scholastic

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Since his debut in 1997, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling's boy wizard, has sold over 400 million books in 68 languages and led readers through more than 4,000 pages. Most importantly, Harry continues to unlock the magic of reading for children around the world. Transform your curriculum with these fun Potter teaching ideas!

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This is a cool poster to have up in the classroom that will give the students something to refer to during visual arts lessons. It can also inspire creativity in them as they create their own visual art.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/19/43/58/194358d0c8c5ed395a8eed3a2550b0a2.jpg

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This is a fun lesson plan, designed for grades 1st-3rd, on symmetry and nature.

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Objectives & Outcomes

Students will be able to identify symmetry in nature.

Materials Needed

geometric shapes (tangrams)

mirrors (for whole class or pairs)

construction paper

oil pastels

watercolors

tempera paints

example of finished BIG BUGS

Procedure

Opening to Lesson

Think-Pair-Share: Show pictures of different things that have symmetry, then pictures of things in nature that have symmetry. "What do you notice about these things?"

Think-Pair-Share your thoughts with your partner: Students should answer that they look the same on both sides. Symmetry-having exactly the same thing on both sides, mirror image. Line of symmetry- the imaginary line that you can draw to show the mirror image of an item that has symmetry

Body of Lesson

Direct Teaching

The teacher will use a student to help demonstrate Symmetry: "Look at ____. Humans are mostly Symmetrical. We can draw an imaginary line down a human and see that both sides are the same." (take masking tape and place on the forehead of the student down to the floor to demonstrate a line of symmetry).

Guided Practice 1

PARTNER A/B: the teacher will show how the geometric shapes she placed on the table will turn into a full symmetrical object with the use of a mirror. Then have students use their own geometric shapes to create a pattern/image then use their individual mirrors to see the mirror image.

Guided Practice 2

The teacher will create a BIG BUG using symmetry: Students will watch the first 2 steps then continue to create their own big bug. The teacher will fold the construction paper vertically, then draw only half the bug with black oil pastel crayon, then fold the paper over and rub the sides together. This will create a mirror image on the other side.

Students will then create their own BIG BUG by following these steps

Independent Practice

Students will paint their BIG BUG's using tempera and/or water colors to create a symmetrical pattern on their bugs. (Remind students that symmetry means it looks the same on both sides so their painting should have the same pattern on both sides of the bug).

Closing

Ask volunteers to ask debrief questions:

1. What did you learn today?

2. who asked a good question/contributed to today's lesson?

3. what did you like about today's activity?

4. how can we make it better next time?

5. how can we use this outside of the classroom? or why is this important to the world outside our classroom?

Assessment & Evaluation

Through guided questions, close monitoring and informal observation; the teacher will be able to assess student's ability and understanding of the subject being introduced. Through individually assessing during independent practice and reviewing during guided practice the teacher will be able to evaluate students.

Modification & Differentiation

Students may work in groups or individually in order to complete their assignments. In order to accommodate for all students, allow extra time to review for lower students and extra worksheets to occupy the time of advanced students.

Related Lesson Plans

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Bugs and Design Lesson Plan | Teacher.org

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Students will be able to identify symmetry in nature. geometric shapes (tangrams) mirrors (for whole class or pairs) construction paper oil pastels watercolors tempera paints example of finished BIG BUGS Think-Pair-Share: Show pictures of different things that have symmetry, then pictures of things in nature that have symmetry.

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During field, we did this visual art activity with our 4th graders. Instead of leafs, we colored different types of flowers because they were learning about the parts of a plant in Science. The kids loved it!

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Here is an article with ideas for the Best Color Theory Art Lessons. There are resources and examples for doing so with all ages.

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Leah Newton Art is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post may include affiliate links, and I may receive a commission when you click on one of these links and make a purchase.

These are my best Color Theory art lessons for kids ages 4-14. They focus on multiple art elements and principles, and embrace the magic of the rainbow.

Color Theory is one of the most basic elements of art. I teach this unit every other year. This helps students stay connected to the important vocabulary. One year we create a color theory focused project. The next year, focus on a different element of art. However, even if we are not making these projects, I still begin the year with a color theory review.

Ask students to make a list of Disney characters. This list is made up of characters representing color groupings: primary colors, secondary colors, etc. (The power point for this can be found with each lesson.) Helping kids find art all around them continues to reinforce an understanding of this concept and makes art fun and engaging. My favorite thing is having a first grader point out and call a group of colors tertiary.

Here are my favorite art lessons celebrating all things Color. These lessons were taught in grades TK-8th grade. Each lesson focuses on an element of art or principle of design and use a variety of tools and techniques from watercolor to acrylic paint, chalk to oil pastel, printmaking and collage.

While I have labeled the artwork with the grade I taught it for, many of these can easily bridge across more than one grade level. Click on each title to go straight to the lesson plan.

Follow me on Pinterest! Click Here

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Best Color Theory Art Lessons for kids Leah Newton Art

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Leah Newton Art is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post may include affiliate links, and I may receive a commission when you click on one of these links and make a purchase.

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This website has a list of food art ideas. Art we can eat 🤤

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Twenty five adorable food art ideas that will help children eat their fruits and veggies! There are great snack and meal ideas that all kids will love!
**This post is made in partnership with Smucker's Uncrustables. All opinions are my own.

It can be so hard to get children to eat a balanced diet, and make sure they get their full servings of fruits and vegetables each day. I've compiled a list of 25 adorable, fun, and delicious food art ideas that children will love! Each of these meal, and snack ideas are loaded full of fruits or vegetables that your children won't be able to resist!

This week on instagram I shared 4 cute lunch ideas made with fruits and vegetables and Smucker's Uncrustables! The Smucker's brand loves families and wants to help make family meals more memorable! They know how important it is for growing children, especially, to get their daily vitamins through healthy eating. And I think these cute meal and snack ideas are a great solution for families!

Fish Food Art from Like Mother Like Daughter

Owl Food Art from Like Mother Like Daughter

Olive Penguins on Persnickety Plates

Turkey Fruit Platter on The First Year Blog

Lion Food Art from Like Mother Like Daughter

Banana Sandwich-o-saurus from IdaFrosk

Vegetable Bouquet on Eats Amazing

Bee Food Art from Like Mother Like Daughter

Road Trip Food Art on How About a Cookie

Frozen Banana Penguins on Reading Confetti

Disney Princess Food Art on Like Mother Like Daughter

Caterpillar Food Art Plate on Eats Amazing

Animal Sandwiches on Meet the Dubiens

Mickey Mouse Food Art on Like Mother Like Daughter

Bug Bagel Pizzas on Tablespoon

Grape Caterpillar Kebobs on Princess and the Frog

Olaf Food Art on Disney Family

Ocean Themed Bento Lunch on Lunch Box Dad

Vegetable Skeleton on Feeding Four Little Monkeys

Tow-Mater Food Art on Disney Family

Rainy Day Food Art on The Kitchn

Summer Butterfly from Meet the Dubiens

The Frog Prince on Fridge Check

Butterfly Ziplock Snacks on Juggling with Kids

Tiger Food Art on Kimberly Hamner's Pinterest

For more cute food ideas using Smucker's, check out their website, facebook, instagram and pinterest.

MORE FROM LIKEMOTHERLIKEDAUGHTER

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25 Food Art Ideas (To Get your Kids to Eat their Fruits and Vegetables)

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Twenty five adorable food art ideas that will help children eat their fruits and veggies! There are great snack and meal ideas that all kids will love! **This post is made in partnership with Smucker's Uncrustables. All opinions are my own.

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For my process drama lesson, my reference material was a Caldecott Medal awarded book called Abraham Lincoln. The illustrations in the book are made through stone lithography. I thought it would be fun to show the class this video on stone lithography before reading the book.

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This is a lesson that would be great for Kindergarten and first grade! It is an alphabet letter book that is designed to model an illuminated book from the Middle Ages. However, this could be easily adapted to model any other type of book or artist.  Super fun!

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Grades/Level: Lower Elementary (K-2)
Subjects: Visual Arts, English-Language Arts
Time Required: 2-Part Lesson
2 hours
Author: Valerie Schwartz, 1st Grade Teacher, Clover Avenue Elementary School, Los Angeles Unified School District

Lesson Overview

Students create a class alphabet book or "ABCDarium," a book that uses images of animals or objects to illustrate each letter of the alphabet. The book is in the style of a medieval illuminated manuscript and incorporates both art and writing. Students decorate large uppercase letters of the alphabet and draw an original picture to illustrate each letter.

Learning Objectives

Students should be able to:
* use shape, texture, and color to decorate an uppercase letter.
* use line and color to draw an animal or object whose name begins with a given letter of the alphabet.
* use descriptive words and good penmanship to create a sentence describing the animal or object they have illustrated for their assigned letter.

Materials

* Plant and Animal Alphabet Coloring Book by Leslie Tillett, Dover Publications, Inc., NY.
* A Medieval Alphabet to Illuminate, Bellerophon Books, Santa Barbara, CA.
* Uppercase letters of the alphabet drawn in outline form on 8 1/2 x 11 in. paper
* Small torn pieces of the following types of paper, both solids and patterns: tin foil, gold tissue paper, and vellum paper
* 8 1/2 x 11 in. pieces of paper with sentence starters printed on them-one for each letter of the alphabet
* 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. pieces of paper for each student
* Glue, newspaper, pencils, crayons, or colored pencils

Lesson Steps

1. Using the Plant and Animal Alphabet Coloring Book, photocopy one or two letters or a complete alphabet for each student using the black and white pages as a blackline master.

2. Use the colored page of the book to show students examples of decorated letters. Have the students color their photocopied letters, focusing on primary colors (red, blue, and yellow).

3. Introduce the following vocabulary: illuminate, manuscript, handmade, hue, reflective, texture, design, collage, author, and illustrator.

4. Show images from the Getty Museum of decorated letters from the illuminated manuscripts collection. Using the new vocabulary, have a discussion with the students about what they see. Ask students the following questions: What colors do you see? Do you see shiny areas? What materials do you think the artists used to make those areas shiny and reflective? Do you see different hues in the same color family, such as light green and dark green? Is it difficult or easy to see the alphabet letter when a design is part of the letter? How do art, writing, and reading all come together in these books? Do you think this is this more like a painting or more like a book? Why? What does an author do? What does an illustrator do? How do you know? Can the author and an illustrator of a book be the same person? What makes you say this? What is your evidence? Encourage students to speak in complete, coherent sentences.

5. Place newspaper on the desks and give each student an 8 1/2 x 11 in. piece of paper with the outline of an uppercase letter of the alphabet drawn on the paper. In order to complete all 26 uppercase letters, some students may need to do more than one letter.

6. Pass out different types of paper. Explain to students that they will tear the paper by hand into a variety of shapes to create a collage design in the letter. Students will lay out their collages before they glue the pieces down. Encourage them to experiment with overlapping the papers to create different textures, contrasts, and hues. Once students' designs are finalized, pass out the glue and instruct students to glue down one piece of paper at a time, starting with the bottom layers and working to the top layer. After all the letters are completed, place them around the room to allow the glue to dry completely.

7. Pass out one sheet of 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. paper to each student. Ask students to draw a picture of an object or animal that begins with the letter that they decorated in step 6. For example, students who decorated the letter S could draw a snail, a snake, or a stegosaurus. Students should draw on the paper horizontally.

8. Give each student an 8 1/2 x 11 in. piece of paper with a preprinted sentence starter centered in the top 1/3 of the paper that goes with the letter that the student collaged and illustrated. For example, "S is for ____________." Each student will write a sentence starting with his or her assigned letter that describes the image he or she illustrated in step 7. The sentence should include adjectives to describe the illustration. For example, a student might write, "S is for a spotted salamander hiding under a leaf." Glue the illustration made in step 7 to the bottom half of the sentence page.

9. Make a class book consisting of a title page, each student's illuminated letter and sentence/illustration page that goes with the illuminated letter. Place the book in a special area of the room for all students and guests to enjoy. You may also wish to display the book at the school's open house or at other campus events.

Standards Addressed

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

Grades K-2

SPEAKING AND LISTENING
K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and text with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
K.4 Describe familiar people places, things, and events, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.
1.4 Describe familiar people places, things, and events, with relative details expressing ideas and feelings more clearly.
1.6 Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 1 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
2.4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audible in coherent sentences.
2.6 Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)

READING
Foundational Skills
K.1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
K.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation and in text.
1.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
2.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation and in text.

Visual Arts Standards for California Public Schools

Grade 1
Artistic Perception
1.3 Identify the elements of art in objects in nature, in the environment, and in works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, and texture.

Historical and Cultural Context
3.1 Recognize and discuss the design of everyday objects from various time periods and cultures.

Language Arts Standards for California Public Schools

Grade 1
Writing Strategies
1.2 Use descriptive words when writing.
1.3 Print legibly and space letters, words, and sentences appropriately.

Sentence Structure
1.1 Write and speak in complete, coherent sentences.

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Create an Illuminated Alphabet Word Book (Education at the Getty)

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Grades/Level: Lower Elementary (K-2) Subjects: Visual Arts, English-Language Arts Time Required: 2-Part Lesson 2 hours Author: Valerie Schwartz, 1st Grade Teacher, Clover Avenue Elementary School, Los Angeles Unified School District Lesson Overview Students create a class alphabet book or "ABCDarium," a book that uses images of animals or objects to illustrate each letter of the alphabet.

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I love this art idea! It would be best for younger grades, and it is a great way to make art for the classroom and teach students about positive/negative space/lines and color. The teacher does a great job at explaining this tool, and it would be a project that wouldn't take up too much time!

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Hand Line Design Art Lesson for Second Grade- 1st Art Project of the Year

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2nd grade lesson plan on Upside Down art, giving children a different perspective on their art while learning about Michelangelo.

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Objectives & Outcomes

Students should be able to create a unique drawing from a different perspective, just as when Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Materials Needed

Paper, paints (for older students), crayons/markers (for younger students), tape, floor covering where needed

Procedure

Opening to Lesson

Begin by asking students if they have ever heard of Michelangelo or the Sistine Chapel.

Offer younger students a simple explanation with a picture of the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel while on his back.

This made the painting difficult, but he created a beautiful and famous piece of art.

Explain that today they will try to create something beautiful while painting like Michelangelo.

Body of Lesson

Have students tape a piece of paper under their desks or tables.

Have all art supplies at arm's reach.

Allow students to create a unique piece of art, but explain that the whole paper should be covered.

Closing

Have students display art pieces and explain how it was different to paint upside down.

Assessment & Evaluation

The students will create a unique picture from a different perspective, upside down, just as Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. Art work should be neat.

Modification & Differentiation

Special needs students may be given extended time or a different surface on which to draw.

Related Lesson Plans

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Upside Down Art Lesson Plan | Teacher.org

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Students should be able to create a unique drawing from a different perspective, just as when Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Paper, paints (for older students), crayons/markers (for younger students), tape, floor covering where needed Begin by asking students if they have ever heard of Michelangelo or the Sistine Chapel.

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This is a lesson plan for a Kindergarten Class! It is about how everyone has differences and that's good and okay! It uses a story book and an art project.

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Objectives & Outcomes

After a lesson on friendship, accepting differences, and positive qualities, the learner will compare and contrast dance movements between peers. The learner will also draw a picture of what they do or have that is different than anyone else to put into our own class' "It's Okay to Be Different" book.

Materials Needed

"It's Okay to Be Different" by Todd Parr

markers

crayons

paper

dynamic music

Vocabulary

Procedure

Opening to Lesson

Each student will create a short movement and sound.

One student will begin, then the next will do the same movement and sound, just a little louder.

This will continue until the movement has reached the creator, who will do the loudest and largest sound and movement.

Discussion about the game: What was hard or easy about the game? Was there any sound or movement that was exactly the same? Were there any similarities? Why do you think we all did a different movement and sound?

Use music and dance vocabulary

Body of Lesson

Teacher will explain begin to read "It's Okay to Be Different".

Ask: What did you like about the book? Was there anything you did not like? Why did it say in the book that it was "okay" to have all those different things? Why is it okay to be different? What if we weren't all different?

Dance

Children will listen to a 20 second clip of a dynamic song (any song can work as long as it has elements of fast, slow, high, low)

In pairs, children will respond spontaneously to the music

Students will then share perform their spontaneous movements for their peers

Teacher and student will compare and contrast movements.

We all listened to the same song, why were everyone's movements different? How is this similar to the story "It's Okay to Be Different" by Todd Parr.

Write responses on to chart paper.

Independent Practice

Close your eyes and imagine that we all had the same hairstyle, the same shirt on, and the same parents. How would this make you feel?

Think of one thing that makes you different from everybody else.

Keep it to yourself.

Teacher will explain to students that the class is going to make their own "It's Okay to Be Different" book.

Students will draw a picture of what they have or do that makes them different from everyone else.

Teacher will collect all pages and staple them with a front cover.

Closing

At this time, students and teacher will gather back on the rug to view their finished book.

Students will discuss their own works of art, using appropriate art vocabulary (e.g., color, shape/form, texture).

Students will discuss how and why they made a specific work of art.

Assessment & Evaluation

Informal/Anecdotal Assessment

Informal teacher observation of student participation as compare and contrast dance movements.

Illustration

Teacher will assess students' ability to find a characteristic that makes him/her different.

Related Lesson Plans

Ready to Pursue a Master's Degree in Education? Make it Your Time!

Teacher.org's lesson plans encourage conceptual understanding and lifelong learning skills in students as well as empower and motivate teachers.

Are you currently teaching but have the desire to pursue a Master's Degree in Education? Follow your passion for teaching but at the same time give yourself the tools to further your career and learning. Whether it's higher salaries, advanced career opportunities, or leadership positions, earning your Master's Degree in Education is one worth pursuing. Make it your time!

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Friendship - Accepting Differences Lesson Plan | Teacher.org

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Lesson Plan: Friendship - Accepting Differences, Grades: K - 2nd, Subject:

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This link is an article for different arts games to play in the classroom. I love that it's not just projects, but different activities to help spur creativity.

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Having a variety of art games at your fingertips is almost mandatory for any art teacher. Yes - of course - games can be used as class rewards, "art fun days", or (#dontjudgeme) "time fillers." BUT, art games can ALSO serve an educational and quite important purpose.

Art games can act as aids to classroom learning, can be used as testing and assessment tools, review activities, hands-on ways for students to apply knowledge, fun ways to introduce new concepts, lesson wrap-ups, or (#letsbereal) simply as art-related amusement on the last day of school or other holidays.

Here are a list of ten tried-and-true art games to play in any art classroom, elementary to high school (and every grade between):

In my classroom, I call this the "Creativity Game" and I made this activity more game-like by typing out hundreds of random nouns on slips of paper, and placing them in a bag. Two students then blindly reach in the bag and pull out a 'mystery word'. The students are given one to two minutes to come up with an idea, sketch it out and name it. As they work, I observe their drawings and ask the most creative thinkers to share their ideas with the class when time is up.

2.) The Artwork Memory / Matching Game - Artwork memory games - inspired by the child's matching game "Concentration" - can be perfect free-time activities for elementary art students. The "Art Memo" game comes with 72 artwork images and can be purchased for around $20 . However, if you have a color printer you can easily make your own Art Memory game by photographing student artwork or finding art online, printing out 2 of each image, then laminating the cards (or glue onto note cards).

6.) Educational Art Novelties - When students have additional activity time in art class, they can play solo art games and puzzles by looking at hidden-picture art books (such as "" by the Metropolitan Museum of Art), using mosaic tiles to create pictures, working on art-based jigsaw puzzles, working on origami, and studying optical illusions. Students can easily create their own artwork novelties and games by designing (a Chinese puzzle, easily made with paper) or creating (a toy popular in the Victorian era).

10.) Online Art Games - There are thousands of online art games and activities that are safe for students to play in school (some more so than others, so be sure to check them out beforehand). These can be a great educational activity for students who finish their work early. Check out the Incredible Art Department's list of for a huge list of online art games and resources.

There is a place for games in the art classroom; despite their entertainment value, they can also serve an educational purpose. Try out some of these new games, or just add them to your mental file of ideas.

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Having a variety of art games at your fingertips is almost mandatory for any art teacher. Yes - of course - games can be used as class rewards, "art fun days", or (#dontjudgeme) "time fillers." BUT, art games can ALSO serve an educational and quite important purpose.

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One of the topics that stood out to me, is that visual art can be therapeutic for students, and can boost their academic scores.

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Earlier this month I attended a student art show in my home town hosted by a group of local Minneapolis artists.

One of the artists is a close friend of mine, who is double majoring in visual art and neuroscience at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She is studying how art education and therapy impacts the cognitive functioning of people who struggle with mental health.

I thought this was an incredibly interesting area of study and decided to research it more. The information that I found on the benefits of art education made me a firm believer visual art participation is something that should be promoted in both adults and children as a way to deal with mental health challenges and stresses of daily life.

The field of art education in conjunction with mental health is a relatively new area of study, but one that has proven to be incredibly effective.

A published in the Disability and Society Journal concluded art education can be used as a direct therapeutic tool, but can also help those with mental illness find a way to reintegrate into society. Learning self expression through visual arts can be used to improve one's environment, change the way society views mental illness and provide people struggling with mental health with a voice.

While these benefits are obviously incredibly important and tangible, art education can have even more positive impacts when implemented at an early age.

A study conducted by Ipsos, the third largest global market research company, found more than 90 percent of Americans believe the arts are an important part of academic curriculum. In theory, arts are valued. Yet, in practice they are often the first programs to be scrapped when budgets are cut.

In the past decade, the amount of students receiving arts education has decreased considerably.

This is partially because of the growth of standardized-test-based systems, which pressure schools to spend funding on tested subjects. These pressures have disproportionately affected access to arts in a negative way for students from marginalized neighborhoods. For example, a federal government report found schools designated as 'needing improvement,' which were largely schools with higher percentages of minority students, were more likely to experience decreases in funding spent on arts education.

When schools cut funding for arts programs, they are losing much more than simply a creative outlet for students, they are denying students a valuable therapeutic tool.

Students who have art in their daily curriculum see improvements in their academic, social and emotional outcomes, according to a study conducted by the Brookings Research Institute. This study found arts education affected students' school engagement, college aspirations and their ability to empathize with others.

In terms of school engagement, students were more likely to agree that school work is enjoyable, and less overwhelming than the group who did not receive any art education.

Although the benefits of art education cannot be measured in a standardized test, it is clear that they are significant. From creating a welcoming academic environment for children to helping adults cope with mental health struggles, the societal gains that art education can provide us are nearly endless. By increasing arts funding in all levels of education, we can ensure that as a society we are more engaged, successful, empathetic, and most importantly, happy.
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The Benefits of Visual Art in Education - The Daily Cardinal

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Earlier this month I attended a student art show in my home town hosted by a group of local Minneapolis artists. One of the artists is a close friend of mine, who is double majoring in visual art and neuroscience at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

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This is a link that has visual arts lesson plans and ideas for all grades and you can specifically look at grades k-3.

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Share My Lesson is a destination for educators who dedicate their time and professional expertise to provide the best education for students everywhere. Share My Lesson members contribute content, share ideas, get educated on the topics that matter, online, 24/7. We issue Creative Commons licenses, and we do not share our members' private data with anyone.

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Here is a link with visual arts activity's! They have some really great ideas for all grade levels and fun activities to do with your class.

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We believe in a future where all kids, regardless of their zip code, have access to the tools they need to become adaptable, creative, and empathetic adults.

The visual arts teach these skills.

We support teachers in providing a quality art education regardless of where or what they teach.

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We believe in a future where all kids, regardless of their zip code, have access to the tools they need to become adaptable, creative, and empathetic adults. The visual arts teach these skills. We support teachers in providing a quality art education regardless of where or what they teach.

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Below, post a link to a music activity, video, article, etc. and post a brief description of it in the spot below your name. Look for resources that are tied to K-6 education. Here is my sample post.

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Want to increase your little one's learning power? It really is as simple as turning on the radio or tapping your toes. When a young child listens to music, plays a musical instrument, or dances, the brain starts to form connections that pave the way for learning opportunities.

Not only are there great developmental benefits to music activities for kids, but also they offer a fun way to engage with your youngster. Try the 10 games in the list below for children to encourage play through music, songs, dance, and sounds.

What Music Activities Teach Kids

There are many learning benefits of music games for young children. Benefits may include increased language skills and math comprehension.

A 2011 study found a significant connection between a child's participation in music programs and preparedness for reading and writing skills. It noted that phonological awareness, which is an awareness of speech sounds (vital to language), can be enhanced through musical interaction. It even states, "[I]t seems highly likely that language and music share processing mechanisms."

Music and math are also very intertwined, so it would only make sense for one area to build on another. Music can teach children about rhythm, which relates to the mathematical concept of patterns. Practicing a repetitive nursery rhyme, where the chorus is the duplicating pattern, can easily introduce this idea. Think along the lines of "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and how many times certain lines are recited.

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10 Music Games and Activities for Little Kids

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Want to increase your little one's learning power? It really is as simple as turning on the radio or tapping your toes. When a young child listens to music, plays a musical instrument, or dances, the brain starts to form connections that pave the way for learning opportunities.

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Below, post a link to a drama activity, video, article, etc. and post a brief description of it in the spot below your name. Look for resources that are tied to K-6 education. Here is my sample post.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my links, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full disclosure here.

Fun Pantomime Ideas and Games

Need some fun pantomime ideas and games? Look no further. Here you will find a list of pantomime activities. Building a sense of safety and trust when introducing Drama activities into your program is essential. The following pantomime games and exercises are ideal in establishing that trust between the players; they also will sharpen concentration and get everybody in a good mood!

IMPORTANT! It is advised to use these exercises-as well a pair and group improv- early in your drama club to rely on each other.

These games and exercises are useful in any drama and theater education environment- as well as any environment in which group dynamics is important! You may discover that youth may want to repeat some of these games and exercises more than once during their dramatic experience!!!

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PANTOMIME GAMES

1. MIRROR EXERCISE

Everyone should remember the old "I Love Lucy" series; a favorite of most is the episode when Lucy meets Harpo Marx. In one scene, Lucy has dressed exactly like Harpo; as the latter crosses a room, Lucy crosses it the same way. Harpo looks at his "reflection" and proceeds to "mirror" these crazy movements with arms, hands, legs, etc. Lucy matches him, move for move. A very funny scene - and exceptionally well done. This is exactly the same premise for "The Mirror Exercise".

There are two players. "A" is the follower (mirror) and "B" starts all the action. "A" reflects all B's movements and facial expressions.

Simple activities for "B" to initiate are washing his/her face, getting dressed, brushing teeth - etc.
This exercise promotes inventiveness, clowning, and timing - the children should be encouraged to be as specific as they can with each movement. When "B" is finsihed, it is "A's" turn.

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2. PASSING THE FACE

Apart from a drama activity, this can also be used by actors just prior to a performance, in the green room. It enables the participants to overcome their fears, and become more relaxed and at ease with themselves.

The whole group should stand in a circle, holding hands.

One person in the circle begins by turning to the person on his/her right and making a face - it could be an emotional face or a funny face.

The next person then makes another face and passes it to the person next to him/her, and so on.

The expressions should not be copied, but variations of a theme to be explored- such as each one thinking of a different emotional or funny face.

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3. FOLLOW THE LEADER

All players except one are in a circle; one player in the middle. The middle player closes his/her eyes - and the rest of the group quietly chooses a leader.

The middle player opens their eyes and tries to guess the leader by actions.

The entire group follows the leader, in everything he/she does.

As soon as the middle player discovers who the leader is -the game is over.

Participants should be encouraged to be as specific as they can with each movement This only works if movements are clear, not too fast, and if the group `follows the leader` as fast and as precisely as possible.

________________

4. HUMAN PROPS

Ask one player to start doing an activity that somehow broadly defines a location. Example: When someone starts typing she/he might be in a home or office.

The other players then become the other objects in the environment.

If the first player recognizes the objects, he/she can start using the props built by other players in the environment.

Tell players to go for the obvious: in just about any room you could be a plant, a door or a table.

Extension: When done, ask the first player to name any `object` built in the environment. You can use this as a handle for a performance. When a player is asked to sit down, and there are no chairs on the scene, another player can become the chair for the first player to sit on.

Other examples are ticking clocks in haunted houses, cabinets and closets. Ideas are endless.

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5. PANTOMIME TUG OF WAR

Divide the group into 2 groups and have them mime a Tug-o-war fight. See that the " mimed rope " does not stretch or shrink and Remember Chivalry-somebody wins and one group graciously looses.

Variation: Do 2 per 2. Played in pairs. One player holds his/her hand open with fingers upward-about 2-3 inches from their partner's face. The leader then starts moving their hand about slowly, while the partner attempts to keep their face at exactly the same distance from the hand. Without touching, it should seem as if the hand is pulling or pushing the face about. Switch sides and partners after a minute or two. Variation: Use both hands.

6. THE PASSING GAME

The leader suggests an IMAGINARY object to be passed around in a circle. This object to passed around can be a pea, a huge balloon, or a sack of potatoes...etc.
The object is passed around from person to person and the idea is to try to keep it from falling and to indicate its size and weight by the action. (No talking)

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7. BODY TALK GAME

With bodies and expression (no words) have children take turns acting out the below commands. One at a time, each takes a piece of paper from a container. As youth pantomime it, the group or Team guesses the action.

Hooray!

I'm sorry.

I didn't do it!

Shame on you.

I didn't mean to do it.

What did you say?

I don't know.

Come here, quick!

Good job!

Oh No! and so on-

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8. INDIVIDUAL, PAIR AND GROUP PANTOMIME SUGGESTIONS -
Group instructions are below this list
* Try to open a window to a fire escape.

* Attempt to open a stuck door.

* Opening a birthday present that they've always wanted.

* Eating a bowl full of something really disgusting.

* A monkey eating a banana.

* Become a swan swimming gracefully on a still peaceful lake-next become a frog jumping in a pond.

* Imitate the actions involved in everyday activities: mowing the lawn, making a bed, moving the trash can, sweeping the floor, digging the garden, etc.

* Buying shoes, hats, food or a car.

* Putting on a pair of shoes: ballerina-fireman, then acting out the character.

* Making a telephone call.

* Watching TV.

* Felling trees.

* Spending a day at the beach. Contrast a hot day with a cold or wet day.

* Spring cleaning.

* Going camping and setting up a camp (put up a tent, chop wood, build fire, etc.) This is a good group pantomime!

* Shipwreck.

* Family car ride (flat tire, something left at home).

* Trip to the zoo.

* Going out into the snow.

* Having a picnic (maybe cows (or bees) arrive unexpectedly).

* Walking in the country (rainstorm).

* Going on a train journey (lose ticket).

* Flying a kite (tangled in a tree or lost).

* A misunderstanding or quarrel.

* Interviewing a famous person.

* A deep sea diver meets trouble.

* Having a nightmare.

* Turning into robots.

* Share the Work! Pairs of children working at something-with an imaginary object between them. (Spreading a sheet; pulling taffy, etc.)

* Become an elephant in a circus. Show how enormous and heavy you are by walking around. Now climb onto your stool and raise you trunk.

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9. GROUP PANTOMIME INSTRUCTIONS

The actors (youth) work in groups of 4 - 6 and are instructed to pantomime a single general activity.
Examples: Playing different sports at school, performing with an orchestra, circus acts, hospital work, etc.

To communicate the idea of a GENERAL activity, each actor must pantomime a SPECIFIC one.
For example: "Office work".
One actor mimes being a typist, another delivers the mail, another is a "boss" at a desk (perhaps on the phone), a client visits the office to see the boss, etc.

Make sure the actors understand they cannot SPEAK - only work with their bodies, facial expressions, etc.

Actors should brainstorm details and ideas before-hand.

The audience then guesses what is being portrayed.

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MIMING TIPS!

1. As a teaching tool-Can you show a Video or DVD of Pantomime greats such as Red Skelton, Vaudeville Stars, or Mr. Bean? (The 2007 movie- Mr. Bean's Holiday)

2. When working with "pretend objects" give it "space." Even the smallest objects have space.

3. Believable actions: have one student come forward and demonstrate brushing teeth. Most likely, the student will brush their cheek or down their throat. Show that for it to be believable, it must be pantomimed the way they really do it. Youth need to practice and observe themselves and the way they do things. Tell them to be conscious of all their actions.

4. Tell group that when we do a pantomime you need to face the audience. To show an example, set up a kitchen with chairs or blocks. Demonstrate that some things are in front and some in back. Demonstrate how easy it is to turn your back on the audience. Now rearrange the kitchen so your face can be seen by the audience no matter what appliance or counter you are working at.

5. Start out simple: Perform a pantomime of doing a household chore (making a cake or doing dishes, etc.) Give it 1 or 2 minutes and no story. Starting out with the familiar is good.

Drama Menu Links

1.) The Different Types of Drama

2.) Improv Games and Exercises

3.) A Variety of Drama Games/Activities

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There you have it, 9 fun pantomime ideas and games. These activities are sure to get you jump started on your drama program. Make sure you check out our kids getting to know you games as well.

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9 Fun Pantomime Ideas and Games [The Best Drama Activities]

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Need some fun pantomime ideas and games? Look no further. Here you will find a list of pantomime activities. Building a sense of safety and trust when introducing Drama activities into your program is essential. The following pantomime games and exercises are ideal in establishing that trust between the players

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Below, post a link to a dance activity, video, article, etc. and post a brief description of it in the spot below your name. Look for resources that are tied to K-6 education. Here is my sample post.

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Dance - and physical activity - should have the same status in schools as math, science and language. Psst: it may even help raise test scores, says Sir Ken Robinson.

For several years, I've been a patron of the London School of Contemporary Dance. In 2016, I was invited to give the annual lecture in honor of founding principal Robert Cohan, and I decided to talk about the role of dance in schools.

Before the lecture, I tweeted the title "Why Dance Is as Important as Math in Education." I had a lot of positive responses and a number of incredulous ones. One tweet said, "Isn't that going to be one of the shortest lectures ever?" Another said flatly, "Ken, dance is not as important as math." One person tweeted, "So what? Telephones are more important than bananas. Ants are not as important as toilet ducks. Paper clips are more important than elbows." (At least that was a creative response.) Some responses were more pertinent: "Is that so? Important for what and to whom? By the way I'm a math teacher."

I'm not arguing against mathematics - it's an indispensable part of the great creative adventure of the human mind. It's also intimately involved with the dynamics of dance. Instead, this is an argument for equity in educating the whole child. I'm talking about the equal importance of dance with the other arts, languages, mathematics, sciences and the humanities in the general education of every child.

Dance can help restore joy and stability in troubled lives and ease the tensions in schools that are disrupted by violence and bullying.

What is dance? It is the physical expression through movement and rhythm of relationships, feelings and ideas. Nobody invented dance. It is deep in the heart of every culture throughout history; dance is part of the pulse of humanity. It embraces multiple genres, styles and traditions and is constantly evolving. Its roles range from recreational to sacred and cover every form of social purpose.

Some people have long understood that dance is an essential part of life and education. In Dance Education around the World: Perspectives on Dance, Young People and Change, researchers Charlotte Svendler Nielsen and Stephanie Burridge bring together recent studies of the value of dance in all kinds of settings: from Finland to South Africa, from Ghana to Taiwan, from New Zealand to America. The low status of dance in schools is derived in part from the high status of conventional academic work, which associates intelligence mainly with verbal and mathematical reasoning. The studies collected by Nielsen and Burridge explore how a deeper understanding of dance challenges standard conceptions of intelligence and achievement and show the transformative power of movement for people of all ages and backgrounds. Dance can help restore joy and stability in troubled lives and ease the tensions in schools disrupted by violence and bullying.

A number of professional dance companies offer programs for schools. One of them is Dancing Classrooms, a nonprofit based in New York City, which brings ballroom dancing into elementary and middle schools in some of the most challenging districts in the country. Using dance, the organization aims to improve social relationships especially among genders and to enrich the culture of the schools by cultivating collaboration, respect and compassion. Founded in 1994 by the dancer Pierre Dulaine, the program now offers each school twenty sessions over ten weeks, culminating in a showcase.

Toni Walker, former principal of Lehigh Elementary School in Florida, shares this story from working with Dancing Classrooms. "When this young lady first came to Lehigh, the file on her was probably two inches thick," Walker recalls. "She felt she needed to prove herself and make sure everyone knew she was strong and would fight." The girl didn't want to join the ballroom dancing program ... but participation wasn't optional. Soon, she found she had a natural ability. "In the next lesson, she had a little bit of a different attitude and we didn't have to fight with her to dance," Walker remembers. "She just got in line."

By the third and fourth lessons, Walker says, the student was transformed: "She carries herself differently; she speaks differently; she is kind; she is respectful; she has not had one [disciplinary notice], not one. Her mother can't believe what she sees. It's amazing. Amazing. The program is far greater than people understand."

In one evaluation, 95 percent of teachers said that, as a result of dancing together, students' abilities to cooperate and collaborate improved.

Dance education has important benefits for students' social relationships, particularly among genders and age groups. Many forms of dance, including ballroom, are inherently social. They involve moving together in synchrony and empathy, with direct physical contact. In an evaluation of Dancing Classrooms in New York City, 95 percent of teachers said that as a result of dancing together, there was a demonstrable improvement in students' abilities to cooperate and collaborate. In a survey in Los Angeles, 66 percent of school principals said that after being in the program, their students showed an increased acceptance of others, and 81 percent of students said they treated others with more respect. Dance has economic benefits, too. As well as being a field of employment, dance promotes many of the personal qualities that employers recognize as essential in a collaborative, adaptable workforce.

One principal was especially impressed by the improvements in reading and math scores among her fifth-grade students. "There are no ifs, ands, or buts about the program's impact in the academic lives of our children," says Lois Habtes of the Emanuel Benjamin Oliver Elementary School in the Virgin Islands. "When I first got here, they were failing scores. Last year - our second year in the program - they got up to 83 percent. This year, our fifth grade scored 85 percent on the reading test, the highest in the school."

Dance and theater are mostly seen as second-class citizens in schools.

It's not just dance, of course. The success of Dancing Classrooms is an example of the well-documented relationship between physical activity and educational achievement. The trend in most US school districts is to cut phys ed and similar programs in favor of increasing time for math, science and English. These measures have simply not improved achievement as so many policy makers assumed they would.

A panel of researchers in kinesiology and pediatrics conducted a massive review of more than 850 studies about the effects of physical activity on school-age children. Most of the studies measured the effects of 30 to 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity three to five days a week on many factors - physical factors such as obesity, cardiovascular fitness, blood pressure and bone density, as well as depression, anxiety, self-concept and academic performance. Based on strong evidence in a number of these categories, the panel firmly recommended that students should participate in one hour (or more) of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day. Looking specifically at academic performance, the panel found strong evidence to support the conclusion that "physical activity has a positive influence on memory, concentration and classroom behavior."

Most children in public schools in the US receive some education in music and visual arts, patchy though it often is. But dance and theater are mostly seen as second-class citizens, and opportunities in the arts, in general, are lowest for students in areas of high poverty. "There are still millions of students who do not have access to any arts instruction. Many of them are in our poorer communities where the programs are arguably needed the most," says Bob Morrison, the founder and director of Quadrant Research.

Would it be okay to have millions of students without access to math or language arts? he asks. "Of course not, and it should not be tolerated in the arts. There is a persistent myth that arts education is for the gifted and talented, but we know that the arts benefit everyone regardless of their vocational pathways," he says. "We don't teach math solely to create mathematicians, and we don't teach writing solely to create the next generation of novelists. The same holds true for the arts. We teach them to create well-rounded citizens who can apply the skills, knowledge and experience from being involved in the arts to their careers and lives."

Excerpted from the new book You, Your Child and School: Navigate Your Way to the Best Education by Sir Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica. Published by Viking, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Copyright © 2018 by Ken Robinson.

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Why dance is just as important as math in school

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For several years, I've been a patron of the London School of Contemporary Dance. In 2016, I was invited to give the annual lecture in honor of founding principal Robert Cohan, and I decided to talk about the role of dance in schools.

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Below, post a link to your Arts Portfolio that you made for you final so that classmates can access it in the future. Here is a sample website (Walden Specialties).

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This is my Arts Portfolio. I have enjoyed this class and I am so glad to have this as a resource that I can reference again and again. I have learned so much this semester and I'm glad to share my projects with all of you!

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EDEL 4540: Elementary Creative Arts Methods, Section 1 (Fall 2020)

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In this portfolio you will find many resources for lesson ideas, and projects and lesson plans I have completed that each integrate at least one art form: visual art, drama, music, and dance. I have loved learning how easily art integration can be done and look forward to using the arts and this portfolio as a tool for more meaningful learning in my classroom!

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I feel like my eyes have been opened with this class. My comparison is someone who has never tasted chocolate before. I am just wondering how in the world is it that I have gone this long and not realized: 1) how important it is to integrate art into all subject areas and 2) how easy it can be to integrate them 3) How effective it is on the students. I will forever advocate how crucial it is to integrate art forms into the classroom, some may find it a hassle to integrate or think it's too hard. I mean I first thought it'd be hard but not that I have had a little bit of practice. I realize how easy it can be. You can use it for a warm up, a formative assessment or even a final assessment of the students knowledge. I think that the art forms can help students improve academically and socially. I loved being able to read about the evidence that has been found in research in the Creating Meaning book, it really goes to show how much of a difference arts can make. I also loved all the resources I was able to gather throughout this class from the teacher as well as other classmates. I want to have my own set of resources that I can share with future colleagues and others so they can improve their abilities to integrate the arts.

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I feel like my eyes have been opened with this class. My comparison is someone who has never tasted chocolate before. I am just wondering how in the world is it that I have gone this long and not realized: 1) how important it is to integrate art into all subject areas and 2) how easy it can be to integrate them 3) How effective it is on the students.

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This drama activity can be used with all ages and helps warm-up your class for the school day or when introducing a new subject/topic. It can be incorporated with most of the common core subjects as well.

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Create stories using jigsaw puzzle pieces is a fun ice breaker or warm-up for your class no matter the age or subject. This activity gives students the opportunity to work cooperatively at a relaxed pace and use their creative problem-solving skills. Using the jigsaw puzzle pieces as a way to team up the students, they create a mini-story based on the pieces, write it and share it with the class. It can be adapted to many grade levels and subjects.

Many grade levels and subjects use this ice breaker--drama, language arts, art, music, social studies, etc. Select postcards most appropriate for your subject, turn them into puzzle pieces and go!

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Lin Manuel Miranda Biography
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Sedna, an Inuit Tale
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ICE BREAKER STORYTELLING USING JIGSAW PUZZLE PIECES

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Create stories using jigsaw puzzle pieces is a fun ice breaker or warm-up for your class no matter the age or subject. This activity gives students the opportunity to work cooperatively at a relaxed pace and use their creative problem-solving skills. Using the jigsaw puzzle pieces as a way to team u...

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This is a fun little music lesson on rhythm. It's a great game for when you need to fill a few minutes and good practice for students and can be done with any grade level.

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This is one of my favorite games! I learned it from my mentor during student teaching. I am not sure where she got it from. I haven't seen it in any books or on the internet. If you know where Extra Beat Take a Seat comes from, feel free to let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!

I have also used it during a long term substitute job, and the first week of school during my first year.

It is easy to figure it out, musical, and fun.

It is also good if you need to travel to classrooms. I have used it many times for that. Just do it with hands instead of rhythm sticks.

You can also get a FREE printable lesson plan and powerpoint to accompany this lesson. Get it in my TPT shop here!

Extra Beat, Take a Seat

Focus:

I can count rhythm patterns.

Materials:

Procedure:

Have students sit on a circle on the floor.

Start by having students play a short rhythm on repeat. I like to use quarter note, quarter note, half note. I play the first two with rhythm sticks on the floor, and the last note tap together. This, by the ways, is the "We Will Rock You" rhythm, so get ready to hear someone sing that.

Once they have the rhythm down, tell them to put their sticks down and listen. Tell them you are going to play the rhythm three times and three times only. And then do it. Count out loud so that they can hear what you mean.

Have them play it with you, three times and three times only. Someone will keep going-use that as an example.

Tell them that you are going to play a game. They have to play the rhythm first three times and three times only. If they make an extra beat, they have to take a seat (sit in the middle of the circle). Then the class will try it again. Once the whole class (or whoever is left!) gets it right, then the round is over and everyone can rejoin the circle.

Once students get three times down, the round is over. The next time everyone will play the rhythm five times. Keep moving up by two each time. I usually go to eleven, and then find a new rhythm. You can do that or choose something else.

Once they get to whatever your magic number is, get a new rhythm.

My second rhythm is quarter note, quarter note, two eighth notes, quarter note. Play the rhythms as down-down-up-up-up. Again, if you make an extra beat, then you take a seat.

The third rhythm that I use is eighth notes, eighth notes, quarter note, quarter note, quarter note. this one goes down-down-up-up-down-up-down

A few tips:

Use a djembe to play the rhythms, because students can hear it over their sticks. This will help them keep the beat study.

You can play this without the sticks-just have students tap their legs and clap. This makes it great for the classroom.

You can add in some simple math practice by asking questions like, "If I have three notes and I play it three times, how many notes do I play total?"

And don't forget to get the FREE RESOURCE to go along with this activity!

You can also subscribe to my email list here. You will get two emails a month with updates about my blog, YouTube, and TPT shop. You will also get a FREE music interest survey for signing up!

So there you go! It's not too difficult, but it is very fun! What is your favorite rhythm game? Let us know in the comments!

Happy teaching!

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Free 3-5 Music Lesson: Extra Beat, Take a Seat - Becca's Music Room

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This is one of my favorite games! I learned it from my mentor during student teaching. I am not sure where she got it from. I haven't seen it in any books or on the internet. If you know where Extra Beat Take a Seat comes from, feel free to let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!

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This is a video of some Drama games for grades 4-6. She gives some great tips to help them run smoothly.

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Drama Lesson Activities, Grades 4-6: Creative Play

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This is a short article about why dance is so important in education.

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The importance of Dance in Education
By Sabine Howe, Physical Education Specialist
Learning, thought, creativity, and intelligence don't just come from the brain alone, but from the entire body. Movement combinations increase memory, order, and sequencing skills. Creating dances also increases self-esteem which is so very important to learning. We already witness the need for children to move throughout the day. Having experienced first hand the positive effects that music and dance have on students' development, I feel it is important for dance to be included in all elementary (and secondary) curricula.

There are so many reasons why dance is important to the health and development of our young people. Above all, children need to move! Any way to get kids moving on their feet is a must (especially in a digital era). Dance burns calories, strengthens muscles, improves balance, increases flexibility, and gives the heart a good workout. Dance has also been proven to increase cognitive development. Current research documents the importance of exercise on the brain and supports what dancers have always known - the body and mind are connected in vital ways.

Utilizing dance in academics also helps children develop skills that are necessary for learning such as creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration. Through the creative process, students are encouraged to use their imagination, collaborate with their peers to solve problems, and discover multiple solutions to challenges.

It is because of these reasons that I have chosen to incorporate music and dance into every PE program here at MCS. The elders are so happy to hear fun music and move their bodies! I have found that they learn steps and rhythms extremely quickly. By the time the children get to Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and then to the Adolescent Community, although their taste in music might change, they are still incredibly happy to move their feet. Also, their repertoire of dance numbers is quite amazing! Some children chose to create their own dances, and this is always a joy to watch. My hope is that all of our children and young adults never lose their desire to play music and just dance!

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The importance of Dance in Education - Montessori Community School

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By Sabine Howe, Physical Education Specialist Learning, thought, creativity, and intelligence don't just come from the brain alone, but from the entire body. Movement combinations increase memory, order, and sequencing skills. Creating dances also increases self-esteem which is so very important to learning.

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https://www.twinkl.com/resource/t-t-499-the-gingerbread-man-stick-puppets This is a simple lesson plan for kindergarteners. Watch the youtube video of the gingerbread man, or read the book to them. Then have them color and glue together the puppets of the characters in the story. They can practice retelling the story and create different voices for each character.

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The Gingerbread Man Fairy Tales and Bedtime Stories for Kids in English

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Great resource to refer to for ideas when incorporating dance into every core subject!

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This website gives a few different role play activities that would be fun for students to act out.

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When teaching English, a fantastic way to get your students speaking and practicing English is to use role plays. All students, including kids, teenagers and adults, learn best when they are practicing and using English in a communicative and realistic way.

Role plays allow students to practice their communication skills while acting out different scenarios and using the English language just as they would in real life situations.

To help you plan your next role play class, we have put together this list of 5 fun and interesting role play ideas for English students. All these role play scenarios can be used in English classes with kids, teenagers, or adult English language learners.

Below you will also find some useful tips on how to make your role play class even more fun and effective.
Related: 30 Funny Debate Topics For Kids
Role Play Ideas For Students

1: There's A Fly In My Soup

Role Play Topic: Ordering and eating food at a restaurant.

Description: In this role play scenario, students would use their knowledge of food vocabulary and common questions to order food in English at a restaurant. This a common role play topic for English classes with beginner learners.

To make this role play more fun, tell students that after they have ordered their food, and the food has been served, they should then act out that there is a 'problem' with the food.

This 'problem' could be something as simple as "There's a fly in my soup!" or "My food is too cold!", but you can let your students be as imaginative as they like.

This will undoubtedly lead to some very funny role plays! Kids especially will enjoy creating funny and crazy scenarios for their role play.

2: Where To?

Role Play Topic: Taking A Taxi And Giving Directions

Description: In this role play one student should be the taxi driver and one or two students should be the passenger(s).

The passenger(s) will tell the taxi driver where they want to go. For example, "Take me to the hospital, please.", "Take me to the candy shop, please.", etc.

But, there is a problem! This is the taxi drivers first day on the job. And so he/she does not know how to get to the destination. To get to where they want to go, the passengers must give directions to the taxi driver.

To make this simple role play more fun, ask students to imagine they are in a real taxi and when the passengers give the directions, the 'taxi' with the students in must move around the classroom.

Kids will love giving directions as they zoom around the classroom while acting out this fun role play.

3: I Don't Think So!

Role Play Topic: Debate / Disagreement

Description: In this role play students should act out an argument between two friends.

First choose a fun debate topic. Next, students should act out meeting one of their friends in the street. They begin to talk but everything one person says, the other person disagrees with.

This kind of role play is a great way to teach students how to agree and disagree in English. It is also a fantastic way to prepare students for a real class debate.

4: Teach Me!

Role Play Topic: Giving Instructions

Description: In this role play one student will play the 'instructor' and one student will play the student.

The instructor should guide the student on how to complete a task, and the student should follow the instructions and act out what the instructor is saying.

For example, the instructor could be a chef and could teach the student how to make spaghetti.

There are endless possibilities for this kind of role play and students will love having their classmates follow their instructions.

5: News Report

Role Play Topic: Past Tense

Description: This last role play idea is a great way to review past tense with students.

Ask students to imagine a funny / crazy thing that happened in their town and then to create a news report about it. For example, 'There's a rhino loose in the city!'.

Tell students to think of a headline which sums up the story and a brief description of what happened. Then, the news report can cut to someone 'in the field' where they can interview people on the street about what they saw.

Tips For Using Role Plays In Class

As I am sure you are aware, making a successful role play activity in your class is not as easy as just coming up with a fun role play idea.

Here are some useful tips and ideas to make your role play activity a big hit in your next English class.

Prepare For Success

In order for the role play to be successful, students need some knowledge of the key vocabulary and language structures that are likely to be used in that role play scenario.

Before rehearsing the role play, spend some time drilling the key key structures and vocabulary. Also, once students start to rehearse their role play, the teacher can observe and 'feed in' new language if necessary.

Preparing students well will help them to be more confident when performing their role play and will make the role play activity much more enjoyable.

Use Realia And Props

Using real objects and props in your role play will help bring the role play to life for your students.

If available, using realia in your role play can help students to connect what they learn in the classroom with their real life experiences. For example, if you are conducting a 'telephone call' role play, you could ask students to use their cell phones.

Of course its not always possible to use the real thing. Instead, making and using simple props can be just as effective.

If you're teaching kids, creating the props before the role play can be an excellent way to make the activity more fun and enjoyable.

Create The Script Together

Creating role play scripts can take up a lot of a teacher's lesson planning time. Creating role play scripts together as a class can not only save lesson planning time, but it can also be a great way to introduce the role play topic and contextualize the lesson for students.

Start by introducing the role play scenario. For example, tell students the role play takes place at the airport.

Then, elicit from students the different things they do at an airport before they can board the airplane. For example, check in, going through security, going to the duty free store, etc.

Then, once you have a rough outline of the role play, get input from the students to complete the role play script. For example, in the airport scenario, you might ask your students if they want to fly first class, business class, or economy. Or if they want a window seat or an isle seat.

Creating the role play together like this will help to make the role play more memorable, and is much more effective than just asking students to memorize a script.

Be Imaginative And Have Fun

Role plays in the classroom can be incredibly fun and memorable, especially when students create the role plays themselves.

Let students know that they can let their imaginations wild. Kids especially love to come up with silly and funny scenarios and perform them for their friends and classmates.

You will be surprised just how imaginative students can be!

Thanks for reading. I hope you found some inspiration from these fun role play ideas and role play tips.

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5 Super Fun Role Play Ideas For Students | Games4esl

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When teaching English, a fantastic way to get your students speaking and practicing English is to use role plays. All students, including kids, teenagers and adults, learn best when they are practicing and using English in a communicative and realistic way.

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This website gives 37 simple drama games and activities, with directions on how to play them, that you can do with your class.

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Fun Drama Games and Activities

These fun drama games and activity ideas are sure to bring hours of fun and laughter to the drama team or department. These games can be used as warm-ups, team building games, or just activities to have fun.

What are drama games anyway

Before you, as most likely a teacher reading these lines and thinking that you have no idea how to make your students play drama games, you're a match teacher! Let us tell you that you don't need to be a drama teacher to get your kids to move and enjoy.

Anyone can play these games and make the most of them. While usually played in a theatre, you can certainly use these games to evolve kids and get their unique skills shine.

If you wonder why games are important for kids, here are just a few of the benefits that drama games, yes drama, can help your students:

Builds confidence

Let's them a chance to show off their voice

Coordination

Concentration

Focus

Team work

Thinking on their feet and many more.

It's obvious, having creative games in the classroom is essential to get your students engage and learn.

General drama games and theatre games for kids

1. RIBBON OF SOUND

Sit in a circle. One person starts a sound. The next person picks it up and it travels around the circle so it becomes a ribbon of sound.

Each person should pick it up and pass it on as quickly as possible. Transform it into another sound-with the person next to the one who started the first sound.

2. COOPERATIVE STAND-UP

Choose partners. Sit back to back on the floor, legs straight out in front. Interlock arms. Try to stand up together as a unit by pushing against each others' backs.

3. LED BY THE NOSE: DRAMA GAME

Children imagine that strings are attached to various parts of their bodies.
They move about the room led by that part. Example: right thumb, nose, knees. Eyelashes etc.

4. STRIKE A POSE

1. Form a circle. Each person chooses one other person in the circle to secretly watch.
2. Everyone closes their eyes and strikes a pose.
3. On "GO" - everyone opens their eyes and begins to copy the person they chose to watch. (In posture, pose, stance, etc.)
Watch as the whole team morphs into the same pose!

5. BEAN BAG 'VOICE PROJECTION'

This exercise demonstrate to children how important it is to project their voices.

Place three bean bags in front of a row of children. One about 10 feet away from them - the second about 20 feet away, the third about 35-40 feet away (this can obviously be changed to suit the physical environment of the class).

1. Ask each child to look directly at the first bean bag, say their name and the name of their favorite animal.

2. Instruct them to say the exact same things to the second bean bag.

3. Would they speak with the same volume? Of course not - the "person" is further away.

4. When asked to address the third bean bag, they obviously should be projecting their voices as loud as they can.

5. After the entire group has addressed the bean bags, let them know they were really acting in a play just then - reaching the first three rows, the middle rows, and the back rows of the theater

6. HOLD A FASHION SHOW! THREE DIFFERENT IDEAS...
Good for Day Camp, in stages for an event ...and those full days of programming
Props: spotlights; a backdrop; if possible, a raised platform/ stage or catwalk; music and sound system...

#1 IDEA
First session: Putting on a fashion show can be fun for all players, especially if everyone gets to choose the role they will play.

In the planning stages, have participants decide on a theme for the show (such as fall fashions or holiday outfits); plan music and which roles children will play.

Both male and female models would be nice; you'll also need designers, emcees, a journalist or two, and photographer.

Help the players plan the set up; where youth will enter and exit-as well as where the audience will sit.

Make a list of special clothing to wear during the show and any other props you may need. If you have the "#3-WACKY" version below-you'll also have to make the outfits ...

Second session: Give members time to set up the show and get organized. Get the audience seated a let the show begin!

IDEA #2: Rehearse a show in which EVERYTHING GOES WRONG! (On purpose) It's fun but not easy to do. Example: The emcee trips over the microphone cord, or models wear things that don't fit-and don't go together. Think of all the silliness you can!

IDEA #3: One activity that I facilitated while managing a summer camp was to have a "WACKY HAIR-DO AND FASHION SHOW". The staff and kids "in fantasy fashion" back-combed, jelled and styled each others hair while others designed, drew, cut-out and taped outfits using ROLL-PAPER.

They also used paints/ markers, tape and accessories! Of course, there was also the fantasy make-up. It was great fun!!! (Barb Shelby)

7. READ AN EASY STORY THAT CAN BE DRAMATIZED.

Choose children to participate and have them recreate the story. They can make up the lines or you can reread or tell it as they act it out.
A variation is to divide the students into small groups.

Have each group pick a story and provide time for them to read it, choose parts and practice acting it out. Then have each group perform their story for the rest of the class and/or for children in younger grades.

8. CHANGING BODY GAME
You may not at first see this as a drama game-but it is! (Pretending you are something/someone else using art!)

Take a picture of each child and glue it to a piece of paper.

Have children to go through magazines, newspapers, etc...Have them cut out pictures of animals, people, and characters.

They then cut off the heads of all of these pictures; they can place them over their picture to see what they would look like in someone else's body!

Example: Cut the head off of Bozo the clown and place the rest of the body under the head of your picture - and you can see what it looks like!

9. 'SENSORY' DRAMA PLAY ACTIVITIES

RELAXATION-STIMULATION
Ask children to relax and explore their five senses by PRETENDING to:

* A sour lemon
* Their favorite candy
* Spinach

HEAR...
* A gentle wind
* Underwater sounds
* A whistle

* A car coming far away and towards you
* A giant
* An ant
* A big black spider

10. MYSTERY BAG
Blindfold children and have them use their senses to identify objects.

TOUCH: feather, balloon, shell, sandpaper, fur, money.

SMELL: coffee, perfume, onion.

TASTE: raisins, cornflakes, coconut, crackers, marshmallows, chocolate

11. IMAGING TASTE (Older Youth)

This activity is about making other people's mouths water.

Have each player in turn describe something to eat; encourage members to use as much detail a possible and wildly exaggerate the smells, tastes and textures of the food.

Next, have the group talk about the actual eating of the food. Example:Talk about how ice-cream melts on your tongue or how peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth before swallowing it.

Variation: Describe a single aspect of food, for example, the juice of a peach at its peak of ripeness.

12. I CAN'T STAND_____! (Older Youth)

Have each player in turn describe a food that they cannot stand to eat. Encourage as much detail as possible so that the other group members are disgusted by the food, too.

13. BOTTLE OF WHAT (Young children)

Before the meeting, gather several empty plastic bottles with caps. Fill each bottle with a different material-such as dried peas, pebbles, marbles, sand, and birdseed.

Put the caps back on and cover the bottles with construction paper so the materials inside are hidden. Ask group members to listen to the sound each bottle makes and guess what is inside it.

Drama Games Activities
* Practice diction saying Tongue Twisters
* A simple phrase - Said 3 or 4 different ways. Example: "Open the door." Or "Hello" and a name.

* Carry on a "conversation" with another person using only that person's name. See the range of meaning you can communicate through voice inflection, facial expression and gestures.
* Mirroring.
* Trust Walk/Blindfold Walk.

* In a pair or group- shake hands quickly, slowly, gently, angrily, sadly, tenderly.
* Build a drama Theme around a book.
* Make your hands take on different characteristics: nervous, greedy, flabby, magic, fierce, gentle, strong, frightened, etc.

* Masks: Make or purchase; wear in a skit, scene or play.

* Puppets/Puppet show: Make or purchase puppets; write, produce, practice, perform.

* Perform a one act scene from: Section of chapter book, a well known story book, poems such as those by Shel Silverstein and Bruce Lansky; other club members become audience for rehearsals.

* Pantomime Games (Individual, pairs or a group)

* Pantomime/ Acting out a song - such as the Song Sisters' Alligator song.

* Group Improv: Give a simple idea to act out...Setting up a camp in the woods.

* Form two lines facing each other. The first two people in each line begin a conversation. At any point, the person next to a speaker- can tap him/her on the shoulder.

speaker then goes to the end of the line and the conversation continues between the new speakers at exactly the point it was interrupted.

* Choose a person to leave the room. The rest of the group stands in a circle. Choose a leader who begins and changes all movements. Everyone else should be aware of the leader but not look directly at him.

Change movements when the leader does. Once everyone has the idea, call back the person who left the room. Ask him to stand in the middle and try to figure out who the leader is.

* Sit in a circle. Choose a music conductor. Everyone create a sound and rhythm using hands, feet, voice, etc. in time to the conductor's leading.

* Without the participant's knowledge, stage a sudden "happening". Then have everyone describe exactly what happened in writing, giving as many details as possible. Compare the descriptions. Are they the same? Why not?

* PLAY ARTISTS AND BLOBS

Have children work in 2 or 3 person teams. Ask each team to pick an 'A' and a 'B'. 'A's' are the artists...and 'B's' are the blobs. The artist (s) forms his/her partner into some kind of statue.

The blob relaxes as much as possible until the statue is formed, then tries to hold that pose. (TIP: PLAY MUSIC while artists are forming blobs.) When art works are complete have artists walk about and admire each other's creations!

* The Pretzel: Form a long chain holding hands. Designate a leader who goes in, around and under, taking everyone with him until a human knot is formed. Then, the leader retraces his steps and unties the knot.

* Object Creation: One person begins a mechanical movement. Another person attaches himself to it adding movement. Continue to add youth to the machine, using sounds and moving through space.

* One person goes to the front and begins a non-verbal activity. Others enter once they figure out what the first person is doing. Form a scene without words and let it play out.

* Use your bodies to build a house. Some people become the furniture, telephones, and tables. Others live in the house. Then huff and puff and blow the house down.

* Two partners share one pillow. Experiment with different ways of giving and taking the pillow. Make it something very valuable and precious. Make it something vile and distasteful. Make it very heavy. Make it light. Make it prickly. Pretend that it's a ticking bomb, an injured cat, a hot plate.

* Pair up. Look carefully at each other. One person closes his eyes while the other changes something, such as untying a shoelace. His partner opens his eyes and tries to identify the change. Reverse.

* Pretend to fight in slow motion. Imagine that you are under water or in space. Imagine that you are wearing heavy armor. Use an imaginary long sword.

After we learned about the drama games for kids in the list above, let's see a few good warm up activities to get things going.

Warm Ups Activities

We do warm ups before taking stage or just practicing because it helps us with verbal concentration and articulation muscles. Also, it's really fun to do tongue twisters, here's a few fun warm up ideas:

1. Unique New York

2. Three tree throws

3. Red leather, yellow leather

4. Say this shortly, say this sweetly, say this sharply, say this softly. ( Try and say this 16 times very quickly )

5. Rubber baby buggy bumpers

Here are the rules: Stand as a group, and try and repeat each of these tongue twisters 5 times without making a mistake.

After you're done, see who wishes to take the floor and do the same in front of everyone else.

Improv activities

Improv activities help drama students improve their random thinking and reaction time and thinking on their feet.

It's a great skill to master as a drama actor and if your kid loves actings, here are a few great games to improve in improv:
Drama Menu Links

1. If you are in a group, divide to groups of 3 kids each, and stand on one side of the room/stage. The teacher or leader will throw in a story. Kids need to improv on the stop a storyline that gets from bad to worse. Every time a group comes up with an idea, they can move one step forward. The winner group is the one who gets to the other side of the room or stage. ( The story must make sense )

2. The obstacle game - In this game you tell the kids an item, for example " a door " and they need to throw ideas that are possible obstacles to the item. It has to make sense. Example, a dog, a chair, a spilled water stain on the floor etc.

2.) 3.) If you're interested check out our Costumes or Make Up Ideas. Improv Games and Exercises Pantomine, Tips and Games
A good resource for Drama games: 101 Drama games for children: Fun and Learning with Acting and Make-believe. By Paul Rooyackers and illustrated by Cecilia Bowman. A Hunter House Smart Fun Book. Purchase at Amazon.com

1.) The Different Types of Drama

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37 Fun Drama Games and Activities | Drama Games | Kid Activities

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These fun drama games and activity ideas are sure to bring hours of fun and laughter to the drama team or department. These games can be used as warm-ups,

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This gives eight fun drama games that are easy to use in any classroom.

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Written by Cassie (Teach Starter)

Are you an upper elementary or middle school teacher looking out for some new drama teaching ideas? Did you see our last post about Drama Activities for K - 3 students and wish there were a few more challenging ideas there for your class?
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Well, wish no more!

These eight activities in the K-3 Drama post are definitely suitable to use with your upper elementary or middle school class, and I would encourage you to have a look at them if you haven't already. The K-3 games are excellent for introducing and extending student understanding of the basic elements of role, voice, and movement, and are important prerequisite activities for these slightly more challenging drama lesson ideas.

The concept of this approach to drama for kids is quite simple:

With that in mind, here are eight more classroom Drama activities you can add to your repertoire straight away.

1. One Word Story

Create a whole-class story in this imaginative drama activity that is for practicing individual and group focus.

1. Students sit or stand in a circle.

2. Establish who will begin the story and which direction the story will travel (clockwise or anti-clockwise).

3. The first person begins the story by saying a single word e.g. "There".

4. Whoever is next in the circle says another single word that makes sense following the previous word e.g. "was".

5. Continue around the circle, with each person saying a single word with the aim of building a coherent story.

When using this as a general drama activity, you could use one of the Teach Starter widgets as a prompt for the story. The Vocabulary Word of the Day spinner has dozens of word lists you could draw from, the Visual Writing Prompts Widget provide perfect One Word Story stimulus, and the Random Sentence Starter spinner is a really fun way to kick-start your students' imagination!
Layer in Context:
Connect this drama activity to content from a unit, text, or topic you are currently exploring with your class. Establish with the class a few broad "key features" the whole class story needs to have. For example, if you are exploring food and nutrition in a Health unit you could agree upon the following aspects of the story:

a specific character or characters (e.g. a boy named Lashon, and a cookie that comes to life)

a specific place (at Lashon's house)

a key word or phrase ("Eat me!")

It is important not to get too detailed when establishing the key features of the story (e.g. you might not articulate a specific problem or conflict that has to happen), as you want your students to be able to shape and guide the story in an imaginative way.

This activity can be played without context for a fun, classroom brain break that explores many of the elements of drama including situation, role, relationship, voice, tension, and mood (as the students will likely create a narrative that touches on each of these). Or you can use it as an imaginative way to reinforce key concepts from, and students' understanding of, any topic you have been exploring with your class.

Use visual prompts such as cards from a relevant word wall, a projected avatar of the specific characters, or create some custom labels with the character names, words, and places that work with your current units.

2. Human Knot

Working collaboratively is an important part of assessment in the Drama standards, as well as being a foundational skill for life. This fun game helps students to build awareness and understanding of group-work and is a great way to introduce the concept of 'ensemble' (a group who work together to create).

1. Break students into small groups (4-6 students per group is a good start).

2. Students form a circle in their group.

3. Walking to the center with hands outstretched, students each grab two hands (however, it cannot be the person next to them, nor can they grab both hands from the same person).

4. Students 'untie' their human knot, without ever letting go of any hands.

5. When a group has finished untying their knot, the whole group sits down.

Encourage students to work slowly and carefully, with an awareness of how their movements affect others in the knot. Some knots are easy to untie, and others take a lot of communication and negotiation!

Increase the complexity of this ensemble building game by asking students to complete it in silence, by making the number of students in each group larger, or by trying to untie a whole class knot!

3. Shazzam!

An absolute favorite of mine, this is a drama game for kids that works with a concept similar to "Rock, Paper, Scissors". It is fantastic for exploring role, voice, movement, tension, and focus. In "Shazzam!" the three characters and parameters of play are:

wizards beat knights by casting a magic spell over them

giants beat wizards by stomping on them

knight slay giants with their magic sword.

Students enact each character in the following way:

wizards step forward with one leg, push both hands forward as if shooting a magic spell through their hands, and shout "Shazzam!"

giants stamp their feet and say "Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!"

knights pull an imaginary sword out of their belt and shout "En garde!".

Play "Shazzam!" as a whole group game, following these directions:

1. Split students into two even groups, standing in two parallel lines.

2. Have the groups face towards the center of the space.

3. The teacher counts down from ten to zero.

4. Each line quickly huddles in a group and decides which of the three characters they will be during this round.

5. By the count of zero students must have returned to their straight line, facing their opponent line.

6. On zero each line enacts their chosen character and the 'winning' line is decided by the above parameters (wizards beat knights, giants beat wizards, knights slay giants).

Play round after round, keeping the pace up and keeping a tally of each team's number of winning rounds. The first team to ten are the winners!
Layer in Context:
To adapt this game take elements, concepts, characters, or ideas from any topic and create three "characters" and parameters that suit.

Specifying characters from a familiar narrative explored in Reading class will encourage students to use voice and movement to create a role. It will also explore the relationship between the characters. The game itself requires both group and individual focus, and creates amazing tension!

If in Science class you are looking at Renewable Energies, students could be the sun (standing like a star jump and saying "Ahhhh!", a solar panel (standing stiff like a board and "buzzing"), and electricity (arms outstretched towards opponents and saying "zap!"). In this version,

The sun beats electricity because it is renewable.

Solar panels beat the sun by capturing its power.

Electricity beat the solar power by using its power.

4. Zip, Zap, Zoom

Speaking of zaps, "Zip, Zap, Zoom" is another great collaborative game that teaches focus. Students "pass the energy" around a circle, using an action and variety of vocal commands. In the traditional game, students stand in a circle and send the energy around the circle saying either Zip, Zap, or Zoom.

"Zip"sends the energy in a clockwise direction

"Zap" sends the energy in an anti-clockwise direction

"Zoom" sends the energy to someone across the circle

Students cannot do more than one Zap or Zoom in a row (they must be broken up by a Zip)

Every command is done with an action - the easiest being to clap and point to the person the energy is being sent to.

5. Twenty-One

"Twenty-one" is one of those drama games that get even the most fidgety of students concentrating with laser focus.

Sitting in a circle, students attempt to count to 21 in a random order, without two or more people speaking at the same time. One person begins by saying "one", then another person says "two".

Continue the group count until you reach twenty-one. If more than one person says a number at the same time, the count begins again.
Change the Content:
This game can be used with any familiar content that has a sequence. For example:

skip counting (e.g. threes, sixes, eights, etc.)

using the alphabet

musical scales or "Do Re Mi"

counting in intervals with units (e.g. in tens, and dollars/cents 10¢, 20¢... $1.20).

6. Body Sculpture Olympics

Also known as "10 Second Object", this activity gets students using their bodies to create freeze frames (like a real life frozen image) that depict an object or a situation. Use this activity to talk about how we can communicate meaning through movement.

1. Break students into small groups.

2. Call out an object or scenario (such as the North Pole, peacock, at the beach, washing machine, etc.)

3. Count down from ten to zero

4. While you are counting down, students have to create the object, character, or situation using their bodies.

5. When you reach zero, shout "Freeze!"

6. Give each group a thumbs up or thumbs down depending on if they have represented the stimulus in a way that makes sense.

7. Continue, keeping the pace up to ensure students are engaged and thinking on their feet!

You can decide on a "scoring" method that feels right for you (such as giving scores out of ten or choosing one winner per round), or you may prefer not to "score" at all, and just use the activity as a confidence and group awareness building exercise.
Layer in Context:
"Body Sculpture Olympics" can be adapted as a Drama activity linked to most any content at all. Simply create a list of characters, situations, or objects that are related to a familiar topic. Or better yet, let the students create the lists.

This activity means students use movement and space to establish a dramatic meaning (they communicate situation, role, and relationships through their frozen image).

7. The Expert

This activity is great for older students, using both their prior knowledge of a topic and their imagination. It requires students to use role, relationship, situation, voice, and movement to create dramatic meaning.

1. Break students into small groups (3-4).

2. Allocate a letter to each student within the group (i.e. every group will have a person A, person B, etc.).

3. Call out the letter of the person who will be 'The Expert' first.

4. Announce the topic that the Expert specializes in.

5. The Expert must speak with authority about the topic for an agreed amount of time (e.g. 30 or 60 seconds).

6. The teacher counts down from three to begin the time and calls "Stop!" when time is up.

7. The teacher then announces which letter/person will go next, and the new topic of expertise.

What makes this game extra fun, is that there is only one rule - the expert can never stop talking, even if they run out of facts well before their time is up. Students should just keep talking, making up anything at all about the topic, no matter how absurd or far-fetched.

Not all drama is based on fiction! This activity is a great way to explore how drama-makers (playwrights, actors, dramaturgs, directors, set and costume designers) can play with the ideas related to a "real" topic in order to create an artistic, symbolic, absurd, or stylistic representation of it through Drama.
Variations:

Play as a whole class with one Expert up the front.

Allow the "audience" to ask questions of the Expert to help prompt them if they get stuck.

Create a panel of Experts, with two or three students in front of the class discussing their topic of expertise.

Add simple props or costumes such as a coat, glasses, or other items to help students with their 'expert' characterization.

Layer in Context:

Choose topics that are connected to content you have been exploring with your class. They could be related to anything at all, from Science and Math to Humanities, Social Sciences, Sports, or Music.

Have each student in the group play a character from a text or narrative they know. Give a situation from the text as a prompt for the character to talk about for their allotted time.

8. Mirror, Mirror

In this activity, your students will continue to build confidence in using their body ( movement) to create a role and communicate meaning.

1. Students break into pairs.

2. Allocate, or let students decide who will be A, and who will be B.

3. On the teacher's signal, student A begins to move very slowly.

4. Student B has to copy the movement exactly as if they are the reflection Student A sees in a mirror.

5. Continue for some time, and then swap, having Student B lead Student A.

Encourage students to move slowly, with the aim being that anyone watching the pair wouldn't be able to tell who is leading the movement and who is following.
Layer in Context:
Add complexity to this activity by layering in one or more elements of context. This turns "Mirror, Mirror" into a tool for exploring the content from another key subject area in a completely different way - a fantastic way to cater for kinesthetic, social, verbal, and auditory learners.

Role - Ask Student A to take on a specific role or character. This can be from a familiar text or can be any role from a relevant context, such as a scientist or a construction worker.

Situation - Specify the situation that Student A is in, for example setting up an experiment, or building a new road.

Time & Place - Give students details about a specific time or place in which they are - this will change the actions and movements they enact.

Atmosphere - Explore this more challenging element of drama by providing students with a mood or emotion as a prompt for their movements.

You can add just one of these contextual elements, or multiples - each will support students in the creation of different moments of dramatic meaning.

There you have it! Eight more ideas to help you think about Drama for kids.

There are definitely more detailed ways you can explore dramatic theory with your upper elementary or middle school class, however, I hope that these activities have provided you with a comfortable way to introduce Drama skills and terminology into your classroom!

Drama Games for Kids - Printable Activity Cards

To get you started, we've created a set of 17 Drama Games for Kids activity cards! Simply download, print out, and laminate the cards for use when you need a Drama lesson warm-up idea, or a brain break for your students.

You can also get more ideas for Drama activities for elementary students in our blog post "Drama Activities for K-3 Students". Don't be swayed by the title - these Drama activities are suitable for students of all ages!
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Drama for Kids - Games and Activities for Years 4 - 7

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Written by Cassie (Teach Starter) Are you an upper elementary or middle school teacher looking out for some new drama teaching ideas? Did you see our last post about Drama Activities for K - 3 students and wish there were a few more challenging ideas there for your class?

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Multiple lesson plans that connect music with math and there are other resources that are connected to benefits of using music in the classroom.

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Mathematics in Music (Lesson Plans & Printables)

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Help students find the connection between mathematics and music with these lesson plans and worksheets.

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This document contains lesson plans which integrate dance into the core standards. There are many different options and they even have the state standards attached to some!

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This is a cute clapping activity that would be great for older students! This is also a great way to talk about rhythm and counting.

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Money Honey Clapping Game  Third grade music class

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This is a lesson plan that is all about your students creating their own folk dance. It's also free on teachers pay teachers.

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Your students LOVE moving. So why not let them use their knowledge, be creative, and create their own folk dance! This has a lesson plan and basic rubric to help you get started.
Love this? Check Out: Folk Dance & Movement Word Wall Folk Dance Formation Posters

Looking for Sub Materials? Check Out:
<a title="Music or Not Games" href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Music-or-Not-Games-Bundle-2872672">Music or Not Games</a>
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A step by step for guiding students to create their own folk dance!Your students LOVE moving. So why not let them use their knowledge, be creative, and create their own folk dance! This has a lesson plan and basic rubric to help you get started. Love this?

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Here is my Arts Portfolio! I have enjoyed this class so much and have learned a lot from it. I hope you enjoy what I have put together and can see all that I have learned.

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I am currently studying Elementary Education at Utah Valley University. I also work at Central Bank as a teller and love my job! Though I am so excited to start teaching here in the next few years.

I recently changed my major from Music Education to Elementary Education. I love music and am passionate about how it can help students learn and retain information. Because of this I was so excited to take this arts class and learn more on how to integrate all the arts into my teaching.

In this portfolio you will find resources and ideas for lessons as well as lessons plans and projects I have I have put together throughout the semester that integrate the arts into your everyday content.

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EDEL 4540: Elementary Creative Arts Methods, Section 1 (Fall 2020)

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I am currently studying Elementary Education at Utah Valley University. I also work at Central Bank as a teller and love my job! Though I am so excited to start teaching here in the next few years. I recently changed my major from Music Education to Elementary Education.

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This is a fun activity that you could do with any grade, you may just have to switch up the truths and dares for the different grade levels. Red is dare and Blue is truth, before the student can place their piece on top of the pile they have to do complete the task they drew.

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I've been mulling over some new center ideas since this summer, and I'm excited to share one of those with you today: Truth or Dare Music Jenga! The game has been a hit with my students in every grade, and it has been a great way to throw in some review and practice for important skills, concepts, and vocabulary that we've been working on in class.

*this post contains affiliate links*

First I'll explain how the game works and then I'll talk about how I put it together (it honestly wasn't as complicated or time-consuming as it may seem). To play, students take turns taking a block out of the jenga tower. Before they can place the block on top of the tower to complete their turn, they have to complete a task. If they pull out a red block, they draw a card from the red "dare" pile, and if they pull out a blue block, they draw one from the blue "truth" pile. If they can't complete their task, the next player gets to "steal" their block by completing the task and adding the block to the top of the tower. If they complete it, they set the block on top of the tower. The person who makes the block tower fall over loses, and/or the person with the most cards when the tower falls over or the cards are all gone wins.

This idea all started when I came across these mini jenga blocks this summer. I had heard that the Dollar Tree had some, but hadn't had any luck at my local stores, so I was excited when I found these online (even though they were a little more expensive)! I toyed around with some different ideas for ways to use them in music class, and ended up with this "truth or dare" idea.

The first step in putting the game together was to color the blocks. I know some teachers have dyed the blocks, and you can also buy blocks that are already colored, but I took the easy way out and just colored the outside edges with sharpies (it took me about 15 minutes while I sat through another meeting on analyzing student test score data from standardized math tests).

The next step was to make the cards. The "dare" cards have different performance tasks, like clapping rhythms, dancing, singing, or conducting. The "truth" cards have trivia questions, like identifying different music symbols, naming instruments within an instrument family, or defining music vocabulary. I made a bunch of cards to cover skills and concepts for different grade levels- if you want a copy of the cards I made (with blank versions where you can add your own text) you can get them here, or you can certainly make your own with whatever concepts you want to cover.

After that, all I had to do was print, cut, and assemble. I mounted each card with a little piece of double-sided tape on some construction paper, both to color-code them and so you can't see the printed text from the other side of the card, then laminated them so they'll last longer.

I'm actually really excited about the possibilities with these "truth or dare" cards- my head has been spinning with other applications for them! I can pull them out for a simple card game, where teams choose a card and then complete the task, or I could use it as an added step for other games besides Jenga- I could use it with tic-tac-toe, where the students have to complete a card before filling in a spot on the board, or with some sort of board game, where certain spots on the board require players to draw a red or blue card before advancing.....

What other ideas do you have for using "truth or dare" cards to review and practice music skills in a fun way? I'm sure there are lots more- leave your ideas in the comments! If you want to see some of my other favorite center activities, here's a post I wrote with some of my favorite ideas.

Want more? Subscribe right here to the Organized Chaos newsletter and get more ideas and resources sent straight to your inbox!

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I've been mulling over some new center ideas since this summer, and I'm excited to share one of those with you today: Truth or Dare Music Jenga! The game has been a hit with my students in every grade, and it has been a great way to throw in some review and practice for important skills, concepts, and vocabulary that we've been working on in class.

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Here is my Creative Arts Method portfolio. I have learned so much in this class and have loved it. I am so excited to have everything we did in this class on this website.

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This has seven ideas for using music in the classroom. It includes using music as a background during work time to transitions and teaching.

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7 Creative Ways to Use Music in Your K-6 Classroom - We Are Teachers

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Music in the classroom can help with learning, behavior management, and more. Check out these creative ways to get K-6 graders moving and singing along.

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Below is an article which contains three ideas for teaching social and emotional skills for younger students. This is good for grades K-3.

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

Bringing dance into the classroom with simple exercises can help elementary students develop social and emotional learning skills.

Pegaz / Alamy Stock Photo

Last school year, veteran teacher Jennifer Grau decided to introduce dance as part of her effort to build bonds between her special education students and the general ed second graders at her school on Chicago's West Side.

Using videos to help her students learn a few simple steps, Grau was able to get them working with both preferred and non-preferred partners. The energy of the music and the students' focus on the steps helped them forget about any differences they felt between themselves and their classmates.

Grau's new strategy worked like a charm. "It was the first time all the kids were engaged and collaborating without any fights or complaints," she said. The lessons helped students explore ideas of diversity and social engagement, and they finished by reflecting on how the activity helped them get along better.

The most successful social and emotional learning (SEL) programs use active forms of learning to teach students, and evidence suggests that dance outpaces other forms of physical activity and other forms of arts learning when it comes to improving SEL outcomes. Despite the evidence, dance is not included or prioritized in the curriculum of the vast majority of schools in the U.S. and around the world.

Two Left Feet? No Problem!

In many schools, the greatest barrier to bringing dance into classrooms is a lack of comfort with dance on the part of classroom teachers. For most students, permission to move-especially with music-offers considerable stress relief and an immediate boost to their sense of optimism and joy. Luckily, there are resources that can take the pressure off teachers to lead the activities.

Dance can be used to foster students' intrapersonal and interpersonal SEL skills, as well as skills like responsible decision-making. To see how, we'll consider three dance activities. To get started, you'll need to find a short dance video that your students will enjoy-look for something with just a few simple movements that they can easily follow and learn. Teachers looking for videos might start with the free Dance-of-the-Month lessons (registration required) from my own organization, EduMotion, and the H.Y.P.E. the Breaks videos on YouTube created by Hip-Hop Public Health.

Intrapersonal SEL Skills

Self-awareness and self-management are fundamentally rooted in the body, making dance an excellent tool for building such competencies as emotional awareness, accurate self-perception, and impulse control.

Using dance to identify emotions: Dance and movement can be a great way for students to explore how emotions are shown and felt in their bodies. Give your student this prompt: " Emotion is a word that describes the feelings you have. How does your face show emotion? How do other parts of your body show emotion?" Next, invite students to follow along to the dance or movement video you've selected. After the students perform the dance together, ask them to choose a favorite move from the dance and practice that move while showing an emotion they select. They can do this in pairs-each student should guess what emotion their partner is trying to convey.

Conclude the activity by prompting students to reflect on what their body feels like when they are showing the emotion they select. By thinking about what an emotion feels and looks like in their body, they become more self-aware and attuned to their emotions.

Interpersonal SEL Skills

Many dance and movement activities promote teamwork and cooperation and provide rich opportunities for developing relationship skills and social awareness.

Using dance for communication: In this activity, students consider how they communicate both verbally and nonverbally, and they practice listening and responding to input from others.

To start, give students this prompt: "When we communicate, we use words and body language to let other people know our thoughts and feelings. How can you communicate with words? How can you communicate with body language?" Next, as in the activity above, invite the whole class to follow along to the dance or movement video you've selected.

Finally, have students practice giving each other feedback with active listening skills. Have them try the dance or movement while facing a partner, and think about how they can be friendly with their partner as they work together. After trying some steps together, prompt them to talk to each other about how it went-was it easy? hard? fun? silly? While they're listening to their partner's feedback, they should make eye contact and smile in encouragement. Prompt them to end the activity by thanking each other and exchanging a handshake or high five.

Responsible Decision-Making

Dance and movement can be a wonderful way for students to work on problem-solving and to develop the ability to evaluate and reflect, which in turn can affect their thinking on things like their responsibility to help make the world a better place.

Using dance to promote good citizenship: In this activity, students explore ways to make healthy choices and then identify a personal "superpower" that can help make the world better. Give your students this prompt: "It's important to act in ways that are healthy and positive for ourselves and others. How can you be safe and speak up for others?"

Invite students to follow along to the dance or movement video you've selected. Once they've got the moves down, have them identify a superpower they could use to make the world better and embody the superpower by adding it to the movement activity. They should think of a pose that will show the superpower, and then discuss their ideas.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Considerations

When choosing resources for dance or movement-based activities, keep in mind that dance can be useful in fostering cross-cultural understanding and respect: By studying dance forms that originate in other parts of the world, students gain understanding of the history, identities, and values of others.

Dance can also help students overcome cultural and linguistic obstacles because of its focus on nonverbal communication. For English language learners, in particular, dance provides the opportunity to express themselves through the body and has been shown to bolster their self-esteem.

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) Bringing dance into the classroom with simple exercises can help elementary students develop social and emotional learning skills. Pegaz / Alamy Stock Photo Last school year, veteran teacher Jennifer Grau decided to introduce dance as part of her effort to build bonds between her special education students and the general ed second graders at her school on Chicago's West Side.

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This site gives several free readers' theaters plays you can use in your classroom.

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These free Readers' Theater printables and educational resources mostly open right here, and one is a link to a store. Children enjoy reading plays for fluency practice so much more with a special part, name tag, and sometimes a mask. Click here to visit Masketeers to find printable masks to help produce plays easily ( affiliate link for masks). The plays below are free.
Free gentle version of the Chicken Little story, free on TpT
Free printable play for the Summer of Riley by Eve Bunting (opens here)

Free readers' theater script for The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman, opens here

FREE Three Billy Goats Gruff play (opens here)

The Little Red Hen play opens right here, and is for educational use, of course.

The 4 Little Pigs is a variation of the Three Little Pigs, and here is a FREE play for your class. (opens here)

Free play The Alphabet Family has a Healthy Thanksgiving printable. Opens here, and also please find the editable cast Word Document at this link.

Free Thanksgiving Day Play (opens here) and please also see the blog post with more information about the book upon which it is based, as well as the editable version.

Free reading play for the Moorchild by Eloise McGraw. This was written with the help of a student-credit given in script. Grades 4 and up.

Some of the art on these printables is from Ian Nicholls who the artist of the Masketeers web site. His art is very helpful in education, as you will see on the subject area and resources pages on this site. See how versatile MASKETEERS art can be from being used as masks as on their web site, to being helpful in the making of educational printables. Click here to visit Masketeers.

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Free Readers' Theater PDFs These free Readers' Theater printables and educational resources mostly open right here, and one is a link to a store. Children enjoy reading plays for fluency practice so much more with a special part, name tag, and sometimes a mask.

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This video the guy is going over why dancing is just as good as math. The importance of Arts in education is crazy and gives great tips about why dance is so important.

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Sir Ken Robinson--why dancing is as important as math

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Here is my Arts Portfolio!! I have loved this class, and have learned so much about the Arts. I've learned how important it is for education and for children to be a part of. I'm excited to use this portfolio as a reference throughout my other semesters and also throughout my future teaching years.

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End of Course Reflection: What did I learn? I learned so many things throughout this class. I learned so many activities and games that you can use and play with your students in your classroom. I learned so much more about Drama, Dance, Visual Arts, and Music then I ever had known. This class was so fun to be able to recaps these 5 Arts tools that we can use and learn from forever. I also learned how every single art tool is used in its own unique way, and how important the 5 art tools are in education. I can't wait for my students to use these tools and to experience and enjoy coming to school because of Arts. I realized that Arts in education is honestly and truly one of the most important subjects that children enjoy doing and also the biggest reason why they come to school. How will I use this in my future practice? I will use this portfolio to be able to look back on the things I learned. To use the materials and activities that were given from every student and to have multiple ideas of what I can use for a lesson. What activities and art forms do you like the best? My favorite art form I want to say is Drama. That's why I chose to do my Semester project on a Drama box with activities. I learned that drama uses a lot of movement and focus. You have to know what you are doing at the right time, and have to stay on task and listen to others when doing drama games. There were so many activities that I was able to do with drama, being able to move around the classroom and play games. The one activity where we could dress up and act out different characters in the book was one of my favorite assignments I did in this class. I enjoyed being able to mimic the children's book and be creative of ways that I could dress up. This class has really taught me the importance of Arts in education and I'm really glad I was able to learn as much as I did in this class.

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End of Course Reflection: What did I learn? I learned so many things throughout this class. I learned so many activities and games that you can use and play with your students in your classroom. I learned so much more about Drama, Dance, Visual Arts, and Music then I ever had known.

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This game would be fun with any grade K-6. This is some good learning for students to practice their rhythms with plates and to also have a reward. This is such a fun game that also uses a lesson plan.

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The other day I was browsing Pinterest when I came across this post by Jodi from Fun in First (a fellow Indiana TPTer), in which she discusses how she practices sight words using paper plates. I loved the idea and think it could easily be modified for the music classroom.

SUPPLIES & SETUP

First, I bought paper plates. Knowing how much they'll be used, I opted for sturdy ones. I wrote one rhythm on each plate.

Then, I placed a green star sticker on one of the plates.

GAME DIRECTIONS

1. To play the game, have students sit in a circle and give each student one plate.

2. Then, play the music you've selected (something with a strong downbeat that reinforces the rhythms you're working on) and ask students to pass the plates to the steady beat.

3. When the music stops, the student with the green star plate will speak/clap/tap their rhythm first, then all the other students will follow (one at a time) reading the rhythm on their plate. The students will continue to read their rhythms until they've made it all the way around the circle. Then, the music begins again. I wrote the rhythms on the bottom of the plates purposefully so that students could tap the plates like a drum.

If you have a particularly competitive class, set a winning point total at the beginning of class. Then, award points each time the students complete a full circle. If they reach the point total before the end of class, then they win.

If you have a class that needs an extra challenge, add rhythm instruments to the mix. Ask students to place their instruments behind them until the music stops, then grab and play. Each time they complete a circle, they can pass their instruments one person to the left, so that students get to play a different instrument each time.

COMPOSE

Combine this lesson with an opportunity to compose using the free worksheet below. Students compose an eight-beat rhythm. Then, if there's extra time, they draw food on the plates and then write the rhythm that matches beneath it.

You can download the free worksheet by clicking on the image below. Enjoy!

Other Posts You Will Love

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The other day I was browsing Pinterest when I came across this post by Jodi from Fun in First (a fellow Indiana TPTer), in which she discusses how she practices sight words using paper plates. I loved the idea and think it could easily be modified for the music classroom.

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Here are some drama ideas that include mimes, pictures, poems, etc. This can be used for grades K-3.

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Looking for drama teaching resources and games for primary / elementary (Kindergarten to grade 6)? Look no further!

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Here are some different ideas for dance in the classroom.

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Dance units: Elementary levels | WeTeachNYC

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These Dance units are for lower and upper Elementary Level students. Several are aligned with the Common Core and all are aligned with the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance.

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This activity would be for grades K-3, it uses the book Giraffes Can't Dance and uses a dice with different dance moves on each side from the book that you can use to get your class trying several different types of dances.

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Books become even better when you pair them with fun activities! See what we did to go along with this month's Monthly Crafting Giraffes Can't Dance Book Club selection!

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

My bloggy pal Hilary over at We had some great fun last year
Raising Fairies and Knights started a fun Monthly Crafting Book Club - a challenge to create activities to go along with some of the most beloved children's books. (see links at the end) and have continued the fun this year:

January - This month, we're focusing on one of our favorite books, Ladybug Girl Addition Bugs
Giraffes Can't Dance:

In case you haven't read it, this little rhyming book is loads of fun. It's the touching tale of Gerald the Giraffe - who loves to dance, but sadly is about as graceful as a, well, giraffe .
Gerald runs away from the jeering crowds at the annual Jungle Dance where he is comforted by a cricket and then discovers that anyone - even he - can dance with the right music.
Gv and I have engaged in our own little dance-a-thons from the very beginning of her life, so I decided to incorporate a little fancy-feet fun into this month's book activity.

I created The game continues until the jams run out ( this free printable for you to cut and slide into one of these useful little tools.
(Don't have a cool die like that? Glue the printable squares to a cardstock version of this.)

You can spotlight whichever style of music you like for each side of the die, but I wanted to stick with those shared in the book, so I created a short playlist for each one to give you a few examples.

Just roll the die, play a song from the appropriate music style and then boogie on down until the tunes taper off.

The next player rolls the die and everyone moves to that melody.

feel free to find your own) or everyone's too pooped to polka anymore. If you have older kids, you could even look up a some videos of the dance steps of that style to try out. For the moment, Gv and I are just letting the music move us.
We had so much fun getting physical with this favorite book, I just know this will be something we'll do together for a long time!

I love coming up with book connections like these, how about you? I'd love to hear! Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.

Also, if you don't want to miss a single minute of great tips like this and all the fun around here, be sure to sign up for free updates and then look forward to having each post delivered right to your inbox.

Come back next month and see what crafts and activities we come up with for the How Do Dinosaurs series of books. Join our Facebook Group HERE to participate.

Want to see all the great book activities from last year? Just check these out:

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Giraffes Can't Dance Roll-a-Dance Die (free printable!)

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Books become even better when you pair them with fun activities! See what we did to go along with this month's Monthly Crafting Giraffes Can't Dance Book Club selection! Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate commission at no cost to you.

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This is a really fun video showing all different kind of drama games for warm-ups for all grades. These games are awesome for students to learn and for everything to run smoothly.

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This website is full of creative dance lesson plans. I love this because it gives examples for different subjects. This is a great resource I will use in the future.

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Here is my arts portfolio! This class has been a blast and I have learned so much!

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This site gives 3 easy and fun music activities you can do online with your students.

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The following post may contain affiliate links. That means I may make a small commission (at no extra charge to you), if you purchase something from my links. Affiliate links are one small way that I can be compensated for running this blog.
Many music teachers are having to move their lessons online because of the current health pandemic. If you are new to teaching music lessons online, you might be overwhelmed doing this. (Be sure to check out this post on how to get set up for online lessons.)

However, online music lessons do offer an opportunity to cover material that you may not get to do during in-person lessons. Here are 3 activities that you can do in an online music lesson.

1. Ear Training

Turn your camera away from your piano and work on ear training with students. Here is a list of things you can work on with students of various levels:

High/Low

Up/Down/Same

Steps and Skips

Articulations - Name staccato/legato. This is good practice for students to use musical terms.

Major/Minor (play 5-note scales, 8-note scales, or chords depending upon the level of the student)

Intervals - Start with a 2 different intervals and then add more as the student masters recognizing different intervals

Recognize chord tones of a triad - Play the notes of a chord individually, then the chord blocked, and then a single note. The student names whether it is the root, third, or fifth of the chord.

Major/minor/augmented/diminished triads

2. Name That Symbol

I like to keep a small whiteboard with me when I teach online. This really helps me talk to students about symbols in their music without struggling to bring my music to the camera.

Make a game out of it. Draw different symbols on your whiteboard and have the student guess what it is. If it is an articulation (like staccato), see if the student can demonstrate it for you.

3. Rhythm Fun

Rhythm clap backs are very easy to do online. Clap a rhythm for a student and see if they can accurately clap it back to you. You can also play rhythms on one key and the student can play it on their piano.

Another option (perhaps for more advanced students) is to play rhythms on the piano and have the student notate the rhythm on a piece of paper. You can tell the student the time signature of the rhythm beforehand.

Use the printable rhythm cards and advanced printable rhythm cards on a small, magnetic whiteboard. You can do this by putting adhesive magnets behind each card. You can make different rhythms for a student to clap or you can make measures that are incomplete. The student can name or draw the missing note on a piece paper.

Keep in mind that online lessons do not have to be exactly the same as in-person lessons. This is especially true during times that are filled with uncertainties for students.
Other Resources for Teaching Online
How To Teach Piano Lessons Online Online Lessons Guide for Parents and Students How to Have a Piano Group Class Online
Digital Resources for Students
Note Naming Worksheets Musical Alphabet Worksheets Baroque Packet Classical Packet Grand Staff Note Speller

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3 Activities for Online Music Lessons | Piano with Lauren

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The following post may contain affiliate links. That means I may make a small commission (at no extra charge to you), if you purchase something from my links. Affiliate links are one small way that I can be compensated for running this blog.

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Here are some resources to different music ideas with different songs for students to learn.

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Lesson Zone™ - Music Lessons Plans for the Elementary Music Classroom

Music lesson plans that are jam-pack with fun for the elementary music classroom.

Lesson Zone™ Worksheets

MMF Lesson Zone music lessons plan and worksheet packs make lesson planning as easy as click, print, teach. Save on premium music lessons plans with MMF Print.

"Meet the Composer" Famous Composer Resources

Everything you need to start teaching or learning about your favorite music composer.

Famous Composer Soprano Recorder Play-Along

Want to give your music students a hands-on music experience playing a masterwork? This lesson resource includes beginner/easy level recorder sheet music and an Mp3 play-along recording.

Hallelujah Chorus | Soprano Recorder Play-Along (Music/Mp3)

Listening Maps and Listening Glyphs

Designed for the music classroom, our printable listening maps and listening glyphs turn listening to music into an engaging visual learning experience.

Famous Composer Bulletin Board Posters

Our bulletin board poster packs add pizzazz to your music classroom bulletin boards, while helping kids remember the essential facts about the composer or lesson unit.

MMF Songbook - Kids Songs and Nursery Rhymes

Browse 700+ kids song lyrics and nursery rhymes for the music classroom or just for fun.

Hey Kids, Meet the Orchestra - Orchestra Instrument Guides

Learn about the instruments of the orchestra with our Meet the Orchestra resources.

Free Orff Instrument Sheet Music

Get free printable easy Orff Schulwerk arrangements for the elementary music classroom.

Orff Arrangements | Free Sheet Music

Orff Instrument Repair

Are your Orff instruments acting up? Fix them yourself with our repair guides.

How Do I Fix Those "Buzzing" Bars?

Music Education Posts

Music education posts to guide and inspire.

Music Teacher Associations

Want to get connected with a music teacher association? Here's a list of organizations to consider.

Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)

Extra Income Ideas for Music Teachers

Could you use a few extra dollars each month? Here are a few ideas.

Become a MakingMusicFun.net Ambassador
Refer parents, teachers and students to MakingMusicFun.net and earn generous commissions when you join our partner program.

Ten Tax Saving Tips for Private Music Teachers

Illustrated Music Dictionary for Kids (Music Terms)

Get concise answers to your questions about composers, performers, instruments, and musical terms, in our illustrated music dictionary for kids. 400+ entries.

Illustrated Music Dictionary for Kids

Music Theory Worksheets and Games

Learn music theory with our arcade games, worksheets, flash cards, and printable board games.

Music Theory Worksheets
Note Name Worksheets
Intervals Worksheets
Rhythm Worksheets

Music Theory Arcade Games
Eek! Shark! | Music Theory Arcade Game (Note Names)
Music Press Distress | Music Theory Arcade Game (Basic Rhythms)

Flashcards and Games
Chomp! Music Theory Game - Rhythm & Time Signatures
Carnegie Hall Park™ | Basic Skills Music Theory Board Game
Flash Frog™ Flashcards
Pirate Quest™ | Basic Music Terms Game
Treble Clef Flashcards
Bass Clef Flashcards
Viola Clef Flashcards
Memory Game | Treble Clef Note Names
Memory Game | Bass Clef Note Names
Memory Game | Viola Clef Note Names
The Rhythm Store™ Game | Rhythm

DIY Musical Instruments

Build your own DIY musical instruments with our easy step-by-step plans.

Build a DIY Orff Xylophone: Step-by-Step Woodworking Plans
Make Your Own DIY Trumpet: Step-by-Step Instructions

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Free Elementary Music Lesson Plans and Resources

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Music lesson plans that are jam-pack with fun for the elementary music classroom. MMF Lesson Zone music lessons plan and worksheet packs make lesson planning as easy as click, print, teach. Save on premium music lessons plans with MMF Print. Everything you need to start teaching or learning about your favorite music composer.

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Here is a website I found that have a bunch of different classroom games and activities that involve music. This is for grades K-3.

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Are you looking for Musical Games and Activities for your classroom? You've come to the right place! NAfME members shared some fantastic exercises they use in their classrooms - and now you can too! Check out some of their great recommendations below, and be sure to share yours on Amplify!

Bucket Band is an easy and inexpensive way to help teach rhythm - great activity for middle school kids!
Spin and notate activity! Musical chairs writing! When the music stops pick up writing where the last person left off - writing can include note values, rhythm exercises, song lyrics to help the memorize a piece - you choose!
Scavenger hunt for an ice breaker! Building chords with legos! Get to know your students ice breaker - and helps students get to know one another! What note am I? An Ice Breaker Music Game! Incentive Program
All the students in Grades 6-8 are split up into one of three houses (sort of like in Harry Potter - which the kids love to reference). It builds community as students from other grades and classes work together to earn points and rewards.
Split students up into Music Teams.
Create six Music Teams named for the periods of music history: Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century, and Post Modern.

Each team has a Team Leader. The leader gets to sit in a special chair and is the person I can call on to pass out their team's notebooks, rhythm instruments, or to get their materials basket. The Team Leader chair rotates every two weeks. Make it random so that the students won't be able to predict who the Team Leader will be.
Boomwhacker Station
At this station students work together to read simple melodies on the treble clef staff and play them together using Boomwhackers.

Coloring Station
Even the big kids like to color! At this station they are using a color by note worksheet. You can find free printable versions of the worksheets here

iPad Station-Flashnote Derby
At this station, students used the Flashnote Derby app to test their knowledge of the treble clef lines and spaces. This fast paced review really helps see who knows their notes!

Gone Fishin'

At this station students sit on a large tablecloth and match fish to fishbowls. Each fishbowl has a treble clef staff with 3-8 notes on it. By identifying th e letter names of each, students discover that it spells a word. Then they find the matching fish which had a word on it.
Spell a Story
At this station, students work on a pitch identification worksheet. As they identify the pitch names of the notes they complete a story.
Treble Twist Up

Everyone likes Twister, right? This game is a great deal like Twister. You can create a staff with a plain shower curtain and electrical tape, or with masking tape on carpet too. Students use a spinner and follow the directions "Right Hand E!" "Left foot B!" for a fun and physical way to review pitch names.

Teachers: You can download the template to make your own Treble Twist Up spinner here.

Many of our NAfME Members also shared their Back to School Classroom photos with us! From decorating their doors and bulletin boards, to organizing their risers and boom whackers, we received some great ideas! Check out all of the wonderful music classroom ideas, and share your own, on our 'Classroom Ideas' board on our NAfME Pinterest Page: http://www.pinterest.com/nafme/

Kristen Rencher, Social Media and Online Community Engagement Coordinator. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org)

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Classroom Games and Activities for General Music - NAfME

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Are you looking for Musical Games and Activities for your classroom? You've come to the right place! NAfME members shared some fantastic exercises they use in their classrooms - and now you can too! Check out some of their great recommendations below, and be sure to share yours on Amplify!

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This link is to an article that gives 9 tips for teachers new to teaching music!

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A Beginner's Guide To Elementary General Music - Mrs. Miracle's Music Room

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Music education ideas, activities, games, and songs | Technology tips for the music classroom | Resources for the elementary music room.

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This is a lesson plan and example video for "Staff Hopscotch". This helps students learn pitch and get up and moving as well. (K-3).

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Aim: What is the difference between a step and a leap?
Summary: Students explore relative pitch through listening and movement.
Standards: US 5, 6; NYC 1, 2
Modality: responding
Materials: painter's tape, pitched percussion instruments (e.g., glockenspiels, Orff instruments, piano)
Time Required: 10 minutes

Instructions

1. Create a staff on the floor using five horizontal lines of tape.

2. Have students identify the lines and spaces on the floor staff by placing their feet on either the lines or the spaces.

3. Have students walk in steps on the floor staff (i.e., line to space, space to line, line to space, etc.).

4. Have students hop/skip in leaps on the floor staff (i.e., space to space, line to line, or more than two lines/spaces away).

5. Discuss the difference.

6. Show what a step and leap looks and sounds like on pitched percussion instruments. How is it similar to the floor staff? How is it different?

7. Have students take turns listening to a step or leap on the pitched percussion instruments and then demonstrate what they heard on the floor staff.

Going Deeper

Transfer step and leap knowledge to staff writing. Use this activity as an introduction to exploration of scale and note names on the staff.

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Aim: What is the difference between a step and a leap? Summary: Students explore relative pitch through listening and movement. Standards: US 5, 6; NYC 1, 2 Modality: responding Materials: painter's tape, pitched percussion instruments (e.g., glockenspiels, Orff instruments, piano) Time Required: 10 minutes Create a staff on the floor using five horizontal lines of tape.

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Here is a youtube video for 4th graders learning Tableau.

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Here is my Art Portfolio! I'm so excited to share with you the things I have learned this semester and all the resources I've gathered! Enjoy! :)

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Hello! Welcome to my arts portfolio for my class EDEL 4540: Elementary Creative Arts Methods, Section 1 (Fall 2020) at Utah Valley University!

My name is Karli Hull and I'm studying Elementary Education to become a teacher. I love kids of all ages and was a preschool teacher for 3 years. I would like more teaching opportunities so that's why I chose Elementary Education. I love the arts! I think they make learning so fun. I am a professional dancer and met my husband at our friends/cousins dance performance. It is so fun to incorporate the arts into learning!

Throughout my website you will find examples and lesson plans for Art, Music, Dance and Drama that we have learned about throughout the semester. This class has helped me learn so much and has allowed me to gain more experience with using the arts in the classroom.

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Hello! Welcome to my arts portfolio for my class EDEL 4540: Elementary Creative Arts Methods, Section 1 (Fall 2020) at Utah Valley University! My name is Karli Hull and I'm studying Elementary Education to become a teacher. I love kids of all ages and was a preschool teacher for 3 years.

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Here is my portfolio. Ive enjoyed this class! ENJOY!!

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I have learned so much this semester. I have learned about the different art forms. I knew a lot about the art forms but I never tried to incorporate different subjects to it. That was so fun to learn this semester.

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This a great link to several drama lesson plans!

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This is a resource that helps you as a teacher, help students create and perform a puppet show.

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Storytelling with a homemade puppet show is such a creative and engaging activity for kids. It is wonderfully educational and even more fun when you have a song to go with the story. A puppet theatre gives children endless opportunity to let their imaginations go.

Telling stories is such a fantastic way to develop early language and literacy skills and happily a fun and cheap way to entertain children too!

This simple but absorbing activity is just what your child needs to develop their skills for learning. Younger children will improvise and make up their own stories while older children can even get involved with writing full scripts and putting on little plays. Click here for the tutorial on how to make our Storytelling Puppet Theatre.

Storytelling puppets : Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Goldilocks and the Three Bears is an excellent storytelling song to start with as children often know and love this story from a very young age. Start by reading the fairy tale together. If you don't have this one in your collection here is a lovely version for little ones. Once you've read the story, make the stick puppet characters and props. These have been made specially to help tell the story simply. You can print the characters off by clicking the image below. Print and mount them on card, then attach to a lolly stick or something similar.

To start with play with the puppets and theatre together and your little ones will soon get the idea.

Encourage them to experiment with different voices for each character. This is an excellent way to demonstrate the contrasting pitches of high and low as well as the three different sizes of big, medium and small.

A lovely way to tell the story is by singing the Goldilocks and the Three Bears song which is also very popular with . This is perfect to sing with the preschoolers as an action song puppet theatre as it prompts little ones with the order and sequence of events in the story.

This will be the first of many stories and adventures as your child gets more confident playing with the puppet theatre. Watch out for more puppets and props as we add them to our Storytelling Songs Series. By creating this fairy tale world you are giving your child the chance to imagine, discover and explore, how exciting is that?
Check out our Bears lesson plan for lots more lovely teddy-bear themed activities combined in a 30 min structured lesson, with step by step teaching notes and supporting resources.

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Storytelling Songs : Goldilocks and the Three Bears Puppet Show - Let's Play Music

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Storytelling with a homemade puppet show is such a creative and engaging activity for kids. It is wonderfully educational and even more fun when you have a song to go with the story. A puppet theatre gives children endless opportunity to let their imaginations go.

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Here are some interactive activities and ideas to integrate drama.

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Drama Club - Heres some things you might think about: Parent permission slips with emergency contact information, and specifying whether or not the child will be picked up or walk home after meetings. Behavior agreement that both the child and parent sign (two strikes and youre out). A regular meeting routine...

drama ideas - Give each child a simple phrase, easy to memorize. Example: "Anthony, come here." or "Open the door." Each student then has to say their line in three or four differernt tones of voice to convey different meanings. Improvisation: Pretend you have a box of shoes (or use an actual shoe box). Take imaginary shoes out and make a big deal about putting them on (a ballerina will lace up to her knees, a fireman will pull on high boots, etc.). Then, silently, act out the character (dance, put out fires climbing ladders, etc.) Have the other kids guess the character.

drama ideas - I teach 4th grade drama to my class. I am no expert but I highly enjoy teaching it, and I will pass on a few of my ideas that you could use for a starter. Three resources I use a lot: Dramathemes by Larry Swartz...

The ProTeacher Collection - Tens of thousands of teaching ideas and advice from experienced teachers across the United States and around the world. A FREE service brought to you by members of the ProTeacher Community.

ProTeacher Community - Visit our growing community of elementary and middle school teachers! Get involved today! Dozens of active boards, blogs and chat; hundreds of active discussions, and tens of thousands of teaching ideas. Newcomers always welcome!

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ProTeacher! Drama lesson plans for elementary school teachers in grades K-6 including theatre, fingerplays activities, programs and thematic units, Storytelling and acting skills curriculum, classroom and teaching ideas

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Drama Club - Heres some things you might think about: Parent permission slips with emergency contact information, and specifying whether or not the child will be picked up or walk home after meetings. Behavior agreement that both the child and parent sign (two strikes and youre out). A regular meeting routine...

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I think this activity can really help in age group of kids warm up to whatever lesson that is being taught and help them get ready to act.

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It's so hard to keep the kids active in the winter, especially when we have cold temperatures and no snow. At least when there is snow on the ground, they are excited to get outside and build a snowman, have a snowball fight,go sledding, or paint the snow. So far this winter, we have not seen any snow and have been stuck inside.

I created this fun indoor winter activity to get them moving and active while stuck inside. This indoor winter activity will have kids moving and giggling in no time as they complete the actions. As an added bonus, it's a great gross motor activity.

This post contains affiliate links. See my Disclosure Policy for details.

Getting Started

The prep work for this activity is super easy and takes no time at all. Simply download and print this indoor winter activity on 8 1/2×11″ paper. You could laminate it and make it reusable. Kids will love playing this all winter long. You could make it a weekly activity throughout the winter.

How to Play

Play this by reading each action or turn it into a Simon Says game.

Kids start out by pretending they are getting ready to head outside. Then they get to pretend they are playing in the snow (while staying warm and dry). After playing outside, it's time for hot chocolate. If you have hot chocolate, you have to add marshmallows.

I find it much funnier to pretend we are putting on snow gear. By the time I get three kids dressed in snow pants, boots, coats, hats, and gloves as well as myself, I'm worn out. 🙂 Someone always puts their boots and snow pants on in the wrong order and we have to start over.

Download: Let's Get Moving Indoor Winter Activity

You Also Might Like

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It's so hard to keep the kids active in the winter, especially when we have cold temperatures and no snow. At least when there is snow on the ground, they are excited to get outside and build a snowman, have a snowball fight,go sledding, or paint the snow.

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This a video of a super cute PE warm-up!

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This is a great resource that can help you teach your students geometry using dance!

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The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM

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Dyan Branstetter | April 2017

It is so interesting for me to observe students learning geometry in the elementary classroom simply because it is so different than other math concepts. Students who struggle with math sometimes shine when learning geometry since it is so visual. This can help to change a fixed math mindset and give a student the confidence boost he needs to believe in his math abilities. In turn, some students who love calculating can be somewhat turned off by the many vocabulary words that accompany this topic. For both perspectives, bringing movement and dance into the math classroom is a fantastic way to help the vocabulary stick, which gives students a bank of background knowledge to access when they are required to do more advanced geometric activities.

After discussing the initial viewing, we watch again to focus on the positive and negative space. Then, after quick reminders about safety and that third-graders are not trained to lift one another like Pilobolus does, students return to their groups to finish their choreography.

Performing and Assessing the Dances

Once students are ready to show us their geometric dance, it is helpful to give the audience a purpose for watching. I provide little checklists of our vocabulary words for audience members to use as they spot each one. This holds audience members accountable and helps to captivate their attention through all of the performances. Plus it further reviews our vocabulary words. This strategy also slightly takes the pressure off of the performers who may be nervous to perform in front of their peers since they know others are watching for the math concepts instead of their individual performance.

After each group's performance, the audience members share the vocabulary words they thought they noticed and the performing group gives them feedback, sometimes demonstrating the pose again to show the polygon (or other term) that they created. This gives me an opportunity to do some formative assessment as I observe which students seem to understand the vocabulary, and which groups could demonstrate some examples of positive and negative space.
Note: As an extension or in place of these performances, students could take pictures of the performers as they create each geometrical movement and label the geometry with an app such as Skitch or Seesaw. Students could import these into Adobe Spark and add music to create a music video similar to those we viewed of Pilobolus.
Bridging the Movement to Paper

These movement activities are an integral part of my geometry unit, and I wouldn't want to teach the concepts without them. However, it is important to bridge the movement to paper, since that's how students will need to demonstrate their proficiency. Some students can naturally make this transfer, but most students need a scaffold to connect their movements to the types of questions that are presented to them as they use attributes of polygons to identify them like the examples shown , or explain the mathematical difference between a square and a rectangle.

For this reason, I balance our movement activities with visual art activities. I also have students create visual flow charts to see how quadrilaterals can be compared and contrasted, and we measure every angle with the corner of a piece of paper. Without internalizing the vocabulary first, however, students will not be successful with these more rigorous tasks. And without our geometric dancing, students don't always internalize the vocabulary.

Have you tried using dance to help students master geometry?

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Dyan Branstetter | April 2017 Mastering Geometry Concepts with Dance It is so interesting for me to observe students learning geometry in the elementary classroom simply because it is so different than other math concepts. Students who struggle with math

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Hello! My name is Emma Garner and welcome to arts portfolio! I have a great passion for teaching children art! For as long as I could remember I have wanted to be an elementary school teacher! It has been so fun fulfilling my dream!

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This is a really cool website that has a bunch of different ideas and even livestream classes you can participate and to dance to.

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Now live-streaming on ZOOM!

Join us in spontaneous dance exercise from the comfort of your home. Simply click the link below to join our Zoom channel. See you on the living room dance floor!
EVERY DAY except Sunday!

10:30am HST / 11:30am AKST / 1:30pm PST /
2:30pm MT / 3:30pm CST / 4:30pm EST

Meeting password: muve

Building Community, Confidence & Creativity

MUVE is multi-generational, always spontaneous dance exercise. It is enjoyed by toddlers, school kids, teens, adults and seniors. MUVE Dancing brings happiness, relieves physical and mental stress and connects us with each other.

The MUVE Website is a FREE instruction manual to learn spontaneous dancing for exercise, enjoyment, education and community-building. It teaches how to engage family, friends, students and even whole communities in a playful and healthy group activity. At our website you will find:

* Dance-along MUVE

You can dance along for free to over 130 MUVE videos at the video blog. Office MUVE is a series of dance-along exercises for anyone wanting to bring wellness to their workplace. The MUVE-along Show is a series of live TV segments inspiring audiences to get up and dance along at home.

* The MUVE Dancing Games

MUVE community dancing games can be played with as little as 3 and as many as 100+ dancers. You will find all of our MUVE Dancing Games explained and demonstrated with sample videos. The website teaches all the skills needed to successfully lead MUVE Dancing Games. All information is free of charge. Anyone can do it, no experience necessary.

* School MUVE / Content Lessons

MUVE Lesson Plans (comprehensive school physical activity program) provide content and concepts to inspire creative movement, foster physical development and improve leadership skills. For teachers there is a section about standards and benchmarks for fine arts, physical education and health so they can rest assured that these fun games also meet the educational needs of their students.

Start MUVE-ing Today!

All the information on our website was created so you can implement MUVE's ideas into your own practice, for your personal exercise, or to share with family, friends, co-workers and students. Contact us if you have questions and especially if you discover a new dancing game you would like to share with the world.

Dance-along at your desk with
Office MUVE

OFFICE MUVE videos bring natural stress relief through joyful dancing. This free and readily available online resource provides a variety of quick workouts to refresh workers in minutes. Take a healthy break from the physical inactivity of office work to loosen stiff joints and release tense muscles.
See the whole Office MUVE series.

MUVE Dancing Games (MDG) inspire creativity, boost self-esteem and teach leadership. They are exercise, disguised as play. They give families and friends an exhilarating experience together. Anyone can enjoy an MDG, no matter their age or physical shape, because with MUVE everyone adjusts movement size and energy level to fit their personal needs.

MUVE Dancing Games are easy to set up. See all details at the
MDG Page

Dance along with over 130 videos at the
MUVE Video Blog

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You Can
Teach MUVE!

The MUVE System is a free resource for anyone to use. You do not need to be a great dancer to facilitate the MUVE Dancing Games.
Just do it!

This website can teach you all you need to know to entertain your family or to inspire your students. Learn about the many Dancing Games and use the MUVE Lesson Plans. You can download the Visual Concept Cards for free.

They will help you and your students create spontaneous movements with great variety.

MUVE Teaching TOOLS

Follow the link
and get them today!

MUVE Dancing Games

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Join us in spontaneous dance exercise from the comfort of your home. Simply click the link below to join our Zoom channel. See you on the living room dance floor! EVERY DAY except Sunday! 10:30am HST / 11:30am AKST / 1:30pm PST /2:30pm MT / 3:30pm CST / 4:30pm EST Meeting password: muve MUVE is multi-generational, always spontaneous dance exercise.

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This is a blog of a teacher who has lots of dancing ideas. I really like the newspaper one.

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Hurray! We are back in school and back to making music! This week my students learned how to do the newspaper dance. We started with a section of the paper, unfolding it and laying it flat. This was our "dance floor". Students then could dance in their space. Before we started, each group decided what they considered to be "dancing". Most groups said that to be dancing you had to move your arms and legs in some fashion.

And so the dancing began...

Now, as fun as that was...it was just getting started. Next, we stepped off the newspaper and folded it in half and stepped on again. After a while, students had to move in very creative ways to stay on the newspaper.

We had a great time defining "dance", practing making the fraction 1/2 and movin' and groovin' to some great tunes. With older students we created math sentences like "We are standing in 1/8th of the space that we started on."

Some of my favorite tunes to use with this activity:

"I Like to Move It" by Crazy Frog

"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver

"Get Jiggy Wit It" by Will Smith

"Happy" by Pharrell Williams

"Best Years of Our Lives" by Baha Men

"The Twist" by Chubby Checker

"Goofy Goober Rock" by Spongebob

"Walk Like an Egyptian" by the Bangles

"Everything is AWESOME" from the Lego Movie

"Boot Scootin' Boogie" by Brooks and Dunn

Are you looking for movement ideas for that first week of school? How about ribbon dancing? You can create really inexpensive ribbons or streamers with plastic table cloths and pencils (or chopsticks or dowel rods or something of similar size. Check out THIS blog post to learn how to make them. Then check out these:

This collection includes cards with pictures and cards with word prompts to use with your students. Pass out your scarves, ribbons or streamers and start the music. Then hold up the cards and let students choose how to interpret them.

I also love to use other sets of movement cards that don't always have one correct way of being interpreted. I have several sets of Freeze Dance and Creative Movement cards that you might be interested in.

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Hurray! We are back in school and back to making music! This week my students learned how to do the newspaper dance. We started with a section of the paper, unfolding it and laying it flat. This was our "dance floor". Students then could dance in their space.

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Here is a free downloadable lesson plan to teach grades 3-6 to create their own folk dance.

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Your students LOVE moving. So why not let them use their knowledge, be creative, and create their own folk dance! This has a lesson plan and basic rubric to help you get started.
Love this? Check Out: Folk Dance & Movement Word Wall Folk Dance Formation Posters

Looking for Sub Materials? Check Out:
<a title="Music or Not Games" href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Music-or-Not-Games-Bundle-2872672">Music or Not Games</a>
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A step by step for guiding students to create their own folk dance!Your students LOVE moving. So why not let them use their knowledge, be creative, and create their own folk dance! This has a lesson plan and basic rubric to help you get started. Love this?

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This is a good science experiment to do with k-3 classes because its simple and they can understand it.

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by Ann
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.

This Sound and Volume Vibrations Science Experiment can be done while enjoying a variety of music! It's fun and easy learning activity for kids of all ages.

Teaching children about sound and volume is a hard task. This simple Sound And Volume Vibrations Science Experiment for kids is a great homeschool lesson that will help you accomplish this task easily with all ages. Your kids will also be able to enjoy different types of music in the process!

Sound And Volume Vibrations Science Experiment

It's hard to show movement for this experiment with photos, so in the first set up we just put the tissue balls on there randomly. The second time I did more of a pattern to see them move. As you do this science experiment with your kids, you'll see first hand it is easier to visually understand than the pictures show.
Materials:

This is also a very loud experiment, so consider that when doing it with the kids. Use ear protection or think about their sensitivity to sound. I keep this set of ear protective ear muffs on hand for various science experiment ideas like this.

1. Place a piece of plastic wrap on the top of a glass bowl and straighten as best as possible. Wrap a rubber band around the plastic wrap to hold it in place. Gently pull on the plastic wrap under the rubber band to make a very tight fit onto the bowl.
2. Crumble up a few small pieces of tissue paper and set them onto the plastic wrap.

3. Place the bowl next to a speaker and play music. Is the paper moving?

Turn up the volume: Now what happens?
Try another type of music: What level of volume makes the tissue paper move?

4. Take it one step further! Line up tissue paper balls and guess which will fall off first.

Sound vibrates air. The sound from the speakers makes the air vibrate which makes the plastic wrap on the bowl vibrate. This makes the light pieces of tissue paper bounce around.

Since music is so different, no two songs sound the same or make the food wrap vibrate at the same volume.

Learning Objectives:

How does sounds travel through air? Which songs/music genres make the most vibrations?

This science experiment is a great way to help kids of all ages understand sound and volume vibrations. Have fun experimenting with different noises and music to see how the tissue paper bounces. Your kids will love having fun with this experiment!

More Science Experiment for Kids:
Magnet Science Activity For Kids Easy Water Science Experiments For Kids 7 Ways To Use Apples To Teach Science How To Make Your Own Quicksand Ice Cube Discovery Activity For Kids Disappearing Egg Activity For Kids Bouncing Beans Activity For Kids Thanks to Kari of Craft Create Cook for sharing her project and pictures.

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Sound and Volume Vibrations Science Experiment for Kids

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by Ann This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here. This Sound and Volume Vibrations Science Experiment can be done while enjoying a variety of music! It's fun and easy learning activity for kids of all ages. Teaching children about sound and volume is a hard task.

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These are fun educational songs for grades K-3 to sing during circle times/morning meetings.

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I always loved circle time with preschoolers ... although when I had a Montessori school, we called it "line time" since our lines (created from colored electrical tape on the floor) were in the shape of an ellipse in one room and a circle in another.

I even led "circle time" twice a week when I was a Montessori school director ... too much fun to give up! And songs were always one of my favorite parts of "circle time." I typically accompanied the songs on guitar, although CDs work very well, leaving hands free to use props or hand motions. A cappella works well, too. And YouTube videos are easy to use in a home environment.

Even though there are lots of wonderful CDs you can buy that I absolutely love (and used both as a teacher and homeschooler), I'm just listing free resources here. There will be links to some CDs available for purchase as well as free resources in my Pinterest post linked to at the bottom of this post.

These are songs for any season that I've found online for preschool (and some for kindergarten and early elementary) teachers, whether you're a Montessori teacher, homeschooler, or any other style of teacher or childcare provider. Of course, they're also great if you're a parent supplementing your child's learning at home. Just choose the songs appropriate for the level and interests of your child/students. Even though the songs work for any type of educational orientation, I'm organizing them using Montessori curriculum areas.

Practical Life Songs
Care of Self
Handwashing songs (to help children learn to wash their hands for 20 seconds) Singing the "ABC Song" is often recommended during handwashing.

"Happy Handwashing Song" (sing 2 times through)

"Nursery Rhyme - Wash Your Hands" (sing 2 times through)

Scrub Squad from Kid Scoop.

"Rubba Dub Dub, Animated Handwashing Song" from The Singing Nurse

"The Brush My Teeth Song" by Matt R.
Grace and Courtesy "Yes No Please Thank You Song" Safety Songs
"Road Crossing Safety Song" from Training Happy Hearts

Sensorial Songs

"The Colors Song" by A. J. Jenkins

"Mix And Match Your Colors" by The Kiboomers
"They Might Be Giants - Roy G Biv"
"Shapes Song" by The Kiboomers

"Shapes Song" by A. J. Jenkins

Language Songs

"Ants on the Apple" (I LOVE this song! When I did my master's school placement in a nursery in England, I purchased the book and CD of this song to use at circle times.)

"Phonics Song" (I love this series by A. J. Jenkins and KIDSTV123, too! Free Phonics Poster from KIDSTV123)

"Phonics Song 2" by by A. J. Jenkins

"Phonics Song 3" by A. J. Jenkins

"ABC Song" by A. J. Jenkins

"ABC Song" from Hoopla Kidz

"The Alphabet Song" by The LMNOPs

Math Songs

"Numbers Song" by A. J. Jenkins

"Three Little Fishies" by Kiboomu

"Three Little Men in a Fying Saucer" from My Vox Songs

"Five little speckled frogs" from My Vox Songs
Props and Free Printables for "5 Green and Speckled Frogs" "Counting Ducks Song"
"5 Little Monkeys" from Super Simple Songs
"Alice the Camel"
"The Big Numbers Song" by A. J. Jenkins ( Free Numbers Poster from KIDSTV123)

Cultural Songs
Geography
"The Continents Song"

"Montessori Lesson - The Continent Song"

"The Continent Song" Versions 1 and 2
"7 Continents Song"
Music With Nancy - "The 7 Continents and 5 Oceans"

"Red, White and Blue" (with sign language) by Debbie Clement (While you're there, if you follow Rainbows Within Reach via Networked Blogs in the left sidebar, Debbie will send you a free mp3 of "Monster Spray," a fabulous song for helping children overcome fears of monsters. You can leave a comment in Debbie's Free Monster Song post letting her know you're following.)

"Animainiacs Wakko's, US States" (fun elementary song about states and capitals)
Astronomy
"The Planets Song" by A. J. Jenkins

"The Solar System Song" by A. J. Jenkins

Music with Nancy - "Planets, Planets"

"The Planet Song": a funny song by Bryant Oden

"Family of the Sun" from "Exploring the Planets" exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum until 2006.

Updated lyrics for beginning:

The Family of the Sun,
Its planets number eight,
Plus other rocky, icy worlds
That we appreciate.

Updated lyrics for Pluto:

Pluto's small and cold.
It has an icy face.
We call it a dwarf planet now,
But its still quite a place.

Songs from a Number of Curriculum Areas

Circle Time Songs That Teach from Nancy Kopman (includes teaching methods and link to YouTube channel)

Song Packet from Kelly's Kindergarten

Little Fingers That Play - simple songs and fingerplays (lyrics and many videos)

All the Posts in My Free Song and Educational Video Series

Free Songs about Skills and Concepts - in alphabetical order by words in bold

Free Unit Study Songs and Educational Videos - in alphabetical order by words in bold

Free Seasonal and Holiday Songs - in order by time of year, starting with back to school in August or early September

Free Video Resources Posts - in alphabetical order by words in bold

Free Character Education and Mindfulness Video Series at my Bits of Positivity Blog
Note: These are in alphabetical order by words in bold.
I hope you find these helpful!

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I always loved circle time with preschoolers ... although when I had a Montessori school, we called it "line time" since our lines (created from colored electrical tape on the floor) were in the shape of an ellipse in one room and a circle in another.

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I love this drama activity! This helps students use their face to express emotions and also have fun!

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Drama Game for kids. Mr Chop's Sweet Shop. Facial and vocal warm up.

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This is my arts portfolio! I love creating it and I am excited to use all I have learned in my own classroom!

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Hi Everyone! Welcome to my Creative Arts Portfolio. The purpose of this portfolio is to hold everything I have learned, created and tried! I learned so much from my time taking Creative Arts Methods at UVU and have so many things I want to remember to use and implement in my classroom. I hope to continue to add to this portfolio as I continue to learn.

A little about me! I studying Elementary Education at UVU and I am so excited to be an Elementary School teacher. I got married in June and me and my husband got a little puppy named Lily who is the cutest. I did ballet for 15 years and loved every second of it. I believe arts are so important in the classroom and I can't wait to implement the arts in my own classroom.

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Hi Everyone! Welcome to my Creative Arts Portfolio. The purpose of this portfolio is to hold everything I have learned, created and tried! I learned so much from my time taking Creative Arts Methods at UVU and have so many things I want to remember to use and implement in my classroom.

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This is an article/guide along with almost endless benefits to incorporating music into the classroom.

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In the popular film School of Rock, Jack Black, as substitute teacher Dewey Finn, leaps to the front of the classroom, whips out an electric guitar, and plays an original Led-Zeppelin-esque tune for his stunned fifth graders. Most teachers´ experiences with music in the classroom are a far cry from Black´s maniacal rock-and-roll antics-they find themselves on easier terms with a paper-towel-tube maraca than with a flaming red electric guitar.

But any teacher-even those who discreetly mouth the words to "Happy Birthday"-can find ways to access the enormous educational benefits of music.

Sustained and rich school music programs are the ideal, and many teachers, parents, and community members-armed with a wealth of research-have taken action to protect them. (See "Parents Demand More Music", below.) But even if your school´s marching band, musical theater program, and after-school ukulele club eventually fall under the budgetary ax, music does not have to be banished from your school. Integrating music with other academic subjects is one way to salvage some of its strengths and to enrich the entire curriculum.

Math Set to Music "Kids come to school knowing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,'" says Kay Smitherman, a retired math teacher from Angleton, Texas. "Wouldn't it be nice if children came to school already knowing math formulas by heart?" Smitherman, whose "Math Songs" activities appear in the January/February issue of Instructor, has made a second career of setting math-themed lyrics to popular tunes to help kids memorize essential formulas and skills.

"With music, the steps are already implanted in your brain," she explains. "Students can hum while a test is being taken-it's right there in their heads." Once, she recalls, a student walked up to her after a test and confessed that a group of children had cheated. "What?" she asked, surprised. "How?" The sheepish student explained: "When we got to that part about mean, median, range, and mode, we hummed until we got to that part, then wrote it down."

Getting students to participate in the music-making can add another level of engagement. Math educator Robyn Silbey, from Gaithersberg, Maryland, encourages the teachers she trains to "use music to help students recall basic multiplication facts, for example. The teachers challenge kids to reinforce these facts by making up new words to a well-known song.

"This strategy is an effective way to have students embed anything they need to learn for mastery or to memorize," says Silbey. "I like it because all the kids are involved in teaching and learning, it's less work for the teacher, and it's fun and gets the job done."

Lyrics and Language As the self-styled Ms. Music, Beth Butler spent years visiting preschools throughout her home state of Florida, using songs to teach little ones the days of the week, parts of the body, and more. Then she made a discovery: "Using music is exactly the way to teach a new language," she says.

A fluent Spanish speaker, Butler started Boca Beth ( http://www.bocabeth.com/), a Spanish-English language program that uses songs, movements, and puppets to teach Spanish vocabulary and phrases. The familiar songs on Butler's DVDs and CDs-such as "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"-alternate between English and Spanish stanzas.

"Children are such sponges," says Butler. "They pick it up quickly, and music makes it so much easier for them." Just 10 minutes a day can put kids on the road to building a decent bilingual vocabulary-with no effort at all. Kids can just relax and listen.

While music can help kids retain a new language, it also helps them with basic skills in their native language. Christina Ledbetter, who has taught first grade for three years at Plumb Elementary in Clearwater, Florida, explains that "in the beginning of first grade, it is important for children to know that we read from left to right and then back down to the next row." To get kids to understand this, Ledbetter uses a tune by songwriter Jack Hartmann called "The Way We Read" ( http://www.jackhartmann.com/), which kids act out with their hands and bodies as they sing along.

Children with language difficulties in particular can benefit from music, says Susan Stackhouse, a support teacher for second through fifth grade and a regular seventh- and eighth- grade classroom teacher at McDonald Elementary School in Warminster, Pennsylvania. To accommodate some of her students' disabilities, Stackhouse makes up her own lyrics to popular tunes. For example, her version of "Hokey Pokey" starts with a word like train. She sings: You take the "t" out and put a "g" in, you take the "r" out, and look at what you have.You put the sounds together and you try to sound it out. (Kids clap.) What is the new word? Kids: Gain!

"I have children self-talk through a difficult word by singing a song and applying it to their reading," says Stackhouse. "It's very effective."

Musical Intelligence When Diane Connell taught a lesson on honeybees to third graders-including children with special needs-she looked for a way to make the subject come alive. A quick browse through the local music store turned up Rimski-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee." Back in class, the children got out of their seats and "buzzed" around the room to the fast, jerky rhythm of the composition. "The music helped them feel exactly what I was talking about in the lesson," says Connell, now an associate professor at Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire. Teaching the students in this fashion engages the emotions. "If students really care about something, they'll remember it," asserts Connell.

As one of Howard Gardner's major intelligence areas, music is valuable for its own sake as well as for what it can add to a lesson. Linda DiPasquale-Morello, a teacher at John C. Milanesi Elementary in Buena, New Jersey, feels that music is "just as or even more important than reading, writing, and math." She says, "Many children who do not show academic awareness or excellence have the ability to show their forte in the arts-either musical or visual art. That's why I am so against using just standardized testing for knowledge and understanding. We need all kinds of people with all kinds of talents!"

As Greg Percy, a teacher of art for 20 years in Madison, Wisconsin, has discovered, a musical intelligence can even help kids with-what else?-other types of art. Percy's greatest hits ( http://www.songsinthekeyofart.com/) include the "Picasso Polka," "From Matisse to You," "Michaelangelo Mad," and "The Red and Yellow Blues"-the latter a catchy ditty on primary colors. In his art classes, Percy will show some samples of an artist's work, talk about the artist, and then play an original song pertaining to that day's art lesson. For example, his song "Van Gogh (No Stereo)" appeals to kids because they remember one gruesome fact about the Dutch master: that he cut off his ear-and, as the song goes, couldn't hear "in stereo." The songs ignite the kids' interest and help them remember important facts and elements of art history.

"The kids are learning, but they don't know they're learning," says Percy. "That's the best situation."

Culture and Music The students that Teri Tibbett meets are often isolated-with sometimes as few as six children and one teacher to a rural schoolhouse-and starved for artistic experiences. Tibbett, an itinerant music teacher based in Juneau, Alaska, brings the only musical exposure that these students have.

With younger children, Tibbett emphasizes movement: clapping, bouncing, and finger play. Older kids in fifth through eighth grade learn about the music's "background, where it came from, and the sociology of the music style." In the summertime, Tibbett works with native youth-mostly of the Tlingit and Haida tribes-in a juvenile detention center. She starts with a Native American unit from her book Listen to Learn: Using American Music to Teach Language Arts and Social Studies (Jossey-Bass, 2004). "They get excited," she says, "because that's who they are. They realize this isn't the typical music appreciation class. Then they're hooked on it."

The older kids also get to see and handle instruments from various cultures. Tibbett asks questions that get them to analyze and compare: "Here's a rattle. Touch it, look at it. Why does this instrument belong in the idiophone family? How is this like sticks banging together, or two goat hooves clacking together?"

Tibbett links her music lessons with history, such as the Ghost Dance that took place before the Massacre at Wounded Knee in the late 1800s. The dancers performed the dance as a healing ritual, but "the military perceived it as a war dance," she says. "It made them nervous-and the massacre followed." Playing music that accompanied the Ghost Dance can bring history alive for students. By analyzing their own gut reactions to the music, students can gain a better understanding of how the military might have interpreted the Ghost Dance and the dancers' intentions.

Jennifer Rodin, who trains elementary-level teachers at the Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, South Dakota, develops social studies lessons based upon various types of music-percussion, hip-hop, and call-and-response. A teacher can link music and social studies, suggests Rodin, by sending students to the Internet to do a guided search. For example, a search of "music + instruments + Ancient Egypt" turns up images and descriptions of lyres, flutes, and cymbals. A teacher can encourage kids to discuss why these instruments might have been developed, what materials they were made of, and what tools were used to construct them. Using easy-to-find materials such as pie pans, beads, spoons, duct tape, and plastic eggs, kids can measure and build their own versions of these instruments. Lastly, "if you're lucky enough to find recordings of the actual music," says Rodin, "then you can make math connections by talking about the music's counting and rhythm patterns."

Music Promotes Wonder Music Promotes Wonder Beyond the research, teachers know from the expressions on their students' faces that music's benefits go far beyond what can be assessed. Put simply, students enjoy, gain nourishment from, and build their confidence through participation in the arts. Writes Norman Weinberger, Ph.D., a professor in the department of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine, "Arts education appears to really bring out the best in students, capitalizing on their natural curiosity and allowing it to flourish in a varied, stimulating environment."

For the student who has given up on school or has never found his or her strength, music is sometimes the incentive needed to show up every day. "Everyone has a gift to explore and develop," says Jackie Buckner, a third-grade teacher at Frank Kohn Elementary School, in Tulare, California. "Part of my job as a teacher is to assist in locating and developing those gifts."

Take away the opportunity for children to find these strengths, and you are doing a disservice to society, says Ann Fennell, a third- through eighth-grade music teacher at the Vista Academy of Visual and Performing Arts in San Diego. Fennell is director of Music Ventures, a program that trains teachers how to integrate music into the curriculum. "It's imperative to teach all of the arts," she says, "because we don't know whom we are denying. Take Louis Armstrong. Had he never held a trumpet, what would the world have lost? Many kids do not get these chances at home. As a teacher, you have to open up every door, to every child, to let them discover their infinite possibilities."

Music Under Seige While the arts have been deemed a core subject by NCLB, there is no standardized test in place to measure how skillfully one strums a guitar chord. As a result, music programs in many schools are thought to be expendable. According to the Music Education Coalition, the current round of budget cuts will deprive 60 percent of K-12 students of an education that includes music. "To have music education stricken from the school system is devastating," says composer Bruce Adolphe, music and education advisor to the Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society. "Education should help create a whole human being, and it's not going to if you have to only do well on English and math tests and excel in sports . . . Music is a language without barriers, and it creates a community that's a model for humanity."
Higher Test Scores The reduction in school music programs is not only damaging from an aesthetic standpoint, it also flies in the face of research that suggests kids who study music perform better on tests. Numerous studies reveal that kids who participate in music programs show improved spatial-temporal skills, enhanced academic performance, and better social skills. According to a 2001 College Entrance Examination Board study, students with coursework or experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal section of the SAT and 41 points higher on the math; those who participated in music appreciation scored 63 and 44 points higher, respectively, than those students with no arts participation. A 1999 study from the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies showed that gains from music were just as great or greater for students of low socioeconomic status as for privileged students.
Parents Demand More Music Ninety-five percent of parents say that music is a key component in a child's education," says Laura Johnson, associate executive director of the American Music Conference, a nonprofit organization that promotes the benefits of music-making. People sense intuitively that "kids who study music do better in school and in life," she says, "and that's backed up by a great deal of research." The community at large supports music education; according to a 2003 Gallup poll, 97 percent of respondents believe that playing music is "a good hobby" and "a good means of expression" that "provides a sense of accomplishment." For advice on how to assemble a campaign to save music in your school, visit http://www.supportmusic.com/. On the site, you'll find an arsenal of facts about music education and a step-by-step action plan.

Jennifer O. Prescott is the managing editor of Instructor. This article was originally published in the January/February 2005 issue.

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In the popular film School of Rock, Jack Black, as substitute teacher Dewey Finn, leaps to the front of the classroom, whips out an electric guitar, and plays an original Led-Zeppelin-esque tune for his stunned fifth graders.

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This is my portfolio! Thank you everyone for a great semester!

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Below there are multiple items that are key contributors to my Creative Arts Portfolio. I have my class's (EDEL 4540) Padlet that gives helpful resources listed under each art form for easy access and then a section to where my colleagues have posted their portfolios. Following, my professor Haley Anderson, has created a Google Drive Folder that has slides, links, templates and more. Continuing, I have a my reflection to when I spent my time observing in my Field Experience Classroom. Then, I have a well constructed lesson plan that incorporates visual arts and music. Lastly, an excerpt to wrap up my thoughts throughout this semester.

I have learned an array of things throughout this semester. I have learned how to write lesson plans, work collaboratively, and broaden my knowledge on what how creative arts intensifies learning. All forms of art can be incorporated into education. From the benefits, to the pure amusement of art in itself. There couldn't be a greater way to learn core curriculum. I will use what I have learned throughout this semester not only in my future classroom, but within my everyday activities to help expand what I know to help others understand and enjoy the process of learning. When it comes down to picking a favorite form or activity to specify as my top one, I cannot. There are too many great things that come from each individual art form I would never take one over the other. The best thing about the art forms is that there are millions of ways to integrate them.

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Below there are multiple items that are key contributors to my Creative Arts Portfolio. I have my class's (EDEL 4540) Padlet that gives helpful resources listed under each art form for easy access and then a section to where my colleagues have posted their portfolios.

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Here are 30 games to download for free for grades K-3.

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Drama Games and drama activities for Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2. This is a FREE collection of drama games suitable for lower elementary / primary school years! Enjoy!

TERMS OF USE
Please note that this product is for personal classroom or home school use by a single purchaser only. You may not distribute, copy or modify this product other than for your own personal, non-commercial classroom use.
© Drama Trunk. All rights reserved.

*****CHARACTER MACHINES (READER'S THEATER)*****

Check out Drama Trunk for more drama resources for younger students but you may also like the following Character Machines suitable for primary / elementary students:
THE BIG BAD WOLF CHARACTER MACHINE DRAMA CIRCLE AVAILABLE HERE
BILLY GOATS GRUFF CHARACTER MACHINE DRAMA CIRCLE AVAILABLE HERE
GOLDILOCKS AND THE 3 BEARS CHARACTER MACHINE DRAMA CIRCLE AVAILABLE HERE
THE UGLY STEPSISTERS CHARACTER MACHINE DRAMA CIRCLE AVAILABLE HERE
THE GIANT CHARACTER MACHINE DRAMA CIRCLE AVAILABLE HERE
RUMPELSTILTSKIN CHARACTER MACHINE DRAMA CIRCLE AVAILABLE HERE
EVIL QUEEN CHARACTER MACHINE DRAMA CIRCLE AVAILABLE HERE

*****DRAMA UNITS*****

You may also be interested in the following full drama units for primary / elementary. These units are curriculum aligned and NO PREP is required. Just print and teach a quality drama unit.
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK DRAMA UNIT and SCRIPT FOR ELEMENTARY AVAILABLE HERE
HANSEL AND GRETEL DRAMA UNIT FOR PRIMARY AVAILABLE HERE
INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA UNIT (Years 5 and above) AVAILABLE HERE
MIME FOR PRIMARY AVAILABLE HERE
SNOW WHITE DRAMA UNIT and SCRIPT FOR ELEMENTARY AVAILABLE HERE

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DRAMA TRUNK DRAMA CARDS ARE A DRAMA TEACHER'S BEST FRIEND! Just print, laminate (optional) and cut out a set of versatile drama cards that you can use over and over again. I cannot count how many times and ways I have used drama cards - absolutely my most handy drama resource.

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Stay tuned to my page DRAMA TRUNK for more fantastic drama resources - from drama activities and classes for little people; primary school level drama; secondary curriculum and more...

Happy teaching!

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Drama Games and Activities for Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 2

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Drama Games and drama activities for Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2. This is a FREE collection of drama games suitable for lower elementary / primary school years! Enjoy! TERMS OF USE Please note that this product is for personal classroom or home school use by a single p...

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Here is my site!

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Semester project for my EDEL 4540: Elementary Creative Arts Method class that I am taking Fall of 2020. This is a collection of all the art assignments that I have done this semester to help me integrate the arts into my future classroom. Along with other resources to help in my future classroom.

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I really enjoyed reading about all the different dance activities in our textbook and this article has even more. It mentions a lot of simple games that will get students moving!

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Whether you are planning a small party for your child's birthday, or trying to engage them into physical activities, and even trying to make learning interesting for them, incorporating some dance games in the process helps more than you think. Just dance games for kids could also translate into party games for kids, and are not just fun and entertaining in the process, but imbibes team spirit and encourages children to participate in group activities!

Here are some interesting dance games for kids, that help to have fun and learn at the same time.

Read More: 21 Fun Music Games for Kids

Journey game

This game creates an imaginative experience for children, and materializes the fairy tales they read in the books. You could take them to a 'forest' of say red riding hood and hansel and Gretel, wherein they interact with different elements in the forests by dancing. They could dance with the flowers and cross bridges, sing with the birds and dance with the deer! They could pretend to be one of them, and it is the beauty of the purity and innocence that makes the game innovative.

Passing the dance move

This game makes space for not adding some groovy dance moves but also improves their cognitive ability. In a group of children, a person starts a dance step, and passes it on to the child next to her. The next child then adds a step of his own to the previous step, and passes this combined step to the next person. This goes on, and can be made more fun by dancing to the routine created as a result. The children have to participate by relying on their memories, and it is best to let children limit themselves to simple steps to include everyone.

Read More: K ids Dancing

Dancing with props

This simple game paves the way for fun while being interactive, and is a great party game for kids. Firstly, the kids have to pick out a prop, or an item, which could be balloons, ribbons, hats, flowers, scarves- you get the gist! After picking the prop, the child has to dance with the prop for the duration of the music. This could be made more fun if they could talk about the props they are using, their likes and dislikes, and even letting them choose their ow prop. The creativity that stems from this exercise is surprising and fun!

Animal dance

This game requires children to imagine, and is a lot of fun. You could make chits or small cards with names of different animals written on them, and let every child pick one card. After doing so, the kids have to dance to the music, and move like that animal! You could also invite them to speak on the different aspects of the animal, like where do they live, what do they eat, and how do they sound. You could also ask them to imitate their movement- if they move fast or slow, or do they take big steps or small and if they are loud or quiet!

Move like the music

This dancing game allows children to identify the theme of the music, and the emotions they feel while doing so. The dancing to the music thus exhibits the emotions they feel while listening to it- if it is a happy song, they can dance by bouncing and if the music is calm and even sad, they can dance by swaying instead. This game makes them think and not move mechanically, allowing them to develop well cognitive and emotional abilities, and reacting to them by exhibiting certain body movements.

Read More: Seven Ways to Make Running and Walking with Kids Fun

Dance the action

This game basically requires children to enact certain words through the medium of dance. You could either make chits or cards with words like blossom, rain, wind, fly- take your pick, and then ask the children to enact them with music. You could use this dance moves game to also help children remember the meanings of certain words, and can also be a great way to learn!

Small to big

The game is beautiful and relies on the imaginative capabilities of the children. Firstly, identify a growth pattern. This could be flowers-plants-trees, or even caterpillar-pupa-butterfly! There is nothing better than dancing to something that also educates and adds meaning. Children will not only learn new things, but also have fun while learning a little more!

Heartbeat hop Dance game

Combining two childhood favourite past-times, that is, hopscotch and dancing, this game is exciting for all! The game requires a caller- who will call out numbers one and two, based on the heartbeat. When one is called out, the children have to hop on one leg, and when two is called, the children have to hop around on both their feet, and have to create interesting patters on the floor. This tests their resourcefulness and creativity!

Dance poses game

This game is exciting for children and adults alike. First, the children must choose a partner for each other. Then, choose a fun song that is light-hearted and groovy. Give five to ten minutes to the teams to come up with different dance poses that they think goes well with the song. And that is it! You will not only be surprised to see the different poses that the children come up with, but is also enjoyable for them.

Read More: 50 Games for Children With Special Needs

Dancing Switch

This dancing game adds life to the party, simply because it explores different genres of dance and music! Make a playlist of different types of songs, and then once they start playing, you could call out different dance styles such as disco, salsa, hip hop, slow waltz- it is up to your imagination! The children must be paired in partners, and have to switch their dancing styles with every name you call out.

Obstacles game

A simple yet entertaining game- this combines dance moves and emphasises on body movement. Essentially, you need to place obstacles in a line, you could use different props for this purpose like party hats and big cones, with gap in between. The children must now cross these obstacles the way they please. They could dance their way through, or jump over them with a partner, and even use a small car to drive through the obstacles.

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11 Fun Filled and Entertaining Dance Games for Kids

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Whether you are planning a small party for your child's birthday, or trying to engage them into physical activities, and even trying to make learning interesting for them, incorporating some dance games in the process helps more than you think.

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Here is the link to my Arts Portfolio where you will find lesson plans, resources, and information on all the arts and how to integrate them into the classroom.

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My name is Malorie L. Orgill. I am studied to become an elementary school teacher and have wanted to be a teacher since I was in 3rd grade. Pictured with my is my husband, Spencer and my dog Remy. We enjoy fun hikes, movies, game nights, karaoke, and so much more together with family and friends.

I have always had a special place in my heart for the arts. I grew up performing in a singing and dancing group for 11 years, spent 5 years in school choir including the elite Madrigals choir in high school, countless of musicals, and I am a lover of jam sessions in the kitchen!

Here you will find all the art projects, lessons, and resources given and done throughout Fall 2020 semester for EDEL 4540. There are lots of ideas for ways to integrate the arts into other core subjects and create fun activities for students through Visual Arts, Music, Drama and Dance!

This portfolio is a culmination of all the projects, slides, and lesson plans that have come from this semester. While most of the projects are made by myself, there are some that have been created by my professor and peers from this class. I have enjoyed taking this class and creating this arts portfolio for others to enjoy as well! I am excited to show you what I have been up to this semester and all the resources I have accumulated through others as well.

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My name is Malorie L. Orgill. I am studied to become an elementary school teacher and have wanted to be a teacher since I was in 3rd grade. Pictured with my is my husband, Spencer and my dog Remy. We enjoy fun hikes, movies, game nights, karaoke, and so much more together with family and friends.

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This is a very informative video on how you can teach young students (this example is kindergarten!) about rhythm!

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Copy Cat Rhythm Game - Teaching Kindergarten Music

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Here is the link to my arts portfolio!

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End of Semester Reflection:

I had fun learning new things and creating so many fun things in this class. This semester was overwhelming with the pandemic going on, but I feel like I still gained so many valuable things. I will be honest, I didn't like making the videos for GoReact every week, but the content of them was fun! I would much rather take this class in a face-to-face format. I think my favorite art form we covered was visual art. I feel like this form will be beneficial to many students and lots of fun to integrate into lessons. When it comes to drama, dance, and music I also loved learning about them. I never realized how easy it is to integrate the arts into the common core and I am excited to do that very thing in my future classroom!

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End of Semester Reflection: I had fun learning new things and creating so many fun things in this class. This semester was overwhelming with the pandemic going on, but I feel like I still gained so many valuable things. I will be honest, I didn't like making the videos for GoReact every week, but the content of them was fun!

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These are great ideas with video demonstrations for drama games that work for us even during COVID19 and social distancing.

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18 pages of distance learning drama activities and with links to over 100 videos. Do you need to teach drama online? Here is an extensive collection of games, ideas and activities that students can work on at home. Many of these

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Here is the link to my Arts Portfolio.

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Below, I have attached several resources. Our class Padlet, which has different resources for each art form (visual, music, drama, and dance) we created as a class. The Google Drive folder has our class slides that we reviewed throughout the semester. I have also attached my field reflection paper, which consisted of two weeks in an Elementary classroom as well as my lesson plan with two art forms, I created for an assignment. My course reflection can also be found here.

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Below, I have attached several resources. Our class Padlet, which has different resources for each art form (visual, music, drama, and dance) we created as a class. The Google Drive folder has our class slides that we reviewed throughout the semester.

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This is my art portfolio where I have included some really great resources and some of my own work. I am excited to share what i have learned with you.

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This course has taught me so much. I have always loved art and being creative, but I must admit I questioned the importance of it. It's so much fun, it almost feels like it isn't necessary but more of a break from learning and school. This course taught me how art should be way more integrated in our classrooms. Teaching in, with, through, and about the arts is so beneficial to our students learning. It promotes motivation to learn, and allows students to think in new creative ways. Our students will be far more motivated to learn, and remember the material better if we include the arts. We can use art to teach anything if we are creative. It is an amazingly effective tool for teaching, but we should also teach about art. Art is part of culture. Students benefit from understanding artistic concepts, and the meaning and feeling behind artwork. Art can tell us so much about our world, and students can learn more about themselves through it. I will be including art in my classroom as often as possible. It will be in my teaching, and artwork will be displayed around the classroom. I want to model creative learning and encourage my students to pursue art in whatever way works best for them.

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This course has taught me so much. I have always loved art and being creative, but I must admit I questioned the importance of it. It's so much fun, it almost feels like it isn't necessary but more of a break from learning and school.

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Brooke R Arts Portfolio     Welcome to my Arts Portfolio where I have compiled this semester's resources.  

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Brooke R Arts Portfolio     Welcome to my Arts Portfolio where I have compiled this semester's resources.  

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Welcome to my Arts Portfolio! My name is Brooke Richins. I am studying Elementary Education at Utah Valley University. I grew up in small town in Eastern Utah. I've endured Houston's humidity and found refuge in the mountains. If I'm in the sun by water with my family, I'm happy.

This portfolio is a collection of projects and assignments that I submitted for my Creative Arts course. It is going to be a useful resource for me in my future classroom. I'm glad you're here!

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Welcome to my Arts Portfolio! My name is Brooke Richins. I am studying Elementary Education at Utah Valley University. I grew up in small town in Eastern Utah. I've endured Houston's humidity and found refuge in the mountains. If I'm in the sun by water with my family, I'm happy.

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Welcome to my Arts Portfolio. Enjoy resources for all the Arts forms through lesson plans, videos, articles, field trip, ideas of all kinds and more.  Here is another link in case.

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In this portfolio, you will find a collection of lesson plans, resources, and more that make up the Art forms. I have gathered these as I prepare and learn to be the best educator I can. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or additional suggestions!

What a fascinating semester this has been. I have learned so much and in ways I never imagined. I especially liked our textbook which may sound surprising but it is full of extremely valuable resources, quotes, ideas, evidence and more! Although the Creative Arts Chapter questions were sometimes a lot of work, I found them to be some of your most valuable assignments. I did not fully enjoy the immense work that went into weekly goreact videos, but my favorite art form was Music and the great activities that caught my attention most often dealt with Drama. I appreciate all that I have learned and the organization of the professor! Rarely was I confused on expectations or what I needed to learn and accomplish. Thank you for a great semester.

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In this portfolio, you will find a collection of lesson plans, resources, and more that make up the Art forms. I have gathered these as I prepare and learn to be the best educator I can. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or additional suggestions!