Presents an interview with Dr. Harold P. Geerdes, world-renowned music facility planner, acoustician, and music professor. Dr. Geerdes discusses the different characteristics of rehearsal spaces and concert halls as well as the importance of interior materials and design. He also provides some easy and inexpensive tips for schools. (MJP)

The Theatre Arts Standards of Learning identify the essential content and skills required in the theatre arts curriculum for the middle school and core high school courses in Virginia's public schools. The standards are designed to be cumulative and progress in complexity by course from the middle school through the secondary level. Throughout…

This resource guide and the accompanying videotapes are based on the artist-generated lesson plans of the Very Special Arts Massachusetts artist residency program. Six arts units are presented: Collage, Puppetry, Movement I & II, Printmaking I & II, Theater Arts I & II, and Self Concept I & II. Each of these units consists of…

The guide presents an overview of a national contest designed to make history come alive to students in grades 6 through 12 through imaginative projects, original performances, media presentations, and papers. Students submit their entries into contests in which they are judged by historians, educators, and other experienced professionals.…

Describes a non-graded, one-class-period activity that can help undergraduates understand and explore fundamental psychological concepts. Groups of three or four students perform short skits illustrating basic concepts (moral development, defense mechanisms, identity status) and the class tries to guess the concept. (MJP)

Argues that, although social studies classes should be exciting and interesting, students frequently rate them as among the most boring and irrelevant. Asserts that living history programs, including history theater, history immersion, and living history museums can improve history instruction and student attitudes. (CFR)

Purpose: To examine whether students have higher retention rates of material when they participate in online quizzes or online alternative student-centered assignments on the material presented in the F2F class. Design/methodology/approach: Reviews the literature; and analyzes data from the implementation of both types of assessment for the online…

This guide, which is intended for literacy instructors working with students learning English as a Second Language (ESL), contains materials for and about an integrated performing arts and literacy program that was developed for use with Asian Americans. Presented first is a brief history of the workshop's development for use in the Chinatown area…

Intended especially for teachers who might be a little intimidated by the art of playwriting, this guide provides a step-by-step plan for using drama in the classroom in grades 4-8 to build children's language arts and thinking skills. The guide features a series of engaging activities where students will learn how to write dialogue, set scenes,…

This book provides suggestions for drama activities and materials based on 14 classic and contemporary fairy tales suitable for both stage and classroom performance. After the introduction (which outlines different ways the stories can used dramatically) and a "Welcome to the Box Office" section, the book provides materials and…

Appropriate for elementary methods courses in Arts and Language Arts, this book extends traditional language arts content by offering multiple communicative channels for expressing, representing, and responding to ideas. It equips teachers with ways to maximize children's creative potential and critical literacy through activities involving "the…

This document presents the results of a survey of New Jersey schools districts examining the state of arts education in New Jersey schools. Data from the department of education's annual series of fall reports of vital educational statistics also was reviewed. The information from the survey was combined with the data in the fall report to provide…

This report is the culmination of a project that assessed the status of arts education in the public schools in Indiana. Detailed information on Indiana's total arts education program, including the areas of music, visual art, theater and dance education, was solicited by a comprehensive mail survey. An executive summary states that: arts literacy…

An award winning project for incorporating economics study into the junior high school curriculum is described. As a joint activity of 3 eighth grade social studies classes, 60 students created a videotape program to teach and test 6 basic economic concepts: scarcity and choice, opportunity costs, productive resources, production, supply and…

Oral interpretation facilitates the learning processes of adolescents by making the presentation of subject matter more interesting and meaningful to them, helping them feel involved, and providing them with an opportunity to perceive literature in action. Narrative literature is a good place to begin oral interpretation activities, since…