Music, Dance, & Theatre in the Classroom

Students will best learn when they become engaged. The most effective way to engage people is to create an environment of drama and fun. This is especially true for students in elementary school.

Following is a list of elements of a great dramatic environment? For photos and more detail, an EBook is available for purchase at our other website. Please see purchase info at end of this page.

PRINT RICH

Print rich walls that are focused on education and not merely decoration, enhance the room. For example: 

AGENDA AND SYLLABUS

OBJECTIVES - Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

BLOOM'S

MUSIC AND DANCE

More than wall items, however, is to provide fascinating activities every day. We want our students to wonder, "What will happen today?"

A way to do this is through dance and theatre. Theatre can be as simple as adding characters to the classroom and writing stories that involve both students and the characters. This helps students to create characters about the lesson topic and write in their journals in a way that is more memorable than simply listing facts.

DANCE:

Science is easily taught using hands-on activities and dance. We did "The Continental Drift" as a dance to teach about Pangea and how the continents drifted apart. Details and the lyrics to the song are available on the EBook mentioned above.

OTHER MUSICAL EXPERIENCES

We wrote many songs and dances for our subject areas. By providing tunes to old favorites and letting students write the lyrics, they can reinforce their knowledge of the topic. These songs are in the EBook mentioned above.

PHOTOS OF ITEMS USED AND INFORMATION

While I used a lot of technology (see Technology and Gaming in the Classroom webpage) in the classroom, students also enjoyed the stories about the various characters. We became very theatrical in connecting stories and plays to our content areas.

Some plays were more formal and some were done as vignettes, such as our Martin Luther King plays.

Students from 02-03 school year still come back to visit and talk about Freddie Frog (character), Sandy Sun (settings), and Catface, Pretty Flora, and Rat (plot), who taught Literary Elements, as well as Lizzie Lizzard and many others. 

One of their favorites is Elaine the Brain. It helps to explain to students how the brain works - how they learn by creating neuron pathways. 

Lee's EBook "Fun in the Classroom" includes photos of these many characters and details on what the characters "taught." Click here to purchase using Paypal or call Lee at 469-471-4439 to use your credit or debit card. If you prefer, you may mail a check or money order to Lee Gabor, P. O. Box 127, Palmer, TX 75152. 

Texas Sales Tax of .0625 is added to EVERY sale, whether or not you are in Texas.

Order #EDEB 001  Emailed as zip file $5.00   

Order #EDEB 002 Snail-mailed to any location in U.S. as PDF on a CD (covers cost of CD and CD envelope, shipping and handling)  $8.00

Order #EDEB 003 Snail-mailed to any location outside U.S. as PDF on a CD (covers cost of CD and CD envelope, shipping and handling) $12.00

Visit here to purchase.

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