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The Arts In Every Classroom: A Workshop for Elementary School Teachers

What Is Art? Getting Ready

Getting Ready (15 Minutes)

The following information will help you focus and organize your professional development session.

Learning Objectives

  • Engage in discussions and activities leading to the discovery of some basic characteristics of theatre.
  • Investigate musical elements and create a basic definition of music.
  • Experiment with movement and identify essential elements of dance.
  • Formulate, discuss, and revise personal definitions of visual art.
  • Examine ways in which fantasy impacts perceptions of reality in Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam and in everyday life.

Guiding Questions
These are questions for your group to consider as you work through your session:

  • What is art?
  • How do the arts connect with each other?
  • How can the arts be integrated into every classroom?

Materials and Resources

  • Videotape or broadcast of Program 1 — What Is Art?
  • Reading: Cirque du Soleil (PDF)
  • Reading: Quidam (PDF)

Opening Steps
Facilitator: Distribute copies of the print guide, in its entirety, to all participants.

Discuss your expectations for this professional development workshop. You can use the Guiding Questions above as a starting place.

Before you watch the program, briefly consider the question “What is art?” Discuss in your group or reflect and write down comments on your own.

Workshops