Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The Nutcracker Ballet Unit Study (Make your own from more that 60 free web resources)


In a few weeks, the girls will be auditioning for their parts in their ballet school's Christmas production of 'The Nutcracker.' Miss K, especially, has been excitedly reading and learning all about the characters and their dances. It seemed like great great opportunity to add a Nutcracker Ballet unit study! 

Below you will find all the links to the free web resources we will be using. I have listed them by subject rather than by the order we will be using them. Including nine study guides from different Ballet Companies all over North America might seem a bit over the top but they are all different.  Be sure to check out each guide as they all have unique suggestions for activities, puzzles and games. Each guide also outlines the theatre, cast and crew for their performance. Some of the photographs of the dancers and theatre alone are worth pouring over with your kids! We hope you have as much fun as we will studying the Nutcracker! 

History 


The History of the Nutcracker (the tool/ornament) at Magicofnutcrackers.com

Study Guides









Language Arts Nutcracker activities
5 Nutcracker Language arts based activities from the Union City Youth Ballet


Drama, Theater and Dance activities
Comparing Smooth and Sharp movements of Dance from Lesson Planet

Math Based NutcrackerActivities
2 Math activities for Pre K - 1 from the Union City Youth Ballet
Compare Nutcrackers with a Venn Diagram printable from Teach123
Symmetrical Nutcracker Activity from A Faithful Attempt

Science Based Nutcracker Activities
4 different areas of science to explore from Union City Ballet 
Learn about Clarks's Nutcracker bird at Allaboutbirds.org
Hands on activity to explore different kinds of bird beaks from Utah Education Network
Hands on activity to explore Levers in everyday use (incl. worksheets) from ingridscience.org
Make your own crystal snow flake -an experiment from Science Kids New Zealand

Social Studies & History Activities 
Ideas about studying the history of Ballet and the Country of Russia (the origin of the story)


The History of the Nutcracker (the tool/ornament) at Magicofnutcrackers.com


Music 
Learning about Tchaikovsky
Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra -An interactive online book/game from the Carnegie Hall site
Hey Kids, Meet Tchaikovsky at Making Music Fun
A great collection of Musical instrument worksheets can be found at Enchanted Learning
Free 60 Pg Musical Lapbook Printable  from 123Homeschoolf4me.com
Music Coloring Pages from Coloring.ws
Active listening and Discussion worksheet for 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' at Lesson Planet

Art and Crafts

Nutcracker Paperbag Puppet Printable from Jim Gamble Puppets
Make Nutcracker & Clara puppets with this printable from Lesson Planet
Recipe for Sparkly Sugar Plums from the Cupcakeproject.com
Recipe for Sugar Plum Fairy Cupcakes from the Cupcake Project


Ballet

Ballet Lap n Note from Homeschool share: 
Topics Incl.: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, history of ballet, creative writing, positions, tutu 

Preschool Nutcracker Ideas and Activities

Nutcracker Cut & Paste Activity from Makinglearingfun.com
Nutcracker Montessori 3 Part Card Printables from Laura's Place
Nutcracker Coloring Pages from Supercoloring.com
2 Math activities for Pre K - 1 from the Union City Youth Ballet

Free Clipart and images to add to your project

Free Dance Themed B & W GIFs at ClipArt etc
Free Theatre Themed B & W GIFS at Clipart etc
Color Nutcracker image at Phillip Martin Clipart
Male Ballet Dancer Image at Phillip Martin Clipart
Openclipart.com has a lot of ballet themed images
Candy and Gingerbread Clipart at Mycutegraphics.com

Free iOS Apps


 

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