•Introduction

•About Chinese Opera

•Traditions

•Characters

•Performance

•Musical Accompaniment

•Gestures & Props

•Glossary

Chinese Opera Teacher's Guide and Curriculum
Introduction

Chinese Opera is a unique and wonderful art form that incorporates music, poetry, dance and body movement of all kinds. As such, it makes a great medium for introducing students to a wide variety of joyful and productive exploration, creativity and self-expression.

This Teacher's Guide and Curriculum presents an introduction to Chinese Opera, along with a variety of associated music activities designed primarily for elementary school classes. The activities have been specifically prepared for use by music teachers as well as for class teachers with little or no music teaching experience. Some activities will work effectively to link subject areas and create a multi-faceted class curriculum.

Along with lesson plan suggestions, this guide contains pages to print as class handouts and others to download as visual aids. You'll find a helpful resource list and a glossary of terms related to music in general and to Chinese Opera in particular.

The activities in this Curriculum Guide are designed to fulfill the Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools. These standards require that students be given opportunities to:

• Compare musical styles from two or more cultures
• Use classroom instruments to play melodies and accompaniments from a varied repertoire of music from diverse cultures
• Classify how a variety of instruments from diverse cultures produce sound and
• Identify vocal and instrumental ensembles from a variety of genres and cultures
• Analyze the use of musical elements in aural examples from various genres and cultures (Grade 5).

Please note that wherever the use of percussion instruments is suggested, any form of sound makers, homemade or otherwise, can be substituted effectively. Most successful music lessons involve active participation, with children working in groups and making their own decisions with a bit of guidance from the teacher. These activities are designed with this principle in mind. After each group activity, it's important to gather the class together to share ideas.