Performing Arts classes are in full swing for all students on campus.  Ms. Dian is delivering Montessori experiences to her students as she weaves the cultural curriculum covered in the classroom into the her own lessons. Lower Elementary students are immersed in the study of Ancient Egypt, its culture and dominant contributions to society, as well as its overall influence on modern day people.

During a recent Performing Arts class, Lower Elementary students created a physical, circle thinking map where Ancient Egypt was the point of interest and everyone was asked to brainstorm about their current knowledge of Ancient Egypt.

Many interesting points of view came out of the discussion, including exploring the movement of Ancient Egyptian people and the power of their Gods and Goddesses to influence those around them.  Images of those Gods and Goddesses were reviewed and students were encouraged to look at the postures and the poses of those ancient people.  

After breaking into small groups, they chose the image of the Gods and Goddesses that had the most interesting pose.  One person in the group modeled the stance and the others produced an image of the pose.  Each rendition was hung on the curtains of the stage and the students picked their favorite pose by standing in front of it.

Ms. Dian played the “Song of the Pharaohs” and she conducted the student’s movement from the front.  Students were also immersed in the movements of ancient Egyptians and explored moves like “The Tut,” “The Box Tut” and the “Egyptian Tut.”  

To further test their knowledge of Ancient Egypt, students played a human tic tac toe, where each group was asked key questions about Ancient Egypt and also basic questions about music, dance and drama.

Students also had a lot of fun with creating a sound story called “The Prophet”, which told about a young Egyptian boy and a variety of different characters we were introduced to along the way.  Ms Dian gave them an assortment of actions, like a donkey braying, footsteps, and asked them to choose the instruments to represent these sounds.  

Ms Dian then read the story and the students waited for their cue to play their instruments.

Singing is a key component of the class, so the “Nile Song” was explored and practiced, all in preparation for a Lower Elementary performance to be held later this year.  Finally, what modern day Performing Arts class that is focused on Ancient Egypt would be complete without a rousing performance of “Walk like an Egyptian”?

On an ongoing basis, Ms Dian allows students to showcase their musical, singing and movement talents to the class.  Recently, a few boys created and performed a dance to “Uptown Funk”, and another student played a piano piece by Beethoven. This drive to share and shine with each other is so exciting to Ms. Dian and inspiring to the students.