Educator Resources

PBS Learning Media - Dance 

Videos, plans, and handouts for all ages

The Kennedy Center - Dance 

Culturally connected lesson plans and media

National Core Art Standards 

Detailed exemplar lessons for grades 2-12.  View student samples for grades 2-8 and grades 9-12.

Carnegie Hall's Music Educators Toolbox 

Lessons and resources for music in grades K-5

Nearpod - Music 

Interactive presentations for in-person or virtual instruction (free registration required)

PBS Learning Media - Music 

Videos, plans, and handouts for all ages

The Kennedy Center - Music 

Culturally connected lesson plans and media

National Core Art Standards 

Detailed exemplar lessons for grades 2-12 with a range of student work samples

Educational Theatre Association

Lessons for online instruction.  A full library of plans is available to members only.

PBS Learning Media - Theatre 

Videos, plans, and handouts for all ages

The Kennedy Center - Theatre 

Culturally connected lesson plans and media

National Core Art Standards 

Detailed exemplar lessons for grades 2-12.  View student samples for grades 2-8 and grades 9-12.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art history lessons and resources for grades K-12

Nearpod - Art

Interactive presentations for in-person or virtual instruction (free registration required)

PBS Learning Media - Art

Videos, plans, and handouts for all ages

The Kennedy Center - Art

Culturally connected lesson plans and media

National Core Art Standards

Detailed exemplar lessons for grades 2-12.  View student samples for grades 2-8 and grades 9-12.

Commissioner's Memo: State Supported Pre-AP for Arkansas Schools

This memo, released January 6th, 2022, details a new opportunity for Arkansas schools to offer Pre-AP Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Art.

Arkansas Pre-AP Toolkit

A landing page document for multiple supports across stakeholder groups.

College Board: Pre-AP Visual and Performing Arts

College Board's dedicated page for Pre-AP arts courses includes planning guides, state standards crosswalks, and additional resources.

Thea Foundation: Performing Arts: Senior dancers must register and upload an audition video.  Check Thea Foundation website for dates and more information.

• Thea Foundation: Performing Arts: Senior vocalists must register and upload an audition video.  This competition is not currently open for instrumentalists.  Check the Thea Foundation website for dates and information.

• Arkansas Governor's School: Free, four-week residential camp for rising high school seniors.  Students must be nominated in the fall and applications are due in the middle of January.

• Thea Foundation: Performing Arts: Senior actors must register and upload an audition video.  Check website for information and dates.

• Thea Foundation: Fashion Design: Senior designers must register and upload required documents and media.  Check website for dates and information.

• Thea Foundation: Film: Senior filmmakers must register and upload their film.  Check website for dates and information.

• Arkansas Thespian Festival: Performers and techies in grades 9-12 may prepare and present an individual event for scholarship consideration.  Seniors may also participate in targeted scholarship auditions.  Registration is required in mid-fall with festival occurring in February.

• ACTAA Student Scholarship: Each school with at least one ACTAA member may nominate a theatre senior each year.  Check website for dates and information.

• Arkansas Governor's School: Free, four-week residential camp for rising high school seniors.  Students must be nominated in the fall and applications are due in the middle of January.

• Thea Foundation: Visual Art Scholarship: Senior designers must register and upload required documents and media. Check website for dates and information.

• Thea Foundation: Film Scholarship: Senior filmmakers must register and upload their film.  Check website for dates and information.

• Thea Foundation: Fashion Design Scholarship: Senior designers must register and upload required documents and media.  Check website for dates and information.

• Henderson State Summer Intensive Teen Workshop: Tuition-free, residential summer workshop focused on hands-on, culturally-diverse art-making for teens ages 13 to 18 at Henderson State University. Check website for dates and information.

• ASMSA Summer Art Camp: Free, one-week residential camp for rising high school sophomores.  

• Arkansas Governor's School: Free, four-week residential camp for rising high school seniors.  Students must be nominated in the fall and applications are due in the middle of January.

Create high-quality media such as presentations, handouts, calendars, social media posts, LMS banners and logos, infographics, and more in this user-friendly web tool.  K-12 educators may sign up for a free premium account with their school domain email address.

Free, open-source software for recording and mixing audio.  Use Audacity to record audio lessons, instructions, podcasts, and more.  Check out a quick start guide to Audacity, then move on to basic mixing functions and additional quick tips.

Learn how to insert audio clips recorded in Audacity into Google Slides presentations with this tutorial.

Use any of Nearpod's library of interactive presentation with virtual or in-person students or create your own with their building tools.  Nearpod's library includes many lessons for visual art and music.

Google Arts & Culture provides numerous lesson plans, games, virtual field trips, and other interactive experiences for students and teachers of visual art.

This is a very valuable tool for tracking arts participation by state, district, and individual school.  Use filters to find which schools offer which classes, how many arts instructors are employed by each district and building, and how many students are involved in arts programs.

• Arts Reconstruction: Thea Foundation sponsors a one-week, residential PD program for educators in all disciplines to learn visual art techniques for integration in classrooms.  Participants are supplied with materials to implement their learning into their own classrooms.

• ACTAA Summer Conference: Theatre and dance

• ArkMEA Summer Conference: Music

• Henderson State Summer Intensive Studio Workshop: Visual Art

• artWAYS  is a weeklong immersive visual arts summer program at UA Little Rock. Participants spend all day making art in well-equipped art classrooms / studios / labs with university art professors who are also working artists.

• ACTAA Fall Conference: Late August/early September, theatre and dance

• AAE Fall Conference: Early November, visual art

• Arkansas Dance Network PD Saturday after AMSDF.  See website for details.

• Dance Teacher PD Day: Arkansas Dance Network, see website for dates and information.

• AR Choral Directors Association Spring Conference: February/March, alternates years with national conference

• ArkansasIDEAS: Asynchronous, digital PD for all disciplines and grade levels

• DESE Fine Arts PD: Announcements made as available