Flashmob Lesson Plan

by Adele Lowen
- Explain what a flashmob is:
- a choir or dance troop
- they practice a routine
- they go to a public place, dressed in regular clothes so they blend in
- they perform their song, starting with just a few people and gradually
adding more people until the entire group is performing
- they disperse into the crowd
- the public is caught by surprise by the performance, and sometimes even
join in!
- Ask if any of the students have seen a flashmob performance, what they saw,
and where they saw it.
- Watch the flashmob videos * click on the links below
- For each flashmob video watched:
- discuss what the flashmob is trying to express (eg. feelings about a
holiday, musican, words to the song and the story it tells).
- discuss the musical style, genre of each flashmob performance (eg. jazz,
rock, pop, country and western, classical)
Curriculum Concepts:
Listening: 5, 7
Expression: 6, 18

Create a Flashmob Performance

- Select a song.
- As a class, discuss and write out the form of the song (eg. ABCBDB) as music can
be organized into sections.
- Have the students give suggestions for movement and actions for each phrase of
music, working with patterns that repeat for the same sections or phrases. A
great resource for this is the DVD: Kids On Risers, A Director's Guide For Young
Performers by John Jacobson. Watch it together as a class for great movement
and action ideas. Remind the students as they watch that they may not agree
with or like everything John Jacobson suggests but they do need to show respect
for his ideas. Be inspired by his suggestions.

- As movements are agreed upon, write them down, record them, or memorize
them. Then practice with the music a section at a time.
- Practice until it is at a performance level and then perform the piece in the
community or within the school. Students love to be "hidden" in the audience at
a school concert and surprise the audience as they gradually emerge, running up
onto stage to perform their Flashmob routine.
*click on the links below to view student Flashmob performances
Curriculum Concepts:
Form: 1, 2, 4, 5
Creating: 6
Moving: 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15
Expression: 1, 2, 3
Listening: 10, 11