Who would you be if you could represent yourself differently? A villain? A King? Would you be mischievous or loyal? How can we look at the masks worn in the Beijing Opera for inspiration? Why are masks worn? How does a viewer react to a mask? What makes for a strong reaction? This lesson is a preparatory lesson for my 4th grade class, as they will be learning about Asian music through the program I work for, in the 2nd half of their school year coming up in January 2013. I asked the above questions to my 4th graders to get them thinking about how to paint their mask, using a handout of Beijing Opera Masks I made for them. I explained that the color symbolism in China is different than here in America. For example, yellow in America causes feelings of happiness, and is energizing. But in China, yellow symbolizes the opposite: calm, collected. I made a color chart for them to use to make their own color key at the bottom of their display paper before they painted their masks.
