The following activities will help familiarize your students with the plot of Doctor Atomic, forge connections between a variety of classroom subjects, and creative responses to the opera. They are designed to be accessible to a wide array of ages and experience levels.

An Atomic Assemblage
Invite students to write a found poem for two voices about the legacy of the atomic bomb. To deepen this study, invite students to learn about the aftermath of the atomic detonations in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War.

Batter My Heart
Invite students to create a visual depiction of the internal and external forces propelling Oppenheimer toward the Trinity test, the first-ever detonation of a nuclear weapon.

The Cloud Flower Blossoms
Invite students to explore the connection between science and the earth, and between the scientists and the Indigenous people living on the ancestral lands that became the Trinity test site. To deepen this study, invite students to write and conduct a brief research plan that will help them learn about Indigenous history in their region.

Soundscapes
Taking the opening minutes of Doctor Atomic as inspiration, invite students to create a soundscape composition using sampled sounds from their own lives.

“Takadimi”: Exploring Rhythm
Introduce your students to rhythmic solfege, a concept that has roots in classical Indian music. Use these solfege syllables to practice performing a variety of rhythmic patterns, and then invite your students to explore how musical patterns can reflect the rhythm of poetry and speech.

COMMON CORE CONNECTIONS
These activities directly support the following ELA-Literacy Common Core Strands:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.9
Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.9
Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9–12.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.