Curated OER
Reader's Theatre for 1st Grade
First graders participate in reader's theatre. In this drama lesson, 1st graders choose a Scholastic play and use stick masks to perform the story. The students are videotaped and analyze their performance
Curated OER
Text Features of Fiction, Poetry, Drama: Story Matrix
How do novels differ from plays? Explore with your class the text features of fiction and drama by reading The Hidden One: Native American Legend and then performing a reader’s theater script based on the story. Class members create a...
Teacher Created Materials
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
Bring Julius Caesar to life with a reader's theatre approach that engages the entire class. The opening exercises model the importance of reading with expression while choral reading exercises permit class members to practice their...
Curated OER
Readers Theatre using an Indonesian folktale
Young scholars read a short play based on the Indonesian folktale Cicak and Kancil and complete related activities.
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Days 13 and 14
How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star Wars: A New...
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...
Royal Shakespeare Company
RSC Activity Toolkit: Much Ado About Nothing
Are you frustrated by searching for activities to engage readers in their study of Much Ado About Nothing? Sigh no more. Young thespians will find much to do in this Royal Shakespeare Company 23-page Toolkit. Included in the sections are...
Curated OER
"War of the Worlds": A Broadcast Re-Creation
Why did Orson Welles' 1938 Broadcast of a adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds cause such a panic? To answer this question, class members listen to the original broadcast and research the panic that resulted. They then engage...
Curated OER
Writing Drama-Trying Your Hand at being a Playwright
Fifth graders chart the elements of drama. In this performing arts activity, 5th graders discuss the role of a playwrite, practice doing some Reader's Theatre scripts, write a paragraph about a problem between two people, and perform...
Curated OER
Sequencing Stories
Students explore dramatization. In this literacy fluency and drama lesson, students listen to the story Mop Top by Don Freeman and add related sounds at the appropriate times. Students role play, pantomime, and add sounds to create a...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater
First graders imagine the house they live in. They think about the colors, materials, shape, size and location of their home. Students read and discuss the book "Houses." They perform this book as a Reader's Theater using a script.
Curated OER
Nature’s Fury—Myths and Drama
Fifth graders explore the elements of theatre. In this dramatic performances lesson plan, 5th graders discuss the structural elements of theatre and dramatize "The Origins of the Season," an explanation myth.
Curated OER
Readers' Theatre with African and Chinese Folktales
Students investigate genre of folklore, specifically African and Chinese folktales, and script and perform folktales with examples from The Magic Brocade and Fire on the Mountain. Seven lessons on one page.
Curated OER
Thornton Wilder's Our Town: The Reader as Writer
Students read a play and create their own play using Thornton Wilder's Our Townas a resource. In this play lesson, students analyze how theatrical elements contribute to a play's meanings and effects. Students recognize differences...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet and Plume Editions of the Screenplay Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun
Although they may be based on a novel, a screenplay is not a novel and is read differently. This teacher's guide to Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun teaches readers how to read a screenplay, analyze camera instructions, and...
Curated OER
Explore the Constitution
Students examine the U.S. Constitution. In this American history instructional activity, students explore the founders' vision of U.S. government as they participate in readers' theatre, role-playing scenarios, and constitutional...
Novelinks
Oedipus the King: Anticipation Guide
Is it possible to escape fate? Are all types of pride evil? Are family secrets best kept secret? Before reading Oedipus the King, class members respond to a series of statements on an anticipation guide that introduces some of the basic...
National Literacy Trust
Mark The Bard!
Commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with a packet of cross-curricular literacy lessons and activities centered around two of the Bard's most popular plays, Macbeth and The Tempest. Class members look for evidence of...
Curated OER
On Thinning Ice: An eco-theatre production about climate change
Students investigate the causes and possible consequences of climate change in the north, and realize their choices and actions can help reduce climate change. Some of the skills involved in the lesson are discussion, synthesis,...
Curated OER
An Analysis of "The Oxcart"
Students read the play "The Oxcart" in its English form. After examining the author's life and works, they are given a part as one of the characters to act out the play. They dress in full costumes and acquire the correct props in...
Curated OER
Pipe-Cleaner Stick Figures
Second graders create puppets out of pipe cleaners and, in groups, put on a puppet show based on a section of a story they have read from their readers.
Maryland Department of Education
A Raisin in the Sun and Dreams Deferred
To conclude a study of A Raisin in the Sun and to prepare for a visit to the Lewis Museum, class members analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem." Learners then draw connections to characters in the play and to their own experiences by...
Curated OER
Cinderella Stories From Around the World
Fifth graders are read a variety of Cinderella stories from around the world. In groups, they complete a comparison chart for each story and how it compares to the American version. To end the lesson plan, they participate in a fairy...