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Lesson Plan
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Creative Competitions, Inc.

Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Fantastic Fairy Tale

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Learning about literature can be so much fun; it can also be made more accessible through projects and dramatic play. As they explore theme, character, and setting, the class gets creative and makes a dramatic recreation of a classic...
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Lesson Plan
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Student Achievement Partners

"The Glorious Whitewasher" from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain with Mini-Assessment

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It's the classic scene: Tom Sawyer is whitewashing a fence. Expose your learners to Mark Twain's humor while reinforcing reading comprehension. Eighth graders are encouraged to read and reread, achieving as much exposure to the text as...
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Activity
Teaching Tolerance

Puppet Show

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
It's a play, it's a story, it's a puppet show! A lively resource provides academics with a creative outlet to express their views on diversity and social justice. Scholars are responsible for writing, creating, and performing a puppet...
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Activity
Teaching Tolerance

Act Up! Drama for Justice

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A lesson turns young historians into playwrights to understand and speak out against social injustice. Pupils work individually or in groups to write and perform monologues that deliver personal messages on social justice. Writers then...
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Interactive
PBS

Latino Americans Share Their Experiences

For Students 6th - 9th Standards
Three Latino Americans are the focus of an interactive that spotlights their accomplishments. Scholars get to know Lin-Manuel Miranda, Judy Reyes, and José Hernández through short informative text and videos. Participants read, take...
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Website
Shakespeare Globe Trust

Macbeth

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Why do characters do what they do? Scholars use the resource to explore character motivation in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Additionally, they discover pictures, interviews, and videos from the Deutsche Bank production of the play. 
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Website
Shakespeare Globe Trust

Othello

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Emilia mocks Bianca, who is in a relationship with Cassio, who attacks Montano. Using the resource, learners explore profiles of the characters from Shakespeare's Othello. They also read a scene-by-scene synopsis and follow a weekly blog...
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Website
Shakespeare Globe Trust

Much Ado About Nothing

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Love, deception, witty bante—that's much ado about a lot!  As learners navigate the resource, they view an interactive character map and read character biographies from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Pupils also listen to...
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Unit Plan
Pearson

Musical Theater Performance

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Musical theater is a trifecta, requiring cast members to be actors, singers, and dancers. Help theater arts students develop these skills with a unit designed to prepare them for a staging of a musical.
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Lesson Plan
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Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

From Ben’s Pen to Our Lives

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What would Ben do? Jumping off from the pseudonymous letters Ben Franklin fooled his older brother into publishing when he was still a teenager, young literary lovers dive into acting, writing, and addressing a local issue with wit and...
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Unit Plan
Johnny Mercer Foundation

The American Musical

For Teachers 7th
General music students learn about the history of popular American music by creating and performing a one-act musical. After researching and creating an American Musical timeline, class members write a song with lyrics using Jam Studio,...
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Unit Plan
Beat by Beat Press

Teaching Musical Theatre

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The 16 lessons in Teaching Musical Theatre: The Essential Handbook are designed to help actors enrolled in a theatre arts class develop the skills they need to be successful in musical theatre. Check out this sample lesson to see if you...
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Unit Plan
Honors College at Scholar Commons

From Start to Strike: A Lesson Plan for the Whole Theatre Experience

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Introduce young thespians to all aspects of the theater. A syllabus for a one-semester drama course provides lessons that take learners from the history of drama to the many facets of play production.
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Activity
BBC

Julius Caesar Teacher Pack

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A great actor has the ability to make or break a play. A series of lesson plans related to William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar looks closely at the choices actors make during a production of the play to help provide insight into the...
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Unit Plan
Folger Shakespeare Library

Julius Caesar Curriculum Guide

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
You needn't beware using Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in your classroom. You, too, can be valiant and let loose your young actor's creativity, guided by the suggestions in a curriculum guide so filled with a delightful mix of elements...
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Lesson Plan
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Star Wars in the Classroom

"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 11

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members take center stage as groups perform scenes from Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope. Actors are encouraged to add stage directions to the script, as well as create costumes and props to...
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Activity
Curated OER

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Reader's Theatre

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Plays are meant to be performed! After reading the entire play, invite your learners to choose a scene from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead that relates to earlier class discussion about characters, motifs, and themes to interpret...
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Unit Plan
New York City Department of Education

Theater Units for Lower and Upper Elementary Levels

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons, assessment...
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Activity
York Catholic

Elements of Drama

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.
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Activity
Primary Resources

Drama Warm Ups and Circle Games

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
Circle games, energetic games, calming games, exit games. Whether used as ice breakers, warm ups, or exit strategies, or used in drama classes or content areas, the 28 games detailed in this packet deserve a spot in your curriculum library.
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Activity
Illinois Elementary School Association

Improv Exercises

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
Here's an eight-page packet that describes 70 different improv activities to use as warm ups for drama classes. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pantomime

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
There's no doubt that dramatic play and creative movement are both essential for a healthy early childhood education. Here is a lesson that promotes both. Youngsters think of activities and emotions. The words are written on pieces of...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Theater Lesson: Modify My Action

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars engage in a lesson that is about the meaning of a verb or adverb. They perform sketches with the subject matter of the words. The goal is for the actors to show the meaning of the verb or adverb with an action.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Act it Out: Dramatizing Asian American Stories

For Teachers K - 12th
Read and act out folktales, fairy tales, or myths from various Asian American cultures with your class. Each group reads a story aloud and then works together to create a short play or skit about the story. Suggestions for stories are...