Students make happy and sad masks to examine their personal emotions, allowing them to verbally express their feelings and learn abstract concepts. They use their masks also to help them categorize their emotions and later chart them.

Students explore how to choose and make friends through character cards that represent their favorite characters. They can drerss as their characters or use the cards as stick puppets to role play their friendly conversations.

Students develop an awareness of the behaviors signaling that a friend may be in trouble with alcohol or drugs of abuse. They practice ways to encourage a friend to seek out adult help by viewing a video, role-playing situations, writing...

Explore narrative writing by participating in a role-playing activity. In this perspective activity, learners define first and third person in writing and discuss how it changes the mood of the reader. The first activity has pupils write...

Reader's Theater is a great way to build fluency, intonation, and dramatic flare. The class reads the theater piece, "The New Friends" paying attention to how they express emotion and feeling as they read. They discuss the use of plot,...

Tenth graders develop response to witchcraft from a historical and cultural perspective. They evaluate the use of ceremonies and rituals in witchcraft. They develop a character and develop use of genres and styles of drama. They role...

Explore how Galileo's controversial theory raised objections in his time. In this physical science activity, learners research about current controversial issues. They role play both sides of the issue, and decide which one has a...

Students explore performing arts by participating in a role-play activity. In this storytelling lesson, students utilize their physical expressions to particpate in a pantomime performance. Students evaluate performances in their class...

How can we create a more fair world? Chances are, class members have some ideas! After reading a text about fairness, individuals create skits around the ideas of fairness. Extend the learning and make their presentations a...

Plan a wellness day! Invite speakers from community resources to come and present and participate in a wellness day. Reinforce how important it is to take care of the whole body and how the choices they make now can make a difference...

Second graders study heroes, inventors, and explorers and role-play as one of the people. In this theatre and history lesson plan, 2nd graders review the people and their accomplishments using a Promethean flipchart. Students then act...

Learners role play for job expectations. In this job planning lesson, students work in groups to write a help wanted ad. They discuss the expectations of the employer and the employee.

Use drama techniques to recreate the story, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. They engage in problem-solving as they identify the roles they will fufill in their groups for the performance. This is a motivating way to...

Pupils study family structure. In this family structure lesson, students read the book The Family Book and discuss families. Pupils create a bulletin board of family photos and draw their families on paper. Students dance and play...

Students complete an getting to know each other activity. In this personal names lesson, students play a name game, read a book about names, and then discuss why names are important. Students design a name card on oak tag rectangles and...

Develop a world-wide, email chain on which class members can showcase their acts of kindness. After defining the meaning of random acts of kindness through discussion and through a reading of Random Acts of Kindness,...

Students identify the key participants in the Arab-Israeli conflict. They create a caricature that is both Israeli and Arab. One side should be labeled with the feelings, thoughts, emotions of the Arabs and the other side is from an...

Students examine Japanese theatre and create their own face masks which display certain emotions, props, costumes and perform in improvisational theatrical games.

Students explore historical importance of fish as food source, examine works of Robert Harris, create their own fish, and compose accompanying poetry. Students then explore dramatic tradition of Chorus inspired by Greek theatre,...

Students participate in an after school program that promotes concern for others, recognizing differences, accepting differences, leadership roles, mentoring, self-responsibility and personal safety. They explore the diversity of their...

Students listen to Caribbean folk music and discuss maracas and their role in music. They construct and design pairs of maracas using paper mache, then perform a Puerto Rican folk song using their maracas.

Analyze the role the Crawford Grill played in the history of Jazz music. Budding historians research interviews and video clips to learn about the Crawford Grill in Pennsylvania and black music history. The lesson culminates when...

Eighth graders apply knowledge of the Holocaust in general and The Diary of Anne Frank in particular to their writing. Acting the play out in class provides them an almost firsthand knowledge of Anne and the other characters.

Seventh graders conduct research on important background information regarding the role of religion in American public schools. In this Ethics instructional activity, 7th graders examine and become familiar with the First Amendment of...