Shadow puppetry has an ancient past, it is also a great way to build oral expression and reading fluency. Young thespians research folk tales, compare and contrast reality and fantasy, then create and perform a shadow puppet play based...

Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...

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...

Pupils present a puppet show. In this artistic expression lesson, students learn about puppetry. Pupils make a puppet, learn professional puppetry techniques and present a puppet show.

Students participate in activities to introduce them to drama. They mimic facial expressions, pretend objects are something else, and play "Chinese Whispers". They create puppets and theater boxes, masks and costumes, and write scripts...

Students experience through role-play the art of shadow puppetry and appreciate the role of oral traditions in Chinese history. They research the origins and history of puppetry as a part of a unit on China. They discover what Chinese...

Fourth graders brainstorm ideas that answer the question, "What is a song?" They determine the parts of a song, read lyrics, and listen to a song while identifying the chorus. They repeat the procedure with a new song before working in...

Students read story Not So Fast Songololo by Niki Daly, compare life of a boy in Africa with their own lives, create sock puppets, and act out stories that they have written in groups.

Young scholars use puppets and plays to examine the role of African Americans throughout history. After being read a story by a puppet, they respond to each one in writing. Individually, they write a story about a place they have wanted...

Students plan and present a play or puppet show. In this artistic lesson, students practice organizational and communication skills to put on a performance. The task should focus on the many jobs that take place "behind the scenes."

Middle schoolers reinforce communication skills, create the puppets, write or improvise dialog for them, and put on a play.

Learners read and interpret the play Oedipus by Sophocles. A wide array of fabulous thought provoking assignments are intertwined within this lesson for the students to complete.

Students create original costumes and make-up for a puppet presentation of a scene from Shakespeare in this week long creative project. Performances of the Shakespeare scenes end this lesson geared towards state and national standards...

Third graders read a story and grow a beanstalk. In this literature and life science lesson, the class reads "Jack and the Beanstalk," then lists fairy tale elements and write a puppet show. The students plant pinto beans and observes...

Students create and perform folktale plays. In this reader's theater and Asian literature lesson, students work in groups to rewrite Asian folktales into scripts and perform the folktales for their class in a Reader's Theater. Lesson...

Everything a bee does serves a purpose. Learners in grades one through five explore the behaviors of bees through reading and dramatic puppet play. First children will create honey bee puppets, then they will discuss how bees dance to...

Students write and perform dramatic presentations about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They select formats from puppets, plays, improvisational skits, or screened silhouette.

Third graders examine a reading selection. In this fairy tale lesson, 3rd graders read Jack and the Beanstalk. Students are divided into groups and each group lists the elements of a fairy tale and writes a script for a puppet play of...

Students increase their social skills, writing abilities, and language development. Cooperative group work is required which helps students work better in group settings.

Learners complete activities to study artists and self-portraits. In this self-portraits activity, students make a collection of photographs of themselves from their lives and draw self-portraits using a mirror. Learners draw portraits...

Students complete online exercises for synonyms. For this synonyms lesson, students work in pairs to find pictures around the room and choose one as the music plays. Students write a word to describe the picture and discuss their...

Students compare the life of a boy in Africa with their own lives. Students act out stories that they have written in groups.

Students use position words to describe where their teacher is sitting and read a story that makes use of position words. In this spatial lesson, students make a stick puppet and play Simon Says focusing on using position words in the...

Students rehearse scripts by recording themselves on audiotape and then playing it back to self-assess strengths and weaknesses.