Artists, musicians, and dramatists have long been the leaders in the quest for social justice. To gain an understanding of the power of the arts to address social issues, class members listen to a reading of Drew Daywalt's The Day the...

Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...

Watching a theatrical production can profoundly impact a person, but how would one convey the experience in writing? A handout helps readers organize their ideas and effectively write about plays, productions, and performances. Scholars...

Young theatre artists engage in a scavenger hunt to acquaint themselves with set design. The challenge is to search the site and match a separate maquette with each of the 24 clues.

Make learning the parts of a book fun by having pupils construct their own glossary entries, table of contents, and title page. Beginning with a review of text features and a hunt for examples, kids use previously written fables to...

Develop novice script-writers. Small groups sift through a sample script, noting any script-writing conventions to share with the whole class. Using these conventions and plot structures, these groups compose a script for a 10-minute...

Seventh graders explore the various elements found in the advertisement of a dramatic experience. Playbills are created that reflect the plot without revealing the climax of the play. Costumes, set construction, and character description...

If you are teaching Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, you can't afford to miss this source. An extensive list of ideas outlines numerous discussion topics, writing prompts, comprehension questions, oral presentations, and projects. Have class...

Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The...

Young writers generate descriptive words. They use pictures of various landscapes (from books, magazines, or the Internet) and complete a story pyramid. The pyramid (included here) asks to describe the main character, the setting, and...

What's the difference between set dressing and a prop? Between a costume accessory and a personal prop? As part of their study of set and prop design, class members engage in a series of activities that prepare them to design a prop for...

Students explore the process of play and movie making from books. They study the basic elements of drama and write and produce a play based on a chosen theme. Students explain the basic elements of a play by looking at "The Wonderful...

Young thinkers view two narrative art tapestries and study the images included that tell a story about the Roman Emperor Constantine. As they examine the details of the tapestries, pupils use a Venn Diagram to record the similarities and...

High schoolers study Greek literature. In this Greek tragedies lesson, students explore the dance-dramas of Martha Graham. High schoolers study the choreography that brings ancient Greek literature to life.

Students compare versions of Cinderella and draw conclusions based on the story elements identified. In this literacy comprehension and story elements instructional activity, students read several versions of Cinderella, complete a...

Identify literary elements in fiction. For this reading comprehension lesson, learners read the book Pigsty and record literary elements onto a graphic organizer. They specifically discuss the main characters and events in the text.

Explore nonfiction writing with your class. They will identify elements in nonfiction by reviewing elements of fiction. Then they use biographies, memoirs, menus, Time for Kids, and text books to identify elements of nonfiction. They...

Young scholars identify short story elements. In this story elements lesson, students review vocabulary about the elements of a story and then practice finding the elements in the short story links.

Eighth graders read act 1 scenes 1 & 2 of the play Diary of Anne Frank. In this Diary of Anne Frank lesson plan, 8th graders discuss how the setting of the play affects the mood of the story and answer short answer questions.

It's time to party like it's 1899! Incorporate a research-based celebration of the Victorian Era into your unit on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After learners read the novella or view a production of the play, they craft a...

Eighth graders consider cross-curricular connections between social studies, singing, and current events. They listen to the song, "I Can't Cry Hard Enough." view scenes from September 11, then create presentations using images, a...

The writing activity in this instructional activity could be used to assess student understanding of previously taught concepts of how language reveals character.

An informative installment of the Writing for Specific Fields series helps readers learn how to interpret and write about fiction. The website details nine easy steps for writing a literary analysis—a useful method for all readers!

Students use the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" to identify and analyze drama vocabulary, literary terms and elements of fiction. They write an original version of scenes from the play and develop a character analysis for the lead.