“All the world’s a stage,” exclaims Jaques in As You Like It, but it is the structure of the Globe stage and how that structure influenced Shakespeare’s plays that is the focus of an on-line research project. Class members visit a series...

The house lights dim, the curtain parts, lights slowly come up, revealing the stage. Before the actors appear, before a word is spoken, the audience is drawn in by the lighting, by the colors, by lines of the set, by the props, and...

“All the world’s a stage…” What do Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, and Kenneth Branagh have in common? They have all starred in modern adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. After viewing a series clips from modern Shakespeare videos,...

Groups create a set for a play or story they select, build a model, and share their stage with the class. The team explains the rationale for their choices and the mood they feel their staging creates.

Students create and perform a scene for play using a common fairy tale for the story line. They view and discuss a video on careers in stage and radio to identify the roles and responsibilities for each of their group members.

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,...

Eighth graders explore kinesthetic movements. In this kinesthetic movements lesson, 8th graders explore how to enter the stage properly. Over two days, students investigate how to hold their own on the stage during a dance.

Whether new to teaching Beowulf or an experience pro, you'll find much to like in a richly detailed unit plan that asks readers to consider how the epic represents the difficulty in defining good and evil but also reflects the changing...

Shakespeare loved to write plays about famous kings. A study guide for Richard II explores the drama surrounding the reign of King Richard while reinforcing important language arts skills. After attending a performance of the play,...

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.

Before Hamilton, Lin Manuel-Miranda gained fame with In the Heights. A study guide prepares theater goers for a performance of the musical about a group of friends living in the New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights....

It's the end of the sixteenth century in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition when a group of prisoners decides to dramatize the story of Don Quixote. A study guide provides a summary and other important information about the play Man...

Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples...

"I'll just wait for the movie version." How often have you heard that line? Transform passive viewers into active readers of visual images with an understanding of the three stages of the filmmaking process. This 28-packet packet is...

Musicals have been adapted from stage plays, novels, and movies. With The Lion King, Disney transforms its animated film into show-stopping, live-action musical theatre. The guide Disney provides to accompany a study...

“Is this a dagger which I see before me . . .” As part of a study of Macbeth, class members engage in a series of activities that get them up and moving. Individuals practice, then deliver, a line from the Scottish play. The entire class...

Uncover the exciting world of the Roaring Twenties with The Great Gatsby study guide. Individuals become critics as they write a review of the production. Scholars also read historical information and analyze the differences between the...

Really? Rapping The Odyssey? Really. A discussion of the oral tradition of story telling and its links to Epic poetry sets the stage for a series of activities that encourage improvisation to integrate music into other classrooms....

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...

Following an attention-grabbing read-aloud, scholars brainstorm ways they can change negative thoughts into positive thoughts. Small groups plan and perform a skit that showcases one of the new ideas to uplift one's feelings....

To prepare for a performance task assessment, class members review the stages of the water cycle and then individuals assume the roles of drops of water for a Reader's Theater exercise. The script, a graphic depicting the water...

Examine two works of art and use these pieces as inspiration for dialogues. The whole class discusses Renoir's Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge. Then, in groups of either three or ten, pupils...

Students read "Peter Spier's Circus!" and identify the literature's setting and characters. They work in small groups to create a circus stage set and puppets based on their reading. Students perform a puppet show using their set and...

Aladdin, Disney's Broadway musical comedy, is a magic carpet ride. Prepare your class for a field trip to the show with a study guide that is a treasure trove of activities, cultural connections, and background information.