Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...

Students explore the connection between analyzing a character and the character plot conflict. In this plot conflict lesson students role play two characters in the story, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Students also pretend to be a...

This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...

Learners study and perform Aesop's fables. In this Aesop's fables instructional activity, students read and/or listen to a number of the famous fables. They make masks based on the characters and perform a fable using the masks. They...

Students explore the feelings surrounded by humiliation, resentment and retaliation in the context of school violence.  In this character building lesson, students examine possible reasons for school violence and focus on possible...

Students discover writing strategies authors use to enhance characters.  In this character writing instructional activity, students are read the Knuffle Bunny books by Mo Willems and analyze the story, characters and settings as...

Students read a story and retell it to the class by role-playing one of the characters. In groups, they use the correct facial expressions along with body language and voice to convince the others in their group that they are actually...

Students investigate genre of folklore, specifically African and Chinese folktales, and script and perform folktales with examples from The Magic Brocade and Fire on the Mountain. Seven lessons on one page.

Students dress and act as selected characters from Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". They identify each other and make predictions about the upcoming chapters based on their observations about the characters.

Time for a story! Learners of all ages enjoy listening to stories, so read them some common fables and have them work cooperatively to create a fable.  Differentiate for varying ability levels by providing sentence frames, graphic...

How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...

Students read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In this poetry lesson, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.

Fifth graders write and perform stories on mammals. They review the parts of a narrative story and write stories. They rehearse their stories and present them to the class. They make mammal cookies after their peformance.

Twelfth graders use an Internet scavenger hunt, vocabulary, sample essay questions, and short answer questions suitable for study and review of the play, The Crucible.

Students discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical instructional activity, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with...

Students investigate the Middle Ages and it's relation to the theater.  In this acting lesson, students read Arthurian stories form the Middle Ages and practice using vocabulary words from the Medieval Times.  Students write a...

Fifth graders explore the concept of waste management. In this recycling lesson, 5th graders discover the history of waste management and discuss how the U.S. should respond to the issue of ever-increasing waste.

Fifth graders read Dear Mr. Henshaw and identify the character trait of self-respect as exhibited by Leigh throughout the story. They evaluate the author's use of letters to tell the story and discuss how the story would be different if...

Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....

Students explore Shakespeare's words. In this literature lesson, students memorize and recite a dramatic interpretation of a passage from Julius Caesar.

Students practice dramatic 'living' through various drama activities. In this drama lesson, students define drama, view examples of dramatic elements in Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne, define characterization within the dramas, study the...

Students study the tale of Robin Hood to further their knowledge of character traits, improve their vocabularies, and increase their knowledge of the Medieval Ages. In this Robin Hood lesson, students complete 14 lessons that help them...

Sixth graders recreate scenes from the theories about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. In this history and theatre lesson, 6th graders review the story of Earhart using a flip chart. Students work on one act plays to depict one of...

Students investigate the effects of bullying. In this character education lesson, students role play various situations and discuss how to resolve them properly.