Discuss the lives of artists in the Lyme Art Colony in the 1900s with this resource. Young historians write and perform a short scene depicting individuals who lived in the Griswold boardinghouse, used by the colony artists. They use the...

How do novels differ from plays? Explore with your class the text features of fiction and drama by reading The Hidden One: Native American Legend and then performing a reader’s theater script based on the story. Class members create a...

Action! Delve into character development in the play Fences by August Wilson, setting the stage for learners to analyze character nuances. Thespians choose a scene from the script, responding with a written account of the...

Students read both fiction and nonfiction books with desert themes. Then they write desert stories and reports, reviewing texts for information to include in writing. Students also design desert scenes with details and setting elements...

The danger of mob mentality is on display in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Get your class thinking with some challenging quickwrite questions, then assign characters from the play to be read aloud altogether. Links to worksheets...

An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative lesson designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know about the play,...

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...

Figurative language is the focus in the book Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia. After reading Peggy Parish's book, class members dramatize idioms from the text, using dramatic strategies such as characterization, exaggeration, and...

Drama enthusiasts explore the importance of set and action in conveying dramatic tension. They act out a polished dramatic piece using the set as a key component of their story. This should be connected to setting as it is also used in...

Twelfth graders examine all the descriptions of costumes, props, movement, lighting and music in the stage directions of A Streetcar Named Desire. They begin to imagine this drama as a production, not simply a script. Students perform...

Students explore three major dramatic concepts using Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. In this dramatic concepts lesson, students research the concepts of universal theme, characterization, and dialogue using the given text. Students...

Students demonstrate how an actor might engage sensate reaction using 3 sets of stage props. They imagine and use as many sense reactions as they can to make the props become endowed with a reality. They use one table and chair to...

Students study Richard Wagner and his idea of "Music Drama". Students listen to his music, pantomime, and lead "music dramas" to discover Wagner's idea of the world of composition and drama.

This lesson will focus on the aspects of Shakespeare's comedy that become more evident in performance. By viewing clips of the same Shakespeare scene in different film versions, high schoolers have the opportunity to engage in a close...

Eighth graders create an original scene or short one-act play within specified guidelines. Assessment is based upon the performance of student-created scenes during class time. Rubrics for assessment and connection to state standards...

Students explore empathy and fairness. They examine the importance of being able to empathize with people who are different from themselves. Students explore ways of resolving conflict and they recognize the concerns of others.

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.

Second graders discuss conflict resolution. In this conflict resolution lesson, 2nd graders look at conflict scenarios and act them out in front of the class showing how they would handle the situation. They write on a piece of paper 3...

Fifth graders discover the difference between myths, legends, and folk tales. They summarize legends. They work together to dramatize legends and then create their own legend using the writing process. Handouts and worksheets are included.

Students read a play and create their own play using Thornton Wilder's Our Townas a resource. In this play lesson, students analyze how theatrical elements contribute to a play's meanings and effects. Students recognize differences...

Students investigate the writings of Thoreau. They read passages orally and look for words of imagery in the text. Students also answer a series of questions and they convert passages of writing into theatrical presentations in order to...

Fourth graders experience the music and arts of Japan as they explore the language and culture of the country in this lesson. A variety of musical elements from the culture are demonstrated.

Students examine the use of ghosts in shipping stories. As a class, they assign roles and they act them out in a play. They make it seem as if they are in danger on their voyage and work together to create a script. They ask questions...

Young scholars, in groups, research a Canadian Olympic sport and design a uniform for a Canadian Olympic team.