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...

Elementary learners identify the main elements of story structure and form questions to summarize their reading. They listen as the teacher reads a story and then write questions to determine (1) main characters, (2) setting, (3)...

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...

Practice basic map skills with the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. After listening to the story, class members create a map that indicates the starting line, the path the animals took, where they stopped to rest, and the finish line....

Why is visual literacy so important in understanding Maus? Introduce your class to basic elements of graphic novels with a game of pictionary. A list of 13 words are included, but you could potentially add some World War II-related...

Students explore the sounds of different instruments through the nne lessons of this unit. Instruments representing the elements of percussion, string, and wind are utilized in this unit.

Students participate in a variety of activities that present art history. They arrange an art auction where each student serves as auctioneer to present a favorite piece. Students keep track of their accounts and bid to buy desired...

Analyzing the sequence of actions in dramatic stories leads to deeper comprehension of story structure. The class identifies the main actions in each section of a story and develops frozen tableau's for the identified actions of the...

First graders explore Aztec culture to gain understanding of relationship between music, recreation, and culture. Seven lessons on one page.

This lesson plan 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...

Students determine the story elements of typical mystery stories including characters and plot structure. They look at vocabulary that is common to mystery stories before reading and responding to mystery chapter books. Working in guided...

Get your class up and moving as they explore how to express movement and dance through words. Designed around two poems by Lillian Morrison about break dancing, the activity truly captures the creative and multi-sensory aspects of...

Students examine the non-verbal elements of a theatrical performance. They read an article, answer discussion questions, conduct Internet research, and stage frozen tableaux based on lines from Shakespeare's works.

Read Clap Your Hands to explore new vocabulary with your class. In this three-tiered vocabulary lesson, youngsters read the book and identify the plot, setting, and characters. They also define vocabulary terms from the book and...

Read and analyze the novel, Ransom of Redchief. They identify the elements of character development, and participate in a mock trial, creating the witnesses through the use of character development.

Students use literature circles to analyze four short stories from the Realms of Gold, Volume 3. In this literature circle lesson, students are assigned a role in the literature circle to improve their critical thinking skills for...

Tenth graders explore two rhetorical strategies (ethos and audience appeals) to analyze their effects in Brutus's speech in 3.2. They are given the opportunity to participate as members of Brutus's audience by assuming the roles of...

Fourth graders combine art and history to assess the importance of the "Old 300." They explore a group of colonists that Stephen F. Austin brought to Texas as the first settlers and then create a time line of major events leading to the...

Third graders relate dance movements to chants. They tap out the rhythm of poetry on different body parts.

Students determine the most critical elements of King Lear, Act I using a Silent Scene Model.  For this King Lear lesson, students will create a silent scene based on a scene from Act I of King Lear and act out their scenes for the...

Students examine elements of Greek tragedy, specifically Oedipus Rex, and role play performance in Greek theatre. Students then draw their own theatre masks to be displayed in class.

Young scholars read the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. In groups, they identify the instances of similes, metaphors and personification. They use the Internet to compare and contrast the events in the play with historical...

Tenth graders demonstrate methods of relaxation by participating and assisting each other in meditation. They demonstrate their ability to experiment with the elements of dramatic presentation by relying on group co-ordination of voice,...

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