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...

Kidnapper or kindly old woman? Kids stage the trial of Mary Witch and must decide if Mary kidnapped Hansel and Gretel or in fact was trying to save them. A script and complete directions are included in the 17-page packet.

Scholars analyze a model Readers Theater script. Then, small groups read their scripts aloud to help determine where they need to make revisions.

Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the lesson...

Examine the technique of writing a script and complete a worksheet in which young writers summarize a favorite chapter in a Harry Potter book. They practice public speaking by acting out the summarization scenes for classmates. Handouts...

Go with the flow. Scholars learn how using transition words and phrases helps their scripts flow smoothly. Readers think about connecting each section after determining the sequence for their readers' theater manuscripts from To Kill A...

Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and...

Read, revise, refine! Scholars refine their readers theater scripts by rephrasing some of the lines. Next, they write drafts of their narrator introductions and share their work with peers to give and receive feedback. 

Explore women's history through films and filmmaking. An innovative research project prompts class members to create their own screenplay about a figure in women's history. After outlining their characters, settings, and plots, young...

Revision is the key to great writing. Individuals revise their readers theater scripts and write a group conclusion. Scholars then perform their scripts for another group and receive feedback.

High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a...

Have your class conduct research to learn all they can about simple machines. They use the web, take notes from a video, write a script, then make a film describing various simple machines found in real life. These videos are then...

What is dialogue? What must it contain? Use this plan to discuss dialogue with your emerging writers. They write a dialogue in script form to dramatize a conversation. Dialogue examples are included. 

Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...

Even an outline can give you enough information to execute an awsome project. The tasks for each of the seven weeks of this project are defined, as well as the objective and specific content facilitated through the project. Learners will...

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,...

Seventh graders are introduced to myths formed by many cultures as a unique genre of literature. They use critical thinking skills to compare and contrast mythic tales, compare versions of the same story, and respond to literature in...

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...

Six tasks make up a lesson plan designed to reinforce comprehension and language skills using the poem "The Pied Piper" by Robert Browing. Scholars discuss and define unknown words, identify adjectives and onomatopoeia, review...

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Working in small groups, class members combine their independent readers theater scripts into part of a larger group script. They complete a storyboard to determine the best sequence for...

Let's focus. In small groups, writers narrow text selections to produce a narrative script based on the novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Next, pupils plan their reader's theater scripts based on the text.

How are novels and scripts alike and different? As part of the mid-unit assessment, scholars complete a Venn diagram to compare two types of writing: a novel and a script. Next, they respond to short-answer questions, evaluating passages...

Let's play! Pupils create titles for their readers theater scripts and act them out in a fun game of charades. Next, as part of their end of unit assessment, they write final copies of their individual scripts.

Calling all thespians! Working in small groups, pupils practice reading and performing a readers theater script for the novel Esperanza Rising. Next, they read aloud passages from the novel and use an anchor chart to compare the script...