Roald Dahl
Matilda - Miss Trunchbull
How would you react to the Trunchbull if she was your teacher? This is the focus of an activity that has readers imagining and then acting out their reactions to various Trunchball scenarios in the story.
Curated OER
Drama: A Streetcar Named Desire
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...
Curated OER
Drama from Animal Characters
Learn about animal habitats, characteristics, and writing in a different perspective. The class composes a narrative from the perspective of a fresh water animal, they include a problem and the animal's reaction to the problem. The...
Curated OER
What a Character! Comparing Literary Adaptations
What do Robert Downey Jr., Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, Fritz Weaver, Roger Moore, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Daffy Duck have in common? Why, it’s elementary, my dear Watson! They all have portrayed Sherlock Holmes. Literary detectives...
The New York Times
Big Brother vs. Little Brother: Updating Orwell's 1984
Government surveillance is an enduring conflict that has become increasingly complex with our nation's use of technology. Add to the understanding of Orwell’s 1984 by using the resources here that display the contemporary actions of Big...
Curated OER
Everyone's a Critic: Analyzing Sitcoms as Cultural Texts
Start by defining the word sitcom with the goal of launching a discussion. What exactly is a sitcom? How is a sitcom different from sketch comedy, drama, and reality television? Class members give examples, remember storylines they've...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - Muggle-Wump Has an Idea
If a bar of chocolate was on the floor, would you try to pick it up? What if it was covered with glue? The eighth lesson plan in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has scholars imagine crazy scenarios. The...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater
First graders imagine the house they live in. They think about the colors, materials, shape, size and location of their home. Students read and discuss the book "Houses." They perform this book as a Reader's Theater using a script.
Curated OER
Summarizing Key Information
Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...
Curated OER
Macbeth
Students explore and analyze how to approach Shakespeare and create more meaning in a variety of contexts. In groups, they imagine three witches on the heath and trying to play it straight. They study various script extracts to evaluate.
Curated OER
The Cinder-Eyed Cats - Storybook Theater
The students listen to the story "The Cinder-Eyed Cats." The students then chose individual parts to play in a theater like production. The students move like their character, be it a fish, an octopus, a lobster, a cat, etc. Water music...
Curated OER
I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And Other Stories
Students read a story by Dr. Seuss and create characters from the story. In this lesson plan about reading a story, students will read I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And Other Stories. Students make a tiger tail with a felt strip, attach...
Curated OER
Generosity
Students listen to music and imagine caring about others and wanting to show them your love. They hear the story, "Giving Isa," and answer a given set of questions. Students discuss their question answers with the class then they...
Curated OER
Being Grateful
Students consider feelings about the things we have. They look at their friends, their home, possessions, and things given to us and if we take them for granted, wish for something else, or are grateful for them. Students reflect on how...
Curated OER
Sequencing Stories
Students explore dramatization. In this literacy fluency and drama lesson plan, students listen to the story Mop Top by Don Freeman and add related sounds at the appropriate times. Students role play, pantomime, and add sounds to create...
Curated OER
Sophocles' Antigone: Ancient Greek Theatre, Live from Antiquity
Students analyze Antigone and its universal issues as well as explore ancient Greece. In this Antigone and Ancient Greece instructional activity, students read and complete activities for Sophocles' Antigone. Students reconstruct the...
Curated OER
Self Acceptance
Students develop confidence about themselves. Students imagine they are a rubber ball and think about how strong they are inside themselves. They read a story about an elephant and a lion and reflect on questions provided. Finally,...
Curated OER
Not Hurting Others
Pupils are encouraged to use gentle persuation rather than bullying and recognize how their behavior affects others. Students reflect to themselves with provided questions, read a story and reflect about how the characters acted, and...
Curated OER
Sound Effects
Students listen carefully so they can say their "part" during a reading of a Cinderella story. For this listening and speaking lesson, students saying their "part" on cue during a reading of a familiar story. They actively listen to the...
Curated OER
Bill Irwin: All in a Day's Work
Students research and examine the various roles needed to put on a major drama production. Using this information, they role play one of these different responsibilities. As a class, they perform a play of their choosing and receive...
Curated OER
Measure for Measure: Are You Talkin' to Me?
Students rehearse and perform an exchange from act three, scene two of the play, Measure for Measure, in pairs. They read the lines from the point of view of a different character in the play, and perform for the class.
Curated OER
How to Write Your 60 Second Shakespeare Newsletter
Students become playwrights. In this Shakespeare lesson, students paraphrase familiar Shakespearian scenes that they perform for their classmates in 60 seconds.
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
John F. Kennedy Center
Folktale Theatre
Introduce your middle schoolers to a performance and movement activity that uses their favorite stories from fairytales and folklore. They practice basic acting skills, create dialogues with a partner, and then as guided practice,...