Here's a 15-page packet packed with ideas for warm-up activities that can be used for drama classes or in content courses. Each activity is coded to indicate materials needed, space requirements and appropriate audience. A great...

Young scholars listen carefully to a portion of the Poetry Out Loud CD. They focus on the tones the poet uses in his recitation of a poem. Then they map a poem of their own so that a classmate can read it using the tonal qualities...

Poems are meant to be heard. Hearing a poem being read enriches one’s understanding of the tone and mood of the piece. Introduce your class to the sounds of poetry with a packet that not only details how to use poetry recordings in the...

Students compare and contrast the flawed families in two plays. In this American drama lesson, students read Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Long Day's Journey into Night. Students research information about the playrights and examine the...

Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...

Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.

High schoolers explore the role of tone in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In this literature lesson, students perform scenes from the play inflecting the tone that they believe Shakespeare intended. 

Young actors willingly suspend their disbelief as they improvise a scenario in which they are workers at a clothing factory and must decide their attitude toward the actions of co-worker Rosa Parks. 

Reader's Theater is a great way to build fluency, intonation, and dramatic flare. The class reads the theater piece, "The New Friends" paying attention to how they express emotion and feeling as they read. They discuss the use of plot,...

During a drama circle, scholars closely examine the play created in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. The pupils read Act 3 Scene 1 and turn and talk to their partners about the scene. They then complete a handout and discuss the...

Students examine the role of tone in a comedy play. They also discover how to paraphrase a passage and explain a character's point of view.

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce’s short story, is used to model how structural moves, the decisions an author makes about setting, point of view, time order, etc., can be examined to reveal an author’s purpose. Groups...

Students write a coherent script based on characterization, theme, conflict and emotional tone as found in the songs' lyrics and develop an understanding of the enjoyment that comes through discipline and hard work leading toward a...

Feel the rhythm! Pupils begin reading Act 2, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as they continue participating in a drama circle. With discussion, they examine Shakespeare's use of rhyme, rhythm, and meter, analyzing how...

An informative installment of the Writing for Specific Fields series helps readers learn how to interpret and write about fiction. The website details nine easy steps for writing a literary analysis—a useful method for all readers!

What was Shakespeare's intent? That is the question at the heart of a summer assignment designed for AP English Literature. Class members focus on five scenes from The Tempest and compare the interactions of Prospero, Caliban,...

Learners investigate the life and works of Eugene O'Neill. In this American theater lesson, students read biographical information about O'Neill and review Long Day's Journey into Night. Learners then analyze the play in order to deliver...

Students consider the tone of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In this drama lesson, students read the first two acts of the play and discuss tone of the acts. Students also respond to questions about the characters and their motives.

Students place emphasis on the use of figurative language when analyzing prose and poetry. In this figurative language lesson, students explore the tone of a story and its imagery. Students read and discuss how the author uses imagery in...

Students examine the alliances in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In this drama lesson, students read the play and act out the conflict and controversy among Brutus, Caesar, Cassius, and Marc Antony.

Students discover Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In this drama lesson, students read the first act of the play and then rewrite the original passages in today's English.

Students perform and discuss three scenes from the play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. They discuss the similarities and differences, identify the order of the scenes, and read the first twenty lines of the play.

Explore the works of Dr. Seuss, such as Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches and Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. Each story lesson includes reading...

Eighth grades can master the ELA Common Core standards! Show your learners the connection between classroom activities and assignments and the standards with this set of "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been rewritten as an...