Curated OER
Reader's Theatre for 1st Grade
First graders participate in reader's theatre. In this drama lesson, 1st graders choose a Scholastic play and use stick masks to perform the story. The students are videotaped and analyze their performance
Curated OER
The Great Chicago Fire: The O'Leary Hearing
Young scholars dramatized the O'Leary hearing regarding the Chicago fire using the transcript from the original hearings as a script.
Curated OER
Geo Jammin' - Day 5, Lesson 19: Hey, Hey, Whaddaya Say!
Students rehearse scripts by recording themselves on audiotape and then playing it back to self-assess strengths and weaknesses.
Curated OER
Sherlock Shell and the Case of the Missing Chicken
Middle schoolers read and discuss literature in class. They produce a script based upon the model shared during reading and discussion. Students shoot scenes for a final video project.
Curated OER
Take Heed, Scurvy Dogs!
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...
Curated OER
Scene Writing
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...
Curated OER
Israel
The class creates and performs a movement performance of the creation story found in the Jewish tradition. This lesson begins with the research of Israeli culture and culminates in a performance of the narrated creation story....
Curated OER
Alexander And The Wind-Up Mouse
Use drama techniques to recreate the story, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. They engage in problem-solving as they identify the roles they will fufill in their groups for the performance. This is a motivating way to...
Curated OER
Cheerful Hearts and Willing Feet
Students explore characterization in Little Women. In this literature lesson, students participate in written analysis and research in order to explore Alcott's characterization in the novel.
Curated OER
Learning About Fiction Genres in the Elementary School Library
Teaching about fiction genres can be challenging. The lesson here, designed for library media specialists, offers a fun way to do it. In the lesson, learners visit the library and learn about the different types of fiction through book...
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...
Ken Taylor
The Stones: Guilty or Not Guilty?
Young drama pupils will perform a number of expressive speaking exercises as they consider the themes of responsibility, consequences, and justice in the very modern Australian play The Stones. With a lot of role playing and...
Education Closet
West Side Shifts
Combine math, language arts, music, and dance with an activity focused on "America" from West Side Story. After listening to the song, learners compare the film to Romeo and Juliet, analyze the song's meter, design choreography, plan...
Curated OER
Creating Plays from Children's Stories
Students explain how individual elements (e.g., plot, theme, character, conflict, etc.) comprise the structure of a play. They write an original one-act play with developed characters, specific setting, conflict, and resolution.
Curated OER
Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
Students read a Japanese Noh play and discuss its structure and traditional characters. They choose a short myth and write a Noh play based on it.
Curated OER
Speak Up
Bring back some of your favorite kids for this lesson. Emerging speakers observe older learners making effective and ineffective oral presentations. They discuss each presentation and then prepare a speech of their own to deliver to the...
Curated OER
Up the Down Tree House
Students investigate the decomposition process. In this ecology lesson, students participate in a play, "Up the Treehouse" where the main idea focuses on a decomposing tree and how food chains are effected by decomposition. After the...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for "Little Red Riding Hood"
Grow young performers with storytelling. Elementary schoolers listen to the story "Little Red Riding Hood" by Mike Lockett, highlighting dialogue as they listen, and then act out the story. This is based on a story told by Mike Lockett...
Curated OER
Portrait of a Place, Portrait of a Family
Learners act out stories based on lives of famous people from Harlem. In this memoirs lesson, students compare the life of the people in Harlem in 1930 to the people of today. Learners explore how "home" is different for different...
Curated OER
Theatre Vocabulary ad Elements
Fifth graders examine basic theatre vocabulary and use it to discuss a play. In this theater lesson, 5th graders identify the elements of a play. Students perform their play and use theatre vocabulary to explain their experience.
Curated OER
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Students explore expressive reading. In this literature instructional activity, students read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and interpret key themes. Students perform a different version of the text.
Curated OER
Have You Heard about the Clinton, New Jersey Story?
In this radon worksheet, students read about radon in the city of Clinton New Jersey. They compose a play about a family in Clinton New Jersey who is face with high concentrations of radon in their home and how they deal with it....
Curated OER
Animal Tales Theatre
Students participate in a theatre production involving how to protect animals. Students create their own puppets which will be used in the production. Students read information provided to them and highlight the important information...
Curated OER
Giving Voice to History
Young scholars examine the plight of Japanese Americans during World War II. In this World War II lesson, students participate in a mock evocation simulation, research primary and secondary documents about internment camps, and share...