Students read and interpret a script. Then they use higher order thinking skills to transfer information to long term memory. They use the information and interpretations in order to have a model to create dramatic scripts.

Students take an in depth look at communication. In this communication lesson, students discuss the effectiveness of codes, languages, and transportation in communication. Students participate in a problem solving activity that requires...

Students research personal bias towards the story Marriage is a Private Affair. In this tradition research instructional activity, students read the story and discuss the ending. Students free write about the topic and complete a Venn...

How do you react if you're "hot-blooded?" What happens when you engage in a "wild  goose chase?" And what are "salad days?" Use this worksheet and the online Visual Thesaurus to answer these questions and more. Based on...

Reinforce conversational skills in your ELD class with this worksheet. Pairs of partners ask questions about twelve famous movie star based on a given example (Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt). Questions address given names, birthdays,...

Young grammarians identify the appositives in a series of sentences and then rewrite each sentence omitting the word or phrase.

How does a new version of a Shakespearean play change in the adaptation process? Use this New York Times' Learning Network lesson to consider texts that have been produced in different media. Middle schoolers examine the latest...

Students, utilizing video clips and Web sites, compare specific passages from original texts to moments in Broadway musicals on which they were based, analyzing similarities and differences between them. They adapt literature into a...

“All the world’s a stage…” What do Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, and Kenneth Branagh have in common? They have all starred in modern adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. After viewing a series clips from modern Shakespeare videos,...

Students reconstruct a famous soliloquy from Romeo and Juliet which the teacher has cut apart and scattered. They piece the soliloquy back together making sense of the passage.

In this music history activity, students discover the musical "West Side Story" by first reading a summary of the plot. Students answer 5 questions about the story line. Students then read and analyze the lyrics to "America" and discuss...

Students work in small groups to modernize and perform scenes from Shakepeare's Romeo and Juliet. In this Shakespeare reenact lesson, students have an active roll in completing the project which includes analyzing and summarizing scenes,...

First graders plant tulip gardens. They explore the nature of bulbs and plant growth. Students participate in a project that tracks the growth of tulips in various climatic areas of North America.

High schoolers analyze the problems with staging and character using the play Julius Caesar. They summarize the final scene of the play and view film versions of the scene. Additionally, they prepare a promptbook for the final scene and...

Interpret Shakespearian scenes with your middle and high school classes. Groups select scenes from plays that they are familiar with to perform for their classmates. They should attempt to recreate the emotions they think the characters...

Use O. Henry's ubiquitous tale of love and poverty to explore irony. After reading the story, middle schoolers identify examples of all three kinds of irony in the story. With partners, they brainstorm original examples of irony. Then...

Students develop questions they would have liked to ask an author about their written works. They read an article about their forefathers and research a back story to a written work of their choice. They create posters to illustrate the...

Young scholars view video clips of Shakespeare's plays. They discuss issues in his plays that challenge his authorship. They discuss the concept of a genius and identify what qualities a writer has.

Students perform a scene from Shakespeare for an unsuspecting audience in a public setting.  In this Shakespeare lesson, students create a Shakespearean "flash mob" or "guerilla theater" event.  Students choose a...

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions Shakespeare's Henry V. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

Learners examine the gods and goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology. In groups, they use this information to participate in skits as they role-play the gods and goddesses. To end the lesson, they draw their own caricature of their...

Eighth graders discuss conflict. Working in pairs, they create lists of skills they have used in conflicts, skills they have seen used successfully but not used themselves, and skills they wish to develop. From their lists they identify...