Media Smarts
Scripting a Crime Drama
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...
Curated OER
The Tom Cruise Wedding
Scholars read a newspaper article about Tom Cruise's wedding to Katie Holmes in 2006. They define vocabulary words, complete comprehension worksheets, and analyze use of the present perfect and passive in the article. Individuals write...
Curated OER
What's In a Noun: Grammar and Usage
Nine lessons in a grammar and usage unit provide endless opportunities for drill and practice. Topics include the four types of sentences, subject and predicates, nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs and prepositions, conjunctions...
Curated OER
Screen Play
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...
Curated OER
Scripting the Past: Exploring Women's History Through Film
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...
Curated OER
MONSTERS AND MYTHS: SCRIPTS /SCULPTS
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...
Curated OER
Presenting Your Case
Pupils write letter from historical figure's point of view using proper letter writing conventions, write about two props/artifacts that are representative of their subject's life, and use Internet resources to gather images to use in...
Curated OER
Monster and Myths: Scripts
Students explore characteristics of the myth genre. In this myth lesson, students become familiar with various myths and the cultures they were derived from. Students compare in a graphic organizer. Students write...
Curated OER
Semicolons
Sixth graders write a paragraph using semicolons. In this semicolons lesson plan, 6th graders brainstorm examples of semicolon use as a class and then write their own paragraph.
Curated OER
School Day
Students participate in a lesson plan that involves writing a persuasive essay. They use the prompt of "extending the school day". The paper should contain correct elements of sentence structure with clear purpose that is supported with...
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,...
Curated OER
Mark Twain: Straddling the Civil War
Mark Twain's life, politics, writing, and role as a mirror of pre- and post-Civil War American culture are the focus 11th and 12th graders in this section from an expansive author study. A critical writing assignment comparing Twain...
Curated OER
A Way with Words or Say What?
Students explore the language of Shakespeare. In this literature instructional activity, students examine words invented by Shakespeare as they interpret their meanings in drawings. Students pantomime the meanings and then write a short...
Curated OER
Elaborating: Specific Adjectives
Students use adjectives to improve their descriptive writing. In this language arts lesson, students discuss adjectives that can be used to describe objects. Students complete sentences by selecting adjectives.
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
Springfield Digital Storytelling Project: Landform Riddle
Creative projects and collaborative learning are hallmarks of 21st Century learning skills. Using an iphone, 6th graders create an iMovie which shows a student composed riddle. The riddle needs to be about one of the landforms they have...
Curated OER
Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
High schoolers 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.
Appalachian State University
Making Your Point Using Dialect
Explore the sounds, importance, and effectiveness of dialect in literature. Active participants read, listen to poetry, and explore dialect by developing a formal definition, discuss the benefits of its use, complete a Venn diagram...
Curated OER
Exploring Film Genres for Telling Hero Stories: Experimental Shorts
Students design and create an experimental film to express a theme or concept regarding heroism. They establish shots of locations, write dialogue, create montages and subjective footage.
Curated OER
The Correct Use of the Articles "A" and "An"
Learners discover the grammatical rules regarding articles. In this grammar lesson plan, students study the rule regarding the use of "a" and "an" in writing. Learners are encouraged to discover the rule on their own and apply the rule...
Curated OER
Recycling: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Students journal information regarding recycling from previous research. They use Microsoft Word to write their entries regarding recycling that is used in oral and video presentations. They visit "Green School" sites on the Internet 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
The Collaborative Works of Rodgers and Hammerstein: Show Business
Students study the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein in an historical context of the development of American musical theatre as an art form. Students explore "roots" of the genre as it evolves in last half of the 19th and first two decades...
Curated OER
Spelling Lesson Plan
Review basic spelling rules with your elementary schoolers. Focus in on the spelling of words with a specific prefix. In this spelling lesson, learners use an interactive whiteboard lesson to learn prefixes such as de, sub, re, and pre....