Examine the movement of characters in the story, Caps for Sale. Using the text, pupils invent gestures and movements for some of the actions and major events. They practice retelling a story by using the movements they developed. They...

Young scholars explore how to tell a story through dance. In this dance lesson, students watch Swan Lake and choose a story of their own to show through dance.

Compare and contrast reading passages with the ever favorite story of Cinderella. The versions in focus include an Italian version and a Native American story followed by three questions designed to share similarities and...

Students make homemade puppet characters that have faces that tell it all. In this early childhood dramatic play lesson, students create stick puppet characters that encourage language and story development, creative-thinking and...

Why didn't Rapunzel's hair stop growing?  Why did it take the fairy godmother so long to intervene in Cinderella's affairs? Young writers consider unanswered questions like these and compose news articles investigating the true...

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...

Seventh graders listen to a variety of folktales sharing experiences of slavery. As a class, they compare and contrast reading a story and telling a story. They participate in a role play activity to discover the journey of a slave and...

Students create a dance that tells a story then they use the dance for inspiration and write their own. In this drama and dance lesson, students discover how the May and Aztec would dance to covey a concept or story. Students work in...

Adding details and figurative language makes any story more fun to read! After reading two versions of the same story, one devoid of figurative language and one embellished, young writers are asked to add alliteration, hyperbole,...

Tenth graders explore the process of telling stories without words.  In this literature instructional activity, 10th graders watch a music video performance made by Alaska Native students, and then examine art objects that may be...

Learners orally tell different types of stories using the assistance of props. For more advanced students, stories may be told according to a specific genre, or the story may have to include a given condition, setting, situation or theme.

Explore the dancing prodigy and Depression-era African-American icon Bill Robinson as scholars learn new vocabulary words in context. As you read Leo Dillon's Rap a Tap Tap they listen for six new words: clatter, greet,...

Students explore two Native American legends. For this cultural traditions lesson, students read "The Legend of Blue Bonnet," and "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush." Students then study basic Native American dance movements prior to...

Here’s a cross-curricular program music activity that uses Peer Gynt to engage class members. Groups take one section of “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” choreograph their section of the tune to represent the story as they imagine it,...

Students investigate pantomiming by going on a fictitious bear hunt.  In this performing arts lesson, students collaborate in groups to sing songs and perform pantomimes based on a hunting trip.  Students create their own dance...

A short story about a nighttime adventure at summer camp provides readers with a chance to practice their comprehension skills. 

Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...

After reading the book Balloons Over Broadway about the incredible puppeteer who created the first Macy's larger-than-life parade balloons, your youngsters will celebrate their reading by participating in a...

Get your class up and moving as they explore how to express movement and dance through words. Designed around two poems by Lillian Morrison about break dancing, the activity truly captures the creative and multi-sensory aspects of...

Young explorers investigate Australian Aboriginal culture by listening to traditional Dreamtime stories and examining dot paintings created by Aboriginal artists. In addition, they locate the country on maps, discuss the geography of...

A guided imagery exercise is a great way to get readers thinking about writing. As part of their study of Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse’s 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, class members listen to a reading of one of the poems...

A paragraph from Anna Sewell's Black Beauty provides middle schoolers an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage.

Young scholars use dance to better understand the writing process. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students use their critical thinking skills to connect dance with writing. Young scholars use thinking maps to follow the writing...

Students explore folktales. In this folktale lesson, students listen to a story from another country and discuss the characters. Students retell the story using puppets and do coloring sheets. Students do a sequencing cut and paste...